Cadillac El Camino

[BigPontiac]

I came across this while looking for info on the LaSalle II Hardtop...

LINK

Fleetwood (???) (USA) Cadillac El Camino 2-passenger coupe (special order # 1929) presented at the 1954 GM Motorama. El Camino is short for the Spanish el camino real, the Royal Highway, alias US highway 101. The exhaust configuration, windshield, roof saddle, spoked wheels, quad headlights, fluted side panel, gull-wing bumpers with bullet tips all turned up the following year on the production prototype for the Eldorado Brougham; the shape of the tail-fins [as used also on the Cadillac La Espada roadster, below], turned up on the production Eldorado models of 1955, 1956, the Eldorado Brougham of 1957-1958 and the standard 1958 Cadillac production models. The pointed bullet-shaped, gull-wing front bumper was shared with many Cadillac show cars of the period; the bullets were sometimes rubber tipped; these rubber tips [i call them the Dagmar bra] appeared on stock Cadillac models in 1957 and 1958. El Camino was finished in silver-gray and featured a brushed stainless-steel roof.

The following detailed write-up on Cadillac's El Camino was featured in Motor Life for April, 1954:

This is a two-passenger hardtop coupe, bearing a Spanish name which means "the highway", and features what its designers term "aircraft styling" and "supersonic" tail-fins on the rear fenders. The car has a 115-inch wheel base and the Cadillac V-8 engine is similar to the 1954 production type which has a power output of 230 [HP]. Overall length of the body is 200.6 inches, while the height is 51.5 inches. Highly streamlined, the silver-gray El Camino has a brushed aluminum roof top coated with clear lacquer, tinted glass panoramic windshield, twin tail lights with side slots for a warning effect [these would become mandatory equipment on all American cars starting in 1968] and a keel below the tail lamps for extra protection when backing. The tail lights are mounted in cylinders of bumper material. Below the trunk is a spare tire compartment with a concealed, hinged door. Horizontal flutes sweep along the sides to provide both fresh air intake, by means of a compressor, and a hot air exhaust from the engine compartment. Four hooded headlights have been incorporated into the front end - an outer pair for normal city driving and an inner pair for long range, pencil-beam use. The latter set are put out of action automatically by an Autronic-Eye when in traffic. Below the headlights are a gull-type front bumper, sharp and slim, with two "bombs" projecting forward. On the hood is a recessed "V" crest, flush with the surface. Inside the car has a cluster of instruments around the steering wheel. Between the two leather-covered seats is a tunnel housing the Hydra-Matic gearshift selector lever. This lever is of the "aircraft stick" type with a locking button on top that is pressed when the lever is to be moved into reverse position. Behind the gear lever is a radio and vanity compartment. Heater and air conditioning controls are forward of the gear lever.

[Camino LS6]

I met a guy at a swap meet who was selling a promotional trinket for this car. I think it was a keychain.

[balthazar]

I was neutral on this car for many years, but more recently more photos of it surfaced, and I now think it's a pretty cool little sport coupe! That roofline bubble is uber slick.

I believe this is one of the '50s concepts that didn't make it- have not even read rumors that it may exist.... prolly perished in the '59 Mitchell Sweep.

EDIT: GM's Motorama sez: 'Reported to have been scrapped'. :cry:

Edited April 24, 2008 by balthazar

[balthazar]

Tee-hee !

[Sixty8panther]

I've seen those small crappy-res pics a few times over the past few years... yet to

see a nice clean BIG photo of the Cadillac Camino. Hey, here's an idea as a spring

board off this thread...?

2010: "Baby EXT" off Zeta to share Holden/Pontiac's UTE chassis with CTS nose. I wish.

And Balthazar:

As far as that '76 CDV made-Cabalero: a white bed, man I guess if there's a less

practical car out there (hard to keep clean) than my '77 CDV this is IT.

[BigPontiac]

I've seen those small crappy-res pics a few times over the past few years... yet to

see a nice clean BIG photo of the Cadillac Camino. Hey, here's an idea as a spring

board off this thread...?

2010: "Baby EXT" off Zeta to share Holden/Pontiac's UTE chassis with CTS nose. I wish.

And Balthazar:

As far as that '76 CDV made-Cabalero: a white bed, man I guess if there's a less

practical car out there (hard to keep clean) than my '77 CDV this is IT.

Couldn't find much...

El Camino

La Espada (companion car)

[Camino LS6]

Hey, here's an idea as a spring

board off this thread...?

2010: "Baby EXT" off Zeta to share Holden/Pontiac's UTE chassis with CTS nose. I wish.

I suggested something like this months ago, I see that and a wagon/crossover version as the eventual replacements for the Escalade family.