(first posted 6/25/2013) “There are eight million stories in the naked city,” the narrator solemnly intoned at the end of the famous 1948 film noir and the 1958-63 television series. There aren’t that many stories at a typical car show, but one wonders what stories this decrepit 1955 Cadillac Eldorado could tell – particularly the one about how it ended up in this condition.
Much like meeting a former Hollywood sex symbol after her fourth divorce and fifth facelift, seeing a 1955 Eldorado in this state brings a twinge of sadness. How did such a dazzling car end up like this? This isn’t, after all, a 1955 Ford Mainline sedan. It’s unlikely that young boys longed for the day that dad drove home in a Mainline, or adults counted the days until they could park one in their driveway.
In 1955 Cadillac was the Standard of the World, and the Eldorado convertible was the most desirable Cadillac. Millions of middle- and working-class Americans dreamed of the day that they could afford any Cadillac, let alone a glamorous Eldorado.
The 1955 Eldorado was the third edition of the luxury convertible that debuted for 1953. The 1953 Eldorado was the first car, along with that year’s Oldsmobile Fiesta, to feature Harley Earl’s beloved wraparound windshield. It also featured custom body work – a “dipped” beltline was the most noticeable feature – which helped drive the sticker price to the then-astronomical sum of $7,750, or almost twice the price of a Series 62 convertible. Only 532 first-year Eldorados were sold.
The 1954 Eldorado’s all-new body was otherwise unchanged from that of the standard Series 62 convertible. The price was cut substantially from the lofty 1953 level, which spurred sales to 2,150.
For 1955, the Eldorado again featured distinctive sheet metal to distinguish it from other Cadillacs, although this time it was in the form of unique rear quarter panels and tail fins. Under the hood was a 331 cubic inch V-8 equipped with dual, four-barrel carburetors. With those dual quads, the Eldorado V-8 pumped out 270 horses, or 20 more than the V-8s of lesser Cadillacs.
Making their debut on the 1955 Eldorado were the famous “Sabre-Spoke” wheels. The fender skirts featured on other Cadillacs were eliminated, to better show off the handsome new wheels.
The Cadillac V and crest were proudly displayed on the Eldorado’s hood. Buyers wanted to be sure that everyone knew they were driving a Cadillac.
The wraparound windshield, shared with more plebian Cadillacs since 1954, is long gone from this Eldorado. The Autronic Eye automatic headlight dimmer unit is still perched proudly on top of the dash.
All of that style wasn’t cheap. While the list price of the 1955 Eldorado was below that of the inaugural model, it was still high for the times – over $6,000. The buyer of this Eldorado probably paid that price, as demand for all Cadillacs exceeded the supply in the mid-1950s. A booming economy pushed production to 3,950 for the model year.
Who took delivery of this dreamboat when it was brand new? Was it a top-level executive seeking something sportier than a Sixty Special? A wealthy housewife who wanted to “one up” all of those Series 62 convertibles at the country club? A brash, young entrepreneur who was ready to show the world that he had made it?
Movie images: IMCDb
What would the owner have thought if, peering into a crystal ball, he or she had caught a glimpse of the Eldorado almost 60 years later? Perhaps the owner wouldn’t have cared. During the 1950s, no car maker had more success in selling the car as a fashion accessory than GM did, and, in tandem with that effort, no car maker did a better job of promoting the “newest is best” mindset among the public.
Fashion, as we all know, is quite fickle. In a survey of 1956 Cadillac owners, Popular Mechanics noted that almost 2/3s of the respondents had traded in a 1954 or 1955 Cadillac on their 1956 model. Given that mindset, a 1955 Eldorado was, by the fall of 1956, probably looking a little like yesterday’s newspaper to its owner.
Was this Eldorado traded in for a 1957 edition? Or one of those slinky 1957 Imperial convertibles that threw the GM design staff into a tizzy? Or did the owner wait until the 1958 model year and trade it for something really different – a Mercedes 220S convertible, or a four-seat Thunderbird? The challenge presented by the 1957 Imperial was easily surmounted by GM, but the Mercedes and Thunderbird represented trends that would play a part in GM’s downfall in the 21st century, and Cadillac’s fall from grace long before that.
