(first posted 5/7/2014) You got to hand it to Cadillac. Although color coordinated paint and interior schemes were long de rigueur in Detroit, no one either took it to quite the same degree, nor executed it with as much precision as Cadillac. Even in the early eighties, when Cadillac was knee-deep in engine fiascos, they still knew how to make a car look stunning with a wide array of metallic paint finishes, color-keyed paint stripes, matching vinyl roofs and door guards, and a rainbow of interior colors tailored to specific exterior combinations. A healthy dose of chrome didn’t hurt their flash factor either.
This 1983 Cadillac Eldorado is a perfect example of Cadillac’s attention to detail regarding color. Finished in Briar Firemist over Briar Brown with matching Elk Grain vinyl cabriolet roof, this Eldorado is quite the looker. As a Biarritz model, it features wire wheels, opera lamps, and is topped off with a stainless steel roof cap.
On the inside, Biarritz buyers were treated to special button-tufted pillowy seats with embroidered Cadillac crests. Our featured car sports Sierra Grain leather and Tampico carpeting in matching Dark Briar Brown, one of six interior color schemes. In fact, everything, from the door panels to the dashboard to the headliner is color-keyed to the rest of the car. I couldn’t help but notice that the interior is an exact match for the Eldorado Biarritz featured in Cadillac’s 1983 deluxe brochure. I think it looks pretty darn good for 31 years old!
Rear-seat occupants were also treated like royalty, with the same seats as up front, adjustable Cadillac-crested reading lamps, wide armrests, and deep map pockets. The high rear-seating position and generous legroom look mighty inviting compared to the rear seats of most modern-day coupes. The rear window design with thick C-pillars gives passengers a reasonable view out while also providing them a great deal of privacy from curious outsiders.
Speaking of those engine fiascos, front fender badging indicates that under the hood of this Briar Biarritz is Cadillac’s problematic 4.1L HT4100 V8. With a rather leisurely 135 horsepower and 190 lb-ft of torque, the “High Technology” 4100 was highly susceptible to intake manifold gasket failure. As a result, many owners had their engines replaced under warranty.
Within few years however, the Cadillac’s image would be tarnished by another, much more visible malady–the second wave of downsizing and the generic looks that came with it. This was also around the when two-toned paint schemes, matching trim, and color-keyed interiors began to disappear in favor of beige, beige, and more beige. None of those issues were problems for this car though. Even without the fifteen Cadillac emblems I’ve counted on this Eldorado, you knew this was a Cadillac. That’s Cadillac, Cadillac, Cadillac Style!
Nothing screams “I wear a gold chain and hair plugs” louder than that gaudy grille. Time to hit the junkyard and find a proper OEM Cadillac grille.
Hell, yes – get rid of that “Western Auto” mid-west pimp grille . . . . cheapens the whole car.
Hit the junkyard with a little help of “the Junkman” I guess. 😉
Most have been a government safety film as all drivers are wearing seat belts.last person to do so was Dennis Weaver in Duel, 13 years before.
Yes, I was surprised by that. What a contrast compared to Burt Reynolds jumping all over the place while driving unrestrained.
+1. The standard grille was much more attractive.
Agreed.
Agreed as well although I seem to recall the top of that grill bolted to the front of the hood. Replacing it with the original required body work to the front of the hood to cover up the holes for the bolts and a respray of the entire thing. Not cheap then, certainly not cheap now. Looking at around $750 fix right plus the cost of the grill.
That’s an acquired taste. Looks to be right out of Revere.
I believe that I’ve read Pontiac can be credited for being the first maker to color coordinate interiors/exteriors back in the early 50’s (starting with the Catalina hardtops). They did a nice job with available two tone combos and interior material and color combos.
Can’t say I dig the poop on poop color of this Caddy, but I suppose I’m probably in the minority. I’m the rare enthusiast who doesn’t hope for the brown diesel wagon with a 6 speed manual and all wheel drive…
I believe that Kaiser-Frazer was the pioneer in interior-exterior color and fabric coordination. That was really the only interesting thing about their early cars, which were quite conventional.
Carleton Spencer of Kaiser-Frazer led the way in coordinating the colors of exteriors and interiors. He also greatly expanded the range of exterior colors available on Kaisers and Frazers. For a brief time Kaisers and Frazers even featured the name of the color in chrome script on the exterior!
