1959 Cadillac Eldorado – Temple Rather than Automobile

Design Classic – Influential and important design

1959 Cadillac Eldorado (Pink)

A Gothic Monument to America’s Glory Years

The 1959 Cadillac is more of a temple than an automobile, a Gothic memorial to America’s glory years. It was overly long, low, and overstyled, and it was the 50s’ final flourish. The 59’s outlandish space-age appearance, weird fins, and lavish 390 cubic-inch V8 are fascinating, but the most striking aspect of the car is its blatant arrogance.

The United States was the most powerful nation in the 1950s. America believed it could reach the moon because it had plenty of cash, military force, arrow-straight motorways, and Marilyn Monroe. When the 59 Caddy emerged, however, the nationalistic high was fading. The Russians had launched Sputnik, Castro was becoming friendly with Krushev, and there were race riots in the United States. A decade of glamour, glitz, and wealth was closing. America, and especially her Cadillacs, would never be the same.

Interior

The standard lavish fare on a 1959 Convertible includes power brakes, steering, and auto transmission, as well as power windows, two-speed windshield wipers, and a two-way power seat.

Ultimate Fin Fashion

The ’59s had the wackiest fins of any car ever, elbow high. Cadillac’s fins were a trademark aviation cliche, calculated to lend lifeless steel the allure of speed, modernity, and escape.

Sources

Willson, Q. (1997). Classic American cars. DK Pub.

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