The Pininfarina-built 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham is a rare breed of classic so beloved that people will pay more than six figures for one in good nick. They’re rare, too, as just 100 were produced and 99 delivered. One of these fabled collector items underwent surgery that saw it turned from a coachbuilt sedan to a glorious shooting brake. This is the CadMad, and it’s an Eldorado Brougham blended together with a Chevrolet Nomad in a build that took 15 years and $2.3 million.
This awesome creation has come up for sale and thankfully, you won’t pay that much, but you’ll still need deep pockets. The 1959 “CadMad” is set to roll across the auction block during Mecum Auctions’ Kissimmee 2024 event going down in Florida on January 2 through 14, 2024. Everything associated with this vehicle is nutty from the blending of two GM products into one to the fact that the paint cost $300,000, the engine cost $97,000, and if you put racing fuel into its tank, you can get 1,025 HP of proud American power.
Plus, just look at the CadMad. Its visuals are so clean and so perfect that I wouldn’t blame you for thinking it was created by AI. Gaze at the lack of exposed fasteners, the impossibly smooth body, and nothing to distract you from enjoying a vehicle that looks like George Jetson’s weekend car. With quality like this, you can begin to see why the build took so long.
Majestic Bones
Everything associated with this build has the potential to drop your jaw and it starts with the first donor vehicle. Depending on who you are, you know Cadillac for its newest obsession with putting “-iq” at the end of its EV model names or perhaps for the incredible Blackwing cars. Flip your calendars back roughly 70 years and Cadillac was a very different brand. Back then, it wasn’t the purveyor of tarted-up Chevrolet Suburbans, but the “Standard of the World.”
Cadillac meant business in those days. It didn’t just say it was the brand for all others to follow but produced world-class vehicles capable of sweeping even the most discerning luxury buyers off of their feet. The Cadillac Eldorado Brougham represented the pinnacle of class on wheels, and it challenged greats the world over.
As the Automotive Heritage Foundation writes, the story of the Eldorado is rooted in Cadillac’s Golden Anniversary. 1952 marked 50 years of Cadillac excellence and General Motors executives wanted to celebrate with the release of a bombastic new model. Reportedly, the “Eldorado” name comes from an internal naming competition. The winner was merchandising secretary Mary-Ann Marini with the name El Dorado, a reference to the mythical lost city of gold. The name also referred to the subject as being gilded, perfect for a golden anniversary.
Cadillac displayed a show car during GM’s Motorama in 1952 and beginning with the 1953 model year, buyers could have their own top-of-the-line Eldorado two-door convertible. Its style was impeccable, its luxury high-end, and the Eldorado commanded a price of $7,750, greater than some of its peers.
By 1957, Hemmings writes, the Eldorado had taken steps even higher with the Brougham. Harley Earl flipped through the pages of Motorama cars and applied them to the Eldorado. The 1953 Cadillac Orleans show car gave its pillarless four-door body and panoramic windscreen while the 1954 Cadillac El Camino coupe show car passed on its stylish Florentine brushed stainless steel roof.
Cadillac didn’t stop there, as the Eldorado Brougham featured a four-link rear suspension with air ride, low profile tires, and an incredible amount of features for the day. Eldorado Broughams had power everything, an early form of memory seat, automatic door locking, and so much more. We’re talking about a vehicle with a vanity, a drink tray with magnetic cups, and a makeup case.
I’m only touching the tip of the iceberg of these $13,074 cars. Which, reportedly, were significantly more expensive than a Rolls-Royce of the day. Imagine cross-shopping a Rolls with a Caddy today. How do you follow up an act like that? Well, in 1959, Cadillac transferred the manufacturing of the Eldorado Brougham’s body to Pininfarina. Reportedly, Italy built 100 Eldorado Broughams; one was lost and 99 were delivered.
For many, these Eldorado Broughams represent the peak of Cadillac’s history, and collectors are willing to pay $429,000 for one of the few that were made. However, one collector had another idea.
The CadMad
Stephen F. Barton was a man who spent his fortunes from an appliance rental empire on hot rods and collector cars. To give you an idea of the scale of Barton’s success, he reportedly lived in a 16,000-square-foot mansion filled with fine art. Underneath it was a Tony Stark-esque garage of 37 cars people like you and I could only dream of affording. He didn’t just collect cars, either, as he also dabbled in designing his own hot rods.