The main reason Kaisers and Frazers don’t stand out more at car shows is because, by 1955, the rest of the industry had followed his lead in adopting more vivid and varied exterior colors for their line-ups.
We need someone like him today. Everything affordable looks so bland and boring, greyscale upon greyscale.
The Catalina’s predated the Kaiser-Frazer “unique” interiors colors and materials by a year or so.
I will give Kaiser credit, they sure did top everyone else with the wild upholstery they were putting in some of those cars!
I recall Hudson was in early on color-keying too
That interior reminds me of my 1984 Olds Ninety Eight (also a coupe). My car had an interior this very same color, only with tufted velour seats. It made for a very rich and elegant looking interior. I did not, however, really care for it paired with white paint. Oh well, one of the perils of buying pristine used cars from elderly ladies.
I once worked with an elderly attorney who owned a Sedan DeVille (also 1984-ish) with the HT4100. Pale yellow, of course. The engine seemed to provide plenty of power for his driving style, which was terrifyingly slow. He got rid of his Caddy before the engine gave him any trouble. At the same time, there was another attorney there with an 81 Sedan DeVille with the V864. Those two Cads were the last Cadillacs owned by either of those guys, who could easily have afforded another.
The Olds Regency interior. This Cadillac interior has loose pillow on the seat bottoms as well as the seat backs. However, the Olds Regency seat bottoms were not loose pillow, while the seat backs were. This at least was true for my 1978 Regency.
Loose-pillow backrests only were much more common than loose-pillow backrests and cushions, probably because the lower seat cushions would encounter too much wear from entering and exiting the vehicle. Amongst the few cars I recall with loose cushions on the seat cushions as well as seatbacks: 1974-78 Imperial/New Yorker, 1980-82 T-Bird/Cougar (top trim level only), and 1985-88 Nissan Maxima GL/GXE (a rare Japanese Brougham).
It almost looks “OK” for this model, maybe because there isn’t all the other crap that makes it look too “urbanized”. With all stock features Caddies of this era look flashy to the point of still being sharp, but when the other things start getting added on they quickly go from sharp to pimped up blacksploitation hoopdies. Yuck.
I do like this era of Eldos. Aside from the craptacular HT4100, its a real sharp rendition of the model. I saw one from the same year, though in red. Even though it had obviously seen better days, it still was a looker with the stainless steel roof.
Oh dear, what an interior. Sorry, but that’s not luxury, just downright disgusting. Still, a match and a quart of petrol could sort that out in a jiffy.
With so much wood trim, even on radio buttons, one can probably assume that it’s all plastic. While the seats look ever so luxurious, my experience with an Olds Regency (similar look) is that the seats are not particularly supportive.
While overall build quality has no doubt benefitted over 20+ years of industry pressure upon GM, I’d be curious to see how the quality of materials inside the Eldo compares to the interiors of the Seville/DTS and Escalade flanking it.
I suspect at the very least that the quality and the thickness of the leather inside the 1983 car would be superior.
There would definitely be more detailing in the 1983, that’s what I really miss about car interiors, the trim and bric-a-brac, look at the door panel on the Eldorado, 2 different pieces of wood, each has a chrome border. You just don’t see that anymore really.
I think two different pieces of faux wood.
Yes, I know that its fake. Thank you. That’s not the point I was trying to make.
I know that the 4100 had problems for the first two models years (1982, 1983) but at some point, perhaps during the 1984 model year, the problem was sorted out and changes were made to fix it. By this time the 4100 has a very bad reputation, and so the 4500 V8 was called a 4.5.
This Eldorado would have the problematic 4100, although it may have been one that did not fail, or hopefully got a good replacement.
I suspect these were all over the place in terms of lifespan, but my sampling is limited to the 4.1 in my father-in-laws ’83 Seville that went 177,000 miles before it grenaded itself.
What I know about it is based on what I read in the SAE Journal at the time. The problem as I understood it is that engines built with a mix of parts that were within the tolerance for size, but with parts that were at the large end and the small end would fail. Engines with all parts near the large end or the small end would not fail. I think that about 25% of the engines were doomed. It took them about a year to start failing at a rate that was alarming to Cadillac. I think the first replacement engines also started failing before the problem was sorted out.
