(first posted 9/18/2018) Incredible. What are the odds of finding two well-used survivors in the same parking space? A few weeks ago, I encountered a 1987 Oldsmobile Calais Supreme sitting in the exact same space as this Eldorado. Is it merely coincidence or a gym rat with an affinity for old front-wheel drive General Motors metal? Although suffering from the same faded paint and brittle trim that plagues most cars in the Southwest, this Eldorado seems to be holding its own: a perfect microcosm of the 1979-85 Eldorado’s many ups and downs. But it’s the fundamentals behind our subject car that make it stand out. Later Eldorados may be great, but they lack the first impression that this grandiose coupe is just so good at leaving behind.
Although it was the last of the Cadillac lineup to trim off the excess of the seventies, the newly downsized Eldorado was by no means late to the party, arriving dressed in its best for the 1979 model year. And to say that it was a sales success would be an understatement: all of the Eldo’s seven best years occurred in its eighth generation, with only 1973 even coming close.
Yes, General Motors found a consistent sales success for Cadillac during a volatile time for the industry. But numbers alone can’t put the excitement surrounding the new Eldorado in context. Although its first generation as a “personal” car–really its sixth generation–has been rightfully hailed as one of the best-looking cars of the sixties, the 1971-78 redesign was less well received. From a modern perspective, they’re excessive at best and grotesque at worst; and to think they shared the showroom floor with the crisp 1977 C-Bodies for two whole years! General Motors’ paradigm shift after the crises of the seventies was on full display.
That’s not to say that the eighth generation Eldorado was perfect, not in the slightest. It’s easy to lambast General Motors for the catastrophic failure of the HT4100, but at the time, the future of the automobile was up in the air after multiple fuel shortages and volatile oil prices. Chasing efficiency just seemed like the safest bet against a future crisis. And, being only the third generation of overhead valve Cadillac V8, the project had some big shoes to fill. Its 135 hp @4100 rpm and 190 lb-ft of torque didn’t deliver the same magnitude of power that traditional Cadillac buyers expected, and although the ideal fuel economy rating of 20 miles per gallon was enticing, reliability issues soon soured public perception of the entire Cadillac marque.
The HT4100 was rushed into production too quickly to hammer out the issues with developing untested technology, leaving the customer to bear the brunt of the service bills. Sound familiar? General Motors could do aluminum V8 engines and they could do fuel injection. They just couldn’t do both in the same car.
There are many reasons why this particular car looks tired and worn out: thirty-five of them, to be exact. But, looking back at my shock and awe at seeing an Eldorado of this vintage in person, au naturale, there are two possibilities: either the pictures washed out or this car has a presence that you just can’t capture. Take your pick. All I’ll say is that, as someone who wasn’t alive for the eighties, this car is a lot to take in. It has a personality to it that I still can’t put my finger on, even after close to a month of sitting on these photos. If nothing else, it’s a car that makes you feel something.
It must be that crisp, clean profile at work. Ignore the missing wire wheel cover and the faded paint. Those are crow’s feet, laugh lines, beauty marks. American cars of this vintage are scarcer than ever, and now’s not the time to pick apart the ones that are left. It’d be easy to criticize that blunt, upright front end, especially compared to other cars on the market in 1983, but the popularity of the “aero look” wasn’t a foregone conclusion quite yet.
That’s not to say the design is without fault: although it looks distinctive from the front, from the side it’s just a little too anonymous for such an imposing car. Despite being such a large vehicle, its flaws are measured by degrees: a C-pillar that’s just a little too thick, side trim that’s a little too tacky.
There’s no question that this car is worthy of the vaunted Eldorado name, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. The less said about what succeeded it, of course, the better, and the same goes for the finicky engine under the hood. Regardless, the little plastic trim pieces that so often end up missing on a 35-year-old car are all still there. They even brought along a friend, too. The plastichrome addition onto the decklid is enough to incite existential dread: What purpose does it serve? Who put it there? Why?
It’s certainly enough to spoil what would otherwise be a rather nice view. Ignore it and the car seems to step out of the screen: this is certainly one of its better angles. The squat, rectilinear profile has just enough creases and curves to leave you speechless, a far cry from anything else on the road today. And the two-tone paint is the icing on the cake, doing more for the car’s visual unity than any vinyl roof could.
