A Flair For The Dramatic
by Dan Burger

From the mid-1950s through the early 1960s, automotive styling took us on a wild ride. The practicality of the early 1950s was left in the dust and the race was on for longer, lower, bigger, faster, and more stylish cars. As the low-priced cars became more powerful and luxurious, expensive cars were pushed to maintain their level of distinction. -*

That brings us to the 1959 Cadillac, one of those rare automobiles that imprinted its image on the minds of everyone who saw it from the day it was new. It is arguably the most recognizable car of all time, and it has come to symbolize flashy opulence. Some have described it as ostentatious - even a grotesque display of excessive exuberance - but without question this car exhibits an unleased spirit that is sadly lacking in many automobile designs. The '59 Cadillac dared to be extreme, and it did so in fine fashion.

The late-1950s era in America was energized by space-age dreaming and imagination. Aviation had long played a role in automotive design, but the creative thinking went slightly ballistic as elements of rockets and missiles became powerful symbols. The '59 Cadillac has a lot of Flash Gordon in it. The wrap-around windshield also wrapped over the top. On the pillarless four-door sedans, the back window also implemented the wrap-around feature promoting the concept of panoramic vision. Of all the futuristic styling features, the protruding jet-pod taillights placed high on the blade of the sharply contoured tail fins define this car. Below the fins, the bumper takes on rocket-inspired exhaust appearance.

About 10 years ago, amid the wildest speculation the collector car hobby has ever seen, prices for pristine Eldorado convertibles reached a stratospheric $100,000 and more. Those who took the bait at that price are still attempting to remove the hook from their mouths. However, these immaculately restored cars still command top dollar among the best of the post-war collectibles. Recent reports indicate sale prices in the $70,000 to $80,000 range for top-quality Eldorado convertibles; $40,000 to $50,000 for the best Series 62 convertibles, and $25,000 to $30,000 for the most desirable Eldorado coupes. The car has such panache that even the four-door sedans have great appeal, and the best of these models rarely exceed $20,000. If you're looking for a wonderful driver-quality car, the prices are about half of the top-quality cars. As was the nature of Cadillac, there were limited-production models such as the Fleetwood Sixty Specials, the Series 75 formal models, and the Eldorado Broughams. The broughams were hand-built bodies from the custom shop of noted Italian manufacturer Pininfarina. For comparable-quality cars, prices fall below the convertibles and coupes, but higher than the production sedans, in most instances.

According to figures tabulated by the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, the second most popular car in the club is the 1959 Cadillac, with 414 cars registered. (Most popular car, by the way, is the 1941 Cadillac.) And close behind, with 382 registered, is the 1960 Cadillac.

"In the late 1980s when the prices of 1959 and 1960 Cadillacs soared, many of these cars received high-quality restorations," according to Richard Sills, president of the Cadillac-La Salle Club. The meteoric rise in value probably caused many of these cars, that otherwise would have been scrapped, to be preserved and restored." Sills also noted that "because these cars were deemed collectible at a relatively early age, many fine original examples survive. My personal favorites are those cars that were never restored because they never deteriorated significantly."

Mike West, owner of the 1959 Series 62 convertible seen here, is a long-time Cadillac enthusiast. Without actually counting, he estimated there are about 60 Cadillacs on his property. Most are from the era of 1959 to 1976, and most are parts cars, but he also maintains about 15 that are solid driver-quality automobiles. West enjoys his cars and he puts them to good use by making them available to the entertainment industry. This classic '59 convertible has been in TV shows such as "ER" and "Any Day Now," as well as in movies such as "Rising Sun" and "Mafia." It all started with an unsolicited call from a car broker who finds cars for TV and film producers and advertising agencies. Now West has a scrapbook full of photos and newspaper and magazine articles about his cars and their roles in various broadcast and print productions. Within the past year, this Cadillac has been in about a half dozen film projects.

"When 20th Century Fox was looking for a car for the movie "Rising Sun," they paid me $100 to bring the car up so they could look at it," West said. "At the time it was painted sort of an off-white color - the color it was when I bought it in 1985 - and it had a white top. The director wanted a turquoise car and offered to repaint it. Well, the car was originally green when it came from the factory, and I wanted to repaint it the original green. The movie studio agreed to that."

