For today, a selection of shots from canadiancatgreen at the Cohort. Once again, these were taken at the ‘Little Lot’ in Alberta, which we’ve visited a few times before. And today’s trio can please anyone out there with serious ’80s automotive nostalgia. I honestly don’t know if there’s such a thing, and yet, here we are. We start with this ’89 Olds Custom Cruiser, with a 307 cc. V-8 engine, a 4-Speed auto, and a rather cheap respray.
My original intention was to post solely the Olds wagon, but with the Caddy photobombing, I just had to include it. The sales sign says it’s an ’81, with ‘major mech’ work done, totaling ‘100s of hours.’ FWIW, it also carries a 307; if I read that correctly.
And if we already have one Caddy from this lot, why not the last one? This is an ’82 Eldorado Biarritz, a one-owner vehicle with 108,000 miles, and a stainless steel roof. I know the Chevy van is also photobombing here, hoping to feature on this post. But sorry, I already covered you, little buddy.
Further reading:
Vintage Review: 1977 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser – Downsized Upscale Hauler
Recalling that this Custom Cruiser body was introduced in the fall of 1979, it’s a bit jarring to see a headline heralding a 1989 model. And, some 3,890 more were built as 1990 models.
That Olds Custom Cruiser body dated back to 1977.
I already have a 1980 Seville Elegante so I choose the 1982 Eldorado Biarritz please.
Talk about colors!! Yellow (??), a not so subtle blue and orange (ok, more like pumpkin). Makes me smile when comparing to the 14 different shades of gray we have today!
That Seville being a 1981 should have the 368 V8 (the V8,6,4). I’ve never heard of any Seville having a 307.
As you correctly point out, there was no 307 Seville. It’s either a typo on the sales sign or part of the ‘100s of hours’ of ‘mech’ work, which mentions an engine swap.
I’ll take the squarest one, please.
I think you just shattered my longtime assumption that the stainless roof on the Eldorado Biarritz were removable T tops.
I was a new teen in 1982, and generally took no interest in the Eldo. But I do remember reading the articles on the new for ’82 Eldorado Touring Coupe. I liked its looks.
That generic GM metallic blue is so unflattering to the Seville.
That bronze/copper brown paint, I strongly associate with the early to mid 80s. From various car manufacturers. I liked it.
Just watched the video. What the heck is up with those awful colored seats? Don’t get me wrong, I prefer something other than black or tanish gray, but those look orange with a pink hue in a brown car! haha.
Pretty wild, and so ’80s, seating. I love it. Reminds me of the similarly-coloured Mark Cross interior, offered on the 1982 Chrysler LeBaron.
Fire up the crusher. I want to watch.
I didn’t realize the alloy wheels on Sevilles had body color between the vanes, as Cadillacs had in ’61-2. So much nicer than the fake wires.
It would be a shame if someone swapped the 368 instead of disabling the 8-6-4 system.
The Eldo looks almost like a super-sized FWD Olds Omega. That’s how generic GM’s ’80s styling really was.
In retrospect, what a truly dreadful era for automobiles, especially American automobiles. The bean counters and bureaucrats had fully taken over the industry. When I think of this era the face that comes to mind is that bureaucrat of bureaucrats at GM, Roger Bonham Smith.
And still 10+ years after the first implementation of the GM ACRS those cars were not standardly equipped with ACRS. GM was hiding a significant potential sales tool, but stubbornly refused to use it.
Sales tool?
Yes, those car models had significant numbers of frontal collisions during the first years after they were sold. A significant percentage of those collisions would have probably triggered the ACRS systems to activate,thus reducing the probability of significant injuries or deaths in those collisions. The eventual positive publicity about those incidents of ACRS usage would have probably negatively affected full size Ford car sales and full sized Chrysler car sales, seeing that the full sized Ford cars and full sized Chrysler cars didn’t have anything comparable to GM’s ACRS.