1956 Cadillac Fact Sheet
1956 Cadillac Facts, Figures, and Specifications
For Cadillac in 1956, two totally new models bowed – a four-door hardtop in Series 62 called “Sedan DeVille”
and the Eldorado line received a two-door hardtop called the “Seville”.
New Models – New Engines
for 1956
For the first time since its introduction in 1949, the Cadillac V-8 increased in size from 331 CID to 365 CID via a bore increase to 4.06″. A pillarless 4-door hardtop was now offered in the Series 62 line and a Eldorado 2-door hardtop was now a companion to the convertible.
General Year Information – 1956 Cadillac
Although a facelift was the major restyling news for the 1956 Cadillac there were still significant changes in the Series 62 lineup – especially in the Cadillac Eldorado sub-series. In the Series 62 line, a new model was a pillarless four-door hardtop called the “Sedan DeVille”. In the Eldorado line, a 2-door hardtop called the “Eldorado Coupe Seville” was introduced. The Eldorado Seville was an especially luxurious hardtop coupe, which was built to the same standards as the Eldorado convertible and similarly priced.
The annual ‘beauty treatment’ consisted of a new grille with a finer textured insert and the repositioning of parking lights in the bumper, below the wing guards. Buyers were given a choice of a standard satin finish grille or optional gold finish, both selections decorated with Cadillac script on the left-hand side. Standard equipment on all Cadillacs was much like the previous year.
The Cadillac Series 62 Sedan DeVille four-door hardtop and Eldorado DeVille 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 on November 18. On August 5, 1956, the division announced the purchase of the former Hudson Motor Car plant on Detroit’s east end – Hudson having moved into the AMC fold as a badge-engineered Rambler.
1956 Cadillac Factoids
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For the first time, a 4-door hardtop was available, called “Sedan DeVille”. It was trimmed like the famous Coupe DeVille and cost $400 more than the older 4-door Sedan. You can view the Sedan DeVille in the 1956 Cadillac Brochure HERE .
1956 Cadillac Facts – Models Offered
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Cadillac Series 62: On the rear side fenders of Series 62 models a narrow chrome molding and nine vertical louvers were installed. The Coupe DeVille had a model nameplate and Cadillac crest on the sides of the front fenders, while the more standard cars had only the crest. As usual, the standard four-door 62 sedan was seven inches shorter than the other cars in the same series.
Series 60 Special: Cadillac’s non-limousine style Fleetwood model carried the “Sixty Special” designation in script below the Cadillac crest on the sides of the front fenders. “Fleetwood” also appeared on the rear face of the deck lid. Solid chrome exhaust extension trim moldings were set into the rear fenders. The 60 Special still sat on its exclusive 133.0″ wheelbase.
Series 75 Fleetwood. Side trim on the (149.8″) long-wheelbase Fleetwood models was similar to 1955, except for the addition of exhaust extension moldings on the rear fender. This trim ran along a tapering conical flare from above the wheel housing to the rear bumper. “Fleetwood” in script appeared on the deck lid, and limousine-like styling was still used.
Changes in grilles and bumpers conformed to those used with other series. Both the regular Fleetwood and Limousine models had auxiliary seats, and the Imperial sedan once again featured a glass driver’s partition.
Eldorado – Series 62 Special: On the Eldorado coupe and convertible – the latter now known as the “Biarritz Convertible”, an “Eldorado” in script along with a Cadillac fender crest were found on the front fender, above and behind the wheel opening. All Eldorados featured a twin-fin hood ornament.
Other extras on these specialty cars were a ribbed chrome saddle molding extending from the windshield to the rear window pillar along the belt line, and a distinctive rear fender design with twin round taillights halfway up the fenders with the pointed tailfins similar to the ’55 car. Both cars in the Eldorado sub-series were slightly longer than the Series 62 convertible.
1956 Cadillac Facts – Engines
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Cadillac Engine. Overhead valves. Cast Iron Block. Displacement: 365 CID. Bore and stroke: 4.00″ x 3.625″. Compression ratio: 9.75:1. Horsepower: 285 @ 4600 RPM. Torque: 400 @ 2800 RPM. Five main bearings. Hydraulic valve lifters. Camshaft Duration: Intake 324° (274°), Exhaust 324° (274°), Overlap 102° (52°), Lift (Intake) 0.451″ (Exhaust) 0.451″. Carburetor: Carter WCFB four-barrel. Models 2333S, with air conditioning 2434S. Also Rochester 4GC four-barrel, Without air conditioning Model 7008750, With air conditioning Model 7008751.
NOTE: Beginning this year, regarding camshaft duration, Cadillac counted the hydraulic lifter “ramp” which allowed the lifter to fill with fluid, but did not appreciably lift the valve. The more accurate duration was at about 50 degrees of camshaft rotation – hence the true duration is shown in parenthesis.
Eldorado Engine. Overhead valves. Cast Iron Block. Displacement: 365 CID. Bore and stroke: 4.00″ x 3.625″. Compression ratio: 9.75:1. Horsepower: 305 @ 4700 RPM. Torque: 400 @ 2800 RPM. Five main bearings. Hydraulic valve lifters. Camshaft Duration: Intake 324° (274°), Exhaust 324° (274°), Overlap 102° (52°), Lift (Intake) 0.451″ (Exhaust) 0.451″. Carburetor: Two Carter WCFB four-barrels, (front) model 2371S, (rear) model 2372S (rear) with air conditioning 2373S. Also two Rochester 4GC four-barrels, (front) model 7008752, (rear) model 7008753 (rear) with air conditioning Model 7008754.
