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Cars in Taylor Swift Music VideosEver Heard of the El Morocco?
The obscure El Morocco combined the styling of Chevy and Cadillac to create one of the 1950s most unique, beautiful, and rare cars.
Mix and Match Cadillac
In our never-ending search for cool and unusual cars listed on Carsforsale.com there’s always the chance to stumble upon something truly rare. The 1957 El Morocco we found certainly qualifies. What exactly is an El Morocco? It is both a fever dream of a car conjured by a Canadian businessman with an affinity for GM cars and, in simple terms, a custom-built car that blended elements from mid-1950s Chevrolets and Cadillacs. Only a handful of El Moroccos were completed and fewer remain extant, making these unique amalgams the rarest of Tri-Five Chevys.
Building the El Morocco
The El Morocco was the brainchild of Ruben “Ruby” Allender, a Canadian businessman who’d built his textile business in Detroit. Like many well-heeled business types, Allender was a fan of Cadillac, then the symbol of financial achievement in America. The problem, as Allender saw it, was a matter of price. The gulf between Chevy and Cadillac was substantial as a Bel Air could be had for just under $2,000 while the Series 62 started at more than $4,300.
Allender’s idea was to create his own mid-level car to bridge the gap, one based on the basic Chevy’s architecture but sporting the high-end styling of a Cadillac. The name El Morocco echoed the Cadillac El Dorado and referenced a popular New York nightspot. Allender even arranged to have the cars sold at Chevy dealerships, warranties and all.
The project began with a 1955 prototype, but the change over to the 1956 model year meant the first finished cars were based on ’56 Chevy’s. The first cars were a clutch of Bel Airs purchased from Don McCullough Chevrolet of Detroit. The modification process began by stripping the cars down and cutting through the existing rear end panels, replacing them with newly fabricated fiberglass fins designed by Creative Industries of Detroit.
In addition to fabricated parts and GM components, the El Morocco borrowed parts from other cars. The horn button for the El Morocco came from a Kaiser-Frazer. The door saddle moldings were taken from a Willys dash panel. The ’56 El Morocco’s Dagmar bumpers were fabricated from the headlights of pre-war Dodges. The Chevy hood badging replaced the bowtie and fleur-de-lis above the chevron with “El Morocco.”
Despite only finishing 16 cars for 1956, Allender forged ahead with revised styling for a 1957 version, based of course, on the now iconic ’57 Bel Air. The front end of the new version blended elements from the Bel Air and Cadillac, incorporating the latter’s smaller Dagmar bumpers and egg-crate-style grille. New side chrome was added, inspired by the El Dorado’s side trim. The rear end was redesigned with even larger fins, new taillights, and a new bumper (the blending of designs no doubt confounds even the most informed of today’s car spotters). Both the 1956 and 1957 El Morocco ran Chevy’s 283 V8.
Somewhere around 18 1957 El Moroccos were built before Allender ran out of money for his project. Estimates vary, but roughly 36 1956 and 1957 El Moroccos were completed with perhaps 10 cars still extant today.
This 1957 El Morocco
Given their limited run, this 1957 El Morocco listed on Carsforsale.com is inarguably the rarest of Tri-Five-era Chevy’s, a veritable holy grail among collectors. This hardtop example has been kept in impeccable condition and is finished in Harbor Blue with a matching interior. Under the hood is the original 283 V8 and paired with a two-speed Powerglide transmission. The car features power brakes and power steering and rides on white-wall tires. This ultra-rare piece of automotive history is listed for $129,995.
