From My Collection... How about a little fun? -Part 3

John Merritt · 2023-06-03T00:36:09Z

It has been a minute since I posted the next Imperial-Cadillac comparison pair. This time around we're looking at 1959. Now into 1959 and General Motors has finally addressed the Virgil Exner redesign at the Chrysler Corporation. Across all five brands, GM’s cars are lower, wider & longer than before. At the top is Cadillac, with its sharp tailfins and distinctive style. It is definitely styled to compete with the Imperial Crown Convertible. Looking at the two, one may think outrageous in either direction. They both are taking their style to the extreme. The Imperial is now in its third year of redesign and for the most part is the same car with some front-end restyling. A much-bolder grill treatment that adopts a much more in-your-face look is the most obvious change. The Cadillac is bold, with large fins and loads of chrome. The new fins are said to be the tallest on any car so far, I’m not sure because the Imperial looks to be pretty equal in height. The Cadillac & Imperial were quite far apart when it came to price and sales volume. The Imperial Crown Convertible was just over $5700 and sold under 600 examples. The Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz was priced over $7400 and sold over 1300 examples. Clearly the Cadillac, as with my previous two comparisons, was the sales winner and finally for 1959 had styling to compete. The buying public must have felt the same way too. For me, I’m torn. I like them both. They both take their style to the extreme and represent the 50s extravagance perfectly. What choice would you take? Now for the models, the Imperial is a beauty. The model captures all the elegance and extravagance of the 1:1 just as it should. It is a welcome addition to the previous two years issued. Great Lighting Models has created a wonderful masterpiece in miniature, but I am very biased because I believe these are the best Imperial models available. The Cadillac is from Spark, and when you look at them together, it seems undersized. The length is there but the width looks a bit off. The 1:1s are not quite an inch different with the Imperial being the wider. However, the models seem to be much more, but I didn’t take any measurements. I’ve noticed this with a couple other Spark Cadillac models before, but the Spark Cadillacs are pretty much the best available. 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible - Imperial Crown Convertible

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Bob Jackman

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03/06/2023 6:33 pm

@jack-dodds Jack I agree with your comments regarding the grill in the 59 Imperial. As to the comparison of the two cars, I would definitely pick the Cadillac.

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George Schire

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03/06/2023 10:14 pm

I'd take the Cadillac over the Imperial every time. The latter was cheap looking in comparison. At least to my eyes.

George Schire
Oakdale, Minnesota

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From My Collection... How about a little fun? -Part 3

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