In 1978, the Niederhelm family bought this Cadillac Eldorado from Stigler GMC-Cadillac in Eldon, Missouri. In early January 2015, this Cadillac had a new title issued for the first time since it was purchased new. Not only is this Eldorado quite a ride, having it has been quite the ride.
While it has certainly been a Car Of A Lifetime, I do not own this Cadillac; the local home school association does.
My wife and I homeschool our daughter and we have been actively involved in our home school association (HSA). There are several cooperative classes being given to the older ones, one of which is a course on automobile maintenance that I have been teaching. Last year, that class branched out to my being an instructor for our fledgling driver’s education program. That’s where the Cadillac comes into play.
The board for the HSA is surprisingly flush with cash. While I attribute their having enough cash to burn a wet elephant to the rampant graft and corruption here in the state capital, my wife maintains this is simply due to the HSA being run by the frugal folks who live in this area. She does have a valid point.
To effectively equip my driver’s education course, the HSA wanted me to acquire a comfortable, front wheel drive car that would be good for teaching our youngsters how to drive. I had a budget of $5,500.
Felicity Burkemper, president of the HSA, advocated an older Corolla; given the automotive demographics in Jefferson City, a 2006 or older Corolla is as common as limburger cheese being served as an hors d’oeuvre at a bridal shower.
Besides, the few who do own a Corolla are wanting an obscene amount of money when selling. That doesn’t mold well with the frugal mindset in this area, which helps explain the preponderance of Impalas I see daily.
Just for giggles, and to appeal to the skinflint portion of our HSA board, I suggested an Impala from the state government fleet – like Dodge’s in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, they are practically giving them away. Sadly, I failed to remember the local taxi companies have a monopoly on them.
These discussions transpired in mid-December of 2014.
For New Year’s Day of 2015, I participated in the annual celebration by the Mid-Missouri Old Car Club. We members convoy all over the county, visiting the garages of various club members. At every stop, we have a drink snack while shooting the bull then parade to someone’s else’s place. It’s great fun.
Our third stop was at Alfred Klosterman’s house. Sitting for sale in his front yard was this Cadillac. Alfred and I talked long enough for me to learn his wife, the former Miss Niederhelm, had just inherited the Eldorado. We talked further and one thing lead to another.
That’s right – this Cadillac Eldorado is the new driver’s education car.
For those who don’t live in the United States some explanation is needed. There is no national driver’s license here; rather, each state regulates such things for residents of that particular state. The age at which a person can obtain a drivers license ranges from 14 years, 3 months in South Dakota to 17 in New Jersey. The legal age in Missouri is 16 although a learner’s permit can be obtained at 15 years of age. All my students are fifteen years old and have their learner’s permit.
Yes, it can be confusing but we Americans do have a history of blazing down our own path. It all boils back to the East India Company, a tea tax, and the first documented pollution of Boston Harbor in 1773.
While the Eldorado fit the loose parameters I had been given – and came in under budget – it was viewed by Mrs. Burkemper with a ridiculously comical amount of skepticism. She of limited automotive experience simply didn’t comprehend the virtues that belong to a Malaise Era Cadillac.
My rebuttal to the bewildered board was their new Cadillac presented a win-win opportunity. It gives students first hand experience in how to change all the fluids, filters, and hoses. In turn, if a fifteen year-old can learn to proficiently drive this old girl, they can certainly maneuver a Corolla or Impala better than their public school peers. After a delightfully spirited conversation, the board saw the wisdom of my actions.
Except Mrs. Burkemper. She’s such a wet blanket.
All of the students were excited about the Cadillac as they had been dreading the drudgery of a Corolla. Thankfully this Cadillac has been endowed with that most unique of Cadillac traits. It has presence. It has a lot of presence. It was intimidating to them. It’s sad that society has brainwashed these kids into thinking a two-door car with a mere 126.3″ wheelbase is a hairs-breadth away from being the same size as the QE2.