For his next rod, Barton wanted to go big. As Hagerty writes, since 1964, hot rod builders have competed for the Don Ridler Memorial Award trophy. Think of this trophy as the hot rod equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize for journalists or the Nobel Prize for inventors and scientists. As Hagerty writes, some hot rodders see the Don Ridler as the award to win and a perfect way to cap off a distinguished career. With that in mind, you could imagine that the cars entered for the Don Ridler are incredible works of art. These are vehicles years of work and with millions of dollars invested into them. These are the kinds of custom builds that come out looking better than an automaker’s own concept car. In case you were wondering, Don Ridler was a car customization pioneer and had a hand in the organization of the Detroit Autorama shows. The trophy was created in Ridler’s honor after his death in 1963.
In the early 2000s, Jordan Quintal II, the proprietor of Super Rides by Jordan, received a call from Barton. The latter gentleman had a classic Cadillac that he wanted to turn into a station wagon. But this wouldn’t be just any hot rod build; Barton wanted to win the Ridler. Quintal II, nowadays a man in his 70s, had been building cars since he was a teenager. Building the ultimate Cadillac Eldorado Brougham? Yeah, he could handle that. And Barton didn’t care how much it cost, he wanted to see the Caddy wagon become reality.
The build started with 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham #85 of 99. Quintal’s team took the 18.8-foot Caddy and removed 18.5 inches from its length. The body was chopped 2.5 inches to reduce the vehicle’s height, then the rear doors were removed and the front doors elongated by 6 inches. Still not done, the team at Super Rides narrowed the body by 4.5 inches before dropping in the greenhouse from a 1956 Chevrolet Nomad. The 300-piece grille and front bumper had to be deconstructed and put back together. The shop even took the jet-afterburner taillight housings, trimmed them down, and put them back together with bespoke lenses. Other custom coachwork from Super Rides includes a tailgate. Quintal and his team, which included his teenage son, took almost two years cutting, welding, and forming the wagon out of metal.
It’s noted that Quintal and his team took great care to retain as much of the original Pininfarina body as possible, and I think they did a fantastic job. This looks like something that could have, no, should have rolled out of the Pininfarina shop.
All of this rolls on a custom 1 5/8-inch tube frame and both the frame and the body are painted in 1961 Cadillac Fawntana Rose with a pearl effect.
The paint alone is boggling. There are three Kustom Shop urethane base coats, four color coats, and six coats of PPG clear. This paint job cost $300,000 all by itself and Quintal says it required hundreds of hours of prep work.
The ridiculous detail continues inside, where you’re presented with a custom interior that’s modern while not completely disregarding the past. A mix of African wenge, figured maple, and tiger wood trim the bed and occupants get to sit in Recaro buckets from a Cadillac CTS-V. The interior is color-matched and has painted-on wood trim on the dash, and the biggest clue that things are modern in there is the screen on the center console. I like that the screen is sort of hidden away rather than tacked on as some modern cars get.
The madness continues under the hood. Tom Nelson of Nelson Racing Engines built a monster of a 632 cubic inch Warrior Series BBC V8. It boasts twin 88mm turbos, a Dart block, a Callies forged 4340 crank, and billet crank caps. Helping bring on the power are forged rods, forged pistons, two injectors per cylinder, custom heads, custom bearings, and a billet intake. All of this runs on an octane-on-demand system and Nelson Racing Engines says it makes 1,025 HP on racing gas and just 7.5 PSI of boost. This engine drives the rear wheels through a Corvette transaxle mounted in the rear.
While this engine is great, Barton’s original concept sounded even cooler. Barton envisioned two Northstar V8s mated together to create a massive V16 engine. Sadly, this engine never came to fruition.
Lots Of Time, Lots Of Money
The build took 15 or 16 years, depending on who you ask. CadMad took 4,000 man hours to create, and a lot of it was spent taking the vehicle apart and putting it back together countless times to make sure everything was right. The Quintals had to make sure there were no exposed fasteners, no seams, and no imperfections whatsoever. The car had to look practically imaginary, like the stuff you see only in renders by talented digital artists, but done in real life by artists mastered in metal. In order to make sure everything worked out correctly, the vehicle had a new steering wheel created and a new dash, too. This meticulous level of work costs a ton of money, too. Setbacks came from spending $3,000 on an abandoned paddle shift system, another $3,900 was spent replacing a scratched windshield, and $97,000 was spent on the engine.
In total, $2.3 million was spent on making the car a reality, and Barton passed in 2018 before he could even see the vehicle finished. It’s boggling to think that the paint alone costs as much as a supercar. That engine costs more than what I’ve spent on my entire car collection. Reportedly, Barton’s dying wish was for his brother to finish the car and take it to victory. In February 2019, the car took the Ridler trophy it was built to win.