But there’s still plenty of Brougham to go around. Thankfully, this time I was able to take a decent photo of this car’s interior. Look at all that blue! It may be faded, but it’s all there. What an experience. The same word keeps popping out at me here: unity. From a contemporary standpoint, this was high style; and, in a way, it still is. Why, you can buy a brand new Lincoln Continental with an interior in almost this exact shade of blue! And a contemporary Mercedes could be ordered in a similar hue. Not so dated now, is it?
It’s easy to malign any aging car for its aesthetic shortcomings thanks to the gift of hindsight, just as it’d be easy to criticize the eighth generation Eldorado for not keeping the rest of the Cadillac brand afloat. The previous generation was rendered obsolete by the gas crisis; the two that succeeded it could never capture the public’s eye as easily as the Eldos of yore. But, for seven short years, Cadillac once again had a flagship in tune with the times–a design that still holds up nicely almost four decades after its triumphant debut. Cadillac style, it seems, is still alive and well.
It looks Cadillac untill you get to the B pillar after that it could be any poorly designed formal roof mess, the tacky wire wheel hubcaps on the wheels and rear deck just make it look cheap, how the mighty are fallen.
Tell me Bryce, what do you think of formal roofs? I don’t think I’ve heard your opinion on them 176 times before.
That “formal” roof gave the rear seat sedan-like headroom and comfort, along with a large trunk opening rather than the mail slots allowed by today’s near-fastback sloped windows that cover most of the trunk. The vertical rear window also resists dirt falling on it and makes for a clearer view rearward.
To be fair, that ugly thing tacked on the the trunk lid is not factory, though certainly is period-correct. With that said, if it was my car I’d be investigating whether or not it could easily be removed.
To my European eyes this is about as garish as they come. Unless you had a business involving girls and red lights, you would not want to be caught dead in a car like this. Unfortunately, in these parts the word Cadillac has become synonymous to bad taste and cars like this greatly contributed to that image.
This parking spot must have a sign stating:
“Parking Restricted to GM Malaise Era Cars Only. All Others will be Towed”.
Allow me to fix it for you:
“All GM Malaise Era Cars Will be Towed. All others welcome”.
GM malaise parking only, tow truck will be past soon
Even faded this Eldo has more visual character, due to COLOR, than almost anything available in today’s achromatic NON-colors! The blue interior instead of black or mouse fur grey is a eye delight, too!
Sure beats, styling wise, my silver with black interior ’18 Accord!! No growling phony scoops or tortured plastic shapes, simply generally well shaped sheet metal…:) DFO
This was a delightful read. Having been around these since they were new, these did indeed possess a positive visual something that was hard to quantify. Somewhat like was said by Lightning McQueen in the movie Cars, it makes you experience feelings you didn’t know you had.
Despite the possibility of having an HT4100, I’ve thought about acquiring one of these at some point. It’s one of few Cadillacs I’d like to own.
One minor nit: While this car is accused of being large, it’s somewhere between compact and mid-sized based upon current classifications. Except for about 12″ in overall length, it’s somewhere between a 2018 Corolla and Camry. Nobody calls those two large. 🙂
1983 Eldorado: 204.5″ L x 70.6″ W x 54.3″ H
2018 Corolla: 183″ L x 70″ W x 57″ H
2018 Camry: 192.1″ L x 72.4″ W x 56.9″ H
I guess it must have looked larger in person, then, because it certainly felt like a full size car when I was taking pictures. But now that I’m looking back and noticing how easily it fits in that parking space, there’s no way it could be full size by modern standards. I never would have noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out.
These, and their siblings from Oldsmobile and Buick, were quite spacious inside. Many years ago, I was a passenger in the diesel version of this generation of Eldorado; it was sumptuous, smooth, and quiet, with the diesel clatter very well muffled.
In more recent years, we rode with friends in their Toronado of similar vintage that they had just restored. Like the Eldorado, it was sumptuous, smooth, and quiet, and there was plenty of room in the back seat for two six-footers to stretch out. The interior would have been considered full-sized, not mid-sized. They were definitely much roomier than the current Camry.
Like GM’s B-bodies of 1977, the ’79 Eldorado and its corporate siblings were great achievements of downsizing successfully.
People like to criticize the formal roof-line, but squaring it off like that really does wonders for interior volume, especially after GM downsized everything. Other things like being front wheel drive (no drive shaft hump) and especially not having a huge center console also helps.
