1961 Eldorado Concept Motorama Show Car

[Quentin Hall]

G'day Nadeem,
                 Well done on picking up this up. Whether or not has SO on the tag there is no question that it is something special and that the modifications present were performed directly or under the hand of Cadillac styling.  In the short term, I would do nothing in terms of restoration other than preservation; tending to things like brakes, electrical , safety  until you have documented and gathered all the information (and cash) that you can find. You hardly want to pull a car like that apart without very carefully thinking about it as it could easily be a six figure resto to put it back again. I should know I have had a two 53 Eldos apart for nearly 10 years as my hobby evolved and other projects came up.
        Certainly some of the cosmetics could be addresssed but (as we have all found) one thing tends to lead to another and very easily you can end up with a car in 5000 pieces and a minimum 5000 man hr undertaking.   
       Your car has survived this long together so I think it is worth preserving that integrity for as long as possible to sort out all the unique details.  The parade boot is very interesting as 1960 was the last factory parade boot and the one on your car has  unique 61 styling.  I also like the fully covered bucket seats and filled fins. It will be interesting to see how the modifcations were performed on things like the hood. Was it a new stamping or was it built up in sheetmetal over an original hood. Same goes for things like the bumper overriders. Are they stamped or cast. All these little stories will reveal themselves in time.
        There is no question that it would be stunning fully restored . But equally it is none the less stunning as it sits.
        Regards. Q
         
       

[N Kahn]

Quentin, the hood appears to be a fresh stamping, there is a reinforcing skin. There isn't enough light to really see inside the fins to tell if they're filled, I think they are, hopefully they were welded in and hopefully not ust merely leaded. The lower bumper might well be cast, I think it's steel but it might not be, I haven't checked with a magnet, the chrome is peeling off of it as it does on poorly prepped aluminum. The hood bar is cast for sure and is peeling very badly. What I thought was rust separation on the hood edge is actually the chrome lifting off the hood molding.

R. Waligora, you should be lucky I didn't accept your persistent offers or you might have ended up with an 'ordinary' car that needs a six figure restoration. Your opinions of a car you haven't even seen are somewhat presumptuous. Your attempts to discourage me are not working.

Ralph, I have ribbed aluminum trim on my 66 Riviera also that are involved factory pieces, the ones on here are just lengths of extrusions cut and rounded to fit, there are no caps or anything and they are screwed on with visible hardware, and they look very much like tacked on afterthought. Also Ralph, someone told me that other than the center caps, the turbine style wheelcovers on the Corvette are the same as the Riviera, is this true?

I will take endless pictures.

Luckily there is very little stainless steel on this car, the 59 El Camino I'm just about finished with has miles and it took me untold hours to straighten and polish.

I found the missing passenger side fender to headlight rubber filler, but it is cracked and perished, the driver's side isn't long for this world and both will have to made from scratch.

[76eldo]

I think that the custom Parade Boot (and I did think 60 was the last year too) seals the deal for me that this car was a factory custom used for shows and display.  No one could make a boot like that other than the factory.

Quite a find.

Brian

[N Kahn]

I think that the custom Parade Boot (and I did think 60 was the last year too) seals the deal for me that this car was a factory custom used for shows and display.  No one could make a boot like that other than the factory.

Quite a find.

Brian

We shall see, it also has an upholstered boot.

I can take close ups of the parade boot clasps to see if they're like any earlier factory ones, they are chrome plated die cast.

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

"Also Ralph, someone told me that other than the center caps, the turbine style wheelcovers on the Corvette are the same as the Riviera, is this true?"

Nadeem,
I'm not sure I understand the question. I did the aluminum rocker panels as a favor for a friend.... who is doing me a favor on my Eldorado. I'm not a 'vette guy and can't visualize the turbine wheels you mention.

I've been looking at the pics you've posted and I’m amazed at what an extraordinary find. In addition to the '50s Motorama "dream cars",  GM typically built show or theme cars for every annual show. They were usually production cars with special styling modifications to preview forthcoming styling trends. Other than the ’56 Maharini, the ’58 Rain Car and one ’57 Eldorado 4 dr Sedan Seville,  I’m not aware of any other styling survivors. Not long ago we had numerous questions on this board asking what became of the '64 Cadillac Florentine coupe, which is just one that’s unaccounted for. I suspect most ended up with some GM executive and then passed into the general public when it was a used car. It must have been nice to be a Prince in GM during those days. You’ve got something really special……Enjoy it.


Ralph

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Nadeem,

You have an email that needs to be attended to.

Bruce,
CLC Message Board Administrator

[N Kahn]

Nadeem,
I'm not sure I understand the question. I did the aluminum rocker panels as a favor for a friend.... who is doing me a favor on my Eldorado. I'm not a 'vette guy and can't visualize the turbine wheels you mention.

