William Oliver continues to impress with his Cohort contributions. In this series of photographs, taken in Toronto, he’s captured two of the most beautiful GM products of the 1960s: first-generation editions of the Buick Riviera and Cadillac Eldorado.
The Eldo is technically a 1970 1969 but that was the last year of the first series, first introduced in 1967. This ’69 looks as though it’s wearing pince-nez, appropriately classy for Cadillac’s fanciest coupe.
Personally, I think the first Eldo looks best as a ’67-68 model with the hidden headlights. Paint it black like this one and it looks devastatingly elegant yet menacing, like a lean and muscular assassin in a well-fitting suit.
This ’69 looks more like the assassin swapped his tux for a suit with a wider lapel and put on some loafers. When you’ve got a sexy body and a handsome, square-jawed face, however, you can pull off pretty much anything.
Then there’s the Bill Mitchell-designed Riviera, a little leaner and more European in appearance. In a reverse of the Eldorado’s situation, the Riv gained hidden headlights a few years into its run. I think it looks stunning either way.
That includes the gorgeous interior.
Again, I wouldn’t say this is the perfect color for the Riviera. It looks best in silver, a color that shows off that gracefully curved beltline and the bladed fenders. This is a design that was praised by automotive figures as varied as Sir William Lyons, Sergio Pininfarina and Raymond Loewy. There’s not a bad line on this Buick. Nor is there a bad line on its companion in the snow.
Related Reading:
Curbside Classic: 1964 Buick Riviera – The Peak GM Experience
Curbside Classic: 1967 Cadillac Eldorado – On The Dark Side
Lest not our friends think these photos were taken like yesterday or anything, the presence of snow indicates a January or February timing of these photos. It has not snowed in these parts for a good 6 weeks now, unless there was a major deluge in a 1 square km area, unannounced on the media!
However, in the interest of full disclosure, it was cold enough to snow here earlier this morning, only now barely touching into the 40Fs.
Beautiful cars most certainly.
GM needs another maverick like Bill Mitchell or Harley Earl. I just wonder if that’s even possible in 2019 America.
Then again for all Tesla’s faults…the Model S is a stunner.
It’s not possible in 2019 GM. Probably not possible at any of the major manufacturers–unless they authorize an internal ‘skunk work’….a few people, freed of the bureaucracy. This is pretty risky, so I don’t see it happening. (However, in aerospace, many notable aircraft were developed like this: the most famous, the SR-71).
Have you seen some their vehicles? The GMC Terrain? Their only saving grace is many of their competitors are even worse…
Twent years ago, (before his encore act as GM VP, but after he’d left Chrylser), Bob Lutz derided these trucks and cross-overs as “angry-looking appliances” or “angry-looking vacuum cleaners”.
I don’t think they are any better looking now.
Such “mavericks” led to the Toronado and Eldorado not being initially offered with standard front disc brakes. (They weren’t even available as optional equipment in the 1966 Toronado.)
The 1969 Eldorado, like the 1970, had exposed headlamps. I think I prefer the ’68, however, with the headlamp doors and fender tip lights (and “hidden” wipers); also, I prefer its dashboard to that of the 1969-70.
I didn’t realize the styling department dictated what brakes to use. These are GM sins for sure, but to blame Bill Mitchell on that is reaching.
I just meant that at GM in those years, styling came first, second, and third. Not only safety but also durability and space efficiency (and all other kinds of efficiency) were given no real emphasis.
As the longtime owner of a 1966 Bonneville convertible (1974-91), I know whereof I speak.
I get the impression that the engineers once again run the show with car design. Unlike the Earl-Mitchell eras where the styling came first, and engineering’s job was to make their shapes functioning automobiles without screwing it up. I’m not sure that trend can be reversed with aerodynamics, crash safety, packaging constraints and, quite frankly, taller vehicles(as much of a stunner the Model S is, the X and upcoming Y are frumpy). I hope it does, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing much variety in roofline shapes or front ends that have forward angles ever again.
Actually, I’d argue that the beancounters run the show regarding design at GM. As in, “don’t spend anything on creative development, and don’t make anything complex that costs more to produce.”
One of Tesla’s strengths is that the company allows its designers to stretch and innovate. The end results may be mixed, but at least design is clearly valued. The same could be said for Bill Mitchell–he didn’t always hit a home run, but at least he wasn’t afraid to swing for the fences.
GM is dead company walking. The poor reception of the 2019 truck models is a step towards the gallows. The accountants control everything at GM and have for decades. There is no budget for a sumptuous interior in a truck because they don’t anticipate enough volume to make money on it.
There is nothing in its inventory that is class leading. They had the opportunity to do something really cool in 2009 but instead kept churning out junk like the Cruz. Maybe they will keep going in China but I don’t think they will survive in North America for long. The are already gone in Europe.
Considering the GM pickups are the #2 volume vehicle in the country, I think there’s enough money. Just not the will.
Give them a couple years and they’ll introduce a refreshed interior with softer, richer materials. It’s an amazing cycle all of the domestic – and increasingly volume import – brands seem unable to break.
Both are works of art. My personal preference is the Riv. I had an opportunity to drive a 67 or 68 Eldorado and found it to be horrible – ponderous, wallowed on the curves, hard to keep in a straight line – and I did not even drive it very fast as we were in a residential area.
Regarding the FWD Toro and ElDo from ’66 to ’78: The suspension bushings were mushy-soft when new, in order to increase “compliance” which smooths-out pavement irregularities. Now they’re decades-old and thoroughly rotted. Similarly, the shock absorbers were milquetoast –before– they wore out and got even worse. Tire sizes and rim width/diameter were never acceptable, which forces under-sized brakes.
The chassis of these cars are not as horrible as it seems. They just got all the wrong “tuning”, and of course the chassis carried a whole lot of weight.
