While some automotive finds offer an interesting history, this ’59 Eldorado Seville offers an incredible history tied to Marilyn Monroe, Joe Dimaggio, and even George Barris! Joe Dimaggio bought this Caddy for Marilyn Monroe during their marriage. A ’59 Eldorado Seville was a grand gift, but this Caddy was being given to Marilyn Monroe. So, of course, it needed to be special and unique, which is where George Barris comes in. Joe Dropped the car with George for a one of a kind paint job that made this a one and only. While it may not have been decorated with diamonds (a girl’s best friend), this Caddy was painted in the next best color choice of gold! This fabulous piece of history is up for bid with less than a day remaining! The current bid is $65,101. Be sure to check it out here on eBay out of Graz, Austria.
With every check box filled in, this Caddy features any and every option you could ever desire. The Tri Power 390 is a smooth runner, and the engine compartment is quite clean. Air conditioning, power steering, and power brakes are all present making sure Marilyn had an enjoyable drive. After Marilyn passed away Joe Dimaggio’s brother acquired the car and sold it to fan to which the car has then traveled the world extensively to a few different collections.
Though you were most likely not fortunate enough to meet the famed actress, you can sit in the driver’s seat and imagine the history and experiences this car witnessed. In very nice condition, this interior has aged fairly well but there are a few minor issues. There is paint chipping around the climate control, and the dash has a wave in it likely from some heat exposure. Also the dash pad is starting to lift and warp near the gauge cluster. Granted, none of this is a real concern, and I wouldn’t dare to change a thing about this Seville.
Absolutely stunning, it is hard to not stare and admire this fine machine. The color choice is lovely, with all of the fine American chrome and fins, like the finest piece of automotive jewelry. After passing hands from collection to collection, this Cadillac has only accumulated 68,000 miles. This Seville presents well, but the famous Barris paint job is starting to show some signs of age with cracks, and even a few small paint chips. The chrome and glass work are phenomenal, and there are absolutely no signs of rust or corrosion. Again I wouldn’t dare to change a thing, as the story this Caddy tells is truly an interesting piece of 20th Century American history. What do you think this incredible icon will sell for?
Now we’re talkin’,,, hubba-hubba,,got ( the troublesome) air ride too, which the seller makes no mention of. How the car got from Hollywood to Austria is anyone’s guess, if you believe the story, that is. I can’t find any pictures of her with this Caddy, it was the height of her career, and whether she actually drove it is a mystery. This car, and I hate to blow it for the seller, was sold at B-J a while back( no date on sale, but not too far back) for $9,075 dollars, so, apparently, the B-J buyers weren’t impressed with the story either. Nice car, the story? Meh,,
Yep. And Monroe and DiMaggio were divorced well before this car, 1954.
Thanks, 71FXSuperGlide. Good memory. So maybe Joe gave her my ’54 Eldo . . . it was the best of the best in ’54 . . .And I believe!!!
My guess is that Arnold bought it for a favorite family member back home. The “Austrian Oak” was born in Thal, Austria, which, according to Wikipedia, is 2 miles west of Graz. Makes sense. Arnold can afford such luxuries, although I don’t recall him giving away Caddies like Elvis did. The picture is of Elvis’ 1955 Fleetwood.
If you look at the Air Ride air compressor, you’ll notice that the air inlet and outlet are plugged. The car has been converted to coils.
gorgeous car! what an inspired design. amazing it made it through to production like this. no clue what its worth but i’d love to have it.
“REPORTEDLY given to Marilyn Monroe by Joe Dimagio
REPORTEDLY painted by George Barris”
REPORTEDLY sold by Joe Dimagio’s brother”
That’s a WHOLE lot of “reportedlys” with ZERO documentation. Now over $90,000 which is about $30k worth of Marilyn Monroe maybees.
Just as convincing as me saying that I reportedly dated Marilyn Monroe.
The price has risen to 90000, it’s too much. And there are several paint injuries. left side at the front of the hood. look at the pictures further down the page.This is nothing for me.
She was married to Arthur Miller in 1960, not Joe DiMaggio.
Here is a listing of cars she owned, drove or was driven in. No mention of a 1959 Gold Cadillac.
The following is a chronological list of the cars that Marilyn Monroe owned, as well as the cars that she frequently drove or was driven in.
1. The Bolenders’ Model-I Ford-Hawthorne, circa 1926-32
2. Jim Dougherty’s blue 1940 coupe
3, Jim Dougherty’s 1935 Ford sports car-which Norma Jeane retained when the couple divorced
4. A 1948 Ford convertible-which MM purchased when she began to make money and which was soon repossessed
5. A 1950 Pontiac convertible
6. A black Cadillac convertible (license #2166185)-probably the Cadillac that MM received for appearing on “The Jack Benny Show,” circa 1953-54
7 Joe DiMaggio’s black Cadillac (license “Joe D”)-the car that the DiMaggios hopped into immediately following their 1954 wedding ceremony
8. A black Thunderbird sports car-the car MM drove when she moved to New York in 1956. It may have been purchased for her by Milton H. Greene.
