Cantilever Roof Caddy

A while back I posted about lost 50s concept cars of exceptional design. One of my all-time favorites mentioned was the 1956 Chrysler Norseman, built by Ghia in Italy and featuring a very unique cantilever roof. It turns out there was another cantilever roof concept, also built in Italy in the 50s: The Cadillac Starlight coupe, by Carrozzeria Pinin Farina (back when it was two words!). The car debuted at the 1959 Paris Salon in the Fall of that year, and had some interesting features for it’s time. The entire roof was actually made of one huge piece of Plexiglas with a headliner made of four metal panels that could block the sun or be retracted and stored when not in use. Check out the wafer-thin A pillars, ultra-flat pancake hood, flat blade bumpers, and nearly trimless body. Now compare the Starlight to a production 1960 Cadillac and it’s easy to see how advanced and clean this European concepts styling really was. The only giveaway to it’s Detroit DNA are the wheelcovers, which look to be stock Eldorado Brougham pieces, and don’t flow with this car’s design language in my eyes.