Luckily nothing they for the 70 did ruined that perfect butt like the exposed headlights did the front, the Eldorado got off very light compared to its Toronado and Riviera cousins in 1970. GM sure loved this toupee vinyl roof treatment during this time. It’s like it emulates the convertible top treatment on the original early Nash Ramblers with the thick fixed colored window frames
Yeah, lots of steps backward with design moves across the GM line in ‘69-‘70. Nowhere but down from ‘65, I guess. Front grille on the big Buicks got chrome sideburns and was weaker than right before or right after, Riviera got a fat butt with skirted rear wheels, and Pontiac completely lost its way with the big cars, emulating Wolseley or Volvo. Did have hits with the Camaro and Firebird, though, in ‘70 and the Monte and Grand Prix the year before. But everything else got weaker. Makes one wonder if something was off in Bill Mitchell’s personal life. – his eye was off the ball a bit…
If you go to Google Maps for Forli Motors on 134 Parliament St in Toronto, you can see the gold Eldorado in the far left repair bay and the white Riviera in the far right repair bay. The time stamp for the google map picture is August 2018.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/134+Parliament+St,+Toronto,+ON,+Canada/@43.6543297,-79.3639301,3a,60y,255.96h,87.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sRNlUy9SYC4hLG63Mkf66NA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m5!3m4!1s0x89d4cb3925e9ffc1:0xfe319b1c57ac3355!8m2!3d43.6542499!4d-79.3642375?hl=en
The Eldorado is a 1969 not a 1970. The taillights were slimmer in ’70 and the grill is less finely textured.
IMHO GM was at the top of their game starting with the ’61 full sized & Y bodies (or 1960 Corvair). I do agree that it started to fall apart with the ’71 super sized biggies.
And 1970 model is first one with 500 c.i.d. V8 motor.
Nice work finding these two beauties!!I personally prefer the 67 Eldo to the 69-70 models. the Riviera is a true modern classic(hidden headlights appeared in 65).
Both are beautiful cars and a testament to the talents of Bill Mitchell and his design teams.
One bad omen does become clear in this shot: the added size of the later Eldorado compared with the earlier Riviera.
A quick look at the specs tells the tale:
1963 Riviera
Wheelbase: 117″
Overall Length: 208″
Width: 76.6″
Height: 53.2″
Base curb weight: 3,988 lbs.
1969 Eldorado
Wheelbase: 120″
Overall Length: 221″
Width: 79.9″
Height: 53.8″
Base curb weight: 4,550 lbs.
The Riviera was hardly diminutive–seems like that size could have been a full-size personal luxury coupe benchmark. How would the ’67 Eldo have looked at that scale? Did it really need over a foot of added length (which no doubt contributed to the extra quarter ton of curb weight)? Longer and wider (ironically the Eldo was “taller” than the Riv) did not make the cars any better–just more ponderous. Mitchell clearly had the talent to make a ’63 Riviera-sized package look fantastic–too bad there wasn’t more of a “lock-in” around somewhat rational dimensions for big cars at GM during the 1960s.
To put that in Riviera in perspective:
1968 Dodge Charger
Wheelbase: 117″
Overall Length: 208″
Width: 76.6″
Height: 53.2 in
Nice Cadillac, interior is such a let down though
Nice seats, door panels, steering rim and pedals. The dash, though, is disappointing and dominates the interior. The center of the steering wheel is pretty tacky, too. Big change from the beautiful dashes and steering wheels of a few years earlier.
Bill Mitchell and his stellar designers at their zenith, cars that could only have been created in that window of opportunity of GM at its Zenith with the unbridled optimism of the 1960’s still on force. Both are pure automotive sculpture, should be appreciated as such.
Issues of excess size in that market segment were dismissed as sour-grapes by those who couldn’t afford such magnificent cars. Though this wasn’t entirely true while the society that embraced it was still held sway, the objections would become manifest in the 1970’s.
Glad I got to enjoy seeing these cars in their dominance in their day.
Riviera please – that interior is absolutely stunning!
Riviera all day every day for me. The open headlight Eldos start the trip downhill for me. Trimmed like this one and in these colors all I see is a 1971+ Toronado with a better front and rear.
One other problem on the Cad is that abominable practice of mounting a Cadillac crest hood ornament right over a nearly identical Cadillac crest on the leading edge of the hood. This is not an uncommon occurrence on old Caddys, and reminds me of Foghorn Leghorn from the old Warner Brothers cartoons saying “Lookee here Boy, it’s a Cadillac – it’s a CADILLAC I say!”
When did the Cadillac Crest lose the six sitting ducks? The crest had ’em in ’74, and they were gone by the time of the Escalade’s ginormous tail emblem. But I don’t know when the ducks were dispatched.
Cadillac used the ducks as a marketing gimmick to advertise the Catera, ” The Caddy that Zigs!” Unfortunately that car sucked, and the duck looked like the duck on Groucho Marx’s game show “You Bet Your Life”. That meant that the Cadillac duck’s goose was cooked. Exit the Cadillac duck. Fly away little duckie, be gone!
Thank you, it’s not just me. If the Cadillac crest had to be the hood ornament, then I think that individual block letters spelling out “CADILLAC” should’ve been used on the hood.
I was always a fan of the Gen-1 Eldorado. My personal choice would be a 1968 model. It retained the hidden headlamps and much of the original charm of the inaugural 1967, but came with the new 472 Caddy V-8, instead of the old 429 which traced it roots back to the 390 of the ’50’s, and had disc brakes and headrests on the seats. These cars look especially luscious in dark colors, but sometimes, you find a rare color like this aqua one I found on the internet. Drool all over it, my friends!
These are both my cars , thanks for the comments