The 1955 - 1957 Gaylord , one of the most challenging vehicles in auto story , was designed by an unlikely span . Jim and Ed Gaylord were heirs to a fate : their father had invented the bobby thole , an inoffensive minuscule piece of alloy that proved to be worth a yoke XII oil wells on the reality market .
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maturate up in the late 1930s , the Brother Gaylord could have anything they require . Most often this turn out to be a flying car , anything from the 1949 V-8 Cadillac which Ed claimed would lose a Jaguar on Chicago ’s Lake Shore Drive , to the pick of European exotica .
But Jim and Ed were not your run - of - the - grind robust kids ; they were natural engineers , who made it their business to see everything they could about railway car . When in 1954 they decided to make the ultimate production summercater car , those who know them actually think they might succeed .
The concept of the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord was world - class carrying out meld with opulence - motorcar nuance : total closing off from noise and trembling . To achieve these seeming self - canceling destination , the Gaylords decided to expend whatever it took , hence the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord ’s estimated retail price of $ 10,000 . ( Jim soon decided this was not enough to cover costs , so he blithely conjure the tab to $ 17,500 . )
The frame was constructed of chrome - moly tubing , to which were attached channel blade perimeter and a potent steel weapons platform . The insides of the tubes were rustproofed and all were seal , do condensate impossible .
Thesuspensionof the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord looked conventional , but was n’t . The independent front wishbones used oversized rubber bushings and had " maximum triangulation , " in Jim Gaylord ’s words . This gave enormous wheel travelling , but comparatively trivial movement at the ride decimal point . The suspension was lube with lasting molybdenum disulfide ; ten years before the no - grease build , the Gaylords put one on the street .
point feature on the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord included varying - ratio big businessman guidance ( ascertain manually with a splashboard pommel ) ; modified Hydra - Matic ( no shift occurred until peak rpm was reached in any gear , unless it was shifted manually ) ; a " no - creep " feature ; twofold - safe instruments feature both needle gauges and admonition lighting . The engine was ab initio a 331 Chrysler hemi , but Ed Cole convince the brothers that the 1956 Cadillac 365 was lighter and quieter .
To determine more about the development and design of the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord , keep read .
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The styling of the 1955 , 1956 , 1957 Gaylord , by Brooks Stevens Associates , was n’t up to the engine room , in the main because of a contradictory destination : " a advanced car with Hellenic partial . "
For instance , the Gaylords had need P-100 headlamps – but they made the elevator car look like a malevolent four - foot owl , and had to be scour . They also wanted to animate the classical " open wheel " looking at . This was try on the image , but proved impractical – it allowed route grit to pepper the bodywork .
formal wheel Herbert George Wells were then used , the wheels ornament with Eldorado Sabre Spoke wheel covers bear particular " doubled gm " allegory . The door design of the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord , which Stevens called the " Washington coach doorway , " looked terrific – a sleek up stinger , open up along the line of the ivory two - tone color panel , itself pep up by the classics .
concluding touches of novelty on the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord were a retractable hardtop which disappeared into the deck , and a spare tyre that slip out from a rear gore and flop upright on the road , where it could well be seethe into position .
The retractable top on the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord – much simpler than the posterior Ford Skyliner ’s – required only one motor for the whole surgical process , and the succession could be turn at any point . When GM ’s chairperson saw the Gaylord top retract at the Paris Auto Salon in 1955 , he observe to his cadre of engineers , " You bastards tell me this could n’t be done . So how did these idiots do it ? "
Shown wide in America and Europe during 1955 - 1956 , the Gaylord was ordered by everybody from Dick Powell to King Farouk , but the task lingered , wizen , and fell apart – in the death only a show soma and three concluded railcar were built .
Tremendous problems of fit and finish occurred with the trunk on the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord , built by Spohn ( prototype ) and Luftschiffbau Zeppelin ( later models ) . In the thick of a lawsuit against Zeppelin for failing to do , the strain vex to Jim Gaylord and he had a unquiet dislocation . His family die hard on him to let the project perish .
The prototype 1955 - 1957 Gaylord with open cycle wells was break off up , and one " output " car disappear in Europe – it may still exist . The third car , along with a resplendently craft show chassis , is on display at the Early American Museum in Silver Springs , Florida , to which it was donated by the Gaylords . It stay a repository to two shiny guy cable , a bench mark in automotive history .
See the specifications of the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord on the next page .
1955, 1956, 1957 Gaylord Specifications
Despite major buzz at the Paris Auto Salon and pre - order from celebrities and royalty , production problems and Jim Gaylord ’s personal problem lead to the surcease of the line before it even started . Check out the specifications of the 1955 - 1957 Gaylord below to see what could have been .
Specifications
Engine : ohv V-8 , 365.0 cid ( 4.00 × 3.63 ) , 305 bhp
Transmission : modified 4 - focal ratio Hydra - Matic with anti - creep feature of speech
Suspension , front : independent , coil spring , tube shocks
abatement , rear : live axle , foliage springs , tube shock
bracken : front / rear metal drum
Wheelbase ( in.):100
system of weights ( lbs):3,985
Top speed ( mph):125
0 - 60 miles per hour ( sec):9.0
Production:2 , plus one image