How did this particular Eldorado end up on a trailer at the spring Carlisle Collector Car Swap Meet and Corral? Most likely, it eventually became just another used car, a tired vehicle sold to someone who needed transportation. The prominent fins and wraparound windshield, once the height of style, looked old-fashioned by the mid-1960s. By 1966, potential buyers may have been a little embarrassed at the thought of driving such an obviously old car. This car, once a source of pride, may have become a source of embarrassment.
Fashion is not only fickle, but sometimes cruel. If this Cadillac could talk, it would probably tell us that story, based on firsthand experience.
Yes it is a bit sad BUT the fact that it still looks good and complete at age 58 makes me smile. Not too many of those out there anymore since they rusted out or were discarded in the 1960’s
I forgot about all the wondrous car delights at Carlisle.
Oh about that V on the caddy hood, It just meant V8 and all the cars of the era with V8’s had that V because it was a way to boast that the your car had the new(for the era) V8. Kinda sorta like Dodges with that HEMI badge.
The most famous V was on Christine(58 Fury). However Cadillac kept that V badge on every car until 1984. The last Caddy with the V was the 1984 Fleetwood Brougham
Cadillac dropped the V for the 1970 model year and a few years beyond.
When I was a kid I thought the V was just part of the Cadillac badging.
Sure, 1950s Chevrolets had the V. But by the time I was old enough to notice, most pre-1961 Chevrolets had left our neighborhood for lower-rent digs. Later I would occasionally notice a five-seven with a V under the Chevrolet crest; and some time later see another with the CHEVROLET script, no V…I never made the connection until much, much later.
If I were to typecast our neighborhood in terms of cars, they were newer cars but less-ostentatious. Chevrolets outnumbered Oldses. Fords more than Mercs, and only one Lincoln. And most probably had sixes in them…excepting the few Mustangs with the “289” emblem with the V under it.
Funny how a kid can notice so much and yet never see something else.
The last Cadillac with a V was the 1984 deVille series cars, Fleetwood series cars have worn a wreath and crest since 1964, the V was only missing for 2 years, 1970-71, it came back for 1972.
The Cadillac V was only used on sub-Fleetwood series cars from 1964 and up, when the wreath & crest was adopted as the badge for all Fleetwood series cars.
Back in the early 70’s I was in the habit of running around Lake Merrit in Oakland. There was a black over brown 55 Eldo parked across from an apartment building. It was a daily driver. About that time I found another 55 Eldo for sale in Alameda at a small used car lot.White with a red interior with a Continental kit. It also had a big dent in the left quarter panel behind the driver’s door. The price? 199.00! I really thought about it but I figured I wouldn’t be able to fix that damage on my own. I bought my 64 convertible instead, which was a real nice car. Cost me 325.00.
Love the black and white ad photo. Where, exactly, is the blonde passenger going skiing, having arrived in a top-down convertible? 🙂
The ladies could use some wide whitewall snow tires to go along with the skis.
I was wondering about the yellow ’54 Caddy. It looks like an authentic ad picture, but the yellow is so bright. One usually thinks of such colors as late 60’s through mid-70’s offerings. According to paintref.com the only yellow available on ’54 Cadillacs was Apollo Yellow, which was much paler than that.
It seems someone took this photo of an Apollo Yellow Caddy and photoshopped it to a bright yellow.
http://www.mad4wheels.com/webpics/hires/00005323%20-%201954%20Cadillac%20Eldorado%20convertible/1954_Cadillac_Eldorado_convertible_007_1337.jpg
Some of these older factory photos were always retouched in the studio, where I imagine the color was “enhanced”, this is a factory photo from what I can recall, I’ve seen the same photo in a Cadillac book from the 70’s.
From my google image searching, the other version of the picture that appears to be a more authentic looking Apollo Yellow and a black, not blue, night sky seems to be much more prevalent on the WWW. The bright yellow version is also cropped. Based on that, I’m fairly confident that this photo was more recently tinkered with to make the car look bright yellow.
Could be Vancouver… I remember one New Years’ Day driving across the Lions Gate Bridge behind a Fiat 124 Spyder which had the top down and skis on the trunklid rack.
“In a survey of 1956 Cadillac owners, Popular Mechanics noted that almost 2/3s of the respondents had traded in a 1954 or 1955 Cadillac on their 1956 model.”
Call me cynical, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the survey had been paid for, polled by, tweaked by, and provided to PM by GM…
And there were 3 respondents total. 🙂
Of course, Cadillac had one of the highest owner-loyalty rates going back then. When you have a Cadillac, what else would you buy?
