Cadillac Eldorado (1979–1985)

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Cadillac
Cadillac Eldorado
Cadillac Eldorado
Eldorado
Production period: 1979-1985
Class : Upper class
Body versions : Coupé , convertible
Engines:
Otto engines : 4.1–6.0 liters (180–365 hp);
Diesel engine : 5.7 liters
Length: 5182 mm
Width: 1814 mm
Height: 1377 mm
Wheelbase : 2895 mm
Empty weight : 1638-1723 kg
Previous model Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado (1971–1978)
successor Cadillac Eldorado (1986-1991)

The Cadillac Eldorado from the 1979 to 1985 model years is a personal luxury car from the Cadillac brand belonging to the US manufacturer General Motors . The vehicle was after the Fleetwood Eldorado of 1967 and the Fleetwood Eldorado of 1971 the third model of the brand to be equipped with front-wheel drive and at the same time the first Cadillac of the post-war period that was smaller than the model it replaced. The Eldorado, initially only available as a coupé, but later also as a convertible, shared the technology with the parallel models Buick Riviera and Oldsmobile Toronado and - from 1980 - with the four-door Cadillac Seville .

background

The Eldorado series has been a regular part of the Cadillac model range since 1953. In the first 13 years, these were high-quality convertibles that were above the regular Series 62 convertible in the Cadillac hierarchy , although they regularly used the technology of the base model including the rear-wheel drive that was common at the time. In the first year the price difference between the Eldorado and the Series 62 was more than US $ 3,500; thereafter it was reduced to US $ 1,500 to 2,000. Until 1958, the Eldorado models had their own bodies that set them apart from the standard Cadillacs. From 1959, however, the Eldorado also took over the body of the Cadillacs standard convertibles. The models were now called Eldorado Biarritz (until 1965) and Fleetwood Eldorado (1966). Annual production in the 1960s was regularly in the lower four-digit range.

For the 1967 model year, the Eldorado was realigned. Technically and stylistically, it was replaced by Cadillac's standard models and developed into a completely independent luxury coupé. Part of the technical repositioning of the model was the move to front-wheel drive, which was a novelty in this class. After almost four years of production, the second generation of the front-wheel drive Eldorados appeared in August 1971, which was larger, heavier and more unwieldy and was considered the largest front-wheel drive passenger car in the world. In the years of the oil crisis, the great Eldorado was difficult to sell; the sales were regularly far behind those of the rival Lincoln models.

After Cadillac had already reduced the size and weight of the new generation of its standard models DeVille and Fleetwood Brougham in model year 1977 (so-called downsizing ), the company continued this development two years later with the third generation of the front-wheel drive Eldorado. The coupé, which appeared in the late summer of 1978 and was assigned to the 1979 model year, was more than 50 cm shorter and 500 lighter than its predecessor, but still had more space inside. The scaled-down Eldorado appeared immediately before the outbreak of the Second Oil Crisis and was perceived by the press as “the right car at the right time”. In contrast to its predecessor, it regularly outperformed the competing Lincoln models.

The model name changed. With the introduction of the third generation, the model lost the additional designation "Fleetwood" previously used; From 1979 the coupé was only called Eldorado.

Model description

Like its sister models Buick Riviera and Oldsmobile Toronado, the Eldorado was based on the General Motors e-platform. The technology and the body-in-white of all models were largely identical, but the outer body parts were independent.

Chassis and drive technology

The Eldorado had a newly designed landing gear. The wheels were now hung individually at the rear. The independent suspension, which was unusual for US models at the time, was more space-saving than the rigid axle previously used. It helped to improve the space inside and in the trunk despite the smaller external dimensions. All Eldorados had disc brakes front and rear as standard ; an electronically controlled level control was also part of the standard equipment.

Motorization and power transmission

New in the US luxury class: a diesel engine
Cadillac's 4.1 liter "High Technology" eight-cylinder gasoline engine

Over the years Cadillac offered five different gasoline engines as well as a diesel engine for the Eldorado. The development was largely due to the step-by-step stricter legal requirements for exhaust gas emissions and fleet consumption ( Corporate Average Fuel Economy - "CAFE" -). This was not only accompanied by a reduction in displacement, but also a loss of power. The displacement of individual engines was only half as large as that of the previous model, in which an 8.2 liter eight-cylinder engine had been used for years, and the engine output dropped from up to 105 hp. Some constructions were not fully developed, caused complaints and damaged the brand's reputation.