9. Arthur Miller’s Jaguar-New York, circa 1957
10. A white Cadillac-the car MM drove (and was driven in) during the 1960 location shooting of The Misfits. It was probably rented.
11. A chauffeur-driven black limousine-Upon her return to Los Angeles in 1961, MM did not purchase another car. For certain occasions, she was driven about in this limo. Mrs. Eunice Murray’s modest green Dodge-For everyday, noneventful occasions, MM For certain occasions, she was driven about in this limo.
12. Mrs. Eunice Murray’s green Dodge – For everyday, noneventful occasions, MM was driven about Los Angeles by Mrs. Murray, circa 1961-62
You forgot about the 1962 Cadillac Eureka Landau hearse used for her funeral procession.
A friend of mine owned the mortuary that performed the service and he said the car was sold after that to a funeral home in the Philippines.
He never thought the car would ever have any value.
Omg ! Too frickin’ funny Miguel ! Was the casket still in the hearse though ?
Ahh, the candle in the wind !
No John, that was buried with her.
Look at what the Kennedy ambulance went for lately.
This hearse would have been worth a fortune, not only because it was a Eureka, but for the connection to Her.
You did not mention her pink Lincoln convertible or the pink Nash convertible
WOW WHAT A PROFIT
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1959-CADILLAC-ELDORADO-SEVILLE-UNKNOWN-17838
LOL, my how time and a few white lies changes things. $9075.00 and that includes commission!! LMAO
Hmmmm. Different wheelcovers on the car now? Interesting.
Would guess that B-J would require documentation on the ownership trail before allowing it to be used as part of the auction. Ebay has no such standards. $90K for this seems to be nuts without any documentation.
I would rather have the planes in the background!
Not me.
This a beautiful rare car even without the MM connection.
Spelled brother in laws name wrong or it could be true, another Marilyn Monroe who had a brother in law with name demagogue. Then no lies . Got to be fake bidding, is there any real documents to prove it.
Crazy…less than 10 k in 2001 to this in 2018?
The car is trading on the value of a rare Eldorado with tri-power.
The MM stuff is extra.
I can believe that Demaggio’s brother took the car after her death, as he was the one to take car of all the arrangements of the funeral and everything else.
I don’t think Joe gave her the car. That would have been rude to give her a car like this as she was somebody else’s wife at the time.
I have in fact met one of the players in the story, it was Joe to Maggio, it was 1960 and it was very brief. Who was rumored to punch her around on occasion.
Based on the listing of cars it would seem to indicate that this was not Marilyn’s car.
One thing for sure you have to admire her staying power. It’s been 55 years since she passed and here are a bunch of car guys keeping her memory alive.
She was a momentary, bright shining star in the big picture of life . She was a very heavily photographed starlet. One would think somewhere there’s a photograph of it. That sounds like quite the task to go through an archive looking for that photograph. And that may not exist.
Controversy Surrounded her most of her life.
She was in the number one comedy, on many lists, Some Like It Hot. She was late so often she cost the production company in today’s dollars 5 million in overrun cost.
Sounds like she’s going to cost some buyer in overrun cost as well. And the pattern continues.
“One thing for sure you have to admire her staying power. It’s been 55 years since she passed and here are a bunch of car guys keeping her memory alive. She was a momentary, bright shining star in the big picture of life .”
Not exactly momentary, her career lasted over a decade. And what keeps her alive is not just her talent (yes she had talent) but her unmatched beauty and sex appeal. She didn’t have the biggest chest in the world but the total package of face and body and attitude made her the greatest there ever was. It’s not just ‘car guys’ keeping her memory alive, not by a long shot. Her legions of modern-day fans could not tell you one specific car she ever actually owned.
All the wanna-be’s who came along based on MM – i.e. Jayne Mansfield to name one – were pathetic and weak imitations.
As for the car… without documentation and/or photos establishing that she owned it, any such claims are more than dubious.
Your math is a little off. She died in 1962.
Absent a photo of Miss Monroe in or near this car means you are buying a “story”. Perhaps a DNA test on the seat covers will increase the price…
Reserve not met at $91,001. Beautiful car whatever it’s history. Remember 15 or 20 years ago some Hollywood actress said, referring to Marilyn’s figure, that if she ever got that heavy she’d kill herself. That’s what she said. Famous, just can’t remember who it was. Thought… on your best day you aren’t anywhere near MM’s neighborhood.
The interior looks to be that mauve color and I guess the outside of this car was a similar color which would have made this car absolutely gorgeous.