Heck, at 4,955 pounds, this Cadillac only weighs about two or three kegs of Löwenbräu more than a loaded 2016 Ford Taurus. When the boys started eye-balling that 7.0 liter V8 under the hood, I told them to not get too juiced up as the Taurus makes more horsepower. Talk about confusion. The Kleinschmitt boy wants to be an engineer and started figuring the power to weight ratio of each. Sadly, the Baumhoer boy argued that his calculations were incorrect; naturally, he wants to become a lawyer.
The kids did a great job changing all the fluids and rubber bits in the Cadillac. I even went a step further and taught them how to replace those brittle body extension panels. The old girl was looking great and was ready for the big time.
The oldest Bernskoetter boy was the first student I took out. A little on the squeamish side, he was uncertain on piloting the Eldorado. Now, for those who have taught youngsters how to drive, it is an experience that is hard to explain. It requires patience, it takes a lot of coaching, one must use a lot of encouragement, and it requires a lot of patience. Yes, I repeated myself but, again, if you’ve done this you know it to be true.
Upon telling this young man the virtues of the Cadillac – easy steering, a hood that can be seen by the driver unlike contemporary cars, and that fabulous hood ornament to help verify your position in your lane – he took the wheel with great trepidation. Upon his dropping the car into “Drive”, he nailed the throttle and took off as smartly as any 1978 Eldorado could ever muster. Never having experienced such copious amounts of torque, the young Mr. Bernskoetter was smiling like a hog knee deep in slop.
Not every student was so calm.
The youngest Kliethermes girl puked in the glove compartment from being nervous. That was a bummer as it took a soup ladle and a bunch of Lysol wipes to get the mess cleaned. She has vowed to quit eating spinach. However, she was soon driving as well as race driver Danica Patrick. This girl is a natural.
The Kaiser girl blew through a four-way stop. Thankfully, everyone approaching saw the grace, elegance, and presence of the Cadillac and waited for her to sail by – proving my point about this Cadillac being a safe car.
The middle Imhoff boy, a rather impatient young man, honked the horn at an older couple that was lolly-gagging down the road…this car is similar to the QE2 only in the fact its horn sounds like the horn of that cruise ship.
The eldest Gerhardt kid screamed liked his three year-old sister while merging onto US 54. I told him if he continued screaming that way his leg hair would fall out. That was encouragement as he has ceased that habit.
The Kampeter girl treated the throttle as she would a light switch. She either had her foot on the floor or the car was coasting. That was tiresome.
However, despite it all, each of my twenty-three students has done a remarkable job of learning how to drive the Eldorado. Not only have they all learned to parallel park with unparalleled smoothness, they have also demonstrated an ability to drive in reverse through an obstacle course I created for them. Those kids were so thrilled with how well they could navigate this Cadillac, I even sponsored an event this past Saturday to show parents how well their kids could drive.
With this huge degree of success, Mrs. Burkemper has finally seen the light I was shining on her. For this upcoming session, I have another twenty-nine students who are eager to drive this Cadillac. Not only has this Eldorado won over the outgoing class, it has inspired the upcoming students who have been delightfully wooed by the unsubtle allure of this Eldorado. Plus they know driving a Cadillac such as this provides a degree of cool that can only be exceeded in cars costing twice as much.
Despite the raw terror these kids can induce while driving, I’m looking forward to their taking that huge step in life by learning to drive.
If only everyone were so lucky as to learn how to drive in a two-tone blue Cadillac Eldorado.
And those kids will never understand the kind of command a vehicle like that used to have on the road. Small cars used to shy away. The modern equivalent would be a Suburban.
In any case, you’re unbelievably cool for choosing such machine. Thanks
Well, if a fifteen year old can learn to handle a barge like that, there’s virtually nothing they won’t be able to drive. You can probably also mark it up as initial training towards a CDL.
Jason, this is by far the best thing I have ever read here. You are a dead-set legend.
The car I learned in during my semester in DE (fall 1984) was also big, blue, built at Detroit Clark Street and the last of its kind…an ’85 Delta 88 Royale sedan. If you learned to drive at a Houston area high school during the ’70s and early ’80s, chances are it was in a big Olds with under 1K on the odometer. Each semester there was a new batch of cars as the old ones were returned to the dealer that supplied them and sold at a substantial discount.
Their philosophy was the same. If you could parallel park a B-body, you could drive anything. Unfortunately the big cars gave way to Cieras and the occasional FWD Delta the following year……and that’s no joke!
But the ’85 B body was downsized. We old guys who took driver training pre-1977 learned to drive in real full-sized cars.
No, the C body was downsized for ’85. FWD DeVille/Electra/98. The B body Delta88/LeSabre were replaced by FWD H for 1986.
The B Caprice lasted until 1996…
You guys DO realize this an April Fools article, don’t you?
Fark. Got me.
And that is why Jason Shafer is a dead-set legend around here.
Love that trunk rack BTW, I’d put a guitar case with Graceland stickers on there.
and me!
I was going to ask for an assurance that the names were not made up, but may be superfluous!
Well done Jason, and certainly more fun than the Cycling Proficiency Training we got int he school playground
Thank you.
Every name here can be found in the local telephone directory. This area has as much German heritage as a Volkswagen.
Our default when we can’t remember someone’s surname is Von Shinckelmeister
Nice job on the names. MO has a huge German population from some of the great migrations in the mid-1800s so anybody from the area will get the joke immediately. BTW I used to go to summer camp one town over from Eldon…Rocky Mount. Of course, this was all before the beautiful Ozarks were built out with condos and vacation homes.
Well done.
Any young guy would feel a bit of a dick in this car…..
Unusual in that the bumper plastic bumper infills are intack. I hear that they are no longer produced. Perhaps an opportunity for some in the moulded plastics industry?.
Cripes, I fell for it again! Every year! Hahaha splendid job though, Jason ?
Great story! The 1978 Eldorado is perfect to teach kids how to drive, I totally agree. Once You drive the old Cadillac, a so-called “modern and efficient” car is an easy task. Take into consideration, that I live in Europe. We have always had cars small enough to park in a dog house and give them a hug at the end of the day. Automated transmission and well visible corners are a blessing for young drivers. I learned to drive using the biggest car, I could get in driving school in Poland in the early 90s: a Fiat 125p. This boxy four-door sedan was almost as big, as a Chevy Vega.
You are every inch a great teacher too, I polished my English reading Your post.
April fool or not, it was a good read. On a related note, if it hasn’t already been done an interesting CC QOTD might be: what was your driver’s ed car? I recall mine somehow being a Chrysler Le Baron convertible – in winter. Nothing like the giant blind spots created by the convertible top to add some extra excitement while learning to merge onto the freeway. Also the instrument panel was half-burned-out, which meant when the short daylight hours were over speed was largely judged by the traffic around you. Not a bad backseat for a convertible though, for when we had to trade off driving.
LeBaron? Not a bad back seat? Are you under 5′ tall?
I think the only back seats I’ve ridden in smaller than a LeBaron convertible would have been a Dodge Stealth and a 2nd-gen Integra hatchback, and I’m not that big a guy (5’10”, 180-ish in my younger days when I rode in those vehicles).
April Fools written all over it!! But yes, learn to drive in a sister car to the Exxon Valdez and SS Torrey Canyon and you can drive anything.
Also laughed at the driving licence example. ‘John Thomas’ is slang here in the UK for a certain part of the body!
Come on, Jason – every homeschooling dad knows the Official Vehicle of Homeschoolers™ is a mini- or full-size van!
Great read!
Best example of a DE car that fits the stereotype you’d have, that I’ve seen is Burlington (VT) High School’s Subaru Forester.
It makes sense on the level that the Subaru/Hyundai dealer is the only one left in the City of Burlington, the others having decamped to the ‘burbs decades ago, and it might be provided in lieu of some taxes; but it also makes sense on a whole other “well, of course” level…
Is that an American thing, huge vans and homeschooling? I haven’t really seen that up here in Manitoba. My parents sure didn’t have one.
Jason:
Any way I could register for some remedial driver’s ed in your class? 😉
Ha ha! What’s the luggage rack on the back for? Not enough room in the trunk? 🙂
Oh my gosh, I know.
Indeed there was not enough room in the trunk. I learned the Niederhelm’s were huge into garage sales and estate auctions; after a while, they simply started to tie those larger, bulkier items to the luggage rack.
The sad part about this being an April Fools joke is that it means an actual HSA someplace is really teaching their kids to drive in a Corolla, thus helping produce another milquetoast generation that reads the Consumer Reports Annual Auto Issue while sitting on the toilet, instead of using it as toilet paper.
🙂
Don’t most homeschoolers leave that sort of non-core-curriculum thing to the public school the kid “would’ve” gone to? I know that sort of thing happens with team sports.
Homeschooling laws vary wildly by state. Here, we have to meet the public school requirements of 1000 hours of instruction with either 400 or 600 hours (Mrs. Jason has the education degree, not me) being core of math, English, etc. We have zero interaction with public schools nor did we have to declare any homeschooling intent as is the case in other states.
In Michigan, at least, a homeschooler (such as myself) can do non-core/elective classes at the local school district/ISD, or through their own privately-run programs. For example, I am currently taking an Auto Tech class at the local HS. I’m probably going to do an article on it over the summer..
Here in Manitoba, if you were to take drivers education, you’d have to go through the public school system (as my sister did). If you wait ’til you’re 16 (as I did), you can merely take your written test, skip drivers ed entirely, and still get your learners license.
Illinois does not allow parents to teach their own children to drive (until they’re over 18), so we enrolled both our sons in the local High School for Driver’s Ed. It was eye-opening for them both (they were not impressed). I had already ‘taught’ them in my farm truck out in the hay field (including how to get in and out of power slides – woohoo!), and we made sure to enroll them both during the Winter so they got snow and ice experience.
Learning driving in winter. Been there, fun.
Okay, now that your article is on the Internet, could you please mail my driver’s license back to me? I’m starting to regret letting you use it as an illustration. Why the heck didn’t you just use your own license, anyway? Do you have one?
This is a fantastic article, and I applaud you Jason for going against the grain and insisting on using this car. Kids are not stupid, not by any stretch, and I think are so much more capable than people give them credit for. How did you get past arguments that this car was lacking airbags, ABS, …. haha
I had a friend get into my Jeep Cherokee (92 XJ) which is as pristine as they come. He was like “Wow, this is so cool.. I could never own a car like this.” Perplexed I said “It’s wasn’t’ very expensive dude, you could easily have one if you wanted.” His response? “No, it doesn’t have air bags.”
The stuff of legend, Jason. Had me all the way.
Had me, but of course April 1st was yesterday.
Damn time zones.
Had me right up until the “safe car” part! Good one!
You would be hard-pressed to find a safer car from the 1970s. No joke.
Good one! This takes me back to my driver ed years when I drew a 75 Mercury Marquis. A bit later, I had my little sister practice parallel parking in my 63 Cad Fleetwood. I told her that once she had it down in the Cadillac, the same maneuver in any other car would be child’s play.
One question though – with the Caddy’s great thirst, was it necessary for each kid to show up with 2 five gallon cans of gas in order to finance operating costs?
That was how I found that luggage rack to be so handy. Close to the source of need and well ventilated.
Good German farmer’s names too…lots of Kliethermes’ around St. Louis too, as I recall.
You had me going until the girl barfing in the glove box. Not sure why that tipped me off!
What I found eye-opening were the pictures of the terrible fit of the panels in the close-ups. I would have expected more from Cadillac – even late 70’s Cadillac.
The only “giveaway” I could see was the almost Dickensian, names…..after a while they sounded too made up to be real.
While this is an “April Fool’s Joke”, I think the concept is a good idea. But 2 things came to mind:
1.) I think ALL young drivers should learn to drive on older cars, preferably old enough to lack ABS. And it would be even better if you could find a vehicle without power steering and without power brakes.
2.) Part of me wonders if kids trained to drive on such a large vehicle won’t develop a “taste” for larger vehicles.
BTW, my Driver’s Ed car was a 67 Ford Galaxie 500 4 door. My school also had a 68 Chevy Impala and a 69 Plymouth Fury III. I soooo wanted to try that Fury, but my instructor always stuck us in the Galaxie.
The car I learned on was a 49 Plymouth with “3 on the tree”, and no power anything.
Well, I have you covered there as well. They can use my 71 4Dr Maverick. Non power 4 wheel drum brakes, manual steering and three on the tree!. Problem solved.
A wonderful way to kick off my Friday!!! Thanks Jason. Though it’s hardly for me to provide writing lessons, I find it interesting that you took the time to explain American driver’s licenses for our overseas readers, but you assumed we (and I’m an American) would understand your analogy about the Corolla. Is Limburger cheese actually served at bridal showers in Missouri, or not? Corollas are everywhere here, and I’ve even owned one, but I’ve never been to a bridal shower and I’m not sure if I’ve ever had Limburger either, so the whole thing left me confused.
I’m letting you on a secret here, just don’t tell anyone…
There’s been enough discussion here lately about driving, licensing, and how things vary by nation, so I thought the explanation about licensing would be helpful. Incidentally, that isn’t a picture of me; I put him to shame.
Limburger cheese is German and smells rather rank. I cannot imagine that being served at a bridal shower. There is a profound German influence where I live (all the names other than Stigler are of people I know) and limburger is German, so….
The Corolla thing was inspired by a local drivers education service that uses Corollas and a poke at my lack of having ever written up any number of Asian cars. Why? For whatever reason, Asian cars over ten years of age do not exist in any real quantity in the rather large area I frequent. In the past month I have seen more 30 year old VW’s than I have twenty year old Toyotas or Hondas.
You had me too. That’s one of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen! I second the suggestion of a “What car did you learn to drive in” thread.
I started in my grandmother’s 2000 Taurus. Unfortunately, she’s not the person to teach someone else how to drive. Many were the shots if “Oh my GOD, you’re going to kill us! Watch out for that tree!” Said tree was nearly a hundred yards away at fifteen miles per hour. In a parking lot. My driving instructor had me in a bright pink Cavalier.
The Eldo sure would have beat the Maverick sedan that was the centerpiece of my driver’s ed.
Very well done! You had me about halfway through but eventually I thought there was just a little too much “Harper Valley PTA” for your normal style.
https://youtu.be/_ptRLNv6Eck
Ooohhh.. You tested in a Maverick! My favorite car. Own 7 of ’em right now. I’ve had 22 thru the years. Got a building full of parts for ’em too. When I worked in a jewlery store here from 86-94 my boss had briefly gone to school with Mrs. Riley of said record game.
I actually appreciate the Maverick more then some editors here (cough, Paul), but the driver’s ed sedan was a beige base four door and the only options on it were power steering, brakes and automatic.
My style was more broughamtastic at the time, my first two cars were a ’73 and then a ’76 Olds Cutlass Supreme coupe – the ’76 being a full-on loaded Brougham. Piloting a ’78 Eldorado through driver’s ed would have been a treat for me, even though I generally preferred Cadillac’s standard coupes at the time.
Small world regarding Ms. Riley. That song was constantly on the radio on the most popular station in Omaha, NE through the early ’70s.
This was Jason’s comment that made me think of the song as well as consider that it is April 1st….
“Except Mrs. Burkemper. She’s such a wet blanket.”
I always liked that off white beige Ford used. It was also briefly an Interior color.
I don’t know anything about US 54 in Missouri. I DO know US 54 in Kansas! Any differences? I think now I’ll offer my 79 Lincoln Continental services to the local driving school. Thanks for the inspiration.
Coming to this late as usual, I was already skeptical that it was an April Fools post, but it was a great read anyway. I haven’t had any exposure to Driver’s Ed since high school, but I don’t think teaching kids to drive in a big old monster is such a horrible idea. Might as well give them the right amount of fear and respect for the machine they’re piloting and the damage it could potentially do. I learned on a ’67 Chevy C-20 4X4: stick shift, no power steering or brakes, no muffler, and rust holes through the floor. (although my actual driver’s ed car was a Dodge Omni, with automatic and power steering and brakes). Not to be extreme, as I really don’t think kids should have to learn on something that they’d never actually drive in “Real Life”, but I do think everyone should learn to drive a manual transmission. That might at least help new drivers get some sense of how a vehicle functions, and how to deal with power, traction, etc.
Given the huge popularity of full-size pickups, especially in that part of the world, I would think using a pickup for Driver’s Ed would make a lot of sense.
True enough, but I imagine that the vast majority of those very popular full-sized pickups these days are equipped with power steering and brakes at the very least. 3 years ago I paid an instructor to teach my other half (a native New Yorker with no driving experience prior to that), as it just wasn’t worth the fighting for me to try doing it myself (not to mention the certainty of becoming valium-dependent). Of course said student learned to drive on a vehicle equipped with traction control, antilock brakes, automatic transmission, backup camera and various lane departure warnings, etc. So now, as a passenger when I quietly observe this driver braking through curves on wet roads, accelerating to extreme on freeway on-ramps, having no understanding of how or when to implement high or low beam headlights and so on, I’m of course thankful for the presence of all of these electronic marvels (not to mention the airbags that I’ll unquestionably become intimately familiar with some time soon). But I can’t help thinking that if people still learned to drive on vehicles that they had to actually maintain control of and understand the limitations of we’d have better long-term results.
And here.
Was going fine, enjoying the article. Got to the leg hair, “Wait, it’s April 1st”.
Golden. Truly golden.
Well done Mr. Shafer .
-Nate
This story isn’t true, but it should be.
For maximum driving skill, this summer the Caddies will be converted to 3 speed non syncro column shift and manual steering. Parallel parking spaces will be 6 inches longer then the car. Hand signals will be mandatory at all times.
And manual crank starters!
That’ll never work. Coffman shotgun starter for the win!
Jason, a wonderful article! I could have had a similar job if the court order hadn’t kept me at least a half-mile from any elementary or high school…
Yup, that’s the reason I don’t spend Christmas with the family anymore, stupid restraining order! I mean come on, she was the third cousin. And not even that pretty!
You’re going to have to re paint the ‘ free candy ‘ on the side of the van in bigger letters for the kiddies to be able to read it that far away……
-Nate
Superb. Classic common sense used the right way.
“the Niederhelm family” tipped me off, but also was looking for 4/1 stories.
We had a 73 Eldo in my shop class!
Because of this excellent article I just had to learn more about Cadillac’s heritage.
It turned out that the Cadillac crest is actually the coat of arms of the Prussian Graf Gottlieb Erlkönig Von Links Nach Rechts Rutschen (typically Germanic noble families have long last names).
My eldest Aunt was 5 feet or shorter and never married until she was 66. When she was a 73 year old widow she bought a new 1965 Cadillac Coupe and asked my Mother to teach her to drive. Mother did and Auntie passed her test on the first try, including the parallel parking. When she passes away in 1986, the Caddy had 11,000 miles.
Nice joke, but in this Era of insurance companies being the real political force behind everything, I don’t think that this idea would ever fly.
