I’ve repeatedly given poor Lee Iaccoca a hard time for trying to build essentially the same car for a quarter of a century. But his patented formula certainly moved a lot of metal, and during the seventies, the big Lincoln Continental Marks threw their heft around in luxury coupe market very effectively. But the unfortunate downsizing of the Mark VI was not a hit, and the momentum moved back towards the Eldorado. But some folks just couldn’t give up the classic Mark look.
No, the fake radiator shell is not from the factory, but there was a healthy market for aftermarket ones. And they were especially popular on the Biarritz, which had all the other trademark Mark marks.
The Iaccoca Cap™ roof,
and the…a…um….charming little carriage lamp, among others. I’m trying hard not to be negative today.
And there’s the requisite tufted leather seats. The el-cheapo steering wheel cover is not genuine Iaccoca-ware.
This one proudly displays its Touring Suspension badge. That was one decided difference from the Lincolns; the GM luxo-coupes and big sedans had more budget spent on their underpinnings than genuine Iaccoca-mobiles. Perhaps lee grew up drinking lots of floats.
The momentum may have been somewhat in the Eldorado’s favor during the first half of the eighties, but the disastrous downsizing of 1986 soon took care of that. And of course, these Eldos had major engine issues, but let’s just gloss over that. It’s what’s up front that counts.
The Eldo’s basic styling isn’t bad, it’s the chrome & vinyl trim that’s hard to bear. What is it that brought Middle Americans in line with urban pimps in stylistic taste?
By contrast, German car buyers could opt to delete the model badge from their Mercedes trunklids. Was it commendable modesty, or fear of the Red Army Faction, that motivated this?
Buyers of the base model, mostly.
Correct! On Merc’s and BMW’s always look for the tail pipes as they often give a clue to the real engine size. No badge and quad pipes equals don’t take it on at the lights!
Make mine anything but the 4100 HT please. I’d even take the Olds 350 diesel if it has been upgraded to the improvements that were made on later models.
Actually I prefer the Toronado of the same era because at least you don’t have to worry about which engine is under the hood, they’re all 307 V8, unless you can snag one of the rare 1979 only Olds gas 350 models.
In the Brougham language isn’t that “opera lamp” rather than carriage lamp? I have no idea what it has to do with the opera though.
Indeed; at the risk of stereotyping, I can’t imagine opera fans being interested in tacky Broughams anyway. But maybe stylists were thinking of those old magazine ads showing cars at venues way beyond the means of their intended demographic.
You roll up to the opera house and when your date/wife exits the automobile, the lamp lights her way so as not to step in mud or water that might be there. Plus, it lights her outfit as well.
When you go to the opera, at least as a man, you should be wearing opera pumps which will not tolerate being soaked in nasty gas and random crap water that might be around. The light helps your exit and also just sorts you out as classy.
So you’d need puddle lamps as well as opera lamps.
But what if you don’t like opera? No brougham for you!
In the year 2050 they are known as Dubstep lamps.
I’m trying to figure out how the stainless steel top which dates back to the Eldorado Brougham is somehow an Iaccoca mark?
Cadillac also had opera lamps first, before Ford, they were introduced as an option on the 1971 Fleetwood Brougham. Vinyl tops and landaus were also not exclusive nor invented on the Mark.
Trying to claim that this car is Mark inspired when its clearly full of 1967 Eldorado cues is reaching at best.
15 yd penalty…..unnecessary roughness of GM….1st down.
shhhh, he was doing pretty good about being nice about this car if you don’t read between the lines :).
That grill really really hurts the looks of this thing
It does, but that is because it is aftermarket. Aftermarket stuff always seems chitnzy and low rent. Its like all those morons who put chrome colored Buickesque ventiports on things like an old Honda Civic.
I regularly see a newish Hyundai with three ventiports on the front door! No room on the fender.
I have one better, I saw a previous generation Sonata with a carriage roof that had seen better days. Ick.
He is in a much better mood today and how can he not be looking at this fine car. For me the Eldo took the sheer look a hair past its limit. I still prefer the first Seville and ’76 Cutlass but not by much.
@Carmine – I think the Iacocca Cap refers to the half padded vinyl portion. (I think)
I almost bought one of these but for the dreadful motor.
I’m glad you noted the aftermarket radiator grille/shell, as I wouldn’t have spotted it!
Its obvious if you’ve ever seen one as-is.
Nup, can’t say I have. Kinda ruins the effect when I don’t recognise it as abnormal.
I actually like this generation of Eldorado and Riviera…the Toronado? Not so much. Like the Marks (3, 4, and 5), there is an abundance of straight lines and large flat surfaces on these cars. I feel they look good enough to stand on their own without all the “decorations”(factory and/or dealer added) and can look attractive (at least to me) left “bare”.
I’ve always felt that if a car is styled properly, it doesn’t need a lot of chrome gingerbread to look nice.
Oh, driving a classic car during this season is something way beyond the reach for people in north country. But the fair offset is, bumper filler holds up way much better in north too, especially in the mild summer time
Personally, I like this era of Eldo/Toronado/Riviera. They took the downsizing well. The aftermarket garbage put on them, especially the Eldo, no.
If not for the HT4100 (which was dreadful and made these cars real dogs) all of these Eldos would be sweet rides. The earlier ones with good engines were nice.
As to Brougham hate, everyone notices the Brougham and when they notice the “enthusiast” car they aren’t noticing the cornering ability, they are noticing the BMW roundel or the Benz star. The lux factor makes them sell, even the better handling had to be sold as a lux feature. If they were only purist enthusiast cars, they never would have made it.
Nice, but I’ll still take an Olds Toronado of the same generation. Nearly as luxurious, but with more distinctive styling. Plus, I personally prefer the Toro’s leather seat design over the button-tufted Eldo’s.
The Toronados of this generation are often overlooked, and they are pretty nice, there were some pigskin suede /leather interior combos available, talking dashes and digital displays, Bose systems, it was all that a Biarritz was without the 4.1 “issues”,
You could even get one….Caliente!
But interestingly not in Picante or El Scorcho….
Cue the flamenco….
I am a fan of this generation of E bodies. It’s a great design with no need for embellishments. I would love a 1980, with aluminum wheels and no vinyl roof. 79 or 81 would be acceptable. And heck, I’d even take an 82-85 if it was in perfect condition with super low miles. I also like the rivieras. Tornado for some reason never did much for me, except for the dash, which I think is neat with the vertical a/c vents bisecting it.
Can anyone share knowledge on what’s in the “touring suspension”? And how did it perform? Being FWD, what kind of rear suspension came with them? Steering?
Back in the day in the Detroit area there were a ton of Eldos with the chrome grille cap appended. Mostly driven by Italian or Polish GM retirees, I suppose. I can understand the motivation behind, “well, honey, it will be our last car, so why don’t we get an Eldorado”, but I don’t understand the motivation behind padding the dealer’s bottom line by that much to add something that made the poor car substantially uglier. BTW, there still are a large number of Caddies in the Detroit area driven by elderly folks, mostly at 5-10 mph below the speed limit even on non freeways (we’re talking 30 in a 40 zone), not all of which have dealer uglification packs.
“…all the other trademark Mark marks.”
Any advance on three marks?
I never understood the aftermarket radiator cap. If that’s not a mark of nouveau riche, I don’t know what is.
But I have to say, the sheer look (when not overly festooned with miles of chrome accenting) was a wonderful look for the Eldorado. Even the Seville looked pretty good at a few angles. A shame it all went south during the Second Great Downsizing of 1986.
I love these unconditionally. I took my driving test in my step dad’s 79 Eldo with the Olds 350. I think it was a fuelie. Triple silver. For it’s time it had guts, and even with the stock exhaust you could just barely hear that magic Olds deep rumble. And it could wiaft like a LS400. Four wheel disks, front torsion bar suspension, ( I asked my old man how could it not have springs when I was 12) indie rear self leveling, and bomb proof: i.e. Casino. I loved the flat floor. We sold her in 89, unfortunately she got a haircut at the dealer, no way that Olds plant would have lost compression at 110k. Sewell Village Dallas one owner trade in…she had brand new pedals, but that was noticed after the deal.
That superfly grill is probably by Classic Coach, high, high quality. This one is damaged, but that chrome is great. It’s got the “82’s”-I think Dayton? made those wires. A version was offered on SL’s of the same period. The front one is bent, and the chrome is done, restoration is mandatory, with a fresh set of Vogues STAT. I always wondered if the Astroroof was offered on the stainless topped Biaritz, I’ve only seen one on an Eldo.
And they deconted the interior. No chrome vents, the wheel climate control gone, replaced by a RadarRange oven control panel. No more rotary outdoor thermometer on the left door mirror, it light up at night. I can’t tell if it has the Bose system, which was amazing and the only car Bose system that I like. Four amps, tuned speaker enclosures with the same drivers as the 901, equalized to perfection, and required modified front doors. I think it was $500+. But that system had that dreary Delco double din head unit that could have been in a Cavalier. The previous head unit was Cadillac only, with jewel like knobs, and warm fat sound. Also that leather looks vinylish compared to the 79. And I don’t see the three way fiber optic turn, low and high beam fender indicators- useless, but so special.
Oh, but if I had the garage space and $$$ I would give the old gal lots of TLC. I’d nurse the 4100, and start planing a 4.9 swap, and go hunting for pre 83 bits and pieces, and by all means the grill would stay- ok, I’m tacky…
I don’t dislike the modernizing of the interior that they did on these for the last couple of years, they did what they could to update a dash that was probably designed back in 1976-1977 for a 1979 car, the updated climate control does have the exterior temp function built in to the system, plus the Fuel Data Center and the climate controls are part of the on board diagnostics system for the car, unique for the time, it allowed the technician to pull trouble codes directly from the car without the use of a diagnostic hook up.
