1955 Cadillac Eldorado
For anyone who considers themselves a Cadillac enthusiast, and that must be most people reading this magazine, there is one word in particular which invokes a strong feeling of admiration and desire: Eldorado. That word, which is almost synonymous with Cadillacs today, had not yet acquired its legendary status when Andrew and Lynne Collier’s 1955 example was built.
The Eldorado name was used for the first time in 1953, when it simply denoted an even more upmarket, limited-production version of the Series 62 convertible coupe. There would not be a choice of Eldorados until 1956, when Cadillac introduced the Seville hardtop and the Biarritz convertible. The range peaked between 1957 and 1960, when the hyper-luxurious Eldorado Brougham hardtop sedan was offered, after which it was restricted to coupes and convertibles, and sometimes just one or the other.
Asking enthusiasts to agree on what was the Eldorado’s greatest iteration would be impossible, but there’d certainly be a lot of votes in favour of the mid-Fifties cars, which undoubtedly represent the model at its most elegant. Harley Earl’s styling team made their work look effortless, with the Cadillacs of that period displaying
