Model Car Garage - 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Model Kit By Lee - A Model Car Unboxing Video
Channel: Monster Hobbies Model Car Garage
Date: 22/02/2019

Cadillac was restyled and re-engineered for 1957, with stylistic updates in 1958. On today's Monster Hobbies Model Car Garage we will be looking at the 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Model Kit By Lee. This is a model car unboxing video that we hope you'll enjoy!

The 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville received quad headlights as the front clip was again shared with this year's updated standard Cadillacs. GM was promoting their fiftieth year of production, and introduced Anniversary models for each brand; Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Chevrolet. The 1958 models shared a common appearance on the top models for each brand; Cadillac Eldorado Seville, Buick Roadmaster Riviera, Oldsmobile Holiday 88, Pontiac Bonneville Catalina, and the all-new Chevrolet Bel-Air Impala.

This years revised front clip incorporated a new hood, a new front bumper with "dagmars" mounted lower and further apart combined with a full width jeweled grille. On the Biarritz and Seville, a V-shaped ornament and model identification script was asymmetrically mounted to the deck lid. Other styling updates included the addition of ten vertical chrome slashes ahead of the open rear wheel housings and crest medallions on the flank of the tailfins. The split rear bumper assemblies were each updated with a low-profile combined reverse light/grille unit that replaced the previous years separate, round exhaust exits and reverse lights; the round brake/tail light units at the base of the fins remained unchanged. The rear license plate housing was now flanked on each side by five vertical hash marks. - Wikipedia

The Lee 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville model car is an interesting model kit. When my Dad bought this model car back in the 1990's, Lee was a fairly new plastic model company out of China. These kits appeared in the strangest of places, but I don't recall seeing them in local hobby stores. They were usually in stores like Liquidation World, Dollarama, Dollar Mart and other places like that. 

Anyway, the 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Model Kit By Lee is a cross between a highly detailed multi-piece model car and a battery operated toy with an electric motor operating a worm gear onto a geared rear metal axle with pose-able front wheels so you can make your Cadillac Eldorado Seville drive around in circles.

To start with, you get an excellent representation of the 1958 Cadillac 365 CU. IN. engine. You get a right and left hand side engine/transmission, valley cover plate, intake manifold with tri-carbs molded in place, Cadillac valve covers, starter motor, front timing chain / water pump cover, fan belt and pulleys, fan, generator, 2-piece air conditioning air compressor, exhaust manifolds, and dual exhaust pipes. There is an excellent 4-piece radiator with expansion tank, but sadly, no radiator hoses. 

The chassis and running gear consist of a chassis pan, upper a-arms, driveshaft, electric motor and gear assembly, battery cover, steering box, lower a-arms, axle kingpins, tie rod, coil springs, radius arms, and 2-piece wheel/tires that attach using neoprene retainer tubes. 

The interior is a quasi-bucket mixed with individual parts. For example, the floor pan, rear side panels and rear bench seat bottom are molded as a unit. then you get separate left and right hand door panels with power window controls, door handles, 2-piece front bench seat, rear upper seat with chrome emblem insert, floor pedals, firewall, dashboard, turn signal / gear selector, horn ring and steering wheel hand grip. this unit then glues down onto the chassis pan. Parts fit is excellent.

 The Lee 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville model car is interesting because the hood is molded to the body, so if you only want this as the battery operated toy, you could leave out the detailed Cadillac 365 CU. IN. engine and play with it that way. However, if you want the engine, you need to cut the hood out of the kit. Lee gives you hood hinges and an upper Grille opening to make it look like the real 1958 Eldorado Seville. The Seville roof is a separate piece that glues onto the body in the final assembly step. This should make painting two-tones that much easier, but you'll have to check it first for gaps and fit issues. If it's not a perfect fit, you might decide to glue it on first and deal with fit issues before you paint it. 

The rest of the parts on The Lee 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville model car are all pretty much chrome and glass. Since this is a car from 1958, expect a lot of it and expect to use Bare Metal Foil to finish the rest. I know it's a lot of work, but the finished result will be worth it! 

Please check out all the model car kits we have for sale online here: http://www.monster-hobbies.ca/Hobby_Products/c57-model-car-kits/

Thank you for watching the Model Car Garage - 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Model Kit By Lee - A Model Car Unboxing Video. It means a lot to us and we hope you enjoyed it!

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