Eldo

1956 Cadillac El Dorado. (Photo by Dan Lyons©.)

—In 1956, when Yr Fthfl Srvnt was only 12, my paternal grandfather and I ventured off Atlantic City’s boardwalk into the entryway of Steel Pier. Steel Pier, once home of the “high-diving horse,” still exists. It became an amusement-park eons ago, and was set to become a casino, but couldn’t get approvals.
Unlike many ocean piers in Atlantic City, it was built on steel pilings with concrete substructure. Which supposedly made it fire-resistant, although it had numerous fires.
Parts washed away in storms, but it’s always been rebuilt. “Miss America” used to be crowned on Steel Pier, and it hosted many music stars. I also remember a movie where Rodney Dangerfield was driving toward Steel Pier to see the “high-diving horse.” They muffed depiction of Steel Pier.
I think you had to pay admission to Steel Pier, but only past the entryway, which was being used as an exhibit for General Motors cars.
One of these “Eldos” was front-and-center on a rotating display table. I was smitten, as I was by GM’s tailfin styling at that time, prompted by Lockheed’s P-38 Lightning fighter-plane.
Except the El Dorado went beyond that. It had actual fins, as if they’d stabilize a speeding Caddy.
The May 2018 entry in my Tide-mark “Cars of the Fab ‘50s” calendar is a 1956 Cadillac El Dorado Seville.
My paternal grandfather was into Packards. But by 1956 Packard was pretty much toast. The premier luxo-barge was no longer Packard, it was GM’s Cadillac.
My paternal grandmother wasn’t into either. As a Depression victim, she was intensely practical. Automobiles were just a way of getting around. For that a mere Chevrolet would do. Luxo-barges were posturing.
My grandfather attained a Packard, but only their el-cheapo six-in-line, about 1936 or so. Used of course. My grandmother was probably appalled, much as she was when one of her sons chose Fords.
So Fords were speedier than Chevys: “SO WHAT? Disgusting, I tell ya!”
So here we were in Steel Pier’s entryway, my grandfather and I, in awe of Caddy’s Eldo.
In college I drove a majestic 1955 Cadillac four-door sedan. It was owned by the guy who owned my sophomore-year rooming-house. He worked in the college kitchen.
One night he suggested we order pizza, which I’d get in his Caddy. It was snowing mightily, a blizzard.
“Sy,” I said — his name was “Sy;” I can’t remember his last name. “Are you sure? I don’t wanna wreck yer Caddy.”
“You won’t;” so off I went, me behind the gigantic steering-wheel of that Caddy. I cruised to the pizza joint, and couldn’t resist pedal-to-the-metal driving back.
The Caddy’s back-end began a ponderously slow side-step in the snow, easy to correct. I returned placidly to Sy’s house.
No wonder Sy loved that Caddy. Even I, a sportscar junkie, was impressed. Completely insulated from the blizzard outside.
Is Cadillac making anything like that any more? Nope! Bloated, tail-finned luxo-barges are done. The last luxo-Cadillacs were into the ‘80s.
Cadillac had to redefine itself, and did I guess. Except they lost me as a potential customer. Now the megabuck luxo brands are Mercedes and BMW — and wannabees from Lexus, Infinity, and Acura.
Hear “Lexus” and I think “gussied-up Toyota;” “AUDI is a gussied-up Volkswagen.”
Cadillac prompted similar: “gussied-up Chevrolet,” and it’s interesting the most successful Chevys looked like Cadillacs.
Despite that Sy’s Caddy would be more pleasant to drive than a recent Beemer or Merc.