Cadillac made its “last convertible” in 1976 with its widely hyped final run of Eldorado ragtops, but unknown to most, anyone (with a lot of cash) could order a new de Ville convertible from a Cadillac dealer from 1978 to 1983. The buyer could be assured of high quality work from Hess & Eisenhardt, the Ohio-based coachbuilder founded in 1876 that built its first car body in 1906 and made every Presidential limousine from 1948 to 2001. Hess & Eisenhardt also built Eldorado convertibles from 1980 to 1985, and a factory Eldorado convertible built by ASC reappeared in 1984-85, but the 1977-79 de Ville overshadowed the 1979-85 Eldorado in size and power. Anyone who now owns a 1978-79 Hess & Eisenhardt LeCabriolet has a combination of the 1977-90 B/C Body chassis, Cadillac 425 big block power, and wind in the hair motoring — arguably the ultimate 1977-90 B/C Body experience, which few will ever get to have. You are unlikely to see one curbside, but if you do, you will know that its owner has a lot to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!
These were pretty cool, I always wondered what they got that top mechanism out of? It is a 71-76 scissor type top or what?
These were good enough for Frank Cannon to ditch the Mark and go with one of these for the 1980 TV movie “The Return of Frank Cannon”.
Like Malloy and Reed in their Plymouth Belvedere.
I think Cannon will always be associated with his wallowing Lincolns.
This Cadillac was likely a loaner, while he was having his Mark V Bill Blass Edition detailed.
When you become a super successful zoftig detective, even the Lincoln Mark become too pedestrian, hence, you have to go custom built.
I do laugh when I picture Cannon driving the Mark, giving the finger Rockford and his trailer….
Funny, I associate Malloy and Reed with the AMC Matador they had later.
You’d think by the time it came along they’d have figured out a way to take out the windshield (to avoid glare) without having the wipers park several inches up the dash.
Carmine,
Your encyclopedic knowledge of the Brougham era continues to impress me. If we could rig Jeopardy to have as categories “Cadillac,” “Lincoln,” “Brougham,” etc., you could make a fortune.
HAHA!
I’ll take Eldorado special editions for $500, Alex…
The clue is, this two tone special edition was offered only in Arizona Beige and Dematisse Brown.
’78 Eldorado Biarritz Classic.
Too bad they didn’t continue the Eldo convertible through ’78. A Biarritz Classic convertible would have been neat.
I seem to remember seeing one on ebay several years ago; apparently it was a genuine Biarritz Classic turned into a convertible after purchase. It looked good!
Since the ad specified “electrohydraulic”, I’m pretty sure it’s not a scissors-top design from ’71-’76. That’s something to be thankful for.
what is the scissors-top design?
A “dreaded scissor top” thread from another forum:
http://forums.aaca.org/f115/dreaded-scissor-top-137761.html
Most convertible top mechanisms are raised by two long hydraulic cylinders on each side, right behind the trim panel where a rear passenger’s outboard arm would rest. The pump that powers both cylinders is located behind the rear seatback & two hoses run to each cylinder.
The top frame is in “sections” and each side “rail” folds accordian-style over itself as the top is lowered into the rear storage well.
On the scissor-top cars, the top motor is located in the same place as the “normal” cars behind the rear seat. However, this motor is just a motor (no pump). Picture a power seat motor, only a little bigger. One power-seat-style cable goes from each end of the motor to a fist-sized gearbox located on each side of the top frame. Each gearbox is responsible for raising & lowering its respective “side” of the top.
The top frame itself is designed much differently as well; it does not fold over itself accordian-style. Instead, when the top is beginning to lift off the windshield header, each side rail collapses inward about midway down its length. The two side rails look like a big “X” when the top is halfway down…and one “knuckle” is farther forward so they don’t crash into each other as the top lowers.
The action of these two side rails collapsing into that “X” and folding “into each” other looks like a huge mutant pair of scissors, hence the “scissors-top” term.
I personally do not think it is a bad design at all other than the fact that these tops could not accomodate a headliner. I suspect that cost-cutting measures may have cheapened some components, creating several multiple weak links in the setup…making the end-result a much crappier product than what was originally designed.
The motor draws a lot of current & is operated via a switch only. The lack of a relay led to a lot of rare power top switch deaths due to burnt contacts. The motor drive cables are slightly over-size power seat cables in plastic sheaths which frequently degrade & break (especially the plastic ends. The joints in some parts of the mechanism are metal-on-metal — even two vulnerable ball-n-socket joints. No brass bushings!
