Disappointed By Cadillac Designer Ron Hill comments on the 1957 Eldorado

[Bill Balkie 24172]

  A good Friend of mine who also has a 1957 Biarritz Gave me a Magazine as a gift dated back to January / February  1975 (Special Interest Autos) The Article is called the Darling of the stylist By Rich Taylor. In a nut shell  Ron  Hill was a New designer in charge of what Cadillac called a Blue Sky Version of the 1957 Cadillac series 62 . According to Ron It was his Design and he was very proud of it at the time .  What disappoints me is only 18 years later when the new 1975 models were on the show room floor He looks back at the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz as Looking HIDEOUS To him now  , not sure if he meant the car or the fins But the fins are a big part of the car  . I do not want to disrespect any 1975 Cadillac Owners But if you park a 1957 Biarritz next to any Cadillac made aprox, 18 years later .Most people will comment on the 57  all the way thru to the 64 as a rolling pieces of Art .  Not Hideous . I know he is entitled to his Opinion 18 years later , however I would like to thank him for designing one of the most Beautiful ,  interesting and Desirable Cadillac  cars that were ever built .  Just my opinion    ( how could he use the word Hideous  in the same phrase with the 57 Biarritz )

      Bill

[76eldo]

Ron,

All I can say is that in the mid 70's even the 59 and 60 Cadillacs were ugly ducklings.  I remember late 50's and early 60's cars being abandoned if something costly like a trans broke and they were trading for $50 to $100 bucks.

Around that time period I had a few cars that I bought and sold, some because I liked, some to use to get to work, and one to drive after losing my license for 60 days in my Challenger RT 440 Six Pack for street racing.

Here are a few I can remember:

1.  1963 Impala SS coupe, $100.00  (Sold to a guy looking for a 283 engine for $250.00)
2.  1964 Biscayne 4 door, $50.00     (Drove into a creek for kicks when I got my license back)
3.  1967 Camaro, $100.00                (bought to drive so I didn't have to drive my Challenger to work in Philly
                                                           crashed it twice, sold it to a guy looking to build a drag car)
4.  1964 Sedan DeVille, $375.00.     (tracked down my dad's last car and bought it but it got towed away for
                                                          not being licensed.  A heartbraking story.

5.  1963 VW Bug, given to me by neighbor  (Got stuck in mud screwing around and blew it up trying to get unstuck
                                                                       forgetting it's air cooled)

6.  Turned down a very nice 1960 DeVille convert for $1100.00

7.  Did not have $1200.00 to buy a beautiful 1964 Eldorado convert at Macungie 1977.

Seems like the 18-20 year mark is no man's land, but later on people seem to appreciate them.

At least that's what I have observed.

Brian

PS... I am really nice to my cars now!

[Bill Balkie 24172]

Brian,
   I remember looking at 57 /58 Eldorado's in the 50's 60's 70's and 80's wishing I could own one But they were always out of my price range  even back then  . They were always a special car .   unlike any other Cadillac. Never thought they were ugly .  But maybe that's just me .

    Bill

[76eldo]

True on the Eldorado's.  People who were into cars did know that they were special. Corvette's too.

I remember a white 1959 Eldorado Seville with a 6 foot ring of transmission fluid under it, abandoned in a parking lot.

Also a 57 Nomad left for years on a street I used to pass.

Look at the values of 1984-85 Vette's right now.  As low as $2500.00 for running ones.  Allante's are very cheap too.

How about 1989-1992 FWD DeVille's.  Not worth much now, but they will be "discovered" in a few more years.

In another 15 years, they will be high prices collector cars.

In the midst of full depreciation and the realm of collector status lies the Twilight Zone!

Brian

[Quentin Hall]

Gday Bill and Brian. Yes I remember reading that magazine years ago too and feeling disappointed with Ron's comments, though I always suspected that it was a comment of the times. The 57 Biarritz was the one that stooped me in my tracks when I first laid eyes on one, gobsmacked that such a creation could have been built in the first place.
       It's funny that the 57 is/was polarizing. I think it is so unique a design that time will be kinder to it. There is something exotic about it that other models don't possess.