If that was indeed the issue with those engines, then the tolerance band was too large. I can’t help thinking that there must have been some material spec issues as well. In my nearly 50 years of car ownership I’ve only experienced one engine failure, and that was a junkyard engine of unknown pedigree that put a rod through the block. I’m not familiar with the 4100 engines but I remember hearing about the failures.
My friend’s girlfriend’s mom had one of the hump back Sevilles. Beautiful, but constantly in the shop. She and her husband were quite frustrated with it.
IMO, one of the most beautiful cars ever produced.
I remember test driving one with the 4-6-8 option. Seemed to run too harshly for such a refined looking automobile. Only later did I learn that could be disabled.
Wish I’d bought it.
That was probably more due to a needed tune up than the 4-6-8, depending on how old it was, and how it was driven, low mileage little old lady cars that just putter around. It might have needed a little service, TBI adjustment and a good “Italian tune up” i.e. foot to the floor on the highway for a few minutes.
Not my favorite colors or my favorite Cadillac, and obviously the engines were–even if you got a good one–too underpowered, but I do like that interior. Lacks real wood and ergonomic perfection but looks pretty inviting and luxurious to me. Except for the lack of lumbar support I find this kind of uniquely American interior highly preferable to the barrenness that followed and continues to this day. I’d rather drive around on “loveseat from the University Club library” than “ergonomic grey plastileather office chair”
I’d have to give the “custom interior” crown to Lincoln. From the mid 50s to the mid 80s, they always led the league in the number of available materials, sew patterns, colors and tricks like special trim editions (silver luxury, gold luxury, lipstick and white, blue luxury and do-it-yourself luxury groups based around a color, etc.), designer series (Cartier, Bill Blass, Givenchy, Pucci) and ultra special editions (Diamond Jubilee, Collectors). During that time, nobody did that type of interior better than Lincoln. The contemporary road tests always commented that the Lincoln interior was warmer and more “old money” than Cadillac.
GM really did nail the first wave of downsizing, this was one of the best examples style wise, inside and out.
I agree with all comments that the OEM grill is much nicer.
Of all the FWD Eldorado’s, this era (1979-1985) is the best for looks I think. But I think the best Eldorado’s are the convertible era from 1953 through 1966. I don’t like the 57-58’s much. The 59 is best of the tailfin era, but the 60’s era is probably the best of the big convertibles.
I’ve got a soft spot for two-tone Cadillacs of this era. These two shades of brown work, but not all of the color combinations did.
I remember test driving a ’79 with my father. It was the end of the model year, and the dealer was stuck with a white-on-Basil Green Firemist example. It looked like a lime flavored Dreamsicle inside & out. It also had the Olds diesel in it.The flaws of the diesels were not yet known, but diesel pumps were rare in our neck of the woods, so all in all the dealer was having trouble finding a buyer.
The car was priced to move, so my Dad, who always wanted a Caddy, was tempted. I think he finally backed away because of the color. Probably fortunate for him.
Dad never did get a Cadillac, but he drives a (white) BWM now.
I always bought diesel fuel from truck stops, thinking that they should know how to keep the fuel clean and free of water. Water in the fuel tanks was a problem with the GM diesel cars.
Those dealer add-ons like the fake Rolls grilles and “convertible look” fabric tops were sooooo cheesy. Well into the 90’s they only made things harder for Cadillac as they tried to clean up their image. I think I saw one on a CTS once *shudder*. Awful thing to do to a nice car.
Our neighbor had an Eldo like this, but white on white. It looked sharp in that combo. My brother seriously considered getting one as his first new car but bought a Monte Carlo SS instead.
I like it, but the “EG Classics” Superfly grille has got to go, though as I’ve said before, if I was on the hunt for one of these, it would be 1979-1981 for me.
Even with the engine issues, these were extremely popular at the time. I believe that the Eldorado’s all-time best sales year was recorded during the 1979-85 time frame. Sales were strong right through this generation’s final year in 1985.
The RWD Eldorado in the 60’s was selling about 2000 per year. The FWD did much better, with the peak during this time frame at about 75000 just before the next downsizing.
single armrests + fake wire wheels :(……still would take it though
Price?