  • The only engine that was offered over the entire production period of the third Eldoraco Coupé was a 5.7 liter eight-cylinder diesel engine supplied by Oldsmobile. Its output was 105 SAE hp. With it, the Eldorado and Cadillacs standard models, for which the diesel was also offered as an option, were underpowered. The engine was also unreliable.
  • Only in the debut year was a 5.7 liter V8 gasoline engine planned as the standard engine, which had been used in the Cadillac Seville since 1975. It made 170 SAE horsepower.
  • In the 1980 model year, it was replaced by an eight-cylinder V-engine with a displacement of 6.0 liters, which was a Cadillac in-house design. This year it was also installed in series in the other Cadillac models. The engine had digital fuel injection. In the Eldorado its output was 145 SAE-PS, five PS less than in the DeVille or Fleetwood.
  • For the 1981 model year, Cadillac offered a new version of this engine that was equipped with cylinder deactivation. Depending on the load situation, four, six or eight cylinders worked; it was switched off electromechanically. The engine output was given as 140 hp. The cylinder deactivation often did not work properly. Together with the eight-cylinder diesel engine, it damaged the brand's reputation at the beginning of the 1980s.
  • In the model years 1981 and 1982 there was an alternative, bought by Buick, with a 4.1 liter six-cylinder engine with an output of 125 SAE hp. This was the first six-cylinder engine in Cadillac history.
  • From 1982 there was finally a 4.1-liter eight-cylinder engine , developed by Cadillac itself, called the High Technology Engine , which initially made 125, then from 1983 135 hp. From 1983 it was the only alternative to Oldsmobile's diesel engine.

An automatic three-speed gearbox took over the power transmission until 1981; then a four-speed automatic was used.

body

Angular lines: Cadillac Eldorado Diesel

The body of the Eldorado was based on the uniform body-in-white, which was identical for all vehicles on the E-platform. On this basis, Cadillac's designers created a square structure with smooth surfaces and clear angles. The basic proportions that Bill Mitchell had specified for the 1967 Eldorado were also retained here: The third front-wheel drive Eldorado also had a long bonnet and a comparatively short rear. The most striking design element was the almost vertical C-pillar with a narrow rear window. The slightly angled rear end with narrow, vertical taillights also quoted Bill Mitchell's Eldorado from 1967. The front section with angular double headlights and indicators arranged underneath corresponded to the fashion common at the time; such arrangements were offered by all brands of the three major US manufacturers. The design of the rear roof section and the shape of the vinyl cover varied depending on the equipment line.

In the basic concept, the superstructures of the Eldorado and its sister models were similar; However, there were significant deviations in many details.

  • Cadillac Eldorado

  • Oldsmobile Toronado

  • Buick Riviera

Equipment lines

Eldorado Biarritz

Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz

During the entire production period, Cadillac offered a particularly high-quality version of the coupé under the name Eldorado Biarritz , which referred to the Basque seaside resort of Biarritz and took up a nomenclature used for the first time in 1956. The Biarritz had specially designed chrome wire wheels and specially padded seats. Externally, the Eldorado Biarritz differed from the regular Eldorado in that it had a front roof section made of unpainted, polished stainless steel and a rear roof section with vinyl cover called Cabriolet Roof , which, regardless of its name, was fixed and could not be folded down. In the first year, the premium for a leather upholstered Biarritz was $ 2,600. If a sliding roof called Astroroof was added, the surcharge increased by US $ 1,138.

Touring Coupé

From 1982 the Touring Coupé was offered as a further alternative , an equipment line which, according to the advertising text, turned the Eldorado into a “Driver's Car” . The Touring Coupé was a sporty version of the Eldorado. The suspension was set to be harder ("Touring Suspension"), and in the interior there were two individual seats at the front instead of the usual continuous bench, which were separated from each other by a center console. Externally, the Touring Coupe had less chrome trim than the regular Eldorado models, and the roof was painted in body color. There was no vinyl cover or whitewall tires .

Eldorado Convertible

Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible
Elaborately designed interior

In 1976 production of the last open Cadillac Eldorado ended. The car had already become an object of speculation in its last year of production because Cadillac had declared that it would no longer produce open vehicles in the future. Regardless of this, the interest in Eldorado convertibles on the US market continued. From 1977 onwards, several independent companies converted brand-new coupés into convertibles from the second Eldorado generation at the customer's request. This continued with the introduction of the third generation of the Eldorado. Some of the most successful converters have been American Custom Coachworks (ACC) in Hollywood , American Sunroof Corporation (ASC) in Michigan, and Hess & Eisenhardt in Ohio.

At the factory, Cadillac did not initially take on this market demand. Cadillac only offered the Cabriolet Roof in some model years . This was a coupé with a fixed metal roof, which was covered in fabric and was intended to give the impression of a closed convertible, but was actually not movable.

After Chrysler's small, K-Car-based LeBaron Convertible was the first to include an American open-top car in the series production program in 1982 and achieved considerable success, Buick introduced the Riviera Convertible in 1983, the first new GM convertible. Cadillac joined in the following year with the Eldorado Biarritz Convertible. The open Eldorado was not manufactured directly at Cadillac; on the contrary, ASC converted series coupés into convertibles on behalf of the factory. The convertible was only available with the 4.1 liter eight-cylinder petrol engine; a diesel version was not offered. The price of a new Eldorado Convertible, at US $ 31,286, exceeded that of a regular Eldorado Coupé by more than 50 percent. In 1984, 3,300 copies of the convertible were built, and another 2,300 in the following year.

Conversions

Subsequently converted Eldorado Cabriolet with external spare wheel on the rear of the vehicle

The third front-wheel drive Cadillac Eldorado was the basis of numerous conversions that independent companies offered on behalf of customers. In addition to the convertible conversions, different extended versions were also created, in which a disguised spare wheel was installed between the front wheel arch and the front door edge. Such modifications were mainly made by ACC. Other variants were external spare wheels on the rear of the car or fully clad B-pillars.

