[2][3] Starting in 1967 the Eldorado retained its premium position in the Cadillac price structure, but was manufactured in high volumes on a unique, two-door personal luxury car platform.

[5] Chosen in an internal competition for a 1952 concept vehicle celebrating Cadillac's golden anniversary, the name Eldorado was[6] subsequently adopted for a limited-edition convertible for model year 1953.

The Cadillac Series 62 Eldorado joined the Oldsmobile 98 Fiesta, and Buick Roadmaster Skylark as top-of-the-line, limited-production specialty convertibles introduced in 1953 by General Motors to promote its design leadership.

Along with borrowing bumper bullets from the 1951 GM Le Sabre show car,[7] it featured a full assortment of deluxe accessories and introduced the wraparound windshield[8] and a cut-down beltline to Cadillac standard production.

The expansive frontal glass and distinctive dip in the sheet metal at the bottom of the side windows (featured on one or both of GM's other 1953 specialty convertibles) were especially beloved by General Motors' styling chief Harley Earl and subsequently widely copied by other marques.

Now sharing its basic body shell with standard Cadillacs, it was distinguished mainly by trim pieces, including golden identifying crests centered directly behind the air-slot fender breaks, and wide fluted beauty panels to decorate the lower rear sides.

Also included in the production Eldorado convertible were monogram plates on the doors, wire wheels, and custom interior trimmings with the Cadillac crest embossed on the seat bolsters.

Other styling updates included the addition of ten vertical chrome slashes ahead of the open rear wheel housings and crest medallions on the flank of the tailfins.

Announced in December 1956 and released around March 1957, the Series 70 Eldorado Brougham was a distinct, hand-built four-door ultra-luxury vehicle, derived from the Park Avenue and Orleans show cars of 1953–54.

It cost US$13,074 ($141,831 in 2023 dollars [10])—twice the price of a conventional 1957 Eldorado and more than competitors Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud,[17][citation needed] Facel Vega Excellence[18] or Continental Mark II.

1958 was the last year for the domestic production of the handbuilt Brougham at Cadillac's Detroit factory, as future manufacturing of the special bodies was transferred to Pininfarina of Turin, Italy.

Other unique features included an automatic starter with restart function, Autronic Eye, drum-type electric clock, power windows, forged aluminum wheels and air conditioning, six silver magnetic glovebox drink tumblers and finally, an Evans leather trimmed cigarette case and vanity kit containing a lipstick holder, ladies' powder puff with powder, comb, beveled mirror, coin holder, matching leather notebook, gold mechanical pencil, atomizer filled with Arpège Extrait De Lanvin perfume.

Along with the rest of the General Motors divisions, the bulky, originally proposed 1959 styling was abandoned in favor of a significantly lower, longer and wider theme as an overdue response to Virgil Exner's striking redesign of the 1957 Chrysler products.

The 1959 Cadillac is remembered for its huge sharp tailfins with dual bullet tail lights, two distinctive rooflines and roof pillar configurations, new jewel-like grille patterns and matching deck lid beauty panels.

The Seville and Biarritz models had the Eldorado name spelled out behind the front wheel opening and featured broad, full-length body sill highlights that curved over the rear fender profile and back along the upper beltline region.

The slightly V-shaped radiator grille was taller and now incorporated outer extensions that swept below the dual headlamps and housed small circular front parking lamps.

A total of 143 options including bucket seats with wool, leather or nylon upholstery fabrics and wood veneer facings on dash, doors and seatbacks, set an all-time record for interior appointment choices.

In 1966, changes included a somewhat coarser mesh for the radiator grille insert, which was now divided by a thick, bright metal horizontal center bar housing rectangular parking lamps at the outer ends.

Cadillac "firsts" this season included variable ratio power steering and optional front seats with carbon cloth heating pads built into the cushions and seatbacks.

The 1971 Eldorado was substantially redesigned, growing two inches in length, six in wheelbase and featuring standard fender skirts, all of which gave the car a much heavier appearance than the previous generation.

Other styling changes included new horizontal taillamps placed beneath the trunk lid, a new fine mesh grille with Cadillac script on the header and new standard wheel covers.

A new, quartz controlled digital clock, an "information band" of warning lights and the fuel gauge ran horizontally along the upper tier of this new instrument panel.

For 1975, the Eldorado received new rectangular headlamps, egg-crate grille, front bumper, full rear wheel openings sans fender skirts and sharper, angular lines resulting in a sleeker appearance reminiscent of the 1967–70 models.

The car featured unique exterior trim and the rear half of the cabriolet roof was covered with a heavily padded landau vinyl top accented with large "opera" lights.

This was GM's first implementation of digital fuel injection and required an extensive redesign of the vehicle's electrical architecture, which was shared with the newly designed Seville.

It possessed 125 hp (93 kW), powering the car to a top speed of 106 mph (171 km/h) and a 0-60 time of 13.8 sec, with fuel economy of 8.5 km/L (24 mpg‑imp; 20 mpg‑US)[62] This lightweight engine, used in all full-size 1982 Cadillacs (except limousines) was a wet-sleeve design that mated cast-iron heads to an aluminum block.

Previously optional items that were now added as standard equipment included a cassette player with graphic equalizer, remote fuel filler door release, and front license plate mounting.

A $309 electrically-heated windshield was a new option, as was the "security package" ($480 on base Eldorado, no-charge on Biarritz or Touring Coupe) which now included remote keyless entry along with automatic door locks with central unlocking.

Standard equipment included cloth upholstery, Zebrano wood trim, 6-way power front bucket seats, climate control, digital instrumentation, column-mounted gear selector, and three-position electronically adjustable "Speed-Sensitive Suspension".

The ETC featured a grille-mounted Cadillac wreath and crest, "Touring Coupe" scripts on the doors, integrated fog lamps, flat-face 16-inch alloy wheels, and quad exhaust outlets.