The 1959 Cadillac Cyclone was the last " dream car " created during Harley Earl ’s term of office as General Motors ’s vice president of intent . succinct but flamboyant , the Cyclone marked the end of an era and cap a calling that start with Earl ’s being brought to Detroit in 1926 to design the new LaSalle and resulted in the establishment of styling as a field of study as integral to the auto byplay as engineering or sales .
Earl had spent his professional life trying to make cars look longer and lower . He come to the aid of GM after first becoming known in Hollywood for racy two-seater and elegant limousines built by his don ’s Earl Carriage Works for penis of the wealthy and growing movie colony .
Don Lee , the West Coast distributor for Cadillac , bought the Earl work in 1919 , after Harley Earl , Sr . , decide to sell due to inauspicious wellness . Lee put the younger Earl in charge of the shop class , and alien creations begin course out on expensive deluxe material body such as Packard , Pierce - Arrow , Rolls - Royce , and , of course , Cadillac .
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Lawrence P. Fisher , chair and general manager of Cadillac , himself a young military personnel with unseasoned ideas , was cognizant of the growing trend in Europe toward style over utility . Meanwhile , at home , he figure increase competitor from makes like Packard , whose styling was dominant at that clock time . Fisher was impressed with Earl ’s design and ask him to come to Detroit to submit a proposition for the upcoming LaSalle .
The rest is history , as they say , for his proposition was take and he rest through the automobile ’s introduction . A year later , General Motors President Alfred P. Sloan , Jr. , recognizing the role that excogitation would have on the future of the automotive industry , ask over Earl to head up a new section , to be call " Art and Colour . "
This name was carefully chosen to avoid make concern in the applied science section , whose Book of Job it had always been to specify and draw the boxes that had previously passed for car bodies . It would be a ho-hum and deliberate process to separate design from engineering , but with success like the Cadillac V-12 and V-16 in 1930 , and the Aerodynamic designs of 1933 , Harley Earl secure his emplacement of dominance and proved his Charles Frederick Worth to the bay window .
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1959 Cadillac Cyclone Dream Car
One reason for Harley Earl ’s winner was his use of clay manikin to make a visual presentation of his ideas , rather than flat drawings and sketches used by most others . As a natural outgrowth of this , it occurred to him that a tangible avatar of ideas , a sorting of " dream car , " would not only be fun to force around in , but could measure public opinion and give stature to his department . This was the first step in the creation of the 1959 Cadillac Cyclone aspiration car .
Packard ’s design chief , Ed Macauley , drive a futuristic boat - tailed speedster that was continually update throughout this period . Earl may have felt it was prison term for him to make a argument of his own . His career was on the move , General Motors was on the move , and in the close - crumple brotherhood of automotive Detroit , what you drive up in demonstrate that you had go far in more ways than one .
So , in 1938 , his first dream car - known as the Y - Job - was unveil . Built as a two - place convertible on a Buick shape , it predicted many lineament that would be found on Buicks of the future . From this simple beginning , a dream car program involving all General Motors makes finally developed . A GM closet release from 1965 add up the persona of these special thus :
" Many of the styling improvements on General Motors cars through the years might never have left the pattern studios without the automobile industry ’s unique periscope on its own time to come - the ' dream car . ' Born in 1938 to give the stylist a prick for advance research corresponding to the laboratory and raise soil used by the scientist and engineer , the dream car has become a earthly concern notable symbol of the American populace ’s ever growing fascination with the life it can expect in the future . The dreaming car has been more than a gleaming railcar on a pedestal ; it has allowed input of public opinion on what is wanted on next cars , and has made possible substantially look , more advanced cars than might have been produced in normal evolution . "
Soon enough after the Y - Job ’s arrival , the grim claw of world war come to include the United States in its grip and the auto industry ’s attending was divert to the product of arming . It would n’t be until 1951 that GM would next peer into the future with two more dreaming automobile , the LeSabre and the Buick XP-300 .
A parallel evolution to this return to mind cars was the salary increase of the Motorama , GM ’s serial of spectacular car shows held in select cities intermittently between 1949 and 1961 . The Motoramas became corking forum for drop dazzling concepts before the car - buying public .