Not only did the Cadillac get a paint job, but the studio also paid for a new top and for replating the bumpers.

In retrospect West said, "It was a big learning experience for me. You make mistakes...things you wish you had handled different." He explained that the green paint is "very close to the original factory paint color, but the paint job is not real good - some dents were painted over, for instance." Most people would never notice. It looks as good as it probably did in 1960 or '61.

During the 15 years West has owned the car, he estimated he had driven it about 30,000 miles - the odometer indicated "a smidgen under 100,000" when he brought it home. "Mechanically I've done very little to it," he said. "I replaced a water pump, radiator, and the lower ball joints. It runs like a peach." West said the serial numbers indicate the original 390-cubic-inch engine is still in this car and he believes it has never been overhauled.

"When I got it the car had some pretty crappy body work. The worst was in the passenger-side rear fender, above the skirt, where some rusty areas had been 'repaired' with window screen and Bondo." Based on the '59 Cadillacs he has seen and worked on, West has concluded "bottom front-fender rust was put into the Cadillac design." It's something to watch for when buying one of these automobiles.

West does most of the work on his cars and has not found the parts search to be an impossible dream. "Parts can be found," he said. "But you can't find them as easy as parts for a '57 Chevy." In terms of reproduction items, you find mostly little things like emblems and small trim items. The original horn rings are frequently damaged because they were fragile and perhaps Cadillac drivers were prone to pounding on them to clear their path. The rings are being reproduced, but that's one item West prefers the quality of the original, and he looks to find them on parts cars.

"If you need stuff like fenders, air cleaners, or long chrome strips, you have to find it used or NOS," he said. Salvage cars play a big role in '59 Cadillac restorations. Replacement parts for the 390-cubic-inch V-8 engine are very accessible. One exception is the three, two-barrel carburetor setup (including the large round air cleaner) that was standard on Eldorado and optional of all other models. Availability of these is limited, and West said he's seen prices as high as $3,000. He calls the search for parts "the thrill of the chase".

The '59 Cadillac was typically loaded with accessories. Top of the line Eldorados and the Fleetwoods and Broughams were especially well endowed. Power windows (including power vent windows on some cars), power door locks (some electric and some vacuum), six-way power seats (two-way power seats were less popular), power trunk releases with the power pull-down closing mechanism, power antennas, cruise controls, automatic headlight dimming controls, and air conditioning are some of the convenience items that are sometimes intimidating to the do-it-yourself restoration hobbyist.

The most controversial of Cadillac's features during this era was the air-suspension mechanism. Often it has been maligned as a bad idea when it was introduced and a pain in the rear for restorers. In 1959 it was a standard feature on the Eldorados and Broughams, and optional on the other models. Through the years many cars that were originally equipped with air suspension, had the system replaced with the more conventional coil spring setup. There were so many problems when the cars were new that the dealers converted quite a few. West has seen some shade tree conversions that were "real hatchet jobs," causing more problems than they supposedly fixed.

Although his '59 doesn't have this feature, he has restored and driven cars with air suspension and the enthusiastically prefers it over the coil spring alternative. "Air suspension is much better than springs when comparing ride and cornering, but most guys are scared of it because of bad stories over the years." West's contention is that modern technology has introduced soft rubber parts that make the system very workable now. He estimates the cost of completely restoring an air suspension system at about $4,000 just for the parts. It's not an easy job to restore this system and West suggests finding someone with experience rather than attempting a do-it-yourself project.

Overall the '59 Cadillac is mechanically sound and it makes a good restoration project. The engines and transmission are dependable and the bodies have held up well compared to other cars of the late 1950s and early 1960s. But even though this classic has plenty of substance, it's still the image and the style that commands attention and appreciation, especially by younger enthusiasts who are just getting into the hobby. Few cars have ever been this daring, and fewer still have looked so good doing it. Flamboyance and status rolled into one car that almost everyone still aspires to own and drive.