I grew up in a section of Newark populated with two family, multiple family and tenement houses.  Some had stores / business space on the street level. Rocky and his wife, long time family friends from before I was born, had one such very successful business located down the street from my house.  On November 14^th, 1956, I was 11 years old and already certifiably car crazy.  While getting ready for school I watched The Today Show. This day Dave Garraway and Jack Lescoulie were about to feature the all-new ’57 Cadillac. I was fixated on that 17 inch B&W screen.  They showed the new deVille and Sixty Special and I could not believe my eyes.  Compared to the post war models I grew up with, the 57’s had 21^st Century styling….flat hood and trunk, integrated grille and bumper, all hardtop styling and interiors like nothing before.

While walking to school I tried to explain to my buddies what they looked like, but they were so different, I had no point of reference to describe them.  Then down the street, on my street no less, I saw the grille of a new ’57 and we ran to get a first hand look.  As we approached, something looked strange.  There were no rear fender projections and there was a chrome panel surrounding the rear wheel extending to the rear of the car.  Our first look at the rear left us stunned.  It was completely rounded with two fins projecting up from the rear deck lid.  The lower rear chrome panel wrapped around the back forming two nacelles that most certainly was the exhaust for a nuclear power plant.

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It was an Eldorado Seville.  It was pale Orion Blue with a black roof.  The interior was like nothing we’d ever seen before, or could even imagine: metallic blue leather with black and metallic blue paisley cloth.  I fell in love with that car immediately, but knew it would be painful, longing love affair before I could afford a car the price of a small house.

The office door opened and Rocky came out.  We discovering it was his, and we were hoping he’d show us the car in greater detail.  He didn’t.  Instead he drove us to school.  As we silently rolled up in front of the school yard, the kids stopped playing and stared at the Eldorado as we got out.  No one had seen anything like it before and everyone wanted to know everything about it.  We neighborhood kids understood that crime must pay very well because the local wiseguys always drove new de Ville’s and Fleetwood’s.  But Rocky had this incredible Eldorado.  I concluded that honest work paid even better.

Rocky kept the car in pristine condition for twelve years.  During that time I graduated high school and college, but I would always cross the street to see the Seville if parked.  I’d stare as it glided by with exhaust floating from the outlets in those chrome nacelles. He sold it to his nephew in 1969.  Even as a used car it was out of my reach as I focused on my budding career.  I was doing well in my profession and I moved from the old neighborhood.  The last time I saw the Seville, the front was smashed in, the grille, both fenders and the hood were damaged.  It was a sad sight, like an aging movie star fallen on hard times.

Fast forward to 1987; I moved on and prospered in life and even bought three new Cadillacs along the way, never forgetting that Seville.  One morning while shaving, I noticed gray hair on my chest.  I put down the razor and thought “It is time”.  I began searching for an excellent ’57 Seville in every car magazine and venue I knew.  That October I bought a Bahama Blue Seville at Hershey and drove it home in a blinding rain storm…quite an ordeal with vacuum wipers.  It was a low mileage car with an interesting history.  (There are several stories here I’ll save for future columns).  I intended to take the car to show Rocky.  He and his wife were on in years but still lead active lives.  First, I needed to fix some problems.

I set out to do mechanical restoration but only as required.  I wanted a beautiful driver.  That soon turned into a complete restoration with the exception of paint.  The second owner had a body shop and had done some incredible body and paint work.  So I had to protect the paint while gutting and rebuilding the car, which was about as easy as winning a Super Bowl without dirtying the uniforms.

Some five years later, the car took a Senior Award at Hershey.  I was really proud of that because I’m a hobbyist working in my garage, competing against professional restorations.  My biggest regret owning this car is that I waited too long to show it to Rocky.  In those 5 years of trying to recreate a new ’57 Seville, Rocky and his wife both passed away.  I never got the chance to show them what their car started; the skills that restoration inspired me to learn, or the craftsmanship others taught me along the way.  For the first time, I appreciated the fact that life is indeed short…Some times we should eat dessert first.

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I had put so much time and effort into building that car to the show standards that I felt guilty driving it.  Each time I took it out for a run on Route 78, I could hear each part I meticulously rebuilt and restored screaming “You’re abusing me!”  I sold the Seville to a Las Vegas CLC member who collects ’57 Cadillacs.  I saw it in 2007 and it’s still in pristine condition.