Edition:
September 8, 2006
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'57 Cadillac Eldorado Seville
Growing up in Bellflower, California in the “good ole days,” it was only natural that Roger O’Dell took a liking to cars. This attraction led him down a wondrous path of hot rods, customs and drag racing. A few residents may remember his unbeatable and NHRA record-holding A/FD of the early 90’s while teamed up with Gene Adams and Don Enriquez. They may also recall his envelope-pushing black and gold ’39 Zephyr with full fender skirts on all four corners.
These days Roger says that he’s “just a car guy who loves to tinker in his shop” and he currently owns around 30 cars in various states of repair. He and buddy Larry Watson love to mill around So-Cal and stop in at places like Marcel’s and haunt the shops of various other painters and builders – shop-hopping to keep in touch with pals.
On one such trip, Roger mentioned to Larry that he had two ’57 Cadillacs but didn’t know what to do with them. “I’m pretty good at coming up with things to do to cars, but those were so ugly, I called them ‘frog’s butt’ cars, with their little fins and square styling,” says Roger, “they were just as ugly as could be – and they really had me stumped.”
Larry thought for a bit and then began talking about using style elements from the Golden Sahara that Barris had built. The more they talked, the more the ideas flowed. By the time they got to Steve Stanford’s shop, Larry had a pretty good idea of how to fix the ugly old Caddy. Larry told Steve, a Caddy fanatic himself, what he was thinking and the two went back and forth with the ideas. By the time they left, Steve a good grasp on Watson’s ideas and said that he would whip up a concept drawing.
Not long afterward, the images were in 2-D and in Roger’s hands. “It looked good. We both agreed that a double fin would be a little much and that a single fin would fit the bill,” says Roger, “I took it home and hung it up in my shop and looked at it as I finished the other Cadillac I was working on.” The more Roger looked at it, the more he decided that a ’60 tailfin would be almost perfect. He just so happened to be working on a ’60, and he popped a little template of its fin, taped it to the ’57, and he studied it for a few months. He says that it grew on him the more he looked at it.
As fate would have it, just as a workspace was being cleared for the ugly old ’57, his good friend Sam Foose was relocating, and his new shop was full of boxes. Roger asked him if he wanted to help out on the Caddy, and the two began working together in Roger’s shop. Fin’s were replaced, and after much scrutinizing, Roger decided that the front needed to be reworked to match. “These cars are so round in the back, but the front is as square as a ’55 Chevy,” says Roger, “it just doesn’t make any sense.” So they re-skinned the hood and pushed the corners of the front back 3.5 inches to match the more curvaceous shape of an Eldorado Brougham.
For the side trim, a 4 by 12 foot sheet of 5/8 in. aluminum was purchased and the Buick-style spears were trimmed out by hand, burning up several Saws-alls and router bits in the process.
When it came time to pick out a color for paint, Roger decided on a color he had seen in high school on John Tevelde’s custom ’56 Chevy 210 Watson had painted in 1958. “I always thought that was a very cool color,” muses Roger. Larry played with the PPG toners and pearls until he had the correct hue, and then selected Bobco Auto in Lake Elsinore to spray the flawless finish.
Roger’s other “Cadillac buddy,” Dale Armstrong, expertly restored the beautiful ’57 Eldorado Brougham wheels, which were then shod with new Vogues. Next up, the talents of James at A&C were called upon to cover the inside in the appropriate white tuck-n-roll to match the trick Pearl Craft steering wheel from Australia.
A car that runs as good as it looks, the revamped ’57 is equipped with a 500ci stump puller that had been outfitted with the Edelbrock goodies and heads ported and polished by Flow Technologies. Putting the power to good use is a TH400 and a Gear Vendors Overdrive for easy cruising on those long So-Cal shop tours.
“If you’re going down the road and a good looking 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville rolls on past with a couple of fellows grinning from ear to ear, know that it only looks good because some friends put their heads together and turned a ‘frog’s butt’ into the cat’s meow,” says Roger.
Engine
Manufacturer: Cadillac
Displacement: 500ci
Induction: Edelbrock
Ignition: GM
Heads: Ported and polished by Flow Technologies
Headers: Stock manifolds
Exhaust: 2.5 dual exhaust by Howard’s Muffler, Victorville CA
Drivetrain
Transmission: TH400 with Gear Vendors Overdrive
Shifter: Stock
Differential: Stock
Chassis
Frame: Stock
Front Suspension: Air bags Dakota Digital controlled
Rear Suspension: Air bags and four-link by Bio Kustoms
Steering: Stock
Brakes: Disk front, drum rear
Wheels: 57 Eldorado Brougham, restored by Dale Armstrong
Tires: Vogue
Body
Manufacturer: Cadillac
Style: Eldorado
Modifications: ’60 tailfins, restyled hood, chrome plate side trim by Sam Foose
Paint: PPG toners and pearls mixed by Larry Watson, Sprayed by Bobco
Interior
Dash: Stock
Steering wheel: Pearl Craft, Australia
Gauges: Stock
Seats: Stock
Upholstery: White tuck-n-roll by James at A&C
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