The annual Back To The Bricks car festival is happening this week in my hometown of Flint, Michigan, and this year will mark only the second time since 2010 that I’ve missed it, not counting 2020. I have no remaining blood relatives in Flint, but I still consider it home, as much as I do my adopted city of Chicago. I have a complicated relationship with the Vehicle City, which helped shape me – one of hope and optimism for its future, with a strong love for the resilient, no-nonsense people of Flint, but also one of frustration, loss, and memories of how rosy everything seemed back in the days when no less than six major General Motors factories were churning out vehicles and components, twenty-four seven.
Even under the tangible film of industrial, Rust Belt grime that seemed to coat everything during my upbringing in the 1980s, life there seemed much easier there when it felt like there was enough money to go around. As Cyndi Lauper once sang, “Money Changes Everything.” Throughout my time in Flint, I had regularly witnessed interactions among different segments of its population that were mostly harmonious (which is still true today), but when the economy would be hit with a major blow in a series of successive setbacks, it was then that tensions would flare, with accompanying stories that would show up in the Flint Journal. I suppose this phenomenon wasn’t so far removed from things I read in the news today about many places, including where I live now.
I hope to go back to Flint maybe even later this year. It just felt like it was okay to take a by on this August’s car festival, as I’m just now starting to be able to enjoy life where I actually live in the great Second City, which has so much to offer and do. Besides being downtown Flint on the red bricks of Saginaw Street and enjoying a walk among all of the classic rides, listening to live music, eating delicious local food favorites, and shopping, another one of my favorite things to do there is to hit the thrift stores. At some point about ten years ago, I had rediscovered that the Salvation Army on North Dort Highway, where I used to shop thirty years ago when I was teenager, was still a great source of many cool, vintage finds.
This one location, seen in the background of the two pictures above, is where I have bought LPs, old clothes in great shape, and even some useful household goods. Some of those shirts, trousers, and jackets from the 1960s and ’70s have fit me so well that I wondered if they had belonged to one particular gentleman who had been of my exact build some forty years prior, whose things were donated to this thrift store following the liquidation of his estate. This train of thought normally puts me in a very existential state of mind, as I don’t have any offspring of my own. I wonder if my own possessions could ever be appreciated, cherished, or even simply used as much by someone else as they are by me, or if they will end up being donated to charity by my nephews and nieces, or merely disposed of by the estate sale company of my choosing.
Material traces of the person I am and had been will hopefully find new life one day in the homes of persons who will be glad to have them. These are some of the same ideas that crossed my mind when I looked at this ’73 Eldorado that was parked a stone’s throw away from this store on one particular shopping trip. This car was for sale for something like $12,500, if I remember correctly. (The sign on the passenger’s side window is illegible, even if magnified many times.) I liked that it was parked next to the Sports Coupe, an archetypal Flint bar that used to cater to the “shop” (factory) workers who earned a paycheck at nearby AC Spark Plug, decades ago. It was a fun juxtaposition to see this Eldorado and the words “sports coupe” in the same frame, as there was really nothing sporty about this large, two-and-a-half ton personal luxury cruiser.
Seventy-three was the third model year for the second generation of the reborn Eldorado personal luxury coupe. While the ’72 was very similar to the ’71 with only minor detail changes to its exterior, the ’73 brought more substantial updates. Up front was a new 5-mph bumper, wraparound composite turn signals and side marker lights, and an eggcrate grille comprised of thirty-six large squares above the bumper. Out back, new, bisected blade-like taillamps were extracted from the bumper and placed above it, as was the license plate holder. The heavy sculpting of the trunk lid was toned down, and round side marker lights on the rear quarter panels made a one-year-only appearance. The rear fenders were also shorn of their decorative, vent-like trim.
