1956 Cadillac Die Valkyrie. All photos from Old school & Hot rod & Rockabilly & Bikes Facebook page.

When it comes to custom cars, one of the most famous and popular of all time came from the mind of an acclaimed American industrial designer that was renowned for his design work with home furnishings and appliances than automobiles. Brooks Stevens established his own home furnishings design firm in Milwaukee in 1933.

Stevens, while well known in home furnishings, dabbled in architectural design and graphic design as well. His work on the Miller Brewing logo is still applauded today. One of the most popular icons in pop-culture owes it’s existence to Steven’s vision: The Oscar-Meyer Wienermobile is one of his most successful custom designs.

He managed to do a lot of design work in the automotive community with credits such as redesigning the 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk, which stayed with the same design until production of the Studebaker ended. He was also credited with designing the 1949 Harley-Davidson Hydra-Glide and the Jeep Wagoneer, which was offered in Steven’s same basic form until 1991.

The one car design that highlights Brooks Steven’s entire career, an automobile that will forever link the Wagner’s opera and the Cadillac Sixty-Two series together, the ultra rare Die Valkyrie.

When Howard Metzenbaum, the wealthy real estate mogul and former Ohio Senator, wanted a custom car built that combined the spirit of the early 1940s automobiles with the luxury and power of the Lincolns and Cadillacs, he went to Stevens.

Stevens picked the 1954 Cadillac series sixty-two chassis as the base for his creation. With the 125-inch wheel base to support the monster 331ci V8 engine, Stevens hired Spohn Werks of West Germany to fabricate the all metal body per the designs provide by Stevens.

Designed as a convertible with both soft and hard tops, Die Valkyrie featured a long hood that was raked for streamlining effect and highlighted with a spectacular V-shaped grille in the front. The unique grille blended into the bumpers giving the entire front end a very stylish look.

Debuting at the 1955 Paris Auto Show, then the New York Auto Show at Madison Square Garden, the car saw immediate success with the public. Most experts believe that five of these cars were created with three of them finding their way to America. Metzenbaum had one, and the designer’s wife, Alice Stevens often drove one around town. It was eventually retired to her husband’s automobile museum.

The car was pretty stock on the inside with the Caddy chassis. This made it easy for servicing and maintenance, along with the reliability that the Cadillacs were known for. The exterior was a slick two-toned paint job that capitalized on the body design for the paint livery. Among the unique features of the build is a plexiglas strip across the headlights which were designed to project the light beam further down the road.

Whether five or six of these magnificent cars were built is a matter of debate but only two examples are known to exist today. That makes this one of the most rare, of the most popular, custom automobiles of the era.