You are too cynical. Even going down to Chevrolet, an significant number of people were buying new cars every year or every other year. And, back then, buying a used car was tantamount to admitting that you were poor. As was today’s “run it until it dies” habit that so many penny-pinching auto bloggers like to brag about. Back then, it was nothing to be proud of. I can remember going thru dad’s used car lot and seeing lots of one, two and three year old cars – and not too many much older models, all of which would have been shoved to the back row of the lot.
Part of it was the style of the time. Part of it was that cars were more affordable to someone who had a good job at the time – short payment periods and large down payments insured that. And a lot of it was that, by today’s standards, all cars back then were junk. At 50,000 miles you were looking at the first wave of major part replacement. At 100,000 miles, a car was considered fit only for a complete rebuild.
I still remember the day dad showed up at home (summer of ’62) with a ’57 DeSoto Firedome 4-door sedan, three on the tree, something like 90,000 miles and beaten to hell and back. Completely worn out. He brought it home that day because I was always fascinated with the 57-58 Chrysler line, and had never ridden in one.
If you’re under the age of 50, you don’t really understand the consumer culture of the 1950’s. The pressure was really on to show how well you had made it, and what we now know as the hipness of going against the social grain (read: beatnik) had only gained a toehold in the biggest cities by a few real wierdos (read: Allen Ginsberg, et. al.).
The counterculture of the 1960’s was, to a great part, a backlash by a lot of people worn out by the 1950’s “keeping up with the Joneses”.
Excellent point. Back then, you could tell a cheapskate from a poor person: The cheapskate bought a new car near the bottom of the line and drove it for years and years. The poor person was the guy who bought used cars.
You make a good point about the flashy 50’s culture. But it was not just a cheapskate/poor thing but also a cultural thing that had some folks hanging on to their cars a long time . Take my grandparents on both my father and mother’s sides. My grand parents on my dad’s side would get a new car every 2-3 years in the 1950’s to 1960’s. This was not due to the “keeping up with the Jones” thing, but practicality, by 2 or 3 years the car was ready to fall apart even with proper care. The companies went the Planned Obsolescence route with their cars.
On the flip side my mother’s parents, bought a car new with cash and drove it for years and years and when it finally crapped the bed and could not be repaired, they would then go out and buy a new car to replace it with money saved from not having a car note.
For my dad’s parents, a new car every 2- 3 years was necessary because the cars of the day fell apart too quickly under normal use.(heck you take the worst built car made in 2013 and compare it with the best made car of 1956 and the 2013 car is better in every way except in looks.
For my mother’s parents, the great depression loomed large still with them. While only kids, the lessons and the horrors of that time became embedded in their minds for the rest of their lives and this influenced them to always pay for things with cash and to make due with what you had. My mother’s folks were not materialistic and as long as the car ran and drove to point A to point B they were happy.
In regards to trade-ins, keep in mind that in this era, demand for new Cadillacs typically exceeded supply, so first-year depreciation was only in the 10 to 15 percent range: say, between $400 and $900 depending on model and equipment. If you were wealthy enough to buy a new Cadillac in the first place, you could trade it for a new one every year at a very modest cost — no more (and in some cases probably less) than a year’s worth of payments on a 30- or 36-month note for a new Bel Air. That was an excellent value, particularly if you were in a position to write off some or all of your car payment (or have your business underwrite it).
I would also say that the counterculture was primarily generational rather than burnout. By the early ’60s mainstream buyers were pretty sick of rocket ship gimmicks, leading to the cleaner styling of Kennedy-era GM cars, and enough people were disgruntled about the growing size of big cars that there was the split into compact/intermediate/full-size models, but the people going from a full-size Ford to a Fairlane were not usually counterculture mavens.
Although the ’60s counterculture took a few cues from its ’50s counterpart, I think the ’60s phenomenon was really more a generational split, with the emergent Baby Boomers strenuously and reflexively rejecting anything they associated strongly with their parents. Older people kept right on aspiring to and buying Cadillacs and the like until Cadillac started having identity crises in the late ’70s and ’80s.
