1954 Cadillac El Camino

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.

Compare the tail-fins on this car, as also on the Cadillac La Espada roadster, with those on the production model Eldorado Brougham; the exhaust configuration, windshield, roof saddle, spoked wheels, quad headlights, fluted side panel, gull-wing bumpers with bullet tips all appeared the following year on the Eldorado Brougham prototype. The fluted lower body panel on the front fender and door was duplicated on the rear fender of the Brougham prototype for 1955; the pointed, bullet, gull-wing front bumper was shared with many Cadillac show cars of the period; the bullets were sometimes rubber tipped; these rubber tips appeared on stock Cadillac models in 1957 and 1958. Some 1957 prototypes had white ones. The El Camino and La Espada were the first Cadillacs on which quad headlights appeared; these became an industry standard in 1958.

Опытное купе Cadillac El Camino впервые показали на выставке Motorama в 1954 году. Кузов — из композитных материалов, крыша — из полированной нержавеющей стали, двери — без оконных рамок, а заднее стекло — панорамное.