After the Ridler, the CadMad began its life as a famed collector car. It was featured in auto media all over America and in 2020, it was sold for $302,500. Now, it has come up for sale again in the Mecum Auctions’ Kissimmee 2024 event. You probably won’t spend $2.3 million on it, but Mecum expects it to sell for between $450,000 to $500,000. That’s still big money, but you’ll be getting something that’s as much of a work of art as it is a car. The 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham is already rare, but only one of them looks like a shooting brake for space.
(Images: Mecum Auctions, unless otherwise noted.)
No.
Not only did cutting out part of the middle to make it a two door and stripping the side mirrors and doorhandles screw up the balance of the character line, but the roof being so upright and so squat makes the hood and fenders look way taller than they really are. Combine that with the low profile tires (why?) and it makes it look like a CUV. A CUV with an overly long nose.
I don’t know if maybe the rest of the commenters are looking at a different car than me, but I’m struggling to think of a more desirable car. That is dang close to perfection. If it had rear seats and a few very slight tweaks, it would be maybe the finest car ever
Just doesn’t look right to me. Vast spaces of nothingness don’t look good to me.
“Imagine cross-shopping a Rolls with a Caddy today. “
Incidentally it’s my opinion that Cadillac has gone to far down market. Cadillac should move up market and top out to at least the level that Rolls Royce and Bentley vehicles start.
And then Buick should move up-market somewhat to fill the gap.
I don’t care what fancy name you give the color. It’s pink. Really??
I appreciate the level of craftsmanship involved, but I will never understand why people with this much disposable income spend it in such garish ways. Low profile tires should not have white walls in my opinion. But to each their own.
They should not have chopped the top. It looks like and afterthought. Painting it a different color from the body also a mistake.
It’s surprising they made it that clean when they have serious problems with their eyes, nothing else explains how anyone can spend 15 years and millions of dollars to turn a work of beauty into such an unproportioned mess. How can anyone think this looks right? Even the ride height is weirdly high and that is the easiest problem to fix. And don’t even get me started about the interior, it is just awful. What a waste of money and a rare classic Caddy.
This car is a great example of that no matter how good you are welding and doing custom bodywork, it doesn’t make you a car designer. There is a real reason why people like Bishop or Adrian (or even the mentioned Pininfarina) gets paid.
Yes I can appreciate the workmanship and it does cut a sleek profile but the vision and the details are jarring. The exterior is smooth, classic, and minimalist. The interior is brassy, fussy, and modern. And the Nomad roof looks better on a Bel-Air. It was ultimately just a way for a nouveau-riche dude to get attention with a cabbage flambe’.
Like probably everyone else in here will say,I do like the car,but why the fuck would you do that to a rare car like this. With all the money thrown into this thing you could’ve made one from whatever old Eldorado you wanted.
Also the wheels are too big and make it look like a transit bus.
I’ll take one, but I want a turbo-delete and a screen-delete. Use that money to put real wood on the dash!
Soooo….
The Ghostbusters Ecto 1 was a 1959 Cadillac Commercial Chassis with a custom ambulance body…
Just sayin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ectomobile
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Commercial_Chassis
Back in the 70’s I used to visit some friends just north of Toronto (Caledon area). It was more rural back then. There was a crazy guy on their road determined to use his welding torch to force a Lincoln Continental to mate with a Country Squire wagon. It seemed like a good idea. I don’t know if he ever succeeded. Now I’m triggered to watch The Fly.
That is quite the sled. Setting aside the “how could you do that to a 1 in 100 car?” thing, I do like this a lot. However (and you did know a “however” was coming, right?), this build does something that always bugs me in these high end builds and that is the body matching panels under the hood and, in this case, the back as well. They just look, well, cheezy and lazy if I am honest. I much prefer seeing all the engine stuff dressed in all it’s mechanical glory. I am sure they take talent and work to make so perfect, but they are too perfect and it’s just off putting to me. Same with the big ass center consoles these tend to have as well. Just not my jam.
I also wonder how much resonance and noise is generated in that rear cargo area at highway speeds. I’m not seeing any sound absorbing surfaces there.
But then again, this thing will probably only ever roll from one air conditioned room to another.
All that work and yet the roofline dips before meeting the top edge of the windshield so it has a slight ’51 Hoffmann vibe:
https://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/hoffmann-1951/
Ok, I admit that this is a work of art and an impressive project, but am I alone in mourning the Cadillac donor car? Couldn’t they have chopped up a less iconic, less rare Caddy? I honestly think the original ‘58 Eldorado was much more attractive.
