When you walk among the great cars of the 20th century at a major show or Concours, you get the impression that each vehicle has lived a charmed existence from the assembly line to the show field.  For most Concours level automobiles, that is correct.  However, some have come back from years of abuse and neglect.  If you want to feel both heartbreak and hope at the same time in regard to a special car, then take a look at this 1955 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible for sale on craigslist in Excelsior Springs, Missouri.  Is a $12,500 asking price too much on top of the required restoration expense?  Thanks to Gunter K. for the tip!

Hemmings Motor News once published a magazine called Special Interest Autos.  SIA was a fantastic magazine if you were a lover of automotive history.  The articles were impeccably researched, and the road tests gave you a real feel of what it was like to drive the cars. One of the regular features of the magazine was photo collections of what were then classic cars on the streets during the fifties and sixties.  You would see things like Duesenberg J models languishing on the back row of a used car lot, V-16 Cadillacs that were being driven as you would a standard used car, and photographs of the vehicles in the parking lot of sports car races.

These photos were quite entertaining, but they also sent a message.  Almost every car goes through a period where its desirability has waned, and it is regarded less as a classic or collectible and more as a used car.  Every car that was the latest and greatest thing eventually ends up on a used car lot or, in the case of today, on craigslist.  I was always left wondering what happened to all those cars.  Were they saved? Are they in a garage somewhere?  Did I see one of them in the lineup at Amelia Island or an AACA show?

Or, did the car end up parked behind someone’s house for an extended period of time?  This is what happened to the Cadillac you see in these photos.  The seller tells us that this once top-of-the-line drop-top Cadillac got parked behind the former owner’s house around 1964 or 1965.  Given the innate desire to return to the Earth that GM products of this era exhibit added to the fact that this is a convertible, this is about the worst thing that could have happened to this car.

Despite the copious amount of rust and other forms of corrosion and the locked-up engine, there is still enough there to make restoration a possibility.  First of all, this is the top-of-the-line convertible for that year and these opulent beasts are considered rare and very desirable.  Cadillacs of this period were indeed the “Standard of the World” in every way.  They were impeccably engineered, and exceedingly well built, and the styling of these cars set trends that other manufacturers followed.  A Cadillac was “the” car to own.

Of all the Cadillacs available, the Biarritz was the king.  These impressive beasts were motivated down the road by a 331 cubic inch V-8 backed up by a velvety smooth three-speed transmission.  Of the 140,777 Cadillacs built in 1955, only 3,950 were Eldorado convertibles.  At a 1955 price of $5,814 before any options were checked, you can see why.  Adjusting that price for 2022 dollars by using an internet inflation calculator shows that today’s price would be $58,765.  That seems a little low.  Perhaps this week’s inflation increase wasn’t calculated in.

RM Sotheby’s auctioned off one of these in the year 2013.  That car brought $125,000 in 2013 dollars and appears to have been impeccably restored.  At the asking price of $12,500 plus the rare parts that the seller wants to charge extra for, this car does appear to be a bargain if most of the rust we see in these pictures is just on the surface.  There is no denying that the quarter panels will need to be replaced or, at the very least, patched.  The fact that the car sat for so long in a backyard is what is so troubling.  This car was trying to return to the Earth before blue tarps came into existence.  How much irreparable damage has been done is anyone’s guess.  You can be sure the buyer will know soon after the money changes hands.

One look under the hood reveals some of the issues the new owner will deal with.  The engine’s number is correct for the car.  However, the block is currently seized up despite a thorough soaking in solvents by the seller.  The seller has also decided to charge an additional $200 for the intake manifold and an extra $1,200 for the famous batwing breather assembly that adorned these cars when new.  Once these started hitting the junkyards, batwing breather assemblies became a hot rod builder’s favorite.

The question is not whether the car is worth the asking price and the extra loot for the desirable bits and pieces.  It is.  The question centers around just how much it is going to cost to fix this impressive old Cadillac.  To have the car done professionally would be insanely expensive but would yield concours worthy results if taken to the right restorer.  Perhaps this car could be brought up to local show level by a home restorer if the rust isn’t too bad and a parts car that still has chrome bumpers and a running engine can be located.  It would seem such a shame to let this beautiful car slip by if you loved fifties Cadillacs and needed a project to test your abilities.

Do you think this Cadillac is a restoration project that could be completed in the average garage workshop?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments.