As of Jan. 17, 2025, this is the information we have about this car:
[Nov.01.2006] Car #251 was believed to have been owned first by Fidel Castro, Cuba's premier. It is alleged to have been agift to him by the U.S. government ...that was before the Bay of Pigs incident! It wasacquired soon after that, in Havana, in almost new condition, by His Excellency GiacomoMenasce, then Swiss Ambassador to the Caribbean island nation. But for the allegedCastro connection, this car’s history is fully documented. Mr. Menasce imported thecar to Switzerland after completing his tour of diplomatic duty. It was licensedunder Swiss tags #BE25388 [from the Canton of Berne]. In 1961, it was acquired fromthe ambassador, for about SFr 15,000 (circa $3,500 at that time), by businessman PierreSchweig; the transaction was arranged by a Mr. Wenger of Fleury Garage in Geneva, thelocal Cadillac dealer; the car got new tags at that time [#VD90069 - from the Canton ofVaud]; it still had all the vanity items and the odometer reading was around 30K miles [asa matter of interest, Pierre Schweig happens to be also the first owner of MY first Cadillac, a black 1956 Sedan De Ville]. Pierre mentioned that the Broughamhad the triple carb set up of the 1958 cars; this may have been a later modification inCuba or in Switzerland). Mr. Schweig sold the car in 1963 to a private individual inGeneva who wanted 'an American car' to tow his caravan! The selling pricewas SFr. 6,000 (circa $1,400); by now it had 78K miles on the clock. Pierre recalledthe problems they had with the air suspension, having to change one or more of the diaphragms about every 6,500 miles; as these were not readily available, the car wasfrequently laid up; he recalls also the compressor being changed 2-3 times [of course,this could have been simply a ploy by the garage to extort more money from the owner!] In 1962, the car was involved in a major fender-bender in Vienna, Austria;the local GM people had to replace a fender, the front grille and the headlightunits. At one time it was acquired by the Forag Trust of Vaduz, Liechtenstein but licensed in Geneva under #GE79356; it was used there for some five more years. It disappeared from view for the next almost ten years until it was 're-discovered'in 1977 by a friend, Christian Vaney, in a private parking 'cage' inGeneva’s chic Parc de Budé residential area. I had a number of contacts with arepresentative of the Trust with a view to acquiring the car ...but the asking price wassimply ridiculous (talk about a 'solid gold' Cadillac!) In addition themileage was claimed to be 75K miles when the odometer reading was already 78K miles in1963! The car subsequently 'disappeared' from its usual parking placearound 1979 and for the next almost 18 years. In March, 1996, while Gita and I weretouring in Arizona,a house located close to oursin suburban Geneva (about 5miles away as the crow flies) was offered for sale at auction, following bankruptcy of the owner. Other items were brought onto the property to make for a more interestingauction, including this Eldorado Brougham which (I was told recently) had beenseized in another bankruptcy case. Ralph, a young musician friend of mine hada workshop adjoining the property that was being sold; he attended the auction and bid onthe car, 'just for the heck of it'; he was the first to be surprised when he gotit for a song [circa $2,700] ...well, he is a musician after all! Had we been homeat the time, I would gladly have bid it up to at least $3000! Regrettably, I learned that Ralph wanted to make a low-rider of the car! Shame! Late Extra[summer 2005]: apparently Ralph gave up on his project and sold the car. The new owner [I don't have his particulars] intends to do a 'normal' restoration. Latest [Nov., 2006]: Jerry Jansson emailed me to inform me that the car was for sale. I spoke with the vendor (a Frenchman) who had bought it from Ralph. Thankfully, it was NOT converted to a low rider.
[Nov.01.2006] Car #251 was believed to have been owned first by Fidel Castro, Cuba's premier. It is alleged to have been agift to him by the U.S. government ...that was before the Bay of Pigs incident! It wasacquired soon after that, in Havana, in almost new condition, by His Excellency GiacomoMenasce, then Swiss Ambassador to the Caribbean island nation. But for the allegedCastro connection, this car’s history is fully documented. Mr. Menasce imported thecar to Switzerland after completing his tour of diplomatic duty. It was licensedunder Swiss tags #BE25388 [from the Canton of Berne]. In 1961, it was acquired fromthe ambassador, for about SFr 15,000 (circa $3,500 at that time), by businessman PierreSchweig; the transaction was arranged by a Mr. Wenger of Fleury Garage in Geneva, thelocal Cadillac dealer; the car got new tags at that time [#VD90069 - from the Canton ofVaud]; it still had all the vanity items and the odometer reading was around 30K miles [asa matter of interest, Pierre Schweig happens to be also the first owner of MY first Cadillac, a black 1956 Sedan De Ville]. Pierre mentioned that the Broughamhad the triple carb set up of the 1958 cars; this may have been a later modification inCuba or in Switzerland). Mr. Schweig sold the car in 1963 to a private individual inGeneva who wanted 'an American car' to tow his caravan! The selling pricewas SFr. 6,000 (circa $1,400); by now it had 78K miles on the clock. Pierre recalledthe problems they had with the air suspension, having to change one or more of the diaphragms about every 6,500 miles; as these were not readily available, the car wasfrequently laid up; he recalls also the compressor being changed 2-3 times [of course,this could have been simply a ploy by the garage to extort more money from the owner!] In 1962, the car was involved in a major fender-bender in Vienna, Austria;the local GM people had to replace a fender, the front grille and the headlightunits. At one time it was acquired by the Forag Trust of Vaduz, Liechtenstein but licensed in Geneva under #GE79356; it was used there for some five more years. It disappeared from view for the next almost ten years until it was 're-discovered'in 1977 by a friend, Christian Vaney, in a private parking 'cage' inGeneva’s chic Parc de Budé residential area. I had a number of contacts with arepresentative of the Trust with a view to acquiring the car ...but the asking price wassimply ridiculous (talk about a 'solid gold' Cadillac!) In addition themileage was claimed to be 75K miles when the odometer reading was already 78K miles in1963! The car subsequently 'disappeared' from its usual parking placearound 1979 and for the next almost 18 years. In March, 1996, while Gita and I weretouring in Arizona,a house located close to oursin suburban Geneva (about 5miles away as the crow flies) was offered for sale at auction, following bankruptcy of the owner. Other items were brought onto the property to make for a more interestingauction, including this Eldorado Brougham which (I was told recently) had beenseized in another bankruptcy case. Ralph, a young musician friend of mine hada workshop adjoining the property that was being sold; he attended the auction and bid onthe car, 'just for the heck of it'; he was the first to be surprised when he gotit for a song [circa $2,700] ...well, he is a musician after all! Had we been homeat the time, I would gladly have bid it up to at least $3000! Regrettably, I learned that Ralph wanted to make a low-rider of the car! Shame! Late Extra[summer 2005]: apparently Ralph gave up on his project and sold the car. The new owner [I don't have his particulars] intends to do a 'normal' restoration. Latest [Nov., 2006]: Jerry Jansson emailed me to inform me that the car was for sale. I spoke with the vendor (a Frenchman) who had bought it from Ralph. Thankfully, it was NOT converted to a low rider.