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1953 Cadillac Le Mans

Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953 - Interior
Cadillac Le Mans, 1953 - Interior
GM personnel, Don Ahrens (seated) and James Roche, posed with the 1953 Le Mans for this publicity photo.
GM personnel, Don Ahrens (seated) and James Roche, posed with the 1953 Le Mans for this publicity photo.
Так выглядел экспериментальный Cadillac Le Mans изначально — во время первой его демонстрации широкой публике в 1953 году. Таких машин всего было построено четыре, и одна из них в 1959 году подверглась интенсивной модификации
Так выглядел экспериментальный Cadillac Le Mans изначально — во время первой его демонстрации широкой публике в 1953 году. Таких машин всего было построено четыре, и одна из них в 1959 году подверглась интенсивной модификации
The metallic blue Le Mans number one made its debut at the Waldorf-Astoria in January 1953.
The metallic blue Le Mans number one made its debut at the Waldorf-Astoria in January 1953.
This 1953 Cadillac Le Mans roadster is #4 of four built to special order. It was returned to the Cadillac styling studios in 1959, for major restyling, by its owner.
This 1953 Cadillac Le Mans roadster is #4 of four built to special order. It was returned to the Cadillac styling studios in 1959, for major restyling, by its owner.
Cadillac Le Mans, 1959
Cadillac Le Mans, 1959
Images: General Motors Corp.
Rating:  32    -12    +44
Cadillac Le Mans (special order # 1709)
Fueled by the space race, designers channeled their passion for aerodynamics in everything from trains to pencil sharpeners. The 1953 Cadillac Le Mans is no different. With expressive fins, chrome plated grill and famous Daomar front bumpers, the Le Mans served as a preview for upcoming production Cadillac’s and a favorite on the Motorama show circuit.

Sold to actress Marie McDonnald, The first Le Mans show car was immediately redesigned to feature 24 karat gold plated trim, thirty coats of platinum dust to the body panels, as well as adding a radio-telephone and cocktail bar to the reupholstered red leather interior. Destroyed in a fire in 1985, only a handful of parts remain of the original LeMans showcar.

GM Press Release


Le Mans is the name of a French provincial town located some 60 miles west of Paris. It is renowned for its annual 24-hour road race. Two Cadillacs were entered in that race in 1950: an almost stock Series 61 coupe and a racing barquette nicknamed Le Monstre; both cars fared very well, placing 10th and 11th overall (in 3rd place was a Cadillac-powered Allard J2X roadster).

Three years later, Cadillac used the name Le Mans for this sporty, 2-seater dream car. The motoring press were not enthused. Road & Track called Le Mans "that thing". Following a test drive of the car at the GM Proving Grounds, Motor Trend drivers acknowledged the car’s surprising performance and road-holding ability, but found it nonetheless much too heavy and spongy for any kind of competition.

www.car-nection.com


Два из четырех прототипов Cadillac Le Mans были со временем модернизированы. Одну такую машину переделывал лично Джордж Баррис, великий мастер изменять внешность автомобилей до полной неузнаваемости, по заказу обувного магната Гарри Карла, исхитрившегося по каким-то одному ему известным каналам приобрести выставочный экземпляр после экспозиции. Эта машина, к сожалению, сгорела при пожаре в гараже, где хранилась, — но зато уцелел автомобиль, делавшийся при участии специалистов из General Motors по заказу некоего Джека Гудмена из Лос-Анджелеса. Говорят, сохранился — где-то в Вашингтоне — и нетронутый оригинальный Cadillac Le Mans.

Андрей ХРИСАНФОВ - Газета АВТОРЕВЮ 2003 год / №18 (296) / Кунсткамера. Сны наяву
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Comments
Brian Wiegand
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
the second pic from the top is not a 1953 Cad LeMans, but a later version (1958?)
Carstyling editor
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Thank you for the comment, Brian. You are quite right.

Le Mans #4 was built to order for J.E. "Bud" Goodman, a personal friend of Harley Earl’s and Fisher Body CEO in the fifties. It was updated (remodeled) in 1959 with the addition of quad headlights, tri-power motor, custom tail-fins, etc. (www.car-nection.com)
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