Odd as it may sound, seeing it as bigger than it truly is could likely be the intent of the designers. It is a Cadillac, where size is key. Too bad this success didn’t continue for the next generation.
Like Wolfgang said, your enthusiasm is contagious – and great to read.
Both this Eldorado and the 80 Chrysler LeBaron showed how good styling could make a small car look larger than it was yet still be in an appropriate scale. They looked “right” and did not bash you over the head with their smaller size. The 80 Continental Mark VI was on the same 114 inch wheelbase as this Eldorado (and on a 2 inch longer span than the Cordoba) but looked shrunken and ill proportioned.
At least the Lincoln was reliable and had a decent engine. And you could get a longer wheelbase 4 door. The Lincoln was a way better car than either imperial or eldorado.
I never realized how narrow the downsized E-bodies were (70.6-72.8 depending on year). They looked more like 74-75″ wide. The wheelbase and OAL, though, are closer to the Chevy Impala (112/201″) or Ford Taurus (113/203″).
I did notice the narrowness which is especially evident from the inside. It’s unfortunate, because the E bodies had (still rare in ’79, especially for US cars) front drive and a nearly flat floor front and rear that’s rare even in FWD cars that could have made for roomy 6 passenger seating given the bench seats most of these had. The loose-pillow seats further decreased comfort for center passengers. Despite this, the center position was more comfortable than most cars its size because of the flat floor and good leg and headroom. By contrast, the ’71-’78 Eldorado was very wide and also had a nearly flat floor; too bad about scant rear legroom and not offering a 4 door model.
Beautiful car! great write up!! This Eldo hit all the right Cadillac buttons. It looked like a true luxo car. It turned heads every where it went(especially a white convertible with red leather and true wire wheels). It’s not that you would’nt want to be seen in one…………..it’s are you man enough for one!! It may not be for everyone, but in it’s time almost everyone wanted one or admired it.
I like the write up better than the cars. TOOBADITSBAV’s enthusiasm is contagious. However because of a hefty dose of vitamin B , like Bauhaus, I am immune to the illness that’s known as Brougham.
Interesting, is it not, that it was Louis Sullivan who stated the ideal of “form follows function” decades before Gropius and the Bauhaus “less is more’ bunch. Brougham style, conversely, was about inexpensive comfort and luxury for the average Joe, not pretending to be art or satisfying those most interested in “good taste”. MB, Audi, VW and BM autos may be “clean” but many of their cars are just plain boring. Eldorado was about expressive style and comfort for the people!
I thought that the first FWD Eldorados were pretty good looking cars and that this generation came close to re-creating that look. Unfortunately, where the 60s Eldorado had it’s own body, this one shared it’s body with two other cars….kind of watering down the visual impact. Even the interiors, to my eyes, looked quite similar. The major differences? Under the hood, and as this write-up points out the Cadillac engine set a new kind of standard.
Still, a part of me thinks that these are still very good looking cars and I would want to buy one if a suitable engine could be swapped in without a lot of re-engineering.
Like the two-tone, not crazy about the spare tire on the deck lid. (I have seen these, I think, with continental kits.)
The ’67 Eldo shared its E body with the Toronado and Riviera just as it did in the ’79-’85 generation (despite the Riv being rear drive unlike the other two). There was a bit more differentiation in styling, but the ’79 cars still had mostly unique sheetmetal for each brand, as well as different dashboards and door and seat trim. The three cars did share the stiff roofline, and the interiors were similar in some aspects like the wall-like instrument panels even if they weren’t shared.
Like Wolfgang, I’m more of a Bauhaus than Brougham person. However, I’ve always liked the exterior design of this generation of Eldorado. I think it was the best of Bill Mitchell’s “sheer look” designs. The proportions, the subtle curves, and the detailing (okay, the summer intern did the headlights) all work together. How many of today’s cars will look this good 35 years from now?
Of course, GM then tried to apply the same theme to everything, not always successfully.
The area where the windshield pillars, the hood and the fenders come together is always a difficult spot for car designers.
This car had the most elegant solution ever for the problems posed by this part of the car.
That computer in the HT 4100 Power System ad looks like it came from the sixties’ Batcave.
More like the “Shall we play a game?” one from War Games. Same era, and the Batcave one would have used the actual punch cards.
Oddly, that is kind of the issue at hand with cars of this time. Modern, but not modern in the current fashion. Made to be accessible and desirable by the generation that proceeded it, but unloved by the current generation that would have bought it. Much like IT, whatever is new is quickly replaced, and then looked back on with nostalgia a generation later. It’s moment in the sun is brief, and often never appreciated in its own time. If you were buying a new luxury car at the point when this was new in the showroom, chances are that you were pretty conservative, older, and not likely to cross shop foreign makes, so you either bought this or a Lincoln, if you even considered an Imperial. As with phones, it is kind of like older people buying Apple now. They know what they know, and they like what they know. Android skews younger and more tech savvy. Those willing to try MB, BMW, or other makes often chose those cars, but so many people of that time still would never even consider even test driving one from a foreign manufacturer. In the end, GM and Ford lost even those diehard customers, but this was the last gasp of that era.
Ha ha, or from the original Star Trek.
I may surprise some readers here but I like these. The fake spare and the fake wire wheelcovers are the only sour notes on this great car. The 2 tone paint treatment really works on it and that blue leather would make for a great place to spend some time.
This era of Eldo sort of straddles Cadillac’s engine situation. The 79-81 would probably be the best choices. Didn’t the 4100 show up in 82 or 83?
I think some of this car’s success is due to Lincoln’s unforced error with the Mark VI. Cadillac executed the downsizing with good results while Lincoln botched it. I would take a pre-4100 Eldo over a Mark VI all day long.
The HT4100 was used from 1982 onward, unless it had the Olds diesel or an occasional Buick V6 that didn’t really help fuel economy. The ’79 to ’81 cars are the ones to get as they could have the 368, a de-bored variant of the big-block Cadillac engine that dated back to 1968, with some use of the Olds 350 gas engine as well. A four speed automatic didn’t show up until 1984.
That is one good looking Cutlass.
Funny, I made the same conclusion below. While reading your comment afterwards. 🙂
GM worked overtime in the 80s to differentiate very similar styling jobs.
Depending on how these were optioned, they could vary from quite attractive to quite tacky. I still like their overall lines but I think this gen of the Rivieria wore this bodystyle the best.
There’s one of this gen Eldo still on the road here in my little southern Ontario town. It’s parked at an apartment not far from where I live and occasionally I spot it in traffic. Looks pretty small next to today’s monster SUVs.
This body Eldorado has “presence”.
It has “star appeal”. It has that “WoW factor”.
Regardless of whatever powertrain is (just barely, in some cases) propelling it silently down the street.
Whenever I see a clean example glide by I stop and stare.
Perhaps the only post 1978 Cadillac that I would own.
While it is true that this generation of Eldorado was the beginning of the “me-too” look at GM, when it was introduced, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the outgoing bloated 1971-’78 Eldorado. The next-gen. 1986-’91 Eldorado was almost a caricature, and you can see more than a bit of its styling in a 1985-generation Pontiac Grand Am, Olds Cutlass Calais or Buick Skylark. The ’79 downsizing, as JPC has noted, was much more successful than the Mark VI downsizing, which smacked of the concurrent smaller 1980 T-Bird and Cougar. The crisp lines of the Eldorado had a purity and an elegance that I don’t think later Eldorados possessed. When it came to “tailoring the dwarf,” Bill Mitchell, inventor of the phrase, had no equal. Comparing this Eldorado to its companion 1980-’85 Seville, I have to say that the Eldo came off looking much better, and the passage of time has also been kinder to its appearance. When I see an Eldorado of this generation, I don’t think Carter malaise, but rather Reagan optimism. The era-required Brougham elements may make a cameo appearance, but the general vibe is “go-go ’80s.” I don’t think that Cadillac has yet approached its level of excellence in design, much less eclipsed it.
I had a boss who bought one of these new, black with red leather interior. Sharp car. The HT4100 puked it’s camshaft at 45,000 miles, the paint on the hood was cracking and crazing and there were electrical gremlins that I can’t recall. I was driving $200 heaps that were more satisfying to own. The Standard of the World it was not.
Say what you want about the HT4100 – your other engine option for 1983 was the 5.7 Diesel.
Talk about a lose-lose situation!
Other years had better options, like the Caddy 368 or Olds (gas) 350.
