Notifications

Clear all

1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car Concept from Matrix

Dave Gilbert · 2022-12-05T07:00:41Z

If you look hard enough, you can find flaws and inaccuracies in any model, no matter how good, or how expensive they are. For me, that kind of nit-picking would suck the joy out of the hobby in about 5 minutes. I usually enjoy the model for what it is, warts and all. What matters to me is that the ESSENCE of the 1:1 is captured in the model, even if some of the details aren't quite right. In my opinion, the new 1956 Cadillac Town Car concept from Matrix fails to capture the "essence" of the 1:1. The 1:1 has grace and elegance, while the model does not. While the build quality is fine, the shape and proportions of the rear half of the car are grossly inaccurate, which destroys the beauty that the original car has. The body itself is not actually banana-shaped, but the crooked rear fender trim makes it LOOK banana-shaped. I overlaid a photo of the model onto a photo of the 1:1 car, and drew some guidelines. I originally scaled the image of the model to align both sets of axles, but that made the whole model much bigger than the image of the 1:1, so I aligned only the front axles and eyeballed the image of the model to be roughly the same length as the image of the 1:1. It is not precise, but close enough to show that the rear bumper of the model is too large and too low. From the Dagmars to the windshield, the model is fairly true to the 1:1, but things fall apart the further you go aft. The rear ramp angle is flattened out on the model, which requires the chrome trim on the rear fender to shoot upward to clear the rear wheel well. In the images, the green highlights the bumper and trim on the 1:1, the red highlights the same area on the model. The third image is an overlay to show how far off the model is. The roof line is also way off, but that is something that I could have lived with. The Matrix brand has offered many breathtakingly beautiful models over the years, and I am proud to say that I have many of them in my personal collection. For this reason, I fully believe that they were capable of having this model produced accurately. The question is, why didn't they? Like any other business, I'm sure they are experiencing the typical supply chain issues, staffing issues, etc. that is so common these days. But, think about this: Unlike many other items we purchase, this model has only one reason to exist: to look good. You can't drive it, you can't eat it, you can't live in it, you can't shave with it. If it doesn't look good, why bother? After many years of being in product development myself, I understand that there are many tradeoffs and compromises involved in getting any product to market. But it is the responsibility of the people involved in every stage of that endeavor to make sure that the product actually "works" when it is offered for sale, in spite of the tough decisions that needed to be made along the line. If the product cannot be made to work due to time or budget constraints, it should be scrapped or shelved for a more opportune time. Since the function of this item is purely aesthetic, I guess you could say that it doesn't "work". It's broken. DOA. Defective.

Page 2 / 2 Prev

Forum 43

Last Post by Richard Dube 3 years ago

22 Posts

12 Users

32 Reactions

4,334 Views

RSS

Richard Dube

(@nickies)

Famed Member

Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 1014

06/12/2022 12:20 am

Dave, I have one Stamp model that have a similar issue with the rear end, the 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. I don't believe this is a design issue but mostly a production one that happened during the casting process. A few months ago, somebody mentioned a similar issue with the Stamp 1964 Cadillac 60s. This may be a coincidence but it's always the back that is sagging on these models.

Dave Gilbert reacted

ReplyQuote

cadillaclloyd

(@lloyd-mecca)

Noble Member

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 488

06/12/2022 1:44 am

...and the front end is a dumpster fire too.....

The windshield is incorrect,

side view mirrors are oversized,

lights are bad,

grille is wrong and Dagmars/whole front is out of proportion.

Karl Schnelle and Dave Gilbert reacted

ReplyQuote

Dave Gilbert

(@daveg)

Noble Member

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 389

Topic starter 06/12/2022 11:12 am

Posted by: @nickies

Dave, I have one Stamp model that have a similar issue with the rear end, the 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. I don't believe this is a design issue but mostly a production one that happened during the casting process. A few months ago, somebody mentioned a similar issue with the Stamp 1964 Cadillac 60s. This may be a coincidence but it's always the back that is sagging on these models.

Thank you for alerting me to this. I have not noticed the "droopy butt" on any Stamp or GLM products myself yet, but I will keep a close eye on future models.

Dave Gilbert
Nashville, Tennessee

ReplyQuote

Dave Gilbert

(@daveg)

Noble Member

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 389

Topic starter 06/12/2022 11:30 am

UPDATE

I get all of my Matrix/GIM models though a distributor. I contacted them upon receiving this latest shipment, and they just informed me that they have contacted Matrix about this issue, and are waiting for a reply.

Typically, dealers do not have the luxury of being able to return product under these circumstances. I am hopeful that Matrix will do the right thing, and make an exception here. I am also hopeful that this will set a precedent, and send a strong message that their quality needs to be better and more consistent if they want to remain competitive.

I will post updates when I receive more information.

Dave Gilbert
Nashville, Tennessee

ReplyQuote

Larry kemling

(@larry-kemling)

Noble Member

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 1115

06/12/2022 11:57 am

@daveg

Other than the slightly oversized straps on the spare tires what are we looking at on this Duesenberg?

ReplyQuote

Dave Gilbert

(@daveg)

Noble Member

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 389

Topic starter 06/12/2022 5:17 pm

Posted by: @larry-kemling

@daveg

Other than the slightly oversized straps on the spare tires what are we looking at on this Duesenberg?

My apologies, Larry! My comment on the Duesenberg was worded poorly. I was using the Duesy as an example of Matrix's EXCELLENCE. When I wrote "this one", I was referring to the Cadillac, not the Duesenberg. As I mentioned, I have many fine Matrix models in my collection, the Duesenberg being one of them. I'm just baffled at how they can get so many models just right, and be so far off the mark on others.

Dave Gilbert
Nashville, Tennessee

Karl Schnelle reacted

ReplyQuote

Richard Dube

(@nickies)

Famed Member

Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 1014

07/12/2022 1:22 am

@lloyd-mecca Well......... you knocked, the last nail in the coffin on this one. I only have one Matrix because I wanted a 1937 Cadillac and nobody else did one. The V16 Coupe w/o sidemounts is OK but far from perfect.

ReplyQuote

Page 2 / 2 Prev

8 Forums
28.4 K Topics
222.9 K Posts
1,313 Online
2,006 Members

Forum Icons: Forum contains no unread posts Forum contains unread posts

Topic Icons: Not Replied Replied Active Hot Sticky Unapproved Solved Private Closed

Cart

1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car Concept from Matrix

Super Globals

Options and Features