Syke, good post, you are right-on. Late ’50s my runaround two bicycle buddies got new bikes every year and we would peer thru the glass doors at the Chevy dealer after 6p to see the new Belairs in the show room before their family-head got around buying a new Belair 4dr HT every year from ’55 thru ’58 impala. I was at aw seeing them packing up in those good smelling cars every year while my mom and three siblings rode in a ’49 2dr Ford black sedan, when it would run, living in the city projects, I, myself got around on a 29$ purchased used Western Flyer. Due to our money situation was the reason I noticed in such fine detail about the autos of the late ’50s and ’60s and it was not anything to have a year and half new Olds 98 getting the trans rebuild with only 43k on it at my after-school job. Don’t recall any discussions about available warranties. Those were fun times too. Then came the last end of the ’60s and I was buying new Detroit iron every year for the wife and I.
Glad to see I’m not alone when I look at an old heap like this and wonder about the scene when the first owner drove it home.
I was trying to figure if this was originally a silver car or started out in some other color.
These started to become worth something in the 70s, and I wonder if some owner latched onto it figuring to strike it rich. There are few things that irritate me more than someone with a salvageable old car who lets it sit and rot while trying to sell it for many multiples of what it is worth.
That’s what I like to call the “Barrett-Jackson effect”. I love ads that say something like, “Asking $10k. Will be worth $80k once restored!” …except you’ll have spent $100k restoring it to that concours-quality level.
When selling/buying a car in this state, a realistic price is about what one could get by selling the trim parts on ebay, especially if it doesn’t have a title.
Love the very last picture. And the car is not bad either.
…me too. That lady and car are really cool together.
If THAT Caddy could talk it might just quote Roy Orbison in the song Pretty Woman and simply say: “Mercy…”
I agree, do enjoy the eye-kandy with the cars. . The pic above the last picture goes to show, the surface must be very clean before the BondDo filler is applied or one will get scaling, break-off as shown. 🙂
Remember seeing this model as a sprouting kid I thought, if I owned this model I would modify it to a dual red-lens tail lamp pair on each side instead of being off balance as it has always been.
It definitely needs a few rare and expensive parts to restore it, but certainly doable in the right hands from what I see. Hopefully this once magnificent Caddy finds the right person to make it whole again.
This is one of those cars that the owner/restorer might actually break-even if they later sold it too.
I would imagine that the owner would have to do a fair amount of restoration work him/herself to break even on this car.
It was also missing most of the interior parts, and those are very expensive today, from what I’ve heard.
Agreed on both points. I intended that “owner/restorer” was the same person when I wrote that. 🙂
A while back, someone had written a book about Cadillac cars and purchasers. A quick Google search didn’t kick up any names and my memory isn’t pulling it up either. It sounded like a fascinating read, as we all know there are some great stories behind the whole car culture.
My father immigrated here from Germany in the early 1950’s. The first car he bought (or owned at that point in his life) was a 1953 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. These Eldos share a common styling theme, everytime I see one, I’m reminded of my father and his success here in the US.
To my dismay, I have not gotten my first Cadillac. Maybe I’m not as motivated…
This Caddy just does not appeal to me at all. To me, most 1950s cars other than the day-to-day Chevys, Fords and Chryslers just look like lead sleds and I never desired anything beyond the “normal” cars of the day. Most 1950s cars? I suppose I meant ALL decades!
Probably why 11 months ago I bought an outdated (according to some) 2012 W-body Impala!
Once upon a time, a luxury car really meant something, and the Caddy above was superior to its GM cousins, but I simply feel a “luxury” car is no longer worth the money.
Then again, it’s probably just me being the cheapskate I am!
I’m just a leedle-beet cornfused…about model years. I thought the 1955 Caddy had the same red-top-of-the-blade taillight the 1954 had; and that the twin jet-pods at the lower end of the tailfin was a 1957 evolution.
As the others noted, few things are more sad than seeing an ostentatious status-car age; age so quickly; and then be left to rot. Younger guys have posted about its status being over by the 1970s; from having lived through it, I can tell you that such a car’s use-by date was much, much earlier.
By 1971 or so, the only people who chose to keep or buy such a car were either people who could no longer afford to trade for a newer one; newly-arrived immigrants who didn’t understand the whole model-year-status-planned-obsolescense thingy; and eccentrics.