Dream cars became an eagerly anticipated part of the show . ( The 1954 Motorama alone exhibited 12 peculiar show cars . ) Among the stars of the 1959 variant was the Cadillac Cyclone . regard once again the 1965 GM press release :
" It would be impossible to guess the total turn of multitude who have consider the three 12 dream and experimental cars create thus far by General Motors . . . . In summation [ to the Motoramas ] , some of the cars are still being exhibit individually in local shows and fair , both here and abroad . Others are now running on trial run trail . The ten thousand of styling and engineering features on current GM production cars has put yesterday ’s aspiration machine into the manus of today ’s medium automobilist . And just as it has spearheaded onward motion in the past , the dream , railroad car will remain to search the futurity for automotive betterment represent the limitless imagination and creativity of the stylists and engineer of the auto diligence . "
1959 Cadillac Cyclone Ahead of Its Time
The rocket ship for the road that was the 1959 Cadillac Cyclone represent Harley Earl ’s visual modality of the future tense . To take in that vision , he enlisted the talent of veteran designer Carl Renner , who call up his role in the projection ( coded XP-74 ) in an interview in the May 1997 issue ofCollectible Automobile .
" [ In 1958 ] , Mr. Earl appoint me to maneuver Studio IV . My first appointment in Advance IV … was the XP-96 , a young Corvette program … Mr. Earl also had me maneuver a personal undertaking he had go … the Cadillac Cyclone , " said Renner . " With Advance IV and the Cyclone studio apartment locate next to each other , Mr. Earl had a door cut in the wall so I could go from one studio apartment to the next . We finish the Cyclone before Mr. Earl retired [ in December 1958 ] . "
Some of the ambition car were built for display only , with no engine or driveline , but with their suspensions adjusted to achieve a normal appearance . Others were meant to be operating vehicles with varying degree of culture and driveability . The Cyclone was intended to be a completely operative elevator car , and there was some talk around the troupe that Earl might take this final creation with him to drive in retreat .
As it turned out , he took the Oldsmobile F-88 dream car rather , and for a multitude of skillful reason . Though it was graced with high panache and striking appearance , the 1959 Cadillac Cyclone also moderate futurist feature that were untried , unseasoned , and in some ways unattainable , as it included some dreams to which technology had not yet caught up .
The 1959 Cadillac Cyclone was equipped with the new - for-1959 325 - bhp , 390 - cid Cadillac V-8 , driven through a stock Hydra - Matic robotic transmission . It was equip with a two - speed differential , to reserve six speeds forward . A fresh , low - profile four barrel carburetor was used without an melodic phrase cleaner to further dilute overall tiptop , but there was a filtered air scoop gap through the hood .
The engine exhaust system travel through dual mufflers located in the locomotive compartment , next to the engine , to exit through double ports located in the front fenders ahead of the tires .
An unusual feature of speech was that all the engine - driven accessary such as the air - temporary removal compressor , top executive steering pump , generator , H2O pump , and air - conditioning compressor were mounted in front of the engine , not on top of it , and drive by belts from the crankshaft pulley .
Further , two fans sat in front of all this to bring air through the fresh plan atomic number 13 cross - flow radiator . The might brakes used a pressure servo rather than a vacuum type , and draw pressure from the air - drive reservation tank for this purpose . It had variable - proportion Saginaw rotary - valve power steerage , a feature of speech that would become a welcome standard on Cadillacs in future days .
1959 Cadillac Cyclone Troubleshooting
When Cadillac Cyclones were being build in the shop at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren , Michigan , small bunch worked on them and a dandy good deal of hand finishing was involved . Sometimes what had been created on the drafting board or in the idea of the designer would not translate into realism without a via media or creative solution .
The engineering genius who most often found the solution in those days was Art Carpenter , a self - taught mechanically skillful and electrical superstar who had started at GM in 1950 and quickly find oneself his manner to the particular - projects section . His partner was Leonard McLay , who had been with the company since 1942 and had the public relation skills to palm even the most irate executive , as well as the natural endowment to progress just about anything .
As was true in any large corporation , they were often up against impossible deadlines to have a car ready for a certain show or opening , and were expected to travel with the ruined car to aid with setup and troubleshooting .
One of the Cadillac Cyclone ’s first packaging excursion was in early 1959 at the opening of the raw Daytona International Speedway in Florida , where U.S. Air Force General Curtis LeMay was to get a pace lick with the cable car . As the Cyclone was being unloaded , the atmosphere - suspension sensors decide that full pomposity was visit for and , to add affront to injury , the automatic threshold - lock system of rules locked up .
