With the Continental Mark II commanding a base price of $10,000 in 1956, roughly $100,000 today, it gave the Ford Motor Company a halo car on par with Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Mercedes-Benz— truly rarified company for a product from Ford, and General Motors wasn’t having it. Cadillac went to work developing the Eldorado Brougham, which was introduced for 1957. It was designed to be a no-holds-barred luxury car intended to reinvent the segment. In order to protect its market share, Cadillac dispatched letters to its clients informing them of the exciting new car being developed and urging them—without telling them directly—to resist the temptation of the new Continental Mark II. It pushed the idea that the upcoming Cadillac would be a technological marvel, a defining luxury car and, perhaps most importantly, exceedingly exclusive. Cadillac held nothing back and the Eldorado Brougham was a remarkable achievement of excess. Taking cues from the 1953 Orleans and 1954 El Camino Motorama show cars, the Brougham used a pillarless suicide rear door design and a brushed stainless-steel roof. Interestingly, given that the Brougham would be narrower, lower and shorter in both height and length, the suicide doors and pillarless design made sense, allowing a somewhat easier ingress-egress to the rear quarters. The Brougham brought its customers an astonishing array of standard features ranging from exclusive perfume and drink glasses to power windows, power seating and a power-operated trunk lid that opened and closed automatically. Air conditioning, like everything else, was standard, and—in a first for a production car—a self-leveling rear suspension system provided an astonishingly smooth, level ride. The car rode on specially crafted aluminum wheels and was sprung from a specially designed and engineered X-frame. Simply put, Cadillac really left no stone unturned. The Eldorado Brougham was indeed a technological marvel that raised the bar for other luxury cars. No options were available, but customers who could afford the $13,000-plus Brougham could choose from a vast array of color and material combinations. Only 400 were made in 1957, with 304 built in 1958. This 1958 Cadillac is powered by the 365 CI Tri-Power V-8 engine and Hydra-Matic transmission. Presented in white, this Eldorado Brougham features a black and white interior, with the stainless-steel roof presenting more subtly against the white finish. Equipped with power steering, power brakes, power windows, power ventilation windows, the Autronic Eye, tinted glass and a transistorized radio with a power antenna, this 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham is exemplary of why no options were available.