Featured is a beauty of a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Hardtop. A true classic Cadillac automobile with luxurious and eye catching styling.
By the 1950’s Cadillac was the leader in the luxury car category. Much of this had to do with changes beginning after 1940 when Cadillac stopped production of the LaSalle. The LaSalle was considered entry-level sub Cadillacs. From that point forward Cadillac concentrated on building only what was referred to as prestige automobiles.
The first use of the Seville name was on a hardtop version of the 1956 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, the pinnacle of luxury for the GM nameplate.
The Seville coupe was Cadillac’s production version of a special car shown at the 1955 Motorama called the Celebrity.
1957 Cadillac Styling
Cadillac was restyled and re-engineered for 1957.
In 1956 only 532 Eldorado examples were sold in that first year. The following year Cadillac reduced the price of the Eldorado by more than $2000 making it more reasonable and affordable for more buyers.
The 1957 model year saw the Eldorado as a Biarritz Convertible, Seville Hardtop and even a extremely rare hand-built four-door Eldorado Brougham body style. Only 400 of the Brougham’s were produced in 1957. The Cadillac Eldorado Seville received distinctive rear-end styling for 1957. In fact,for both 1957 and 1958 the Eldorado models had entirely different rear-end styling compared to the standard Cadillac line. The only difference in the rear from 1957 to 1958 Eldorado Seville was with the bumper and trim while the overall rear design was the same. The rear fender line swept down to a single round taillight on each side.
In regards to the Eldorado Seville, the interiors were offered in either full leather or in a combination of Florentine pattern metallic nylon.
There was no hood ornament on the 57 Eldorado which gave a much more smoother frontal appearance. Overall, the ’57 was more readily distinguishable from other Cadillacs than any Eldorado since the original. Oddly enough, the dual four-barrel carburetion was dropped this year, and standard horsepower backed off slightly to 300 despite an increase in compression ratio.
1960 was the last year for the Eldorado Seville.The name however would be used again fifteen years later as a smaller sized Cadillac. The Seville was produced again by Cadillac between 1975 and 2004 as a smaller-sized, premium model. The STS replaced the Seville in 2004.
1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Specifications
The powerplant for the 1957 Eldorado Seville was more powerful than what you could find on other Cadillac models at the time. The 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville was equipped with a 365 cubic inch dual carburetor V-8 engine delivering 325 HP.
Transmission was a four speed Hydra-Matic automatic.
Brakes were four wheel hydraulic drums.
Dimensions included an overall outside length of 222.1 inches, width of 80 inches, height 57.9 inches, and a wheelbase of 129.5 inches. Vehicle curb weight was about 4,700 lbs.
Related Auto Museum Online articles are found on the links below…
1958 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible
1960 Cadillac Biarritz Convertible
Reference material for this article includes Cadillac Database… The Cadillac Story: The Post War Years by Thomas Bonsall…Cadillac: The Tailfin Years by Robert J Headrick Jr…Classic Cars: The Definitive Visual History.
The 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Collector Car
The Cadillac Eldorado had a storied history beginning with the first model, a 1953 Golden Anniversary special edition. For forty-nine years Cadillac produced the Eldorado and it’s sub-models. Everyone appears to have their favorite examples which do include the 1953 special edition along with the 1957 and 1958 models.
The 1957 Eldorado Brougham which was hand built and is very rare with only 400 examples hand built, was sold new at a stunning $13,000 in 1957. Today, a restoration to concours standards was sold at just under $300,000 at auction.
The 1957 Eldorado Biarritz might be priced currently in the $125,000 plus range. The 1957 Biarritz sold new at about $7,700. The Eldorado Seville in concours restoration standards sold at auction for $150,000.
(Article and photos copyright Auto Museum Online)