GM functionary and the recently retired Earl were on bridge player for the event , and to say that they were upset would be an understatement . Fortunately , the very men who had interpret the interior designer ’s dream into reality had travelled with the railcar ; Carpenter and McLay were able-bodied to adjust the complex control system of rules they had invented and return the car to normal in prison term for the opening ceremonies . The pace lap was driven without further incident and it was all smiles at the photograph academic session afterwards .
ornery melody - ride and malfunctioning doorway ignition lock were the least of the Cyclone ’s complexities , for it was outfit with an robot pilot system that not only determine the stop number , but guide the machine , as well . Under the front was a sensor - taproom that could accompany a scout telegram bury in the main road . talk of the town in those days was that all superhighways of the futurity would be outfit with such steerage strips , which would allow driver ended relaxation on retentive trip .
A test track oval with steering wires was set up at the GM proving ground to try out out the Cadillac Cyclone , and reports are that the system worked perfectly . In addition to auto - direction , a radar system built into the front bumper cone roleplay as a proximity warning system . When an object was detected in front of the car , the first admonition come via a flashing light on the dashboard , and a read-out on the proximity and stopping distance display window .
Next , the flash lighter would be joined by a warning sound that increased in sales talk as the object got close . Finally , before impact , the system would automatically apply the bracken . No one associate with the car ever had the nervus to try out that last part of the system , so it ’s not known if it worked .
1959 Cadillac Cyclone Ushers Out an Era
Several of the feature of speech on the 1959 Cadillac Cyclone would have made it visionary for day-after-day use , the independent one being the plexiglass bubble - top . This one - piece canopy was originally vacuum silvered on the interior to tighten glare and heat , but the Ag soon discase off and was not substitute .
There were no window to seethe down , so small-scale rectangular openings in the door were provide to act as crack - throughs . A sound system send the voices of the car ’s occupants through verbaliser hide in grilles on the front buffer top . When the doors were opened , electric motors raised the canopy a few feet to allow accounting entry or exit - providing all the relay and switch were in the mood to cooperate .
To put the top down and stow it , the entire rear incision of the railroad car was bring out by a cable hide behind the driver - side gas makeweight door and manually lean back out of the manner so the canopy could flick over into the rearward compartment . The threshold open up manually by being pulled back along the rear quarter dialog box , but the cognitive operation began with a baron aid that first pushed the door three inches out from the body .
aspiration cars , being a combining of what might reasonably be wait on production cars in the next few years mixed with some far - out and futuristic concepts , were kick upstairs and coveted by director of design as an file name extension of their own ability and post .
A number of the Cyclone ’s features were unfinished as Harley Earl was retiring , but Bill Mitchell , who was propel into the number - one spot at the Design Center , had an agenda of his own , and it did n’t necessarily include the Cadillac Cyclone . The flamboyant " outer space age " would be over , as his preference for a smooth , more buttoned-down look was convey in the reduced and refined fins of the 1960 GM cars .
The Cadillac Cyclone ’s fins were trim back down in hold on with the trend , the taillights were move to the bumper ends , and the hubcap were alter . This briefly widen the utility of the car for promotional material purposes , but its days were numerate .
McLay recall being inquire to drive the car from Detroit to Flint , Michigan , for a display after the air - drive system had been supervene upon by volute springs . He before long discovered that no shock absorber had been fitted to it , and when he returned from this more - than - bouncy trip , he was told that no more money was to be spent on the elevator car . We can read between the lines that Mitchell was operate forward with his own ideas and that it was prison term for Harley Earl ’s last dreaming motorcar to be retired to storage .
fortuitously , the Cyclone and a number of other authoritative cars were salvage and stored by General Motors . With the renewed interest in this chapter of self-propelling history , they stay uncommitted for display . The Cyclone ’s louvre are contract down , the vacuum cleaner silver has long since strip down off of the canopy , and its original drop clean paint has been changed to silver .
But at least it survives to give us a tone at that brief moment in the late fifties when Buck Rogers space - age intention bounce off Detroit lottery boards with an exorbitant and futuristic look that , although short - lived , was a definite milestone in the organic evolution of the automobile .
