It’s hard to believe there was a time when Cadillac marked the pinnacle of autmotive excellence. Today, the stereotypical Cadillac owner is an old person from Florida. But in a different time, the Cadillac name was worth its weight in gold and appropriately, they sold a car called Eldorado.
Cadillac’s dominance of the luxury car market defies belief. In the 50s and into the 70s, they outsold every other luxury marque combined, Lincoln and the Chrysler Imperial had no hope. And imports in 1953 were nonexistant: Mercedes Benz? That West German thing they sell at Studebaker-Packard dealerships? BMW? They make motorcycles right?
In 1952, Cadillac held a contest amongst its employees for the name of a new concept car to mark the brand’s golden anniversary. Mary-Ann Marini, a secretary in the merchandising department, suggested “Eldorado”. Eldorado, in Spanish, translates as “the Golden One”, it was also the name of a mythical city of gold that entranced many Spanish explorers. All this gold related stuff made it perfect for the company’s anniversary and it was decided to use the name on a limited production convertible for 1953.
The Eldorado was based on the Series 62 but came with unique sheetmetal including a wraparound windshield and “bumper bullets” from a 1951 show car. These styling elements would be introduced to regular Cadillacs. The car was nearly twice as expensive as a regular Series 62, over $60,000 inflation adjusted, which was a tremendous amount of money given lower real incomes back then. Only 532 were built.
The 1954 Eldorado was a lot less special, having no unique sheetmetal. It was also much less expensive than before, and sales rose accordingly.
For 1956, the Eldorado, previously convertible-only, gained a hardtop model known as the Seville, while the convertibles became the Biarritz. At the time, automakers would change the styling of their cars annually. You can see how this 1956 model has a new grille and bigger tailfins than the 1954 above.
For 1957, the Eldorado was redesigned. A new model, the Brougham was added. The Brougham had 4 doors, with the back ones being rear hinged. The Brougham was an extremely exclusive model, with an inflation adjusted price of over $90,000, more than a Rolls Royce of the day. For that money, it was crammed with amenities: air conditioning, power windows and locks, power seats with 2 position memory, cigarette and tissue dispensers, atomizer with perfume, an electrically retractable antenna, and self leveling air suspension.
All Eldorados got newer even more rocket-like styling, peaking in 1959.
The 1959 Cadillac is probably the most famous Cadillac ever and one of the most recognizable cars of the 50s. Its styling was a symbol of decadence, from the enormous chrome grille, the bejeweled headlights, and of course, those giant tailfins, it embodied everything good and bad about American car design of the period. It also provoked fierce backlash, with fins disappearing quickly after 1960.
For 1961, the Eldorado went back to being convertible-only, it was also slightly smaller than the 1960 model. GM’s new design chief Bill Mitchell was clearly interested in toning down styling from the excesses of his predecessor Harley Earl.
That was really evident in the 1963 Eldorado, which lost most of its creases and the upward sloping fins. This Eldorado also lost the troublesome air suspension system in favor of normal coil springs. Power steering, brakes, and windows were all standard. 1963 also saw the launch of a car that would ultimately take away Cadillac’s golden status.
That German company that had to sell through Studebaker-Packard dealerships was now aiming to be taken seriously. They fired a powerful blow with the 600 Grosser. Grosser is German for “big” and it was deserved, with a 126 inch wheelbase in short wheelbase form, it was bigger than all but the biggest Cadillacs, and the long wheelbase was even bigger than those. It weighed 6600 pounds. The engine produced 300 horsepower, but 50 of those were used by the central hydraulic system that operated the suspension, windows, seats, brakes, steering, and even the trunklid. It was purchased by anyone who was anyone from actor Jack Nicholson to Soviet dictator Leonid Brezhnev. By the time the Grosser was discontinued in 1981, Mercedes Benz had long since taken Cadillac’s place as the most desirable car brand.
For 1965, the Eldorado essentially became just a Fleetwood convertible. It had a very straight edged appearance and had an imposing demeanor, helped by the those wideset headlights. This version of the Eldorado was a stopgap, as it would be changed dramatically for 1967.