I think these Eldos were as nice looking as the ’67-70 models. The chocolate interior in this car is delicious and in fine shape. Usually that leather gets pretty cracked on the pillow interiors. Changing out the grille wouldn’t be too hard, it’s changing out the engine that’s hard and expensive. Why oh why couldn’t these have come with at least the Olds 307?
Not to my taste, but judgung from the photo that interior has stood up remarkably well. The only difference when compared to the interior in the brochure is the absence of flowers on the seat (and who needs them anyway!).
Thanks for sharing.
a sharp car for sure, minus the pimp grille. I would want to lose the vinyl top and rubstrips too, they just clutter an otherwise clean design.
refresh my memory…was the 4100 the only engine available in those cars? Was the Olds 307 not an option?
btw my Dad had bought a new 83 Riviera with the 4.1 V6 that went through 3 transmissions and 2 engines by the time he got rid of it with only 80K on the clock. I remember trying to convince him to get the V8 but he wasn’t going to listen to a 9 year old kid.
Early versions 1979-1981 had either the gas or diesel Oldsmobile 350 in 1979, Cadillac 368 or Olds 350 diesel in 1980 and the fuel injected 4-6-8 Cadillac 368, Olds diesel 350 or Buick 4.1 V6 in 1981, after 1982 it was pared down to the 4100 V8 or the Olds diesel 350, so it was pretty much “death or mumbo-jumbo” after 1981.
A diesel was optional. While no vinyl roof would be nice, I am not sure what you have if it is removed, since there is a stainless steel covering on the front of the roof.
If only this thing was designed/built with RWD, IRS and one of Caddy’s alloy engines. Guess one can dream, can’t one? The front was long enough to have a front-mid-engine V8 nestling in it.
One can only speculate the handling could be design with RWD, light weight engine and front-mid design. The car sure was good looking enough.
The Buick Riviera was basically the same car with RWD, but not IRS. I think that the front overhang is more on the Eldorado than the RWD Cadillacs. However, if you look at the contemporary Mercedes, say either 600 or 300, they have less front overhang. Cadillac current ATS and CTS models are designed for better handling.
I do remember that at least one of the car magazines would run a comparison test between the Eldorado and the Lincoln Mark Whatever. I don’t recall details, but what I remember is than neither car was much for handling. The were big luxury barges.
The Riviera of this generation was FWD with and IRS.
This was the first Gen of the Eldo to get an IRS.
I was thinking that I was in the 70 Eldorado post.
This interior in the 70 Eldorado in Ed’s article above would be a great combination. Agree this car needs to lose the John Shaft grille.
I’d like a Touring Coupe version- slicktop and somewhat detrimmed exterior plus tighter suspension, but with this interior!
All it needs is a little headlight modification and it’ll be ready for the sequel!
Not sure if I should post this here or in the 70 Eldorado capsule. I think here is good. What I do not like about Cadillac’s interior trim in this era (which is from the late sixties to sometime in the 90’s) is shown here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67219675@N05/9648729453/in/photolist-fGCg7n-avgZA2-avgYix-cjz7SS-avjEab-avjD3s-avgZse-cUkuH9-fGUQam-fGUQg5-cp6V5W-fGCfZz-fGUQcU-ahS5Lk-fGCg8g-8Nwugx-dXCphT-cUku2N-8NwnCe-dXCnUz-d3CXJj-fGCg4X-ak1xtn-d3CXjA-cjz6aN-d3CWX5-gYx2n4-apA5s9-gYwbhG-cjzG4L-fGUQh5-fGCg5X-fGUQbq-fGCg7K-fGUQa9-fGCg68-fGCg5k-fGUQ91-fGUQd7-fGCg3t-fGCg1T-fGUQaq-fGUQgU-cjzhXo-cjzNTW-c8pN2C-c8pMBd-c8pLXu-cjzRsj-d3CWEQ-ihfj9u
The faux (probably) wood bits are broken up into small pieces with bright work surrounding it. This Rolls picture shows how it could have been done:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99120238@N04/10351155126/in/photolist-gLGnMQ-gLGiTL-gLrnqW-gLGprG-gLrkjS-gLskNp-gLsmMi-gLGq6C-gLGndJ-gLHkzt-gLrnvY-gLsmnF-gLGnGj-gLrot8-gLGkZ9-gLGpDW-gLHmix-gLsmE4-gLGq1s-gLGons-gLrmJY-gLsncg-gLsk1H-gLroaJ-gLGkiE-gLHiZV-gLGjqh-gLGmVs-gLGpqu-gLGmEN-gLrkM7-gLro7Y-gLHiYT-gLrnQq-gLskGn-gLGknZ-gLGkqp-gLsmr8-a6Rndx-gLrkc7-gLGma9-gLsmRg-gLGjbj-gLrp8z-gLGj19-gLHkd6-gLGp4N-gLGpZq-gLrkns-gLGmDs-gLro3Q
I think the difference should be obvious. I think too much bright work in the Cadillac. The faux wood seems to have become available around 1968 and perhaps Cadillac did not want to give up the bright work used prior to that. The 1971-1976 Cadillacs seem to use the faux wood with more restraint.