Gold is not my favorite color.
Maybe George Barris’ daughter has records on who commissioned this car to be painted and for who.
The ebay listing says that the car was original Persian Sand in color.
CATHOUSE, that was a beautiful color on that car.
You still would have to deal with the car getting damaged in shipping if the buyer was in the US.
Maybe the next time the car is offered, the seller will be more reasonable on his price.
Shows bidding ended at $92K — reserve not met.
Throw in the Nigerian Prince who needs you to forward 5 thousand in order to collect his million-dollar inheritance, and we have a deal!
Okay, no one else has said it so I will: George Barris might have had a few good ideas, but he was more of a PT Barnum than he was an Ed Roth. There are plenty of stories out there about his designs being, ahem… well how do you say a bunch of other talented people did the work and then all of these works of art became Barris creations? Oh I know, it hurt when I read the facts too.
Otherwise this is a beautifully designed car that I would love to have, but let’s all please get over this “provenance” BS where the mere chance Marilyn’s butt may have graced the seat, means it’s worth 10X more. What grade are we in?
Very interesting bidding history.
Who cares who owned it . The 59 Caddy is the most iconic north american car ever made .
Interesting car and comments.
George Barris did a pair of 65-66 Mustang convertibles for Sonny & Cher when they only had two hits on the airways and no TV show. Or should I say, his shop did all the work at his direction. Wonder where those cars are today? Ended up…perhaps in the field where the Shelby Mustang was found, or…….?
Alexander, those two Mustangs are in a collection in Kansas.
You can see them on a video on You Tube on the channel called Hoovies Garage.
They are still in perfect condition as when they were built, and they are both still together.
Here is the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99bBHALV37A
You can first see them at 13 seconds in.
Get this, Ended: Oct 17, 2018 , 8:03PM
Current bid:US $92,001.00
Reserve not met
[ 73 bids ]
Nice looking, and certainly unique.
Lack of any provenance is suspicious.
I’d be worried about careful shipping from foreign port, wonder what that would add to the inflated asking price?
Exactly one too many zeros….and what has changed since it sold at B-J? A little more damage to that cloth insert in the front seat?
First of all, it was Abe Lincoln who bought this car for MM. Everyone knows THAT ! Duh !
MM and Jd’M were married January 14, 1954 – October 31, 1955. Why do people feel it necessary to drum up this kind of BS ? Oh yeah, … greed and thinking others will see them as “bigshots”. Anyone with half a wit will think “Hold on, … those two were LONG apart by the time this car was built” and begin to punch holes in an undocumented and absurdly misaligned story. You don’t need to be a homicide detective to see those clues don’t add up. Oh yeah, I guess the homicide team never connected the dots on Marilyn’s demise either … This whole subject is a heap of BS.
“If you read it on the internet, it must be true”
Abraham Lincoln.
I first heard the MM-Jd’M story wrapped around a 58 Lincoln Continental convertible. Said to have come from an old coastal motel north of L.A.. The whole bit about Joe buying it for her was present, … abandoned when she died ….
Maybe Joe was was like Elvis ? …. buying upscale cars, a dozen a week, to have stashed at every venue he might need a car, only in this case, Joe was showering his ex-wife with expensive cars. Makes perfect sense. Who doesn’t spend a lot of money buying gifts for their ex ?
Listing ended. Sold for $92,001.00. Beautiful car, but, as some have said, with no documentation on any of the stories, this is a story that sold. The actual car, without the story, probably is worth a lot less. Are we really that naive?
It didn’t sell, the auction ended without meeting the reserve.
My father would have said “two fools met.”
MM never had a driver’s license, nor ever drove. AND… she was dead by 1961!!!!
Marylin died in 1962, not 1961.
August 5th to be exact.
irrelevant as a post card at this point.
At this point we are beating a dead horse, but Joe did Pay for and take care of her funeral arrangements. Even tho the marriage was long over.
I believe who ever mentioned she didn’t Drive was correct. If I recall from documentary she didn’t drive but going off old beat up memory on the Driving part.
So with all that has been brought up, odds appear severely against this being her car.
However, price aside, wonderful car.
Don’t know where this notion that Marilyn didn’t drive came from. A quick interweb search produced an image of her temporary license and period photos show her driving. It has been my understanding she had a 1961 Dodge Polara
convertible at the end. Photos exist of her sitting in the car.
Oddly, it seems someone/s sells novelty driver’s licenses of her’s.
Here is some interesting background on her:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/06/marilyn-monroe-and-lee-strasberg-200306
She had a license but NEVER drove! All seeing google must be always right!?
Duh!
Maybe it’s time for me to dig that old boat out that Washington used to cross the Delaware!!! 😂
Relisted with a BIN of $99.5k
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