NOTE: Beginning this year, regarding camshaft duration, Cadillac counted the hydraulic lifter “ramp” which allowed the lifter to fill with fluid, but did not appreciably lift the valve. The more accurate duration was at about 50 degrees of camshaft rotation – hence the true duration is shown in parenthesis.
1956 Cadillac Facts – Chassis Features
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- Wheelbase: Series 62 129.0″, Series 60S 133.0″, Series 75 149.8″. The commercial Series 75 chassis utilized a 158″ wheelbase. This was provided for construction of funeral cars, ambulances, etc.
- Overall length: Series Sedan 214.9″, All other Series 62 221.9″ Eldorado 222.2″ Series 60S 225.9″, Series 75 235.7″
- Front tread: All – 60.0″.
- Rear tread: All – 63.1″.
- Standard tires: Series 75 8.20 x 15 black wall, Eldorado 8.20 x 15 whitewalls, All Others 8.00 x 15.
- Optional tires: Series 60 and 62, except 6267S 8.20 x 15 whitewall.
1956 Cadillac Facts – Power Train Options
- Engine: The 305 horsepower Eldorado engine was available in other models at extra cost.
- Transmission:
- Hydra-Matic automatic transmission was standard on all Series.
- Dual exhaust system standard.
- Transmission Ratios:
- Dual Range Hydra-matic: 1st: 3.89:1, 2nd: 2.634:1, 3rd: 1.450:1, 4th: 1.00:1, Reverse: 4.304:1
- Rear Axle:
- Standard 3.36:1
- Optional 3.07:1.
1956 Cadillac Facts –
Body Paint Color Codes
NOTE: Cadillac began to increase the paint colors offered over any other US brands this year.
Click on the Paint Code Name to See the Mix Codes for the appropriate color:
1956 Cadillac
| 10 Black | |
| 12 Canyon Gray | |
| 14 Cascade Gray | |
| 16 Dawn Gray | |
| 18 Camelot Gray | |
| 20 Sonic Blue | |
| 24 Tahoe Blue | |
| 26 Cobalt Blue | |
| 30 Duchess Green | |
| 32 Princess Green | |
| 34 Persian Green | |
| 36 Arlington Green | |
| 40 Cape Ivory | |
| 42 Goddess Gold | |
| 44 Pecos Beige | |
| 46 Mountain Laurel | |
| 48 Taupe | |
| 50 Mandan Red | |
| 52 Chantilly | |
| 90 Alpine White | |
| 92 Starlight | |
| 92 Starlight | |
| 94 Bahama Blue | |
| 94 Bahama Blue | |
| 96 Emerald Green |
1956 Cadillac –
Current Market Values
1956 Cadillac Facts –
Significant Options/Accessories
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- Air Conditioning
- Autronic Eye Automatic headlamp beam control
- Chrome wire wheels
- Electric clock.
- Fold-down tissue dispenser.
- Gold Finish Grille
- Handy mats.
- Handy spot.
- Heating and ventilation system
- Instrument panel, safety padded.
- License frames.
- Outside rear view mirror, left-hand remote control
- Outside rear view mirror, right-hand
- Posture power adjustable seat on convertible, DeVilles and Series 60S only.
- Power seat, six-way. Standard for Eldorado.
- Power seat, two-way posture.
- Power steering
- Power window lifts Series 62 models, standard on Convertible & Coupe DeVille.
- Radio, remote control, signal-seeking with preselector and antenna
- Tinted E-Z-Eye glass
- Tool kit.
- White sidewall tires x5 .
- Windshield washer.
1956 Cadillac Facts –
Related Document
Downloads
Files directly related to the 1956 Cadillac will appear below. Click to Download:
1956 Cadillac Prestige Brochure –
Coming Soon!
1956 Cadillac Foldout Brochure
1956 Cadillac GM Tech Center Opening Night Brochure
1956 “A Cadillac Story” Brochure
1956 Cadillac Print Advertisements
1956 Cadillac Eldorado Print Advertisements
1956 Cadillac AMA Specifications Sheets
1956 Cadillac Facts –
Related Images
Related Images to the 1956 Cadillac Line will appear below
1956 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible
For 1956 the Cadillac Eldorado convertible returned as the “Eldorado Biarritz”. 2,150 convertibles were sold – losing out in sales to the new coupe.
1956 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Coupe
New for 1956 was the Cadillac Eldorado Seville Coupe. A companion to the Eldorado convertible, it had the same base price of $6,501. even at that high price, it still sold 3,900 units.
1956 Cadillac Series 60 Special
The other Fleetwood, the Cadillac Series 60, was more opulent, longer wheelbase version of the Series 62 Sedan. In 1956 17,000 were sold.
1956 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan DeVille
The other new kid for 1956 was the Cadillac Series 62 4-door hardtop – called the “Sedan DeVille”. It was an immediate hit with 41,732 sold!
1956 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible
The stalwart Cadillac Series 62 convertible was a solid seller in 1956, with 8,300 moving down the line.
1956 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe DeVille
The 1956 Cadillac Coupe DeVille also sold a tad under its 1955 numbers, but it was still strong at 25,086.
1956 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe
The 1956 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe still did well, as it sold a tad short of the previous year at 26,649.
1956 Cadillac Series 62 4-Door Sedan
The 1956 Cadillac Series 62 4-door sedan lost sales to the new hardtop Sedan DeVille but still hit 26,222 in total deliveries.
1956 Cadillac Series 75 Sedan
The 1956 Cadillac Series 75 long wheelbase Fleetwood soldiered along selling a combined 2,150 units in both standard and limo guise.