I’d take a 71-78 Eldo over one of these any day of the week.
What I liked about these is they posed a credible alternative to the trend of Aero, all too often we use hindsight as a measurement for winners and losers. Fresh ideas shouldn’t have to consume previous sound ideas. The auto industry was a better place for consumers when Cadillacs *looked* like these, and when BMWs had shark noses, and when Mercedes had imposing aerodynamics, and when Rolls Royce or Bentley looked classical and pretentious.
Cadillac should have never bothered with Aero or trying to be Mercedes or BMW. Leave it to Lincoln to have to reinvent themselves chasing them as they did through the 80s. They were selling mass exclusively up to 1979 and a massive amount of customers with the downsizing, in spite of not changing the styling at all. Cadillac had equity, they had a style that always worked from an always competent design studio, no matter the size(the 75 Seville and this generation Eldorado proved both). Cadillac’s brand image eroded due to of everything except their styling until up to 1985(I don’t count the Cimmaron, it’s a Cavalier body with trim added to it), which weren’t penned under Bill Mitchell’s guidance any longer. Then when those flopped it became a scramble to copy what Ford did to reinvigorate the brand, in spite of the fact that they hit rock bottom for entirely different reasons, and ever since Cadillac has had no originality whatsoever, they chased an 80s ideal of “Euro” with the Seville and Eldorado through the 90s, and reshaped the Deville and fleetwood just plausibly enough to resemble Cadillacs of yore but with aerodynamics that made them look like expensive caskets the only buyers interested would soon be occupying as well.
Having said that I think it’s a weaker design to its other E body cousins. The Riviaras curvy lines were a perfect antidote to some of the growing cliches of the sheer look, without deviating so far that it looked wrong, and the Toronado was a far cleaner and less tacky execution of what was essentially a clone of the Eldorado
“What I liked about these is they posed a credible alternative to the trend of Aero”
Remember, though, that these came out in the fall of 1978 when absolutely nothing in the US was aero. By their final year these were sort of seen as “classic” in that they had seen so few changes. You make a good point though that Cadillac should have found a way to continue this theme, but with some modernization. Lincoln softened the corners of their big Town Car and were popular – because they looked like Lincolns were supposed to look. This car looked like a Cadillac was supposed to look.
Well written, J P Cavanaugh.
The angle of the windshield was rakish by 1979 standards and a concession to aerodynamics, as was the smooth body detailing. Aerodynamic cars don’t have to look like jellybeans
It’s funny, at the time I thought the Toronado, Riviera, and the Eldorado looked very exclusive in terms of their styling in the GM hierarchy. But 35 years later, given how many styling elements of cars in any given look similar, the Eldo looks like a bigger, brawnier Cutlass Supreme (or Regal). Less distinction between the two designs.
Speaking strictly of exterior styling, not quite so uniquely different as they looked to me then. The very wide B pillar being the immediate differentiator.
Of course there are many styling differences. But not as obvious as it was then. That upright GM roof line bringing all those similar GM designs together as a styling ‘movement’.
‘mFred’ made the same observation above in his comment. And I never saw his critique until after I wrote mine. GM 80s cookie cutter design at work.
Yes, for all the ruminations that GM was a style leader, they really were not style differentiators for their various brands. I understand that bodies were shared, but when spread over Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac, the five lines really did not look very different, especially when considering the higher price points as one moved up the Sloane ladder. Granted, badge engineering was industry wide, but some did better than others. The Mustang looked wildly different from the Falcon as well as from the Cougar, yet all shared the same bones. I would posit that the Cougar looked to be the most expensive and styled, which was befitting the price. Cadillacs did look the most different from their cousins, but the family resemblance was always there. That family tree had few forks.
In GM’s defense, the Riviera, Toronado and Eldorado of 66-67 were as well differentiated as those Ford examples, if not better. Even the B bodies and A bodies were distinct despite similar silhouettes. Ford was worse going into the 1970s, the Cougar was literally a trim job on a Montego, which was just a Torino without the odd sculpting on the quarter skin. The Mustang II hid its Pinto roots ok, but then I could argue the conceptually similar Monza hid its Vega roots even better(although the Buick, Olds and Pontiac versions were the laziest badge jobs ever, so bad example).