[Bill Young]

I am 60, but I have Loved the 50's and 60's Cadillac's since about the age of 7. I remember a 1955 Eldorado Convertible on my Grandparents street in blue with a blue top and blue interior in about '64 a little rust but faded mostly, one night a drunk ran into the rear end while it was parked at the curb and totaled it. In 1974 I was offered a 1957 Eldorado Biarritz California car with air in white, black top and black and white interior. Cosmetically restored for $1,800.00. I could not come up with that much and asked my Father to go in on it with me saying that I thought it was a good investment. He said he disagreed and no. I guess in My case I Love what I Love and I don't really care what others think. It's nice if they agree but whatever. One nice thing about being me is I don't envy anyones new car. Also car ad's on TV are a source of humor for me. The new lexus nsdqrv13006dst whatever , nicely equipped for the price of a house. And everything is an event with these people. I remember when cars were just on sale.

[Hyfire]

  Bill,

  Don't take it to heart.  I interviewed Ron Hill for the Eldorado Chapter Forum (www.EldoForum.com) a few months back.   He definitely feels different about that design today.   It's a design that has only gotten better and better with time.  I love it.

  Josh

[cadillacmike68]

I always thought that the 1950s thru 1964 Cadillacs were nice enough looking but were a little too bulbous for me. They had very nice interiors though, especially El Dorados.

I was also not a fan of the split drive shaft, x-frame chassis, no dual cylinder brake system, etc. Hence my preference for the 65-70, especially 1967-70 model years.

[Quentin Hall]

In the 70s my dad talked my uncle out of buying a 57 356 speedster Carrera for $400. . .subsequently I never listen to my Dad's advise. I think those wide ties and paisley prints, BeeGee songs and fondue parties played havoc with rational decision making.
Also in the 70's, a friend of mine got given the 59 triple Persian sand full option bucket seat car that was in Oz from 1960, if she paid the outstanding storage of about $1800. The windshield had a bullet hole, so she declined. (RIP Lorraine)

[jaxops]

The fins were a bold statement for many car makers, especially Cadillac and Chrysler.  Before we light our torches and get our shovels and dig him up to disparage him, he may have felt embarrassed by his previous bold 1957 car when he was trying to sell the 1975's.  Much as we love our cars old and new, car dealers love you only when you buy them.  Their cheerful faces fall dramatically when you return for warranty work!

[57eldoking]

I'd definitely attribute Mr. Hill's 1975 remarks as being clouded by his position at the time. If confronted with that statement today I bet he'd laugh at it!

  Bill,

  Don't take it to heart.  I interviewed Ron Hill for the Eldorado Chapter Forum (www.EldoForum.com) a few months back.   He definitely feels different about that design today.   It's a design that has only gotten better and better with time.  I love it.

  Josh

Have you published this interview? I can't seem to locate it...

I'd like to know how Ron felt about the 58 Eldorado re-design and if he directed the changes. The styling of the 58 completely contradicts the original 57 design by adding more chrome and trim breaking up the element of simplicity that makes the 57 design work so well. I'm also curious about why they switched to steel bumper corners from aluminum and if that switch forced the radical design change for these corners.

[Big Apple Caddy]

It was just one person's opinion BUT.....many cars go through the "awkward" stage where the style is no longer contemporary (simply viewed as out of date) yet is too new to have much collector or nostalgic interest.  Various years/models of cars today that are basically viewed as ugly or undesirable will someday be sought after classics.  It happens every decade, every era.

As has been pointed out already, cars today that are desirable classics were almost worthless a few decades ago during their "awkward" periods.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

I think everybody summed things up very well: Perspective is everything and by 1975, the age of the fin was decidedly passé plus the oil embargo of '73, still fresh in the public mind, didn't help matters either.