April Foolsing aside, I think kids need to take Drivers in a huge car. Not necessarily old, something like a new Impala or a lingering Panther may do the trick today. Then again, maybe that’s as crazy as my idea of a license restriction for anyone who doesn’t take their test on a manual-equipped vehicle.
Take your license test in a automatic here you are restricted to automatics untill you learn to drive not just steer not a crazy idea at all.
Also, do Caddy’s plastic filler gaps always look that bad and off color in older age?
They appear to have been recently replaced. And, this is/was a one-owner car.
April Fools or genuine oneownership?
I did not fall for it at all, but I got a kick out of the yarn anyway, well told!
My college roommate was an Indian (as in from India) and had no idea how to drive. At that time I was driving an ’87 Cadillac Brougham, and I taught him in that car…starting with slow drives around campus, then the rural roads near it and finally into our small city and the highway. It was pretty hilarious. He then took the test in another friend’s Sentra; he was driving the big Cadillac fine, but I wanted him to be able to pass the back-parking test and the limousine rear window on the Brougham was not helpful there.
I went into this wondering if it was an April Fool’s thing, and hesitantly took in the story. When you got to the part where you said you made them parallel park the Eldo, I knew it had to be made up. Like a 70’s Newport or New Porker, you don’t parallel park that thing…..you find the closest available parking spot or parking lot in which to temporarily keep it where you hope to god that you don’t start to get charged land taxes for the area code on which you reside.
Anything can be parallel parked – I used to do so with my 1975 Thunderbird on a college campus. And since April 1 has passed, this is the honest truth! 🙂
I parallel my land yacht in downtown sometimes just to prove that I can. You really do need two full spaces, though…
Agreed that anything can be parallel parked, within reason. While it’s no ’75 T-bird, I parallel parked my ’97 Crown Vic nearly every day for three years. The apartment I lived in here in Richmond didn’t have any off-street parking so parallel was the only choice, and depending on the time of day, the pickings could be quite slim for someone driving a 211″ car.. I got rather good at fitting it into spaces that didn’t seem to be large enough at first glance.
I still have to park in the street (we now have a driveway but it’s only one car wide) but thankfully I have our yard’s entire frontage to myself…
Seems to be a lot of Germans in your neck of the woods …
I will be careful next time I’m in South Dakota, with all these 14 years and 3 months drivers around.
KJ in Oz.
Oh, and I like the Caddy.
Awsome job Jason. Great choice of local names.
As a young 16/17 year old my first car was a 67 Eldorado followed by a 77 Biarritz. In most situations these behemoths are surprisingly easy to drive unless one is trying to stop on a wet downhill grade. Watch Out; that rear end can slide out without warning and suddenly you find yourself doing a 180! One thing I do miss about these cars is the visibility. Yes the C pillars are large, but to this day I still can parallel park my 72 Coupe de Ville much easier than my new Passat.
OK, I love the fact that the story was written as an April Fool’s Joke…but I am still really curious how you got those pictures. The vehicle belonging to my dad, was parked at my husband’s and my shop in Eldon. Nice to know that someone had the balls to just walk right on our property and start taking photos of a vehicle and then publicly posted them. It might not have been so bad if you would have blurred the incriminating evidence of license plate numbers, or other identifying articles in the background of your photos. Maybe, you could try asking permission in the future, before trespassing, posting pictures of a privately owned vehicle, or fabricating a story for humor’s sake…as I can tell you, not only are we upset that you trespassed…but my dad’s a li’l pissed off you used his car for photos.
On a side note….This car is still available for sale!
If you’re going to put out a car with a “For Sale” sign on it, then what do expect folks to do? Not walk up and look at it? Seriously? it looks like a place of business, not a private back yard.
That’s what folks do: they look at the car, and often take pictures, because they might know someone who’s interested. Or show them to someone to see what they think of it. or use it in an April Fool’s article. 🙂
No harm was done, I assume, except to give your car a very wide audience, to improve the odds of it getting sold.
Maybe you need to lower the asking price?