1952. This was Cadillac's 50th anniversary year. There are only minor changes in styling and trim but some are specifically designed to celebrate the occasion. For example, the V decals on the hood and boot lid were done in gold. The 62 Sedan got a higher tailgate, creating extra luggage space. Reversing lights were now standard and incorporated into the taillights. At the rear, all models now feature a new Cadillac trademark, a dual exhaust system incorporated into the bumper. The decals on the trunk lid varied by series. Standards now included self-winding clocks, dual drive Hydra-Matic, improved turn signals, anti-dazzle mirror and much more. Hydra Matic for the 75 was $186, windshield washer $11, oil filter $11, power steering $198, high beam sensor $52 and power windows $139. Cadillac had the most powerful car in the US auto industry this year and sales were booming. The 1,300,000th Cadillac of all time was built.

A military order was won for T41El Walker Bulldog tanks and T41 twin 40mm gun motor vehicles for the Korean War.

Styling and horsepower sold cars in the 1950s, and no one knew that better than Cadillac. Although the styling changed from year to year, Cadillac made sure to maintain the continuity of the design, even though the car always looked "new", there could never be a mistake of being anything other than "The Standard". of the World". Cadillac also enhanced its image with some of the most stylish advertisements of the time. In the early 1950s, she produced a series of advertisements showing the car above a necklace of diamonds, emeralds or rubies, with simple, direct mini-stories below. For example, one of them told of the paperboy who had admired Cadillacs for 31 years and was now an industrialist about to buy his first: "No compromise this time!" cried the ad.

Three GM divisions celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1952 and that was celebrated with expensive limited editions, all large convertibles. Buick offered the Skylark for $5,000, which was $1,500 more expensive than a Roadmaster Convertible and Oldsmobile's 98 Fiesta, which costs $5,715. For the price difference with the Super 88 Convertible you could buy a base 88 2 on. Cadillac's anniversary model appeared in the Series 62 as the Eldorado. Only 533 were built that year, largely due to a skyrocketing price of $7,750. The 3 specials were taken off the line and partly built by hand. Even with the high selling prices, no profit was made on these models. The attractions: custom interior, special "Panoramic" windshield, sporty beltline and a metal lid instead of a canvas hood to cover the folded hood. Incidentally, 28,000 '53 Cadillacs were equipped with a Buick Dynaflow automatic after a fire at the Hydra-Matic factory in Livonia.

Eldorado, in proper Spanish, El Dorado, means "The Gilded One (the Gilded One)". Legend has it that it was a legendary golden kingdom, a place of fantastic riches that was believed to be located in the snow-capped mountains of what is now Colombia. Over the years, "Eldorado" has come to represent the best of everything: opulence, wealth, the good life. So it was a completely logical choice to use this name for a stunning new Cadillac convertible. The name was sought through an internal competition to find a name for the car marking the company's anniversary. A secretary from the merchandising department, Mary-Ann Marini, won that competition. Her winning name was adopted for the new Cadillac.

The original Eldorado can be viewed in the same light as the V16 from 23 years before. Although the Eldorado was different. Instead of staid, classical dignity, he had flair and zest and was flamboyant. But like the Sixteen, it cost the world $7,750, 87 percent more than the standard Series 62 convertible. For that kind of money, the buyer could have actually bought three cars: a Cadillac 62 convertible, a Pontiac sedan, and a Chevrolet business coupe. Also, like his ancestor of the 1930s, he was scarce. Only 532 were built in the first model year.

Many saw the Eldorado for the first time on television. The date was January 20, 1953 and Dwight D. Eisenhower, World War II's most popular hero, was wheeled down Pennsylvania Avenue to his first inauguration as President of the United States. We saw the popular new leader of the Free World riding - from above - in the back seat of this sporty, yet elegant car. By the way, think about that for a moment. 1953 is not that long ago. Yet here the President of the United States was driving in an open car. No armor plate. Not bulletproof glass. No protection and none of us thought anything of it. America had not yet lost its innocence. However, we couldn't take our eyes off that beautiful Eldorado, the most glamorous machine we'd ever seen come out of post-war Detroit.

Modeled after a 1952 'concept car', the '53 'Eldorado' was the first of GM's Harley Earl 'dream machines' to enter production, albeit on a limited scale and along with the Chevrolet Corvette from 1953. Characteristic were the new "panoramic" windshield that foreshadowed things to come. It was three inches lower than the Series 62 and had a longer, slimmer appearance, although the overall length was the same. The interior was upholstered in the finest leather and the chrome wire wheels gave an extra touch of elegance. Standard equipment included a radio, heater, tires with white sidewalls, power steering and a Hydra-Matic. Aircondition could be ordered for $620. If there was any doubt that Cadillac was supreme in the prestige class, the Eldorado took that doubt away. The futuristic Le Mans show car of 1953 had a major influence on the design of the Eldorado of 1954.

Coupes with jambs didn't make a comeback in '54, but the Eldorado did. Just a year later, Cadillac thought they had made a point with the Eldorado, but they also knew that 532 cars couldn't make money. It was time for a new kind of Eldorado, one that could be sold in large numbers and thus yield a significant profit. So the 1954 model was of a different breed and thus sold for a different price: $5,738, more than $2,000 less. Although the '54 Eldorado was easily recognizable with ribbed bare metal on the lower rear fenders and gold Cadillac logos, it was much less distinctive than the original. Still, the price was right, even though it was "only" $1,300 more expensive than the 62's. Despite a somewhat short model year, the Eldorado found 2,150 buyers. This rose to 3,950 units in '55 and twice as many for '56, when the Eldorado series was expanded with a hardtop coupe, the Seville. It was priced the same at $6,556 as the now renamed Biarritz convertible.