The 75 Seville sheer look is probably the point of no return for GM. It was a fresh all new design theme on a top tier model and unlike previous designs with a running theme of infinite possibilities (Jet age/space age inspired and neoclassical motifs) the sheer look was an execution of straight lines and minimalism, and where can another imitating division possibly go from there? I’d wager the 77 B bodies and these E bodies took the sheer look’s possibilities as far as it could go as far as differentiation is concerned, in other words in a mere 5 model years the theme was already fully exhausted, and after Bill Mitchell departed GM design seemed to just stick with it firmly for several more years on super downsized cars that inherently needed something all new. Aero design of course suffers the same ultimate pitfall of inevitability looking the same due to packaging constraints and hard science dictating shape, but at least it took a longer time to exhaust it, and more liberties could be taken in the process.
The next generation was much worse. The GM cookie-cutter led to Cadillacs looking too much like Chevys and vice versa. Even Fortune magazine was concerned.
This cover says it all. Laziness, or out of control bean counters, or both.
I’ve seen that picture so many times but I just now noticed the Celebrity has chrome door edge protectors, and I wonder, were those actually factory options? I passionately hate those things, they look worse than any paint chip on the door edges would be and look as fittingly chintzy as the rest of the tacked on plastichrome GM slathered on their 80s cars
The door edge trim was around in the early to mid 80s. Not only was it available in plasti-chrome, but various common generic paint shades like medium blue, red, gray, beige, green, black, and white. The only time it genuinely integrated with a car’s looks was it was used as white on white cars. Even then, the matte textured finish was quite noticable.
Another tacky car exterior accessory that was mildly popular at the time were plastic covers for your lock cylinders, meant to protect your paint finish from key scratching. They were vertical and rectangular in shape, with a circular cutout opening in the top half where you would glue this plastic cover over your lock cylinder. It was self adhesive on the back, and many came with your car brand’s logo printed so it would appear below the lock cylinder. I actually had a hard time finding an example on the Net. The J.C. Whitney catalogues would feature them. And Canadian Tire in Canada.
I think I know what you’re describing, I feel like I’ve seen them on Cadillacs. That whole effort to protect paint by covering it just bothered me, the big brother to all of these of course is the bra, I remember those being in vogue big time when I was a little kid.
I believe the metal ones were factory options in the 60’s and 70’s, when options as piddly as floor mats and visor mirrors were ordered a la carte on American cars. They might have been dealer-installed. I’m not sure when they became aftermarket and plastic.
Think about this as well. This was the last time three GM divisions took a common platform and individualized it. Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac used their own styling and their own engines. Didn’t like the HT4100? Get a Riviera with a 3.8 turbo or a Toronado with a Rocket V8.
Only three years later, the third-gen Camaro and Firebird came out with their own styling inside and out, but Pontiac’s effort to install the 301 turbo V8 in the third-gen Trans Am was killed off. So these three were truly the last example of GM at its best, when the divisions acted quasi-independently.
That downtrend began in 1971 when GM put all its plants under the supervision of the GM Assembly Division, taking them out of the hands of the divisions. Costs might have been contained, but quality went to hell in a handbasket.
At least pick a car that has been loved to show how good it looked. Wish it had the 500 cubic inch motor but nothing more comfortable
I think the “Continental Kit” consists of one of the missing wheel covers and a plastic trash can lid with a big hole cut in it.
This is to me the best generation of Eldorado. The predecessors were bulky and ill proportioned to me, with acres of hood and trunk and tiny cabins. I’m not interested in efficiency much but you do get to the point where 8.2 litres to move two people and a tiny cabin without a real back seat gets to be beyond over the top and just completely mad.
These had clean, taut lines, a reasonable size back seat and trunk, and a very elegant and crisp and expensive look. They had Presence and opulence, which is something that no Cadillac has today. You could step out of a similar looking Regal/Cutlass and still feel this was an aspirational car. The interiors were plush and gadget laden.
Too bad about the engines; Cadillac could have continued to use the FI Olds V8 forever, or the FI 368 v8. I really don’t think downsizing the engine saves much gas unless the engine is terribly inefficient to begin with as fuel consumption is largely a function of the weight of the car. Additionally, a weak engine just isn’t going to have enough pull to move the car efficiently compared with a larger engine.