The visual net effect of these changes made for a slightly more generic look than before, in my opinion, even if still attractive and upscale. The taillights looked like they could have been interchangeable with certain Chryslers and Imperials of the time, and the square, geometric pattern inside the new grille lacked the elegant simplicity of the vertical lines of the previous two model years. Despite this, sales of the ’73 were a high-water mark at the time, with over 42,100 hardtops and an additional 9,300 convertibles sold that year. The next-best sales total up to that point had been from just the year before, with almost 32,100 hardtops and 8,000 convertibles finding buyers. Among hardtops alone, and with convertibles famously being discontinued after ’76 (for what turned out to be only eight years), the ’73 tally wouldn’t be beat until ’77, with 47,300 coupes finding buyers.
The newly redesigned ’79s would smash all previous records, with 67,400 copies sold. Those crisply downsized E-Body Cadillacs would only increase in popularity, with over 75,000 sold in both 1984 and ’85, the latter being the last model year before the Eldorado’s second big shrink the following year. Compared with the ’85 coupe which weighed about 3,800 pounds, our featured ’73 weighed close to 5,000 pounds. It was powered by a 500 cubic inch V8 with 235 horses, an engine exclusive to the Eldorado that year. A period test from Consumer Guide measured just 8 miles per gallon in fuel consumption during their testing loop, and this was the year of the 1973 oil crisis that commenced that October.
Putting this dismal number and fuel costs into perspective, maybe this was part of the reason this rolling trophy case had remained in such remarkable condition. Perhaps its original owner had kept it off the road not only to preserve it, but also because it had cost so much to drive it even only around Flint. It made me a little sad to see it parked outside with its “for sale” sign, exposed to the elements and in full view of onlookers and passing traffic on this industrial stretch of Dort Highway. I didn’t feel it was in any danger of theft or vandalism, but when a car that looks like it has been garaged for much of its life is suddenly sitting outside, baking in the mid-summer sun, in a parking lot in the East Side of Flint, I have questions.
Was this Eldorado part of an estate sale? Who was the original owner? How much pride and joy had this silver Cadillac brought to the lady or gentleman behind the wheel in its best years? When I’m back in Flint, I like to eat at establishments that have been open for decades that are outside of the economic growth that seems to be expanding, slowly and steadily, from the downtown area where much of the city’s rebirth seems to be concentrated. At such places, there are usually a handful of older people who look like they have seen this area through many changes. I imagine them to be former shop workers, teachers, and business owners. It encourages me to see them continue to get out and enjoy life in what was once a very prosperous, blue collar town. Here’s hoping that this ’73 Eldorado has similarly found new life in the garage of an adoring owner.
Flint, Michigan.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019.
When I see a Joseph Dennis byline, I know I am in for some fulfilling reading. Joseph Dennis has a strong sense of self. He knows who he is.
At the end of each of his essays, I feel that we have learned more about Joseph Dennis and what has made him, than we have about the cars he has written about. And that is fine by me.
Thank you so much.
Hmm petrol is still around $10.00 +- per imp gallon here so 8mpg cars are in my buying scope, nice car though its been kept well all these years
With imperial gallons you would get a stellar 9.6 mpg! Almost double digit mileage!
Another wonderful article from the Dennis files. It’s like you read my mind. On Monday, I was casually “shopping” 2nd gen Eldorados (emphasis on casual, killing a lunch break) and found the current prices of drive-able cars somewhat similar to the price of the featured car, $11K-$18K-ish. Not that I can fit one currently into the fleet, literally and figuratively, I just happened to have Eldo on my mind.
As to the article’s tie ins? Man, this one hit close to home in a good way. Excellent work as always, good sir. Thanks
Bertolini, thanks so much. I have spent my share of lunch breaks “window shopping” for cars that interest me. My thing is to try to not get sucked into it. One such search usually leads to another. 🙂
I was wondering if you were going to do the show this year. I think I’m skipping the crowds on Saturday, but am hoping to do the cruise tomorrow evening. Assuming that I get the turn signal switch back together. Functioning brake lights seem like kind of a good idea!
“Functioning brake lights seem like kind of a good idea!”
Although a lack of them can be overcome by popping the headlight switch out to the first notch (parking lights) whenever you step on the brakes. Not optimal, but I made it work for a time when a short in some aftermarket trailer wiring burned up the flasher switch in the column of my 71 Scamp.
