1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car

[Ctynes57]

Fellow member Jim Jordan was at the 2006 Texarkana showing of the Town Car.  He had his picture taken sitting in the passenger compartment of the car.  He then took a 1956 GM Motorama brochure and photo shopped it as the background of his Texarkana picture.  The total combination became his 2006 Christmas card to his friends.  I would suggest every CLC member getting on his Christmas card list!    Charles D. Barnette

[Ctynes57]

Here is a 2006 picture of the motor that RM Auctions put in place to operate the Town Car.  With this picture I rest my case as to the beauty and elegance of the 1956 Eldorado Brougham Town Car!!  Charles D. Barnette

[veesixteen]

Here are a couple of slightly better images for those who collect them.
The greenish one is from "Road & Track" for Jan. 1957.
The French ad is from an unknown (as yet) French newspaper-quality weekly; on the flip side is newly-elected Egyptian premier, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was "making waves" in international circles for having decided unilaterally,  on 26 July 1956, to nationalize the Suez Canal Company.

[veesixteen]

Funny you should have made up a miniature Town Car from the Revell scale model of the regular 1957 Eldorado Brougham.  I did exactly the same thing, back in the 70s.  Here's a (poor) pic. I've shown it beside the "Arpege" perfume atomizer that was delivered with each regular 1956-58 Broughams.

BTW, what color is the outer casing (leather?) of the Evans vanity case included in the Town Car's appointments? Was it part of the original equipment? Was a perfume atomizer also included?

[Charles D. Barnette]

Yann the cosmetic kit from the Town Car is beige leather on the outside with the kit trimmed in gold rather than silver like the ones in our production EBs. I believe the kit to be original to the Town Car. There was no perfume atomizer or any other perfume bottle for the Town Car. Charles D. Barnette

[Ctynes57]

Here are two pictures taken by my friend Zack in Texarkana in 2006.  These are two of my favorite photos of this car.  Charles D. Barnette

[Ctynes57]

Here are two more of Zack's photos of the Town Car in Texarkana in 2006.  These two have to rank among my favorite photos of the car as well.  Charles D. Barnette

[Quentin Hall Australia]

    G'day Charles,
                      Your question time starts now.  I recently noticed that the front inner wheel well on production 57/58 Broughams was made of fibreglass and questioned why it was made that way when it is a very simple form that could have been stamped in steel, as was the case of the rest of the production body panels. This lh and rh piece is the only fibreglass panel on the whole car. 
    Was the whole of the Town Car made of fibreglass and do you know if it was hand laid (ie rough resin cast on the inner side)? Or were some of the panels that were common to the production car made in steel (like the trunk and hood and front guards. I do remember reading somewhere that the front bumpers were cast in fibreglass and chromed.) I wonder if the Town car predated the actual production run of steel panels?  What was the wooden treatment of the cowl that I noticed in your photos? . Was it really built just like a styling buck? 
      I guess some of the same fibreglass questions apply to the LeMans.
PS I love Zack's photo looking from the front high up. Whose shoulders did he stand on Proportions look very elegant.   

      Regards. Q

[Charles D. Barnette]

Quentin, Zack's great overhead photo was made with him standing on a very tall ladder that is used in the museum for changing light bulbs in the tall ceilings of the museum. My understanding is that the whole car is fiberglas, and that is how it weathered the outdoors so well during its very long time at Warhoops. Although the wood would suggest a styling buck, the car really was much more than that as I have tried to prove with my pictures. I think GM simply ran out of time in making it a fully opertional vehicle before the 1956 Motorama began. Remember that both the 1955 Eldorado Brougham and the 1956 EB prototype were steel bodied. Thank you for your posts on this thread. By the way Mr. O'Quinn paid the sum of $781,100 to obtain the car in 2006. Charles D. Barnette  

[Ctynes57]

When the Town Car came to Texarkana in 2006, she had become a Texan spending three days in Arkansas.  We called on two "Motorama Girls" to help display her.  In the first picture is a niece of one of our local museum members.  In the second picture is my beloved mother who left this world in the same year that owner John O'Quinn did in 2009.  I plead guilty to being emotionally attached to the Town Car!  Charles D. Barnette

[Ctynes57]

The ultimate for an Eldorado Brougham owner in my opinion is to have your EB photographed with the EB Town Car.  Here are my EB #590 and the EB Town Car together at the Four States Auto Museum in Texarkana in 2006.  Charles D. Barnette

[Charles D. Barnette]

If Harley Earl were alive today he would praise the documented existence still of 2 1953 Cadillac Le Mans, the 59/60 Cyclone, and the 56 EB Town Car. (I am sure his first questions would however be about what happened to Oldsmobile and Pontiac.) Years before his retiremant from GM in 58/59, Mr. Earl had created a group of women called "Damsels of Design" to help "feminize" the American automobile. There is proof that they "feminized" by colors and accessories at least ten vehicles, one of which was called the Cadillac Baroness (probably a 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville). My question is whether or not we can thank the "Damsels of Design" for the feminie amenities (such as the Evans cosmetic case and the French perfume) in our beloved EBs and also those amenities in the EB Town Car (recognizing that a cigar humidor is not exactly feminine)? Charles D. Barnette

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

If Harley Earl was alive, and still working on design, etc, he would be questioning why these vehicles weren't destroyed as per the instructions, and would be praising his latest creations.

These "Designers" are always looking 5 to 10 years ahead in what they are offering to the public, as once it is in production, they are way past that design, and on to the one to be built after the next model.

Bruce.

[Ctynes57]

Here is a photo from 1999 at Dick Baruk's place in Michigan showing me (in tux) with the Town Car.  To the right of the Town Car are 4 "chrome tops" and to the left of the Town Car is a fin of another "chrome top".  It was EB Heaven!  Charles D. Barnette

[Charles D. Barnette]

To me the crowning jewel of the legacy of Harley Earl from the first LaSalle to the great GM Motoramas was the EB family of automobiles. Each production Eldorado Brougham (57-60) represents a part of the great GM Motoramas plus the preceding trilogy (55 EB prototype, 56 EB prototype, and the 56 EB Town Car) of show EBs. Mr. Earl reached for the stars through the EBs, and that reach may never be equaled again in the automotive field of human endeavors and artifacts. In 2011 we find the EBs on the international stage owned from Canada, to the USA, to Switzerland, to Australia, to the Netherlands, to Norway, to United Arab Emirates, and to the United Kingdom. This weekend I took #590 to the local airport in Atlanta (Texas not Georgia) for a photo session with some vintage airplanes. It is appropriate for the EB to be photographed with vintage airplanes, since Harley Earl received ideas for car designs from the airplane. Carla will soon post the photo results from this photo encounter. Charles D. Barnette

[Davidinhartford]

Thanks Charles for the great photos and EB stories.

I came across these two photos this morning.   I have never seen the inside of the rear compartment before.


.


David

[Ctynes57]

Here are photos of #590 and a 1958 red and white Tri-Pacer Piper (known for its speed due to a wing-span of only 30 feet). Charles D. Barnette

[Ctynes57]

3 of 3  Charles D. Barnette

[Ctynes57]

Here are photos of #590 and a yellow, restored 1947 Piper Cub (this type of plane was built from 1938 to 1947 - this one is the 11th of the last one built).  EB #590 used its loud horn to clear the runway at this local airport of deer at night so that a Cessna could take off safely.  The EB was quite a hit at this airport.  Charles D. Barnette

[Ctynes57]

3 of 3.  Charles D. Barnette