Yeah this is exactly what I was thinking the whole time. I mean, if you’ve got the money and the drive, do whatever you want I guess, but as far as I’m concerned you’re not the guy that paid to have a “cool” (quotes because let’s face it the car’s kinda ugly) car made, but instead you’re the guy who paid to have a beautiful and unique piece of Cadillac and automotive history destroyed. Kudos?
Whew! I’m not alone. Delta 88 and Eggsalad get it. Like Eggsalad’s comment, I didn’t intend “work of art” to be complimentary. I also think the result is kinda ugly. But it’s undeniably impressive even if I don’t like it. (there’s an awful lot of art that I don’t like or “get” – se la vie)
Enough of what made the Pininfarina Eldorado Brougham unique and a preview of the ’61 GM B-body was erased in the conversion that they might as well have started with a standard ’59 Caddy.
No they couldn’t because the goal was not the end product. The way to win the Ridler is to create the most ridiculous, outlandish, and excessive build possible. If you start by destroying a $400,000 car, you are well on your way.
This isn’t a car. It is a sculpture on wheels. And I don’t mean that in a positive way.
I appreciate the workmanship, but it’s kind of fugly.
I love wagons and shooting brakes, but to my eye, the nomad wagon clearly doesn’t match the style of rest of the body.
That body has a very unique set of curves, and the shortening and narrowing are visually seamless. But that roofline doesn’t share the aesthetic. Pininfarina would never have drawn it like that.
Anyway, stunning build and sculpture. The engine bay is surreal.
Agree. I would have used the greenhouse out of a ’62 Olds Starfire.
But then again, I’m not Barton.
Oddly enough, the end product works for me. I find that really surprising.
However, for that money (which, as I stated in another post, is completely unrealistic), you don’t just chop and section a donor roof in. For that money, it should be a bespoke build.
Two thoughts:
I’m sure there are plenty of folks in this community that know/have the skills to DIY repairs on something like this, but I always wonder how this type of custom car gets fixed if and when things go south. It’s gotta be a royal pain in the ass to source parts and repair it back to mint again and to find the right mechanic to handle it, right?
Either way, as a Caddy man, I would have loved to see it in a dark cherry red color rather than the rose gold, but otherwise it pretty much kicks ass.
They can be money pits, certainly, but ones at this level will be trailer queens that get rolled into shows and rarely if ever driven.
I get that, for sure. But if one was so inclined to drive it is where I’m wondering. I’d never want a car to just look at, and if I did have Jay Leno money, I certainly wouldn’t be the one replacing valve covers or whatever.
To your point there, think more fabricator/builder than mechanic. Mechanical is much more straight forward, or at least as straight forward as modified twin turbo big blocks can be.
If something happens to this body or chassis-wise, it is custom fabrication to repair, either from raw metal or sourced from donor cars (where possible) or replacement parts. So the short answer version, if you drive, you better have a custom rod shop you know and trust in case things go south.
Originally cost $2.3 million and sold for $302,500 in 2020? It might be all-American, but the depreciation is positively German.
Well, it took 15-16 years to complete and if you’ve had a car towed, you know the storage fees are astronomical. I bet half that $2.3 mil was storage cost.
Too rich for my blood but I would totally do this shooting brake conversion:
https://www.imcdb.org/v968605.html
It’s very cool and all but not for me even if I had the money toss away.
I really like both the concept and the execution of this beautiful “wagon”. One can only view this as a price is no object, piece of art. I don’t care for the colors used despite its price. I think the whole creation would be much better in a super high gloss black with a black leather interior. I would keep all of the beautiful woodwork. But that’s just me.
Who is the rich person who has the balls to buy this, and actually drive it?
I hope no one. This is a bit different than making a production car a garage queen. Even something that’s out of production with replacement parts made of unobtanium can still be fixed with donor parts or paying a company enough to make a few for you.
This thing is no longer a car. It’s a sculpture. It may as well just be a rolling chassis with no engine as far as I’m concerned.
Fair point, but if you have this kind of money, you can afford to have parts made.
True, especially today with 3D printing, anything can be re-made. I guess I’m considering that mostly every thing appears to be either hand-crafted or hand-modified.
If that thing gets rear-ended by an F150, I’m sure it can be rebuilt, but would it take a full year and another 500k?
It would, for sure. Probably longer. But a person with the means to drive something like this, has plenty of money and other vehicles to drive in the meantime.