Northeast Ohio had a large population of war-displaced new European immigrants, many of them moderately-or-more successful, some of which got into the American game and bought Cadillacs. One such person lived nearby; a work-obsessed house painter, he bought what I was told was a 1955 Cadillac four-door. Don’t know the series. It lived under a plastic tarp in his garage with expired tags; it came out once a year for a drink of gas.
On the eccentric side, a great uncle, self-made and retired, owned a 1957 and kept it long after it was fashionable. In his defense, he bought it while still working and with an image to keep up. Retired, he couldn’t care less; and when he finally had to trade, it was to a nondescript Oldsmobile.
Starting in 1955 and running through 1958, the Eldorado had a different rear end treatment than the standard Cadillacs, the Eldorado previewed the sharp blade fins 2 years before they made their debut on the standard 1957 Cadillac, the 1957-58 Eldorados had sharp shark like fins that kind of predicted the 1959 ZAP fins.
By 1959, the Eldorado returned to just being a more trimmed up expensive deVille convertible and in continued this way untl 1967 when the FWD Eldorado coupe made its debut.
The 1964 Eldorado had the last vestige of custom bodywork, with its skirt-less sporty open rear wheel wells.
The Eldorado had a unique rear-end treatment in ’55 that didn’t appear on the other models until ’57, by which time Eldorado had another different style.
The differences on the Eldo from the regular Caddy are clearly described in the text: For 1955, the Eldorado again featured distinctive sheet metal to distinguish it from other Cadillacs, although this time it was in the form of unique rear quarter panels and tail fins.
What a photo, it’s looking me in the eye! Seriously I can’t remember when a picture of a car triggered that feeling so intensely. With a bemused expression on its face it’s about to tell me some rare stories. Wow.
This article reminded me of how when I was a child in the late seventies/early eighties, I dreamed of owning a Cadillac or Lincoln. But by the 21st century, when I had the income/funds, I chose to go German. Although I did test a CTS once, the BMW was only a few grand more, so, considering resale value, the Germans won.
Over here Dad bringing home a Mainline WAS an event that was a brand new Ford ute, a Customline was the 4door and you were flash as Michael Jackson in your new Ford V8.
Cadillacs of this era were impossible to get even on special order one local farmer with too much money tried and had to settle for a Buick My Dad considered that a win as Bentleys were this guys usual fare.
Of course there are plenty here now thanks to no tarrifs on used cars or strict regs on where the steering wheel is that car would go for 10k here in that condition Kiwi panel and paint men are the worlds best no arguement the world sends its old cars here for restoration.
Thank you, Paul, for running this story on your fine site. I was struck by the condition of this Cadillac – I couldn’t help wondering what it looked like brand-new, and how happy the original owner was when he or she drove it off the lot. And now, almost 60 years later, it looks like this. (If I recall correctly, the asking price today is $6,000.)
The condition of this car drives home that status and the latest style are very fleeting. This Cadillac represents a peak of those concepts among American car buyers. Perhaps that is why I now find myself wanting a suicide-door Lincoln more than a 1950s or 1960s Cadillac.
Not my cup of tea,a Ford or Chevy will do thanks but I would like to see it restored,it would make a change from all the 59 Cadillacs in the magazines and at the shows
Agree that within a few years this car would have been totally “out” with the majority of its target buyers. I’d argue that the new car/consumerist culture persisted in America well into the 1980s. I remember in the late 70s how “old” the pre-downsizing biggies seemed, and was so excited when my parents finally got into their “downsized” B and C bodies–clearly so much better. Rinse and repeat in the 80s, when those same cars seemed huge and were replaced with another round of FWD (and/or imported) cars. Only in the 1990s did cars 1) last longer due to being built better and 2) lost the fashion allure of frequent updates (thanks perhaps to the Germans and their 7+ year cycles). Now it takes ~2 generations in age before a car seems really old–versus 2/3 years max during the height of the Planned Obsolescence Era.
I saw a 55-56 Eldorado sitting in the weeds this weekend, looks like its been there for years, believe it or not,,,,,
There’s a Caddy around the corner from me in that state. I posted it to the cohort quite awhile ago now. It’s either a 55-56 Eldorado or a 57-58 non-Eldorado because it has the same fins and taillights.
Younger people, immigrants and eccentrics were the original markets of imports like Volkswagen and Volvo. Both targeted the planned obsolescence culture in their advertising, touting the longevity and simplicity of the Beetle design in the former case and the durability of the Volvos in the latter, making biennial trades unnecessary.
That thinking carried over with the Japanese manufacturers in the 1970’s, stressing quality and economy over the Malaise-era crap coming out of Detroit.
This is an Australian commercial from the 1970’s, but it sums up Volvo’s philosophy perfectly.
That Eldorado might not be in the best shape, but I don’t think it’s the worst.
There is definitely a big gap between where that car is and the pictures shown below it.
I will say, that is motivation to restore that car because you can see what it will look like when it’s done.
I can provide an update to this interesting car since I was the seller at Carlisle. The car languished in a New York state salvage yard. Prior to that I would love to know the history like the author. It was rescued approximately late 2012 and shipped to New Jersey. It still had a few very hard to find parts (most parts on these are now hard to find!). I purchased it for these parts to be used on my 1955 Eldorado that I’m in the process of restoring.
It’s a stunning original color combination (Ascot Grey with black convertible top and black leather interior. The original leather was still there). It was in very rough shape for sure but these cars do not become available very often.
I sold the car to a gentleman living in Brazil early summer 2013. This car required extensive labor to get it back on the road. Fortunately labor prices in Brazil made it possible to give this car a new lease on life. It’s always sad to see an iconic car shipped out of the country but in this case it’s a positive story.
Thanks for the update!
The Autronic Eye automatic headlight dimmer unit was what the UFOs in “The War of the World” used during its invasion of Earth.
Great article on an interesting car. Regarding one of the pics, who would drive top-down through snow to go skiing in a Cadillac? I mean, I would, but I’m freaking weird.
Was it all the lead in the air in those days?
If the car could talk it would mutter “Damn I’m old!” or “Rosebud” or something.
Cool last pic, too!
As a lifelong resident of Indianapolis, I can tell you an interesting story about a local one owner 1955 Cadillac Eldorado that made world wide news in the spring of 1977. The car belonged to Mrs. Marjorie V. Jackson of 6490 Spring Mill Road. Mrs. Jackson had been married to Mr. Chester Jackson until his death in October 1970. He had owned the Standard Grocery chain (over 250 stores) which his father started in the early 20th century. Chester sold the chain to Jewell T in 1947 and invested much of the proceeds in a southern Illinois coal mine. The investment would turn out to be quite lucrative.
As I stated, Chester died in October of 1970 and left behind an estate of approx. $45 million. His eccentric wife (who had been his mistress for over 25 years) inherited the entire fortune. After inheritance taxes and lawyers fees, the proceeds came to around $14 million. The proceeds were deposited into a trust account at Indiana National Bank. In January 1976, Marjorie noticed a discrepancy on her statement. She alerted her attorney and it was discovered her trust officer had embezzled over $800K from her account. Her bruised faith in the bank (and mankind in general) led her to start withdrawing her money. Because the bank didn’t keep that much money on hand in it’s vaults, she had to make smaller, systematic withdrawals. The money was given in sequentially numbered bills from the Federal Reserve. Marjorie made several trips to the bank in the next four months, withdrawing $1 million at a time and carrying it home in suitcases and shopping bags aboard her white 1955 Eldorado convertible. By May 1976, she had withdrawn her entire fortune and brought it home to be hidden in trash cans, tool boxes,vacuum cleaner bags, and bathroom vanity drawers. Paranoid and somewhat delusional, her beloved Eldorado overheated one day in June while on a shopping trip. Steam rose from under the hood and she called for a tow truck. The mechanic told her the water hose broke but she was certain that a bomb had been placed on board her car and someone was trying to kill her! She gave the car to the mechanic and asked only that he take her downtown to Tutwiler Cadillac where she purchased TWO new Seville’s (paying cash for both from the proceeds from her wallet)!! Sadly, word got out that she was hoarding tremendous amounts of cash in her home. In the next year, she suffered numerous break-ins and was shot and killed during the last one in May 1977. The thieves left behind over $9 million in cash in the home which they unsuccessfully tried to burn down. Later, the lawyer handling her estate tracked down the whereabouts of the ’55 Eldorado and the mechanic was forced to return the car. Apparently, Marjorie never mailed him the title. The car still exists and traded hands a few years ago. The two Seville’s…. a brown one with 2,600 miles and a Phoenician Ivory one with just 40 miles, sold during her estate sale in Indianapolis in June 1977. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
Thank you for publishing this. Very well written.