The 1954 Cadillac received many exterior changes. This included a lower, slimmer body and, for the first time, an integrated bumper/grill that incorporated two huge chrome bullets that soon became known as "Dagmars", in honor of well-endowed NBC TV star of the time Virginia Ruth. egnor. Round dual exhausts were incorporated into the vertical bumper ends and the rear bumper was completely redesigned. A panoramic windscreen was standard on all models. Sedans had a separate molding above the windshield, creating a built-in sunvisor effect. Coupes had a curved rear window that became known as a "Florentine" style window. A wide air intake under the windshield was now featured on all models.

The Series 62 chassis had a brand new longer wheelbase that also put them about 140 pounds heavier. A feature of this model was the lack of louvres on the rear wing. The hood and tailgate featured V decals and logos and there were full-length scuff plates in shiny metal. The Coupe DeVille's had scripts on the rear pillars of the hardtop. The Eldorado (which is still considered a Series 62) had gold decals and had ribbed panels behind the rear wheels to emphasize this part. Made of extruded aluminum, these panels also sat on a unique Eldorado coupe built for the president of Reynolds Aluminum Co. Also included with the production convertible were the wire wheels and custom interior trims and the Cadillac logo embossed on the seat backs. Automatic windshield washers, power steering, 12-volt electrical system and aluminum pistons made it to the long list of standard equipment for the first time this year. The Series 62 four-door sedan was now seven inches shorter than the other models. Another one-off creation was an exclusive Sedan DeVille. Power brakes are $48, radio $120, air conditioning $620, chrome wire wheels $325. Assembly of the 1954 models began on January 4, 1954 after a 25-day shutdown for the transition to the new production line. Fiberglass-built Cadillac show cars such as the Park Avenue four-door sedan, El Camino coupe and La Espada convertible appeared at the GM Motorama show.

Power continued to be provided by the division's landmark 331 CUI overhead valve V8 which first appeared in 1949. Although power increased from 210 to 230, there were no further changes. In fact, the numbers for '53 were intentionally understated to facilitate this business acumen. The Eldorado still had the stock Cadillac engine and impressive list of standard features of its predecessor, but it now used the exact same bodywork as the Series 62 Cabrio, with no bodywork changes as on the '53.

The 1955 Eldorado was more striking than the '54. Rocketship tail fins above the round taillights adorn the rear fender, making the Eldorado instantly recognizable. Fender skirts were eliminated and the wheel recesses were enlarged, the better to show off the flashy new "Sabre-spoke" wheels. They were intended to be introduced in the 1958 model year, but these exclusive wheels had become available exclusively for the Eldorado. An addition to the dashboard of each of these fine cars was a small brass plaque engraved with the owner's name. It was felt that Cadillac had taken it too easy in '54. The Eldorado could too easily be seen as a luxury 62 convertible. That wouldn't happen now! The other models kept the small fin taillight design that had become a Cadillac signature. The division's basic '54 look was maintained for 1955 and '56 through effective evolutionary facelifts. In 1956 Cadillac introduced the first four-door hardtop Sedan de Ville, which immediately scored almost as many sales as the Coupe de Ville and standard 62 combined.

While there have been no major changes to the appearance of Cadillacs this year, a number of refinements were apparent.

The grill was redesigned with wider spaces between the strips and the parking lights were placed directly below the headlights.

On the sides of the body, the bumpers formed a right angle with the vertical edge of the rear doors or fenders of the series 62 and 60S models. This accentuated the line of the sheet metal. The Florentine curved rear window was now also used for the sedans. Three chrome moldings bordered either side of the rear number plate. The Coupe DeVille had a gold nameplate on the C-pillar. Tubeless tires were available for the first time. The power of the Cadillac engine seemed to increase with sales. For 1955, the power reached 250 hp thanks to a higher compression (9.0: 1) and an improved manifold. The use of dual four-speed carburetors gave the Eldorado an extra dose of vitamin, bringing its advertised horsepower to 270, a number matched only by the 275-hp Packard Caribbean. According to Motor Life Magazine, this gave the Eldorado a theoretical top speed of 117 miles per hour. Remarkably, Cadillac kept the price of this beautiful car low. At $5,814, it was only $76 more expensive than the much less distinctive (and less powerful) 1954 version. Of course production went ahead again, to 3,950 units this time. That figure would be the highest ever for the open Eldorado. Motor Trend magazine reported fuel economy figures of 12.9 miles per gallon (stop-and-go) for a Series 62 sedan with the standard 250 horsepower V-8.

Total 1955 output for all models reached 140,777 units, a new record for Cadillac.

The 1955 Eldorado is a certified Milestone Car.

The Park Avenue sedan, a futuristic show car that became the predecessor to the Eldorado Brougham, appeared at the New York Motorama on January 19, 1955.

It was built in less than 74 days! Another show car seen this year was the Celebrity hardtop coupe.

William 'Bill' Mitchell