1970 Cadillac Eldorado *SOLD*

[Matt Harwood]

*SOLD*

 

My first car, acquired at age 14, was a 1976 Eldorado convertible, so I'm a little biased about this handsome coupe. It comes to me as part of a package deal from a high-quality collection and while these cars are not red-hot collectables, it is a fine car that drives quite well. I like that it doesn't have a padded roof, the color combination is attractive, and the 500 cubic inch V8 is about three times more powerful than the emissions-choked wheezer that was in the '76, and as a result, this sucker moves like a muscle car. The paint was done relatively recently and looks decent, but there's quite a bit of orange peel that would be remedied by a professional cut-and-buff, and doing that would make the car spectacular (I might have it done if it doesn't sell pretty quickly). There's plenty of paint on the body, it's got a good shine, and it's the right code 74 San Mateo Red, it's just a little... orange peely. It doesn't appear to have ever been rusty or wrecked and the massive doors and hood fit quite well, which is more than I can say for my old ragtop. I especially like the rear end of these cars, with razor-edged styling and a V-shaped rear window that was pretty dramatic, at least until the boat-tail Rivs showed up a year later. The chrome and stainless trim is all in very good condition but is likely original, so it's not perfect. All the lenses and glass are good, too, although the front parking light lenses show some minor spalling around the edges. Personally, I think some kind of simple pinstripe to highlight the coffin-shaped hood and rear fender lines would really make this car pop, but I'll leave that to you.

The black interior is brand new and reproduces the original patterns pretty faithfully, although I'm having a hard time determining if it's leather or a high-quality vinyl. I don't know what it cost, but it surely wasn't cheap. They did both the front and rear seats, the carpets are new, and I think the skins on the door panels are new, too, simply because they're too nice to be 45 years old. The woodgrained dash still looks bright and it appears that everything works except the clock and radio, which isn't surprising. All four windows power open and closed (the rear windows move rearward into the sail panel, not down), the automatic climate control works like it should, although I haven't really challenged the A/C yet due to cool temperatures, and the power locks snap up and down without hesitation. It shows about 93,000 miles, and that's likely correct, but I have no way of knowing. The trunk was also reupholstered with black carpets and new side panels, although there is no spare.

1970 was the first year for the mighty 500 cubic inch V8, which, until recently, was the biggest mass-production V8 ever built. In 1970, it made a rather robust 400 horsepower without working very hard. Given the way it starts easily and runs so smoothly, plus the new engine paint that doesn't have any overspray on adjoining pieces, I'm guessing it's been rebuilt but when and by whom, I can't say. There's a new alternator, the A/C was converted to R134a, and it still inhales through a big QuadraJet 4-barrel. It uses a rather throaty dual exhaust system with glasspack-style mufflers, but it's not loud from inside the car and sounds pretty muscular. The TH425 3-speed automatic transmission was essentially a TH400's guts inside a FWD case with a massive chain driving a driveshaft forward to the final drive unit, so the driveline is virtually bulletproof, even with all that torque churning through it. CV joints are in good shape and the boots are intact and not cracked or torn. Shifts are crisp and as I said, this sucker moves like it weighs 1000 pounds less than it does (curb weight has to be somewhere around 5000 pounds). Power front discs and big rear drums are plenty adequate and there are recent air shocks in back to replace the original load-leveling suspension, which never worked right anyway. Recent whitewall radials were fitted, although I almost think I'd flip them around and run blackwalls to make it look brutal.

I like this car WAY more than I expected. I'm delighted with how it runs and without a lot of work, the cosmetics could go up a notch or two to really make it special. These aren't quite must-have items for your Cadillac collection, but like the 1963-65 Rivieras, they're just too good-looking and competent to be this cheap forever. We're asking an entirely reasonable $15,900, and if you can get more sheetmetal, luxury, and horsepower for your money, buy that instead! Thanks for looking.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

Scratch that, it does have a spare! I was just looking in the wrong place.

[TexRiv_63]

And its one of the worst locations to get the spare in and out of ever designed. Neat car.

[Matt Harwood]

SOLD! Thank you!