Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, 1959
Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, 1959
Discover the cars of The Automobile and American Art
Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, 1959 (model car, 1:18 scale), 1959, metal, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Albert H. Small, 2017, AHS.164
About this Car
A flashy status symbol, the Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz was popular with movie stars, musicians, and business tycoons. Its original price tag of $7,400 (around $65,000 in today’s money) was nearly three times the average annual income in 1959.
Artwork Connection
Artist Donald Paterson painted himself into fanciful scenes of iconic places and famous people. Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, owned several Cadillacs, including one painted a custom shade of pink called “Elvis Rose.” In Elvis, the Artist, and Pink Cadillac, Paterson imagines himself as a bystander as the King cruises past pyramids and palm trees in his pink Cadillac.