I've been looking at the pics you've posted and I’m amazed at what an extraordinary find. In addition to the '50s Motorama "dream cars",  GM typically built show or theme cars for every annual show. They were usually production cars with special styling modifications to preview forthcoming styling trends. Other than the ’56 Maharini, the ’58 Rain Car and one ’57 Eldorado 4 dr Sedan Seville,  I’m not aware of any other styling survivors. Not long ago we had numerous questions on this board asking what became of the '64 Cadillac Florentine coupe, which is just one that’s unaccounted for. I suspect most ended up with some GM executive and then passed into the general public when it was a used car. It must have been nice to be a Prince in GM during those days. You’ve got something really special……Enjoy it.


Ralph

I thought you were a 'vette guy too. I'll take really good pictures of the rocker trim for you and you can assess the damage. It almost looks like it was caught on a garage door or something, it's not really damaged elsewhere.

[N Kahn]

G'day Nadeem,

You have an email that needs to be attended to.

Bruce,
CLC Message Board Administrator

Where?

[rwchatham CLC 21892]

Nadeem, you misunderstood me, I never called the car ordinary. I said if it comes back with an ordinary build sheet.  Without the build sheet or the trim tag showing it was built by gm it will be hard to document gm actually built it. In the old car hobby documentation is everything. With no documentation a customizer could have built the car for a customer that wanted to duplicate the show car after seeing it at the show. Google 62 chicago auto show and see the corvettes that were done by gm for the show that have been located and the tags cleary state the s.o. on them.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Where? 

G'day Nadeem,

You have been sent three emails requesting you comply with the Rules of Posting, regarding using your correct name, as in minimum of First Initial, and full Surname.

The emails were sent to the email address which you listed in your Profile, which you have hidden from the Membership, but is readable by the Administrators.

It would appear that if you haven't been receiving the emails, then your listed email address is incorrect, and requires correcting.

Trust you understand,

Bruce.

[Series75]

Browsing through Cadillac of the Sixties by Roy Schneider I see on page 81 a picture of a fiberglass full size rendering of the 1963 Eldorado.   Check out the Hood and its similarity to Nadeem's car.  Also what we can see of the hard boot looks as if it came from this car.  Finally it's interesting to note that this '63 mock up was built in 1961.  Was Nadeem's car in the same studio at the same time? 
Tom CLC#6866

[N Kahn]

   
G'day Nadeem,

You have been sent three emails requesting you comply with the Rules of Posting, regarding using your correct name, as in minimum of First Initial, and full Surname.

The emails were sent to the email address which you listed in your Profile, which you have hidden from the Membership, but is readable by the Administrators.

It would appear that if you haven't been receiving the emails, then your listed email address is incorrect, and requires correcting.

Trust you understand,

Bruce.

Will do, thank you.

[N Kahn]

Check out this photo, it's a very high quality one, you can zoom in and see the tinted plastic insert on the driver's sun visor. I can't make out the wheels and/or hubcaps


http://qrdestination.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/1962CadillacExhibit.jpg

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Will do, thank you.   

Are you actually receiving the emails that are being sent to you?

If not, then please check your email address that is in your Profile, as you are not complying with the Rules of Posting, and as such, run the risk of having your non-compliant postings being deleted.

Thanks,

Bruce.

[N Kahn]

Bruce, it's a valid email, I'm not receiving any PMs though.

[quadfins]

The essential point here, is that the rules of posting require first name (or initial), and full last name. That is the message that has been sent several times. Forum moderators prefer to send private messages as behind-the-scenes reminders, but as those messages have not been getting through, it has been necessary to "go public". All you need to do is change your profile, or be sure that you include full name on your posts. No big problem...
Jim

[N Kahn]

Is this correct? Test. I hope so.

[quadfins]

Looks fine to me.

Have at it...

Jim

[David King (kz78hy)]

Great car.

After looking at the body tag, that car started life as a regular production car.  Now that is a early number (554) and I googled when the 1961 Chicago auto show was and it was Feb 18-26, 1961.  So there is a possibility that body was pucked out for a quick modification for that show.  There would be an additional tag added somewhere on the car noting the rework.  That would most likely serve as the assest tag for cost accounting while the car was in use by the corporation.  Most show cars do not to have production labels under the hood and accessories like spare tires and jacks, so those would have been added later if the car was transferred for retail sale.

Some details on the body look cobbled and not a normal planned show car construction.  Others look spot on for a one off show car details.  Mainly the interior items look like the real deal.

The paint tag on the door jam lists Imron as available and Dulux was used.  I was in auto body vocational school in 1979 and as I recall, Imron had just came out, expensive, catalyst paint.  Dulux was the cheapest paint of the four listed.  (at least that is what my 30+ year memory is telling me).  So the car was painted late 70's early 80's.

I wonder if at that time, a donor car was found (554) because the original was shot and the rare, one off parts were transferred over to this car.  Paint code 97 is Aspen Gold Poly so that would have been a good match.  The color chips for that look grayer than the gold shown, but that could be scanning and monitor differences.

All this is speculation on my part, other than the few researched facts.  Good looking car in any regard and should be a blast to wake up and enjoy.

All the best.

David

[rwchatham CLC 21892]

David good observations. That is why the paper trail is vital . Without the paperwork or the build sheet noting that 554 was for company use it is very hard to prove that this is the actual car. Either way still a cool car, just a difference in value.