One of the most-time honored factors that excite car collector juices is that of distinction and after nearly 4 decades blasé styling, distinction and styling character have become all the more appreciated. 1957 - 1964 Cadillacs have it; the 1959 model has it in spades. It really has little to do whether the car is "good looking" to the trained eye of a professional stylist or other "objective" standard, but rather its symbolism of unfettered optimism, decadence and wealth creation, American style.

After the industry came to be ruled by the high priests of efficiency, safety and economy for well over a generation, it should come as no surprise that these once-proud beasts have become so vigorously coveted and desired. 

Somebody once referred to the first 15 years of postwar America as "the second gilded age" of which cars of the late '50s are surly the quintessential monuments.

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

IMHO the '57 Eldorado was and is one of the 3 most beautiful American cars of all time, followed by the '56-7 Continental MK II and '53 Buick Skylark.

 

"One of the most-time honored factors that excite car collector juices is that of distinction and after nearly 4 decades blasé styling, distinction and styling character have become all the more appreciated. 1957 - 1964 Cadillacs have it; the 1959 model has it in spades. It really has little to do whether the car is "good looking" to the trained eye of a professional stylist or other "objective" standard, but rather its symbolism of unfettered optimism, decadence and wealth creation, American style."

...Eric, Amen!!!

I think those wide ties and paisley prints, BeeGee songs and fondue parties played havoc with rational decision making.

Quentin, I believe other things had greater influence on 70's decisions, but can't remember exactly  what.

Ralph

[Quentin Hall]

Let's just hope you didn't inhale some of that other stuff Ralph.
There is an enlightening Insite into office politics revealed by Dave Holls in an interview about the 58 Eldo restyle. It's in the book with the 3 red Eldos on the cover.
    Ron Hill arrived new to Cadillac age 23 and his first design got picked up for the Eldo. Since early on the beauty of the 57 was it's simplicity and lack of gawp. But even at that time it was a radical departure from what was going on. It was round and organic. . . And no doubt annoyed a few of the other young designers that the new kid got the march on them, as well as that some of them didn't like it.
Dave said he couldn't wait to get some squareness into the design the following year, hence the rear bumpers.

[Steve Passmore]

As Quintin said, its a view of its time.  Here in the UK a friend who worked in his parents garage in the late 60s always got offered cars that the owners didn't think were worth the repair bills. he had a variety of different cars, the US ones were always the best for us.  He and I used to drive around the city in a 59 Cadillac convertible that was considered to be very bad taste and we were frowned upon by our peers but we loved it. It would have only been 10 years old but he paid just £50 for it ($200 at the exchange rate then)   It was scraped when the tyres were bold as not worth the cost of new tyres. Oh I wish I had it now!

[D.Yaros]

That awkward stage/period?  All of GM had it in 1958, didn't it?  Strange how the styling of the '58 Chevy, for example, has improved over the years!

[Quentin Hall]

It has always amazed me how defined by their year , design was  from 56 to 61.Each yearly transition is such a dramatic change from the year prior. There has never been such a dramatic styling period of change.
The 58 year has always bugged me. I want to love them, but to me they are the too much makeup, trashy sister of the sweet demure, wholesome girl next door 57.

[Bill Balkie 24172]

  Quentin ,
     I always enjoy reading your comments , More then just responses  they always make me think a little bit harder . I was thinking that Sometimes it was more fun  spending time with the trashy Sister   . They certainly Preformed better , Went Faster and always ran  a little Hot .   I am referring the 58 of course .


  Bill

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Speaking for myself - and no disrespect intended to '57 owners or their partisans - I'd take '58 any day over '57 but that's just me. 

Just a "meaner", bolder look all the way around. The '58 60 Special in particular, has no peer as the ultimate statement piece.

I'd also imagine those who prefer the '57 over the '58, would also take a '60 over a '59 - where again, my choice would be just the opposite.