1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car

[Charles D. Barnette]

This one of a kind Motorama car is due to go across the auction block in less than two months from now. Who among us can purchase it and donate it to the club museum where it belongs? Charles D. Barnette

[Davidinhartford]

Agreed.   This car needs to be in the Cadillac Museum.  Right next to the Cyclone and the Lemans.



it came along way from this

[Jim Thompson]

I have to confess, that is an ugly car. That being said, what a great restoration job! I am glad she was brought back from the grave and I hope it is placed where it can be viewed and enjoyed.

[Derham]

I hope that is an exceedingly tall, exceeding large gentleman riding on the right hand side of the chauffeur's bench - otherwise this is a kiddy car.

I have always liked the Town Car concept.  Such an elegant look when used on a long sleek limousine.   I think Rolls-Royce Motorcars called their version a Sedanca DeVille - a very handsome look when applied to the later versions of the James Young Coachbuilt Phantom V limousines.  



So much more elegant than the polar opposite of the Town Car, a vehicle with a hard top covering the chauffeur's cabin and a convertible top which folded down to expose the rear cabin.  Rolls-Royce Motorcars called this awkward treatment of the Phantom V limousine a "State Landaulette," and you had to be a Head of State to exercise this much bad taste without someone along the Parade route shouting, "The Emperor has no clothes!."  (click to enlarge image for full wince inducing effect):
http://www.remarkablecars.com/for-sale/heads-of-state-cars/p7765-1966-rolls-royce-phantom-v-state-landaulette.html

Recently, Maybach has tried to resurrect Rolls-Royce Motorcars' rare lapse in taste by crafting their own version of the Landaulet from their Maybach 62s limousine.  The results are less elegant and more expensive than the Rolls-Royce Motorcar.  Note to Maybach designers: all-white limousines are for weddings - and few brides will want their perfectly coifed hair windblown by their car.  
http://www.maybachusa.com/landaulet/maybach-landaulet.php
Quite a good choice if Sir Elton John wants to attend the White Party at Vizcaya, but otherwise limousines are stately, and stately implies dark colors, black (for most of us), claret for the Windsors, and a particular dark shade of green for the Rockefellers.  White limousines are for Prom and for Wedding rentals by the hour.
Here is a video of the deployment of the Maybach Landaulet top and boarding of the owner.  Amusingly, unless the lady is a Titled Royal or Head of State and the gentleman a commoner, Maybach's protocol consultant got the seating position dead wrong, though they managed to get the seating order correct.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njhijVpV8lY

On this side of The Pond, Derham Coachbuilders in Rosemont, PA applied the Town Car treatment to a number of Cadillacs and other premium marks:

A 1940 Cadillac V16 Series 90 with Coachwork and Town Car treatment by Derham (see the pull-out emergency rain shield for the chauffeur?)
http://image.motortrend.com/f/10483928+w750/112_0808_12z+1940_Cadillac_V-16_Series_90_Derham_Town_Car+front_three_quarters_view.jpg

And a 1941 Cadillac with Town Car treatment also by Derham Coachworks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carphotosbyrichard/4023432203/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carphotosbyrichard/4023436095/in/photostream/

And a 1942 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine with Town Car treatment by Derham used in the Hollywood film "Unfaithfully Yours" in 1948 (curiously with the emergency rain shield deployed spoiling the elegant effect):
http://imcdb.org/vehicle_316212-Cadillac-Fleetwood-75-7559-1942.html

I find it amusing that the only one of the Big Three to launch a luxury model actually called the Town Car never actually offered the Town Car treatment to the model - there was no Lincoln Town Car Town Car.

I know there is a leather pull out roof on many Town Cars that can be deployed from the main cabin roof to cover the chauffeur's bench in a rainstorm.  Was there a hardtop cover as well - like the Targa cover on a Porsche 911?  Here is a YouTube clip showing deployment of the emergency rain shield on a Pre-War Rolls-Royce Motorcar in the film "Gosford Park."  For the film, I suspect the emergency rain shield was modified by the props department and made slack to make the shield less effective so as to serve the interest of the narrative:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_PzxurJiSY

-Ray Freeman
Atlanta

[David King (kz78hy)]

In this day in age, the whole concept of this style of car is nonsense. 

Who would want to drive a car exposed like that in sub-zero weather.  Further more, who would want to look out onto the paid person driving it today in those same conditions?

The styling of the "Town car" look are wonderful period pieces, but look absurd to me today and I can't get very excited about them.

My 2 cents

David

[David King (kz78hy)]

As far as a home goes, the Cyclone and LeMans are still in the GM Heritage Center which is  not part of the CLC museum.   The CLC museum is a spin off of this club.  The Heritage Center is a sub organization of GM.  They are not connected or associated.

It would be great to have this car donated to either garage.

David

[Charles D. Barnette]

To me this car is the most beautiful Cadillac ever designed or ever will be designed. It is historically important to Cadillac having been part of the great GM Motoramas. It is a one of a kind ancestor of our production Eldorado Broughams. We do not have the original 1955 Eldorado Brougham (probably was destroyed) to preserve, but we do have the elegant Town Car. Cadillac to me is about elegance, and this car embodies elegance as none other can. The "chauffeur's phone" for the Town Car had gotten separated from the car at Warhoops salvage yard. It was sent to Joe Bortz after Mr. Bortz had purchased the car and sold the car. With the kindness of Mr. Bortz the phone was reunited with the car. However, before it was reunited with the car, the phone in its unrestored condition spent one night in Texarkana with me in the year 2000. Carla will soon post herein a picture of me with the unrestored chauffeur's phone. It is actually a dummy with the phone permanently attached to its base. Also Carla will post herein a picture of the restored phone put back in the chauffeur's compartment between the two front seats which was the original location for this original phone. This picture was taken in the year 2006 when the phone returned to Texarkana this time attached to the car on display at our local museum, now known as the Four States Auto Museum. Charles D. Barnette

[Ctynes57]

Here are the pictures of the Town Car's original chauffeur's phone before and after its restoration and reuniting with the Town Car as explained above. Charles D. Barnette

[Derham]

Was the Chauffeur's Phone just an intercom to a similar phone handset in the rear owner's cabin?  Or was the Chauffeur's Phone intended to be connected to a wireless operator by radio signal?  Was there a similar phone in the back?

R Freeman
Atlanta

[Charles D. Barnette]

Dear Derham, as I understand it the chauffeur's phone was simply to be an intercom with the similar phone in the back passenger compartment. The back phone is gold in color and mounted to the back of the front seats. Charles D. Barnette

[Quentin Hall Australia]

      I recall about 20 years ago a mechanic I knew said he'd just seen the ugliest Cadillac he'd ever seen, sittng on the side of the road north of Sydney with a for sale sign on it for $22 000. He really laboured the point of how ugly it was and how expensive it was  . Turns out that it was a 57 Brougham in Copenhagen blue in wonderful original condition . A friend bought it and still has it.
I did not use that mechanic again.
      But I kind of understand that the Brougham Town Car is an aquired taste to new eyes. I can only imagine what it must have been like wandering around Warhoops looking for Pinto hubcaps to be confronted by it sitting there as in the photo. Wow. It was caught between predicting the future and the honouring the past.
      One thing that stirkes me about the "standard" Brougham is how compact it is in comparison to other Cadillacs of the era. It is diminutive in some regards. Perhaps feminine is the best description. I hope I am not falling in love.
      Anyhow gotta go I am caressing. . .  er. . . working on one now.
     

[Charles D. Barnette]

The 1956 EB Town Car combined "contemporary design with outstanding characterestics of the classic town car". It made its debut at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City in January of 1956 on the GM Motorama circuit. Then following out the show circuit it went to Miami (Feb.), Los Angeles (March), and Boston (April). In Oct. of 1956 it was in Paris, France, for the Paris Salon auto show. The French people went wild over it! It was also on display in Toronto, Canada, in Nov/Dec of 1956. Then sadly (I speculate about 1959), GM sought destruction of the car and sent it to Warhoops Used Auto and Truck Parts in Michigan. Happily it was not destroyed and due to it being made out of fiberglas weathered the elements very well until our hero Joe Bortz rescued the car in 1989 by purchasing it from Warhoops. Mr. Bortz then sold the car to Roy Warshawsky, owner of J. C. Whitney & Co. Restoration of the car thus began. Unfortunately Mr. Warshawsky died before the restoration was completed. The family of Mr. Warshawsky ended up selling the car through its agents to Mr. Dick Baruk, another hero, of Michigan who completed the restoration without a motor for the car. It was under his ownership that I got to see the car in 1999 which was a highlight of my life. I greeted it and approximately 6 production EBs in Dick's warehouse in Michigan with me dressed in a tuxedo. On Feb. 11, 2006, the car was sold by RM Auctions with a motor in place to Mr. John M. O'Quinn of Houston, Texas. (My source of info is David Temple's Motorama book). The car appeared on loan for display at the Tex-Ark Antique Auto Museum (aka Four States Auto Musem) of Texarkana, AR, in September of 2006. Sadly, Mr. O'Quinn died in an automobile accident in late 2009 ending Mr. O'Quinn's life long dream to create a massive public car museum in Houston, Texas. Thus this fabulous car finds itself subject again to an upcoming auction as decided by the administrators of Mr. O'Quinn's Estate. In my opinion the car is a national treasure as it is the Cadillac of Cadillacs. Charles D. Barnette

[Charles D. Barnette]

I want the club to a "fever pitch" to get to know the "heart and soul" of this Cadillac, Motorama survivor (I am one of very few who got to actually drive the car). To that end, Carla will soon began posting some unique photos of the car herein. Now as a personal note to my fellow Eldorado Brougham owners and lovers of the EB, I can feel the presence of Cy and Al when I write about the EB Town Car masterpiece. This car is uniquely part of our history having elegantly set the stage for the introduction of our beloved production EBs. Simply put, the EB Town Car went before and paved the way for us! Charles D. Barnette

[Derham]

Here is an additional photo of the car from the front quarter (which I think is a kinder angle for this car), from the GM Photo Store.  I understand this car was on display in the ballroom for GM's 100th Anniversary, and I suspect this photo is from that event, rather than an original photo from the Motoramas.

http://www.gmphotostore.com/1956-Cadillac-Eldorado-Brougham-Town-Car/productinfo/53217475/


And additional photos from the same Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance parade shown by the OP:

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z11289/Cadillac-Eldorado-Brougham-Concept.aspx

(Note the famous GM Parade of Progress tour bus in the background)

[veesixteen]

That is probably the most well known of all the Brougham Town Car photos. I don't think it's a recent one. I'm guessing it was shot in Miami, at the same time as this one. It was a smart idea to hire a 5'2" chauffeur and have him stand behind the car; it males it look bigger!

[veesixteen]

I have a feeling this one too was shot at the same time as the one offered by GM.

[veesixteen]

This last one (for now) is among my favorites as it makes the town car look bigger than it really is.

[veesixteen]

Sorry, one more ... not often seen.

[Charles D. Barnette]

Yann, this picture in post "reply number 17" is a great picture. Notice the center white stripes (similar to the Pontiac Club de Mer Motorama car) of the two front tires. Also notice there are sunvisors attached to the front windshield which must be original to the car. Taking this opportunity to add to the history of the car, Dick Baruk did display the car in 2002 at the CLC Grand National in Dearborn, Michigan, celebrating the 100th birthday of Cadillac. I know because I was there, and my job was to guard the Town Car on display inside the host hotel. Further, when Mr. O'Quinn bought the car in 2006 at RM Auctions at Boca Raton, Florida, he immediately allowed it to be displayed at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Auto Show also in Florida. You will notice that in that set of pictures linked to by "Derham" on this thread, the front license plate of the car already had been changed to Mr. O'Quinn's private museum in Houston logo. Charles D. Barnette

[David King (kz78hy)]

I was waiting for a conference room to open up one day and was looking at the framed posters on the wall in VEC (Vehicle Engineering Center) and I noticed the Towncar in in the photo.  I had not seen that photo before.

Here is the link.  It has the 1956 concept cars shown to date at the time in front of the new Styling dome in Warren, MI.

http://www.gmphotostore.com/1950s-Concept-Production-Car-Lineup/productinfo/53217274/

David