1959 Cadillac Nomad Cadmad Wins Ridler Award

There was a little bit of joy, but also it was bittersweet, as the Ridler Award was presented posthumously to owner Steve Barton of Las Vegas, Nevada. At the 2019 Detroit Autorama tonight the Ridler Award, the most coveted trophy in the custom hot rodding hobby, went to the 1959 Cadillac Nomad they call CadMad. Barton’s dream car won the Ridler Award here on Sunday evening at the awards ceremony in downtown Detroit. Accepting the award posthumously for his brother was Craig Barton. 

Called upon to say a few words to the huge crowd at the Detroit Autorama awards ceremony, Craig told them that it was with a heavy heart that he accepted the Ridler Award for his brother. “I am so proud that he won this award,” Craig said, fighting back his emotions. “And I am so sad that he wasn’t here to see it.” 

Jordan Quintal, II, the owner of Super Rides by Jordan, told us it took sixteen years to build this highly detailed custom. It was Barton’s dream car which has been finished in his memory.  

In this video we interview Jordan Quintal, III, son of Super Rides by Jordan owner, Jordan Quintal, II. Both father and son worked on the car for the past sixteen years. He gives us the hands on info about how it was built. (Click the video window to hear the interview.)

“Cadmad” stands for a Cadillac Nomad. The donor car was a 4-door Eldorado Brougham, one of only 99 such cars produced in 1959. All of the Eldorado Broughams were bodied in Italy at Pininfarina. A Pontiac Safari roof had to be grafted on to the roofline of the Cadillac. In itself this was a monumental accomplishment. First the Eldorado body was sectioned, shortened by 18 inches, narrowed by about four inches so that the resulting roof line might look right. Then the Safari roof had to be flattened, stretched and blended to the proper curve of the Cadillac’s roofline. The Cadillac was chopped about two inches with custom quarterglass made. 

Everyone at the Autorama was talking about the one-off color they call “Fawntana Rose.” Ron Marqus Hot Rod did the custom interior. The amount of custom detail is amazing. It is one of those cars you might spend hours just looking at all the detail work. The suspension was a one-off steel tube chassis using aircraft steel tubing. The engineering on the contruction was a structural work of art.

The engine by Tom Nelson Racing is a 632 ci Big Block Chevy with Twin 88mm Turbos producing 1,025 horsepower, 950 ft-pounds of torque at 7 pounds of boost. The custom leather interior was done by Ron Mangus of Rialto, California, with instrument gauges by Classic Instruments. The engineering and development that went into the custom ride put it over the top. Quintal II told us there is over $2 million in the build. 

Here is how the 1959 Cadillac Nomad called Cadmad looked at the show:

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Follow this link for more 2019 Detroit Autorama coverage from Cars-On-Line’s car show team. You’ll see our photos and videos from the Cobo Center today.