The later big-din Delco radios in the Cadillacs are nicer than the lower spec Delco radio still, the knobs and buttons still are higher end, even though the radios do look similar, the previous narrow 1800 series ETR radios that these had were still shared with other GM cars, they were found in the higher end Buicks and Oldsmobiles.
Buddy, I replied to you. The post is down there at the bottom.
Correction, she does have the fender light indicators, I’ll sleep better knowing that. So she also has the fiber optic fed brake light monitors on the rear headliner you could see from the mirror. Thoughtful details give cars soul, I think Cadillac has relearned this. The XTS despite being goofy and too narrow, is moving in the right direction. They finally nailed an interior, for first time since the 60’s. And it’s not a BMW wannabe. The planned ultra flagship may be a hit.
Maybe they shoulda called this car a Cadillac Eldorado Bizarritz.
I thought the Lincoln Mark III, Mark IV, and Mark V were handsome cars. The Eldo always looked like a pimpmobile to me, even completely stock. But the worst part was probably FWD. IMO a huge mistake. I am a diehard RWD fan.
While Lido gets lots of grief for his craptacular, personal luxury brougham-mobiles, they sold, and sold well. They were appropriate for the times. The fat and happy American market just wasn’t all that interested in taught-handling, unadorned, Euro-flavor cars, particularly when gas prices were low. Floaty ride, lots of chrome and vinyl padding ruled the day. And, starting with the 1958 Thunderbird ‘Squarebird’, that market lasted for four decades, finally being laid to rest when the last Mark VIII rolled off the line in 1998.
Even today, brougham lives on in the blinged-out, full-size domestic SUV like the Escalade. There has to be an Escalade, somewhere, with a carriage roof and opera lights. Iacocca would be proud.
Cultural echoes explain the Classic-style Palladian grille caps, opera lamps, landau tops applied to cars decades after those affectations became passé. Tall vertical chrome radiator shells were really only current from about 1926-27 to 1932-33. Before, they were simply painted, functional. After, the idea of a united monochromatic theme took over, de-emphasizing the radiator shell.
Opera lamps were high-mounted, low-wattage lights on chauffeured town cars intended to assist the owners to identify their car at night when the show as over. Most had a specific color lens or bulbs easily picked out of the crowd. These were never seen outside of major urban areas.
The landau roof was also functional at one time. Covered with landau leather or tightly woven, rubberized fabrics, specifically treated to be flexible and weather-resistant, the covering sheathed the upper wood-framed body structure. A variation was the landaulet, where the rear section of the roof behind the rear doors folded to allow the passengers to enjoy nice weather. This concept was a hold-over from the horse-drawn carriage days, was rapidly dying out by the late 1920’s.
But, no automotive idea ever really dies out completely. Lido simply reached into the dead idea bag of automotive history, dusted off long-obsolete features, recycled them as stylistic affectations and cried all the way to the bank!
Look at you, little Mr. Know It All. Can I use you as a Lifeline during my annual family Trivial Pursuit game?
Interesting stuff…
I like the larger “C” pillar on some of these Rivieras. It gives the car a more personal luxury look to it. It seems like I recall seeing a TV ad that showed on of these – looking down on it in a parking lot from a upper level office window, as it was driving to or from the parking lot. It looked nice from that vantage point.
This video shows the Riviera very very nicely from the side as it is driving by in my favorite color of white. Now that is a sharp looking car! It has the larger “C” pillar.
I saw one of these on the road today, almost the twin of the car in the video. I love the way these things look, but in person they are even better. Absolutely gorgeous.
The Riviera did have some cool touches like the little electroluminescent “R” logos on the vinyl top, that was pretty cool, the lamp monitors were unique too, they were little “blades” on the front above the headlights.
Thanks for your reply Carmine. I like to learn from other points of view, especially when there’s wisdom backing them up.
I had dinner with my parents tonight, they live five blocks away. My Dad prefers the more mod dash, and said it could have used even more goodies. He still misses his 79. My Mom thought it was the most ridiculous car ever made. She said a Jag convertable would have been what she wished he splurged on.
My father had a 79 too, it was triple brown, they were pretty quick, I think the Olds 350 79 road tested in C&D did 9 seconds to 60, not bad for 1979, these still weighed about 2 tons.
I am a huge fan of the ’70s personal luxury coupe. In fact it is my favorite type of car. The Lincoln Mark IV and Mark V are among my favorites. The mid ’70s Pontiac Grand Prix is my all time favorite. I was 16 back then, and all the other kids were crazy for muscle cars. I loved muscle cars too, but what I really wanted was a Grand Prix. The Eldo/Toronado/Riviera were my least favorite of the bunch, but back then they had some pretty stiff competition. I would happily take any one of them over anything made today. I’m just not into SUVs. The Escalade may be opulent, but it lacks any kind of style, and they are often seen with those huge ugly ghetto wheels with tread painted on them.