When one side binds up due to a joint failure, there is no “cushion” as in the hydraulic systems — this can cause one of the gearboxes to jump a tooth, strip out, or it can cause one of the cables to break. Once the two gearboxes are out of phase, the top will not operate correctly.
One widely spread fallacy is that these were designed so GM could use the same seats as they used in the hardtops. Both the ’71-’76 convertible seat backs and seat bottoms are narrower than the steel roof cars. Not much narrower, but narrower.
Frank F. Cannon.
Cannon was cool. He had GREAT taste in cars too! I’d take his Caddy or Mark over a Firebird Esprit or 308GTS.
Cool. I never knew these existed before. Anyone know how much these actually cost when new? I imagine they commanded a large premium over a standard deVille.
Nice! I would have liked to see that offered by Cadillac officially rather then the the Eldo convertible of the 1980’s.
One of the dealerships listed on that ad is Capital Cadillac of Washington DC. The dealer is still around although they moved to Maryland(Greenbelt) in 1979 and have been in the same location since then. The ad must have come out in late 1978 or early early 1979 as they moved from the DC location to Greenbelt in 1979
Yes! I could see it outliving the box Brougham sedan and going right up to the 1996 end of the RWD B-bodies, just as the VW and Rolls-Royce convertibles kept their old-generation roots alongside more modern tintops at that time.
You are not alone in having this vision for the full size Cadillac convertible. Internet searches for information on these cars uncovered a surprisingly large number of profiles in low rider magazines of Hess & Eisenhardt convertibles with 1990-92 Brougham front clips grafted to their front ends. Apparently, in that segment of the car hobby, awareness of these convertibles is quite high, and re-imagining them as 1990s rather than 1970s cars is trendy.
No doubt people here will debate (mostly from the negative point of view) the idea of taking a rare and noteworthy car and modifying it with hydraulics, rubber band tires and lurid paint colors, but I give that crowd credit for re-discovering these cars first and having real enthusiasm for them.
And Rohrich is still selling Cadillacs in Pittsburgh. Never saw one of these, but one day when my neighbor was having a party, someone parked a ’78-79 Lincoln Town Coupe convertible conversion in front of our house. Sweet.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these in the metal. If GM had been more directly involved, it would have raised the question on why true hardtops were not available.
This appears to be a pretty handsome conversion considering they had to start with a sedan. Lots of adjustments to be made.
Interesting the pairings of Oldsmobile with Cadillac in the dealers listed. We had two Caddy dealers in our area, Novak was exclusive Cadillac, and McIntyre was Oldsmobile – Cadillac. The other Olds emporium was exclusive – O’Daniel, which survives today as they added some Japanese motorcycle maker’s silly little car back in the ’70s.
I looked at an Oldsmobile 98 conversion by Hess & Eisenhardt parked on a Winnipeg street. If I didn’t know better I’s swear it was a “factory” job. The quality of this conversion was top notch. I can see why they were very expensive.
As an Old’s guy that liked these Ninety-Eights – sweet!
+1 I love this one. Only an Electra would be an improvement in my eyes.
Hello everyone. I currently own an all original 79′ H&E Le Cabriolet. My dad had an 80’s version back in the early 90’s which he then sold to my uncle due to finance problems. i have been in search of an original 80’s Lecabriolet. if anyone has any leads to one I would greatly appreciate any information and wouldn’t mind paying a finders fee. This would be an awesome gift for my dad as he is now retired. Anyone can reach me at julio.huerta@ymail.com
Thank you all in advance!
Hello everyone I am interested on buying a 1979 or 1980 oldsmobile 98 convertible like the one on this ad or even a 1979 to 1982 Cadillac le cabriolet convertible there will be a finders fee if you help me out. My contact is 512-210-6380. Jay
What a great car to have today. I was an Oldsmobile fan and owned a few Eighty Eight and Ninety Eight’s , both sedan and coupe. What wonderful cars and I am drawn also to the convertible. We have nothing today that is even close to these stellar classics. And then the two divisions with class and style, Oldsmobile and Pontiac, were both thrown to the wolves by GM. What a shame . We have nothing to compare today and I have gone to an import competitor. I like my new car but in a different way. It doesn’t even begin to compare to my Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs.