General Motors created an ingenious marketing tool with the 1953 Motorama traveling shows. The Motoramas were GM’s personal automobile shows which garnered extensive publicity that was not shared with any of their competitors. All three of the upscale divisions of General Motors-Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac, had prestige convertible “dream”cars that were dramatic in design but close enough to the production models that they were ready to manufacture. Named Fiesta, Skylark and Eldorado, they entered limited production during the year. Based on the Series 62 convertible, the Eldorado was an upscale version of the already expensive Cadillac and, as a result, the production numbers were significantly smaller than those for the Series 62 Cadillacs.

As America advanced through the 1950s, so did Cadillac. Mid-Century modern design cues were incorporated the new car’s interior appointments and space travel found it to the exterior designs in the way of rear tail fins which increased in size with each passing year. The cars improved mechanically as well. In 1957 a new tubular x-frame was introduced which gave the cars greater structural rigidity and provided for lower body lines. The chassis was fitted with Cadillacs 365 cid V-8 engines which were equipped with dual-quad carburetors and increased horsepower-a standard feature which was only found in the Eldorado models.

The success of the Eldorado inspired the creation of a companion style, a hardtop coupe, for 1956. To distinguish the two, the coupe was designated “Seville,” the convertible the glitzier-sounding “Biarritz.” For 1957, the Eldorado was given a distinctive tail treatment, with rounded flanks, each bearing a single shark-like fin. Biarritz convertible production was 1,800 that year and the vehicles carried a base price of nearly $7,300.00. This is a stark comparison to the standard Series 62 Cadillac convertible which had a base price of $5,225.00 and a production total of 9,000. Elvis Presley was one of the first purchasers of the newly introduced 1957 Biarritz.

Finished in Alpine White, this 1957 Eldorado Biarritz has excellent body contours and paint. The doors, hood and trunk lid fit the body well with nice gaps and margins. The paint shows only small amounts of wear and has a great overall gloss and look. The black convertible top is very clean and is fitted with a white fiberglass parade boot when it is in the lowered position. The complementing red and whiteinterior presents well and matches the quality seen in the rest of the car. The engine bay shows signs of use but is generally clean and presentable and the chassis and underbody are in similar condition. It is equipped with the standard Eldorado features of power steering, power brakes and power seat, as well as a Wonderbar signal-seeking radio, sabre wheels, and fresh-air heater. Overall, this is a pretty older restoration, a nice driver that is ready to use and enjoy.

If you own a 1957 Eldorado Biarritz that you would like to sell, contact us about our car consignment program. We can handle the entire process from start to finish.

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