Brilliant. That sounds like something I would have done. 🙂
I’m going to file that one away for future emergencies.
It ended up being a similar situation. A bit of wire insulation had cracked and made contact with the tailight socket, so when the brake lights came on the fuse blew, but not before heating the turn signal switch up enough to slightly distort one of the contacts.
Fortunately, I had enough spare bits, to fix the switch without having to pull it out of the column
For years I’ve wanted to take a few long weekends to visit some unconventional vacation spots, Detroit and Pittsburgh among them. It’s reading pieces like this that inspires those thoughts, and once again you’ve got me thinking maybe next year’s the year I try to do just that, possibly extending the long weekend to widen the scope of that long-considered Detroit trip.
I got a little wistful at the mention of visiting restaurants around your hometown. It put me in mind of a place I knew well for most of my life that I still can’t go back “home” without missing: https://www.nj.com/food/2020/03/diner-closed-15-years-ago-but-tables-are-still-set-inside-its-like-a-movie-set.html
The Franklin Diner, and places like it, are exactly the types of places I seek out for that kind of experience. All the little details about that place which is frozen in time, the place settings, S&P shakers, etc. are what make it so fascinating. Thank you for posting that link.
As for Detroit, there is so much to do and see there. It’s definitely on my list of places to go once I feel safer (again) to do such travel.
Well JD, you can always be counted on to provide a take on a car that will not be duplicated here by anyone else.
The older I get, the more I like the looks of the 73 Eldorado, and it may be my favorite of the series. These cars never looked right to me once they lost the fender skirts. I think that today I would take one of these over a 73 Mark IV in a heartbeat, something that was not always true.
One fact that is relevant about these cars is that the Mark IV outsold it. The margin was not huge (a few thousand cars) but that had to be a big blow to the monumental ego that Cadillac had been building since the end of WWII. I wonder if Lincoln’s surge in this market (beginning with the Mark III) was behind Cadillac’s choice to provide Eldorado convertibles as pace cars for the 1973 Indy 500.
It has been only in recent years that I’ve realized that the Lincoln Mark PLCs outsold the Cadillac Eldorados regularly, and how much of a diss that must have been to Cadillac. Looking at both side-by-side, I honestly don’t know which I would have preferred. I normally have a clear preference, but not in this case.
My plan is to head down to the Back to the Bricks rolling cruise Wednesday or Thursday night, depending on the weather forecast. I haven’t been down to the main show in about 10 years; it’s just too crowded for me. Flint is the best place in the world for Buick watching, so it’s worth the trip.
This is a really nice Eldorado. It’s not my favorite generation, but you have to appreciate the condition (even the bumper fillers look nice). I prefer the earlier round headlight front end to the later models, just as I do with Monte Carlos. It seems as if they’re more uncommon – I think every ’75 and ’76 Eldorado convertible has survived.
Aaron, I usually prefer non-crowds, but when it comes to my hometown and the the main B2B Saturday car show, my heart leaps for joy to see that so many people have come to Flint.
As for the Eldorado, the ’74 – ’78 models tend to blend together for me to a certain extent. The ’73 seems like an outlier, as the ’71 and ’72 models are so similar.
I remember seeing these cars at the Chicago Auto Show. I never cared for them. They looked plump and feminine compared to the Lincolns. Full size cars, family cars, and coupes this size were all obscenely obese. I learned to drive these fat dinosaurs and couldn’t wait to get my own normal size car.
So I look at this sweet bloated whale and cringe. I appreciate what it is, the condition it is in, the memories filling its voluminous trunk and tight back seat, yet I don’t feel much love for it. It looks like a McMansion, like an enormous waste of space and material.
I hope it finds a really great home. It is a special car for someone who always wanted a pet elephant.
I don’t think Cadillac offered a cabriolet roof until ’74, certainly not on the Coupe de Ville, but it’s possible the Eldo had it exclusively for a year. I prefer the fine texture of the ’74 grille, but the rear bumper is worse.
Hemmings has a new ad for a ’74 with the fender skirts removed expertly. Makes a huge difference in photos, but in real life they’re still bloated.
I’m often surprised by the abundance of ’73 Eldorado specific knowledge held by non car-people, IE, more casual observers.
For example, with many cars casual lookers will get close enough to nailing the model year that out of politeness they’re not worth correcting.
Whereas with the featured model often a more confident “that’s a ’73, because…” is typical. And the observations are usually qualified by noting from the myriad of minor but unique ’73 features. Meanwhile the surrounding model years aren’t nailed so easily. Then what seems like the obligatory, to offer model year ID, is usually offered as more of a hedged question.
I grew up in Oakland Ca, during the 60’s and 70’s, in a blue collar UAW family. My Dad, Uncles, cousins, even my brother and myself were employed by General Motors. My family’s loyalty to GM made my loyalty to Cadillac, the cream of GM’s crop.
First: The car itself. The 1970’s brought the unraveling of Cadillac’s dominance of the luxury car market. These were the dream machines of so many ordinary Americans, this type of car still spoke strongly to many people’s aspirations. I know that they spoke very strongly to me. I had many older Caddys from the ’50s and 60’s. I bought two of my dream Cadillacs when they were only a couple of years old, my ’77 Coupe and my ’94 Seville STS.
Second: The sentiment about our possessions. I have bought many vintage items from thrift and antique stores, antique fairs and flea markets. These things were all obviously owned by someone in the past, but now these items are valued by me. My family was of modest means and they never did buy the kind of quality items that could endure over the years. At my current stage of life I’ve started thinking about just what will happen to my precious stuff. I feel that the time to divest will be approaching soon, I would hope that my children might want some of my stuff and that I might find somebody who might want and appreciate my collection.
Sad to say, my affection for Cadillac has waned over the years. After the Seville I just haven’t been drawn to any of their products. Those old Eldos weren’t perfect but at least they were uniquely Cadillac, for what that’s worth. At one time that was worth a lot!
Oakland was a remarkable city with its own distinct and particular cultural climate in those days.
One of my siblings lived in Oakland years ago. The joke was that it was the “Flint” of California, but to me, I said it with love and in a very positive way. Twenty years ago, I felt right at home there while visiting. Lake Merritt was beautiful, and I liked the diner that used to be there before it burned (twice). All of the storefronts, some going back to the ’60s (like J.J. Newberry) and the Fox Theater (now renovated) reminded me very much of being back home in Flint.
Thanks for sharing your story, Jose.
Joe, you manage to pack a lot of thought-provoking items into 1200 words. I admire that.
Your mention of others belongings is a good one as my parents just completed unloading my paternal grandmother’s house. She had been in the place since 1955 and was a borderline hoarder. You can imagine what was found. The sad thing is what she did have she didn’t take good care of.
As for the Eldorado, they remind me of Hector the Bulldog from Looney Tunes. There is a lot of frontal presence but after that it all dwindles away.
I love this cartoon metaphor of Hector vs. Eldorado, and especially after looking at your screen grab above and my lead-off picture, it will now be hard to unsee! Excellent.
Yep ;
This is a fine Caddy, not anything I want but I’d be sad to see it go to hell .
I too grew up with little and now have some things of quality, I’m sure everything will go into the town dump when I die .
-Nate
One of the most unusual things about this car was that it was the pace car for the 1973 Indianapolis 500. I never understood how it was made to attain the speeds necessary for pace car duty even though it had a 500 cubic inch V8.
If anyone remembers, the ’73 500 was one of the worst 500’s ever, with numerous rainouts, crashes and two drivers killed, Art Pollard during practice and Swede Savage. Savage lived a few months after the race after having received severe burns after hitting the 4th turn wall during the race. A pit crewman was also killed by an emergency vehicle going the wrong way on pit row.
A race everyone involved tried to forget.
Forgot up until now, that is. That was a horrible day. I was and 15, watching it with friends. It was shown tape delay on the West Coast and we had imposed a news blackout on ourselves and knew nothing beforehand. After Swede Savage’s crash we turned it off decided to go do something else. It felt ghoulish to continue watching.