1960 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz

By Jay Hirsch

The first Cadillac Eldorado was made  in 1953. It cost $7,750 and came as a convertible. There were no options, and even the front seats were electrically heated.

In 1956 a two-door-hardtop Eldorado called the Seville was added to the line. The Eldorado engine was slightly different than the standard Cadillac, as the Eldorado had two four-barrel carburetors. The body was also modified from the standard Cadillac, with the rear fins being more like a 1958 Cadillac than a 1956.

The tradition of the Eldorado having a different body than the standard Cadillac was continued through model year 1958. In  1959 the Eldorado differed from the standard Cadillac in body trim. The engine was a modified Cadillac 390 cid V-8 with  three dual-barrel carburetors.

The 1960 Cadillac also had a slightly lower stance than the 1959, by one inch. The tail light was in the shark-like fin, unlike the 1959 Cadillac that had the two bullet-like tail lights mounted on either side of the fin.

The 1960 Eldorado pictured here is an original car. Except for replacing tires and battery it is original. The chrome, paint, interior, etc., are as they were when the car came from the factory and dealer.

The stainless steel side trim, along with the rear end grill treatment that matched the front grill and the special Eldorado wheelcovers distinguished the 1960 Eldorado from the standard Cadillac. In 1959 the side trim was one solid piece of stainless steel.

As a dealer option, some owners had the dealer paint the inner area of the inside stainless steel strips with a contrasting color. The Eldorado  pictured here has that inner area painted creamy white to match the leather interior.

The car has had three owners its entire life, with the original owner having the car for 16 years. Upon the purchase of a 1976 Eldorado convertible, he sold the car to a good friend. The 1976 Eldorado was the “Last American-built convertible” That was what ads said. There have been American-built convertibles since 1976, but that is another story.

In 1989 the second owner sold it to a friend, the current owner. It has always been a weekend-only car, and only on nice weekends. Whether in part due to the original leather interior, which has the aroma of a western boot shop in Ft. Worth, or the fact the car has always been kept in a warm, dry garage, or just the overall quality of this icon, the car still has that “new car-smell and feel to it.” About that leather interior. It is not just in the seating surface areas as on many new cars, no matter what their price range. It is leather, period, no vinyl anywhere, the door panels included.

In 1960 the Cadillac Biarritz convertible cost $7,500. The only option was air-conditioning. Bucket seats were available as a no-cost option. If you ordered the car with the standard front bench seat, it came with six-way power. The bucket seat was only available with two-way power, fore and aft, and on the drivers seat only. The hardtop Seville was still offered. It would be the last year for the two-door Eldorado Seville. The next Eldorado two-door-hardtop would be a 1967, and the car would be a front-wheel-drive car.

An option, which not too many people opted for, was the air-ride-suspension. There has been much written about the” air-ride,” most of it “faction” – a mixture of fact and fiction. In operation it was trouble free. The main problem, or complaint,  was “the car is on the ground.” If the car was not driven daily, after a few days or a week, the air bags would lose some pressure and the car would “sag.” This was easily rectified by the starting of the car and turning on the air compressor under the hood. In 20 to 40 seconds, the car   would be “pumped up” and ready to go on its way. Many people did not like waiting 30 seconds to pull out. Almost all of the air suspension Cadillacs were converted to the standard spring set up by dealers at no charge when the cars were new.

People who had air ride on their Cadillacs also complained about the “ride,” it was “not a Cadillac ride.” Due to poor marketing and advertising of the air ride, the majority of owners who had the system on their Cadillacs expected an “air type ride, like floating on a cloud.” In reality the air ride was a firmer ride, a better ride with fantastic cornering ability. There was almost no lean or sway when going into a sharp curve at a high speed. The car stayed flat and level. But in 1960, Cadillac people wanted  that softer Cadillac ride.

A car equipped with air-ride suspension enabled the owner to raise or lower the height of the car depending on road conditions. Unfortunately drivers at the time did not know how to respond to air ride. For all its engineering air ride did have some minor inherent problems. The  higher cost of the air-ride suspension, coupled with the publics non-acceptance of the system, led to air tide being quietly put to sleep in 1961. In reality air suspension did not do anything different than a car with springs  and firmer shock absorbers.

In the owner’s manual of the 1960, there is a paragraph that says “when going on a trip of several hundred miles or  more at cruising speeds at 75 mph or higher, it is advised to add four to six pounds of air to each tire.” There were some states in 1960 which did not have speed limits on their open highways

In today’s world of automobiles, it  may be hard for some to imagine a car in 1960 weighing two and a half tons, seating six people comfortably cruising at between 75 and 80 mph, while getting 16 to 18 mpg.     The trunk could hold the equivalent of five 255/55 x 18 tires. That is the 1960 Eldorado Biarritz. It  could go 0 to 60 mph in 9.6 seconds, with a top speed of 125 mph plus.

One of the unique engineering features of the 1960 Cadillac is the automatic self-releasing parking brake. Through a vacuum designed for the parking brake, when the car was placed in drive, the parking brake would automatically be released. What this did was to make the parking brake a true auxiliary brake. If for some reason the normal braking system malfunctioned, the parking brake could be applied and it would not “lock up” as almost all parking brakes do. It could slow the car down.

Contrary to what many people believe, a 1960 Cadillac could have come with the narrow one-inch whitewall in place of the “standard” two and a quarter inch whitewall. In the 1959 Cadillac sales brochure an Eldorado Biarritz is shown with the one-inch wide whitewall.

Another tire available on all Cadillacs was the General Dual 90. Not only was the tire unique in appearance but also in engineering. The Dual 90 had a white wall that was one and a quarter inch wide with   three black inner rings to distinguish it from any other tire. The Dual 90 was a true puncture-proof tire. Did I hear someone say “run flat?” There was an inner tire inside the Dual 90. If the outer tire was punctured it would go down slightly. The car could be driven until a service facility   was available to fix the puncture. There was no need to change a tire. The Dual 90 did not prove popular for two factors: price and ride. It cost more than any standard tire of the era and also had a firm, stiff ride. People, Cadillac people in particular, wanted their “Cadillac ride.”

As for that “Cadillac ride,” it can best be described as effortless steering, with never any jarring jolts from rough roads.  There was a complete feel of the road without any harshness to that feel. The ride left you feeling comfortable and not at all fatigued  even if you just drove 400 miles. It is an automobile designed so that you can see all four corners of the car from the driver’s seat and when backing up lets you get within one inch of what is behind you. It is a car with almost 360 degrees of visibility.   There are no blind spots! For a so-called big car, the Cadillac has a relatively small turning radius, which is much appreciated on winding, curvy, secondary roads.

Whether sitting behind the steering wheel or riding as a passenger, there is the feeling of rock-solid comfort. The rock solid is from the ride. High winds do not phase this car. It is just as stable at 65 mph while being buffeted by 50 mph cross winds as it is at 20 mph on the way to a Dairy Queen. The comfort is from those cushioned inner spring seats and space, the luxury of the space that surrounds you. As one 40-ish woman said when she saw the car, “that car is stunning and look at that back seat.” Could never imagine what she was thinking.

The color of the car seen here is Carrara Green. It was an Eldorado color but could be ordered on other Cadillacs,  “for a price.” At a time when Cadillac was the car of cars, the Eldorado Biarritz was the Cadillac of Cadillacs. The Eldorado has been shown at the  AACA Fall Hershey show and has its HPOF badge. It was displayed at the Concours d’Elegance of American at St. John’s in Troy, Mich.  •