The 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Hardtop Coupe is a relatively rare beast, with only 2,100 buyers handing over their cash to own one. Our feature car is one of them, and its presentation is hard to criticize. However, the seller’s description raises a question about its interior that deserves closer examination. They have listed the Seville here on eBay in Petaluma, California. A solitary bid of $12,000 is below the reserve, but the interest this Cadillac has generated suggests the situation could change at any time.
Cadillac released its Third Generation Eldorado range, including the Biarritz Convertible and the Seville Hardtop Coupe in 1957. Our first-year feature car is the latter, finished in Code 10 Black. The first mystery posed by the listing is the seller’s mention of a matching Black vinyl top. I see no evidence of that, suggesting that there could be a few mistakes deserving investigation. They don’t provide a history of this classic, but the lack of significant flaws suggests it is either an extraordinary survivor or has undergone some form of restoration. The paint retains a mirror shine, the panels are straight, and the gaps are tight and consistent. The bright trim provides a sparkling contrast to the dark paint shade, as do the spoked factory wheels. The tinted glass looks excellent, with no evidence of severe scratches or cracks.
Powering this Seville is Cadillac’s 365ci V8 producing 325hp and 400 ft/lbs of torque. Bolted to this is a four-speed Hydramatic transmission, with power assistance for the steering and brakes as standard equipment. The company’s focus on luxury over outright performance is best reflected by the dry weight, which the company quoted as 4,812 lbs. However, these cars can comfortably hold their own on the open road, while the power assistance and self-shifter make the Seville surprisingly easy to handle in heavy city traffic. It is frustrating that the seller supplies no information regarding the Cadillac’s mechanical health, or how it runs and drives. Reassuringly, I can spot nothing in the supplied photos that cause me concern.
The mystery of this Cadillac extends beyond the lack of the claimed vinyl top to its interior trim materials. It appears to be trimmed in Code 50 Black and Silver Paisley cloth and White leather. However, the seller describes the White as vinyl, which Cadillac didn’t offer in the Seville. That is a question that deserves clarification because non-original materials could influence the car’s potential value. Once we look beyond that, the interior shows no evidence of problems in the two shots provided by the seller. The cloth is excellent, the White upholstery hasn’t discolored, and the carpet is clean and free from apparent wear. Determining which options the first owner chose is challenging, although it appears to feature power windows, an AM radio, and the desirable Autronic Eye.
This 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville presents beautifully, suiting someone seeking a high-end driver. The question hanging over the interior trim material is interesting and deserves clarification. I located a prior listing for this classic from 2018, in which the car failed to sell after bidding reached $28,750. That auction also described the interior as featuring vinyl, but a vehicle assessment in that photo gallery describes it as leather. Therefore, the mystery deepens. What are your thoughts on the subject, and would you be deterred if you discovered that someone has substituted vinyl for leather?
This car was offered on BAT last October, bid to $28,750 without meeting reserve. Seller was a dealer in Bellevue, WA. Now the car is supposedly in Petaluma, CA being offered by a seller with a zero rating on Ebay. Scam? “If it looks like a duck….etc.”
Sorry, auction was in October, 2018! Same photos used…
There was a similarly-attempted scam auction last week for a ’49 Roadmaster, which people here sussed out and got the auction taken down.
Good vigilance, everyone!
eBay shows the Seller has completed 78 transactions and has a 100% rating.
Zero transactions as a seller, transactions as a buyer only. You can boost your feedback rating on Ebay by making multiple low-price purchases.
I think the guy is fake. I sent him a request via Ebay and he has still not responded. Best to be cautious on this one.
As have I regarding the “black vinyl top” and no response.
You can’t scam the readers of this site! I agree with Todd, the same photos 7 years later are a red flag.
It is still a nice car though but I can’t imagine it bringing much more than what it bid to back then..
It’s obviously been reupholstered in vinyl, as leather that old can’t help but show its share of cracks even if the seats were never sat on. Anyway, it looks like a very nice car and it’s a definite improvement on Cadillac’s heavy-handed styling on the “regular” ’57s.
The current eBay listing notes the VIN ending in a different digit than the 2018 BAT listing. Petaluma is a few miles from me so I asked the lister if I could stop by before bidding. We’ll see if I get a response.
Let us know how it turns out, please!
The only way to buy this is to put trusted eyes on it first. That said, the styling is really cool. I agree – I wouldn’t pay more than the high bid on BAT.
It’d be very interesting to see if Midbay gets a response from the seller and even more interesting if the car is actually as described, It is a beautiful Cadillac
I have had so many good experiences with purchasing vehicles online, sight unseen, it is very disheartening when fraud is the objective from the get go.
Six years ago I was the high bidder on eBay for a 2008 BMW E61 sport wagon. I could tell the transaction was not going to be above board. I alerted eBay, bank sending the wire transfer deposit, local San Jose police dept, local bank money was being transferred to, and even the F B freeking I’s online fraud dept. NOBODY cared! The only suggestion I got from eBay was to go ahead with the transaction because I was insured through them if the transaction turned out to be fraudulent. I did and it was. I guess everyone involved considers fraud as an expense for doing business online? All I got for my trouble was no more eBay fraud protection for three months😡. eBay did cover the $4K deposit but it took almost 2 months for the check to clear my account.
So much for trying to be pro active in getting criminals off online platforms!!
Moral of the story…. Great to have an online community like Barn Finds that looks out for each other.
Cheers to you guys🥂
You lost your eBay protection temporarily because people try to defraud eBay too! I’m glad it worked out in the end. I’ve only bought one vehicle off eBay, a brand new Can Am Spyder from a dealership. Everything including shipping went off without a hitch. I think buying from a dealer versus an individual is safer because you can call the dealer and very the vehicle is there before you bid.
I owned a 57 seville. What a beautifull car. Mine was white with a white vinyl top and red and white leather interior. Even the door panels were leather. The only options available on an eldorado seville were air conditioning and dual 4 barrel carbs. My car had both. It was delivered new from Cashman Cadillac in Las Vegas. It was delivered to a house 2 doors down from where I currently live. Sadly I sold it to a guy who painted it red, changed the transmission and did lots of stupid things to it. It was such a nice original car. I felt sad it ended up as it did
Seville?? Wasn’t that just a gussied up Nova??
I am not up to speed on year to year changes for this gen Seville, but shouldn’t there have been a stainless steel roof rather than vinyl?
That was on a very different car, the Eldorado Brougham.
Fraud is only going to get much worse now. Eyes and ears always wide open.
Cadillac, Cadillac, long and dark, shiny and black,,,
Yup. Looks like it was a scam. Don’t see it anymore. Ebay must’ve taken it down.
In those days it seemed the backends of cars were just as nice as the front end. Agree? Or disagree?