On the basis of this Eldorado generation, the American manufacturer Pierre Cardin Automotive produced an outwardly alienated luxury coupé with a high-quality interior, called Cardin Evolution I , which was sold in around 100 copies between 1980 and 1982.

production

The third front-wheel drive generation of the Cadillac Eldorado was produced for seven years. In the domestic market, he competed mainly with that of Ford's luxury brand Lincoln sold Continental Mark VI , of the four years to build long and available as coupe and four-door sedan was. At times, the Chrysler Group was also represented in the Personal Luxury Cars segment ; The extravagantly designed Imperial Coupé was available here for three years . Of these three vehicles, the Cadillac Eldorado was by far the most successful model.

Production figures Cadillac Eldorado
and its competitors in comparison
Cadillac Lincoln Chrysler
Model year Cadillac Eldorado Coupe Continental Mark V
Coupe 		Continental Mark VI
Coupe 		Continental Mark VII
Coupe 		Imperial Coupe
1979 67,436 75,939
1980 52,683 38,891
1981 60,643 18,740 8,113
1982 52,018 11,532 2,717
1983 67,416 12,743 1,555
1984 74.506 33,344
1985 74.101 18,355

literature

  • Georg Amtmann: Cadillac . Lechner Verlag, Geneva 1990, ISBN 3-85049-071-8 .
  • James M. Flammang, Ron Kowalke, Ron: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1976-1999 . Krause Publications (1999), ISBN 0-87341-755-0 .
  • John Gunnell: American Cars of the 1960s: A Decade of Diversity , Krause Publications, 2005, ISBN 978-0-89689-131-9 .
  • Richard M. Langworth: Automobiles of the 1930s . Beekman House, New York 1980, ISBN 0-517-30994-7 .
  • Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980 . Beekman House, New York 1984, ISBN 0-517-42462-2 .
  • Cadillac - Standard of the World , Motorbuch Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-613-01247-2
  • Cadillac - The American Dream Car , VIP, 1993, ISBN 3-552-05101-5
  • Standard Catalog of Cadillac 1903-2004 , Krause Publications, 2005, ISBN 0-87349-289-7

Web links

Commons : Cadillac Eldorado (1979–1985)  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ The chronological assignment of automobiles in the USA is primarily based on model years. Model years usually differ from calendar years. For most manufacturers , a new model year begins in the late summer of a year after the factory holidays , during which production lines are rebuilt. The 1979 model year began at General Motors accordingly in August 1978; the 1985 model year ended in July 1984.
  2. ↑ From 1956 to 1959, hardtop coupés were also on offer, which were derived from the Eldorado convertibles and were called Eldorado Seville .
  3. ↑ Including the four-door version.
  4. ↑ Plus 3,300 factory convertibles.
  5. ↑ Plus 2,300 factory convertibles.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Auto Catalog No. 20 (1976/77), p. 36.
  2. ↑ Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930–1980 . Beekman House, New York 1984, ISBN 0-517-42462-2 , p. 94.
  3. ↑ a b c d Description of the 1979 Cadillac Eldorado on the website www.100megsfree4.com (accessed on November 1, 2016).
  4. ↑ a b Georg Amtmann: Cadillac . Lechner Verlag, Geneva 1990, ISBN 3-85049-071-8 , p. 40.
  5. ^ A b Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930–1980 . Beekman House, New York 1984, ISBN 0-517-42462-2 , p. 95.
  6. ↑ a b c d Georg Amtmann: Cadillac . Lechner Verlag, Geneva 1990, ISBN 3-85049-071-8 , p. 45.
  7. ^ History of ACC on the website www.coachbuilt.com (accessed November 1, 2016).
  8. ↑ Auto Catalog No. 25 (1981/82), p. 145.
  9. ^ History of Hess & Eisenhardt on the website www.coachbuilt.com (accessed on November 1, 2016).
  10. ↑ Illustration of the Eldorado with Full Cabriolet Roof in the 1983 factory catalog (accessed on November 1, 2016).
  11. ↑ Description of the Cadillac Eldorado from 1984 on the website www.100megsfree4.com (accessed on November 1, 2016).
  12. ↑ Illustration of an Eldorado Coupé converted by ACC with a spare wheel installed on the side ( memento of the original from November 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed November 1, 2016). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.carandclassic.co.uk
  13. ↑ Production figures for the Cadillac Eldorado: See information on the website www.motorera.com (accessed on June 9, 2012).


Cadillac models timeline , 1930s to 1980s
Type 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9
Middle class 60 61 2nd ww 61 Cimarron
355 70/80 62 Series 62 6200 Calais
upper middle class Seville
Upper class 65 Coupe DeVille / Sedan DeVille
60S Sixty Special Fleetwood Flwd60S Fleetwood
Limousines 355 72/75/85 Series 75 6700 Fleetwood 75 FL FB Brougham
Personal Luxury Eldorado
Roadster Allante
Luxury class V-16 Brougham