Cadillac Models & History 1956
The1956 year saw the introduction of Cadillac’s first four-door hardtop Sedan de Ville, which immediately scored almost as many sales as the Coupe de Ville and standard 62 hardtop combined.
Despite an all-new ’56 Lincoln and revitalized ’57 Imperial, Cadillac remained America’s luxury sales leader by far. Combined Lincoln/Imperial volume never exceeded 40,000 cars a year in this era; at Cadillac, that was a good quarterly output.
For 1956, the milestone V-8 was stroked to 101.6mm to deliver 285 bhp standard and 305 for Eldorado.
The lineup remained the same as in 1954. The Series 62 (which included Coupe deVille and Sedan deVille) had a sub-series Eldorado. The Fleetwood name would grace the Series Sixty Special and the limousine Series 75.
HISTORICAL NOTES
1956 Cadillac Notes
- The Cadillac Series 62 Sedan DeVille four-door hardtop and Eldorado Seville two-door hardtop were introduced to the public almost a month earlier than other models on October 24, 1955.
- The remaining cars in the line were introduced the following month on November 18.
- The 1956 Hydra-Matic transmission incorporated changes that increased its size and smoothed out shifting qualities.
- It was developed by GM at a cost of $35 million.
- The 1956 line set records in sales and production moving Cadillac from 10th to 9th position in the American sales race.
- On Aug. 5, 1956 the division announced the purchase of the former Hudson Motor Car plant on Detroit’s east end.
- Don E. Ahrens was general manager
- Charles F. Arnold was chief engineer
- Edward Glowacke was chief designer (Cadillac Studio)
- James M. Roche was general sales manager
- Cadillac production figures
Series 6261,634 (decreased 19,702) Sedan de Ville41,732 Coupe de Ville24,086 (decreased 9,214) Eldorado6,050 (increased 2,100) Series 6017,000 (decreased 1,300) Series 754,075 (increased 184)
1956 Automotive Notes
- Harlow H. Curtice was president of GM
- Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. was chairman of the board at GM until April until Albert Bradley took over
- U.S. Federal government will pay 90% for a 41,000-mile interstate highway system
- 156-mile Indiana Toll Road opens to create a Chicago-New York superhighway
- Industry output drops to 6.3 million; 80% have V-8
- Ford joins the Automobile Manufacturers Association and Henry Ford II is elected president
- Pushbutton automatic transmission selector installed on Imperial, Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge, Plymouth, and Packard
- Highway Hi-Fi record players offered in Chrysler Corp. cars
- Ford offers seat belts, padded dash, and other safety items; but they are not well received
- Thunderbird sports a continental tire and porthole window in the wide C-pillar
- AMC develops a 250-cid V-8 (4.1 litre) to replace Packard’s V-8
- Continental Mark II is introduced at $10,000 and is separate from the Lincoln line
- Packard Clipper is a separate make, but sales are not as good as hoped
- Packard offers electrically controlled door latches and a limited-slip differential
- Hudson Rambler Cross Country is the first four-door hardtop station wagon
- Studebaker introduces four Hawk models with big Packard V-8 engines
- A quad headlamp system is announced by the Automobile Manufacturers Association for the 1958 models
- Top American Automobile Corporations for 1956
1. General Motors3,184,906 (decreased 536,621) 2. Ford1,789,293 (decreased 18,894) 3. Chrysler1,060,768 (decreased 201,317) 4. Others213,504 (decreased 113,719)
- Top model year production for 1956
Chevrolet1,567,196 150157,294 210737,371 Bel Air669,064 Corvette3,467 Ford1,408,478 Mainline164,442 Customline368,653 Fairlane645,306 Station Wagon214,446 Thunderbird15,631 Buick572,024 Series 40 Special334,017 Series 50 Super81,398 Series 60 Century102,189 Series 70 Roadmaster53,427 Plymouth571,031 Plaza106,947 Savoy226,162 Belvedere152,248 Suburban81,792 Fury4,485 Oldsmobile485,458 88216,719 Super 88179,000 Ninety-Eight90,439 Pontiac405,730 Chieftan (860)184,232 Chieftan (870)93,872 Star Chief127,325 Mercury327,943 Medalist45,812 Custom85,328 Monterey105,369 Montclair91,434 Dodge240,686 Coronet142,613 Royal48,780 Custom Royal49,293 Cadillac154,577 Series 6261,634 Sedan deVille41,732 Coupe deVille24,086 Eldorado6,050 Series 6017,000 Series 754,075 Chrysler128,322 Windsor83,380 New Yorker40,070 Town & Country3,770 300B1,102 DeSoto110,418 Firedome77,905 Fireflite32,513 Nash92,488 Rambler10,000 Statesman/Ambassador14,352 Metropolitan Series 542,914 Metropolitan Series 563,078 Studebaker69,593 Six28,918 V-8, 25930,654 V-8, 28921,819 Golden Hawk4,071 Lincoln50,322 Capri8,791 Premiere41,531 Hudson22,588 Rambler5,000 Wasp2,519 Hornet Special1,757 Hornet 63,380 Hornet V83,015 Imperial10,684 Imperial10,458 Crown Imperial226 Packard10,353 Clipper18,482 Executive2,815 Patrician3,775 Four Hundred3,224 Caribbean539 Continental2,550
Keyword: Cadillac History 1956