I don’t understand why so many people pooh-pooh American style luxury. The traditional American car, with lots of room for 4 or 6 in a pinch, amazing climate control, burbling understressed v8, automatic transmission, comfortable ride, and loads of glitzy luxury features at a cut rate price is a true marvel. Despite its deficiencies, when you compare the Average Mass Market American Car of 1965, 1975, or 1985 with the Average Mass Market European or Average Mass Market Japanese Car of those years, the American cars are FAR more comfortable, commodious, require less maintenance, lower cost, better equipped, more powerful, and ride and drive better than your Average Mass Market European or Japanese cars. Yes, there were areas of improvement but Cadillac has been chasing Ze Germans and in some ways beating them for a while now, and what sells at Cadillac is enormous, chromey, pillow tufted, v8 powered Escalades. The Traditional American car was uniquely suited to American driving habits, sit in traffic for an hour each way to work, so you have a supremely cushy and comfortable environment with lots of buttons or drive 8-10 hours in a day across smooth flat roads. Why do we not take pride in our unique automotive culture?
You may find humor in this British Thames Television review of various American cars from 1973.
A recent sighting at my local scrappy.
Rusty side.
Interior.
Nice read! While it’s not my type of car, I think this 8th generation (apart from the engines) was the best execution of values that the Eldorado stood for: distinctive looks, luxurious interior, soft ride, and prestige. Like most American cars of the era, it had its weaknesses, but ultimately, this was the last Eldorado that earned the respect of its buyers who were looking for those qualities.
To me the Last of Real full size Cadillac is 77 to 80 Deville’s and Fleetwoods !
The full-size cars were restyled for 1980 to improve aerodynamics, little else was changed. So your “real” Cadillacs were made until 1996, as the 1993 redesign kept the same chassis.
For me, the big problem these cars had was the drivetrains. The only decent engine any of them ever had was the LT1 350, which again was available only in the later models. If your Caddy had to be powered by a small-block Chevy, at least make it a good one.
Outstanding piece. I’ll echo a couple of the others that I love your writing more than the car itself, but I do respect these Eldorados. I understand that the bolt-upright rear window was in vogue at the time, but I think these could have looked, like, 40% better with a little rake to that back window, a la the 1968 – ’70 models.
I find it interesting that this generation of Eldorado, along with its E body GM stablemates (Toronado and Riviera) all seem to draw more styling inspiration from the mid-’60s versions of these cars than the 1971-78 models they replaced.
I agree this was the last really impressive Eldorado with a classic Cadillac look and feel, although you really need to get a ’79-81 model to get a decent engine (Cadillac 368 or Olds gasoline 350). The ’81s with the 368 included the pioneering but troublesome cylinder deactivation system, but it can easily be shut off if it doesn’t work properly.
The only thing the red Eldo is missing are hood mounted bull horns.
This was def an upgrade from the cartoonish bloatmobiile that preceded it and the uglier Skylark successor. Considering gas was sliding by ’83 they could have probably reskinned these in ’84 or so and ridden the decade out vs the ridiculous ’86.
This and the Mark 8 are two cars that actually peaked in their last generation.. Modern but still distinctly American style, gobs of power, right size. Unfortunately the 4 door and SUVifcation killed them off (tho the Eldo sold for quite a long time), but in the early to mid 90s these were probably the strongest challengers to Lexus that Detroit ever put up
There have been many, many comments praising the look of this car but to me, at a glance in profile you need to see the Cadillac logos to tell the difference between it and the Riv and Toronado – at least prior generations of the Eldo were a little less cynically badge engineered. This is where I once again bring up if GM’s very dire predictions of fuel prices had actually proven correct, the 1986 Seville and Eldorado might have been hailed as genius moves (though I still think what emerged as that era’s Coupe Deville would’ve been better-positioned as an Eldorado)
GM’s very dire predictions
It was Conventional Wisdom, particularly after Reagan decontrolled prices in ’81, the year I bought a ’74 Fleetwood that got 13 mpg at best. Not saying I knew better, I just wasn’t driving so much that it was unaffordable.
The differences between the 3 PLCs had to be smaller because the cars were smaller. The striking, identical roof panels and overall proportions tend to catch the eye before anything else, though Cadillac should have insisted the Toronado have a less squared-off front. None of the other sheet metal is shared, even the beltlines are different.
I agree that the CdV would have been better positioned as an Eldorado, though think the car would have needed a higher beltline.