The 1967 Eldorado had practically nothing in common with the previous Eldorados. In fact, Cadillac considered naming it LaSalle after GM’s defunct depression era brand. The new Eldorado shared a platform with the Oldsmobile Toronado and shared its radical front wheel drive layout. This Eldorado was, ironically, coupe only. It had concealed headlights behind vacuum operated doors, although those were removed in 1969.
Cadillac considered putting in a V12, but it was scrapped. The problem was they were considering making the engine transverse mounted, and the V12 wouldn’t fit. They then made the engine longitudinally mounted, but didn’t have time to tool up for a V12. But it didn’t really need one, because in 1970, it became possible to get a comically large 8.2 liter V8, that’s an even 500 cubic inches. It was the biggest production V8 in history. For 1967, sales jumped to 18,000, 3 times higher than the previous record. In 1968, they rose to 24,000, meaning that 1 in every 9 Cadillacs was an Eldorado.
For 1971, the Eldorado was redesigned. It gained 2 inches in length and 6 inches in wheelbase. This made for a very substantial and heavy looking car. Convertibles were reintroduced. The Eldorado benefitted from the personal luxury coupe fad of the 70s and by 1973, it made up 1/6 of Cadillac’s sales. In response to the energy crisis, the 8.2 liter V8 was replaced by a fuel sipping 7 liter in 1977.
The 1976 Eldorado Convertible was supposed to have a special place in automotive history. Convertibles were becoming extinct, car buyers preferred air conditioning and sunroofs to the cost, weight, and complexity of a fold down roof. And there were rumors that new federal rollover standards would render them illegal. By 1976, the Eldorado Convertible was the only convertible out of Detroit and GM announced it was discontinuing them. They made much play of this fact, advertising the “Bicentennial Edition”, a limited run of 200 cars with white paint and matching interior. It was claimed that they would appreciate in value since it was to be the last convertible out of Detroit. For the next 6 years, the only way Americans could get a convertible was as an import. But in 1983, Chrysler chose to take the top off of its LeBaron and convertibles were back, meaning all the speculators who bought those Bicentennial Editions and kept them safe in garages under covers had thrown their money away.
For 1979, the Eldorado, along with the Toronado and Buick Riviera, was downsized. The Eldorado lost 1 foot of wheelbase and 20 inches of length, and ended up 1100 pounds lighter. This sudden weight loss transformed the Eldorado’s feel as it became almost nimble in the corners and a lot easier to park. The engines could also get much smaller with the biggest being a mere 6 liters and the base being a 4.1 liter V6 after 1982. In 1981, Cadillac offered a V8-6-4 system which could shut off 2 or 4 cylinders depending on speed to save fuel. But it was a reliability nightmare, most owners had it disconnected and it was dropped after just 1 year. For 1984, the Eldorado was once again available as a convertible.
The Eldorado had long stopped being the object of admiration of the very affluent, those people were gobbling up Mercedes SLs and BMW 6 series. But for an older set of people, the Eldorado remained the ultimate status symbol and it was a huge cash cow for Cadillac.
For 1986, GM screwed up. The Eldorado, and the rest of the E-bodies, got another downsizing. The Eldorado lost another 6 inches in wheelbase and 1 foot in length. It also switched to unibody construction. GM had been talked into this downsizing by consultants who claimed gas prices were going to rocket, they did the opposite. Buyers did not like these new shrunken coupes, sales plunged by 60%. Not helping matters was the fact that the Eldorado saw a 16% price jump and that it wasn’t very good looking.
For 1992, Cadillac tried to make amends. The Eldorado got big again. It also got Cadillac’s new Northstar V8 which made 270 to 295 horsepower. It also got features like rain sensing wipers, electronic stability control, and computer controlled suspension. But it was too little, too late. Coupes weren’t popular anymore and Cadillac did not have the brand cache to push the Eldorado. For 2002, the Eldorado was discontinued, on its 50th anniversary. It symbolized the fact that there wasn’t much gold left in the Cadillac name.