The Caddy’s interior isn’t so much luxurious as gaudy and overdone. That’s not to say there should be no chrome, but just a touch here and there as a highlight, not so much that you need your sunglasses on just to cope with looking at the dash!
Nice car but the grille has to go. My preference would be a basic model with no vinyl top and the touring suspension with alloy wheels. It would also need to be an 84 or 85 when the engine was more sorted out too. That HT 4100 when introduced in 1982 was simply a rush job to fill in for the 8-6-4 which turned out to not only be problematic but also many consumer complaints of roughness when switching into 6 cylinder mode and no real gain in mileage which was the whole point in the first place. At the time Cadillac had a policy of no gas guzzler tax to the customer so the 1984 downsizing program’s HT 4100 mill was instead rushed to market to power all the large cars for just a couple of years until the downsized replacements were brought out. It was just an interim/stop gap measure to appease Cafe and ever tighter emissions regulations.
The result was pathetic. As the 1982 Cadillac full line catalog proclaimed the “HT4100 power system” was the next great thing to come from the makers of the V16/V12 and V8 engines of yore with no mention anywhere of power and torque figures. Or even MPG! That first year 4100 made an embarrassing 125 HP and 190 torque or 20 less torque than the credit option 4.1 Buick V6 and the same HP. 15 second 0-60 times were the norm and probably were even longer with the C-body cars.
For 1983 the HT 4100 gained 10 HP and 10 torque for a total of 135/200 which still looked tame and resulted in a slight improvement in power but not nearly enough. This engine remained up to 1985 in the big cars which then got the 307 as a replacement and was included in the downsized C cars but with a dial back to 1982 spec 125 Hp 190 torque ratings for whatever unknown reason. 1986/87 saw power go up to 130 HP and 200 torque and for a short time the newly introduced Allante for 1987 got a port injected version of the 4100 and 170 horses.
And here lies my biggest beef with GM’s asinine penny pinching at the time. Instead of making a good quality world class engine, which they so easily could have we got the compromise TBI low power troublesome HT 4100. Imagine if that 1987 spec port injected 170 Hp 230 torque 4100 had been brought out in 1982 with proper intake bolts and gaskets and blocks how much better Cadillac’s reputation would have been. Or better still if Cadillac made the engine the size it should have been from the start at 4.5 liters as it was in 1988!
These do look slick in black and without a vinyl top, similar to the one driven by James Caan in Michael Mann’s 1981 film Thief.
Copper on the Biarritz versions also looked very sharp.
That’s a gorgeous car. Just needs a sufficiently large round speedometer, not that silly little ribbon thing.
Loose-pillow backrests only were much more common than loose-pillow backrests and cushions, probably because the lower seat cushions would encounter too much wear from entering and exiting the vehicle. Amongst the few cars I recall with loose cushions on the seat cushions as well as seatbacks: 1974-78 Imperial/New Yorker, 1980-82 T-Bird/Cougar (top trim level only), and 1985-88 Nissan Maxima GL/GXE (a rare Japanese Brougham).
oops this was supposed to be a reply to an earlier comment
Drove an ’81 diesel in high school. Beautiful and extremely comfortable. The flip-up armrest was very handy for…whatever it was high school couples did on weekends back then.