I know… another eighth generation Eldorado. It’s a car that’s been written about so many times over the years here at CC, from varying points of view and perspectives, that there’s hardly anything left to say about it that hasn’t already been said. Yet upon coming across this stately looking 1985 example in Boston’s South End, I couldn’t help but stop and take a few pictures, feeling as if the backdrop of cobblestone streets and brownstones could have come right out of a 1985 Cadillac ad, albeit with a little of that evening mist vignette resolution commonly featured.
Although downsized from the massive seventh generation, these still very “big bodied” eighth generation Eldos struck a sweet spot with early-1980s American buyers and became the best selling generation Eldorado of all time.
While not my personal preference in similar-vintage luxury cars, I can honestly appreciate the Eldorado’s formal styling for what it is, and it’s about as stately as a car could get from that era, stately AF you might say.
Photographed in Boston’s South End – October 2018
Related Reading:
1983 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz
To me, these became cool when James Caan drove one in the movie ‘Thief’.
They both looked good together.
OK, I give up…..what’s AF?
Also wondering.
Psst. It’s an internet age abbreviation for “As F#%k”. Common among millenials and other frequent texting, comment posting types.
I’ll get off your lawn now. 🙂
Yeah, I had to look that one up m’self. These kids today, and their text abbreviations. (No offense Brendan. ;o)
I didn’t know what AF was either. I don’t have a cell phone and I don’t text. At 54 I feel ancient sometimes in today’s world.
I’m ’58 and do text, Frank, however I actually type complete sentences with real punctuation and everything!
That being said, I have used a few of these acronyms I’ve learned, some of which I learned on these very pages of CC.
IIRC (If I recall correctly) is one. I had to look it up, but liked it enough to continue using it. It may be because it’s such an appropriate one to use here when discussing old cars from our glory days.
IKR? is another one… The kids like to say, “I know, right?” and this phrase became popular with my wife. She’s 52, but her kids are 30 & 36, with a granddaughter at age 14; they use these shortcuts all the time. When I used it once, she joked with me saying, “Look at YOU using texting short cuts now”. I was a little embarrassed, having vowed never to go there.
Of course all of us likely use BTW (By the way), so even us old guys are not immune.
What amuses me is the (apparently too old school) abbreviations that they don’t get:
Me, to 18yo daughter: “What’s your ETA?”
Her: “ETA?”
Me: “estimated time of arrival. It’s a common abbreviation.”
Her:”Noone says that Dad”
Note that nowhere in that conversation does she ever tell me when shell be home…
LOL, I not only knew what AF meant but use it myself not only when texting but also sometimes out loud in somewhat-polite company….
Whoever bought this new must have been relieved they didn’t wait another year to buy one. That one wasn’t stately, AF or otherwise.
@RetroStang Rick – None taken about being referred to as a “kid”. If you ever call me a millennial, then I will be. While some people see if merely as a term to define people born in the 1980s and early 1990s, in reality it has become a derogatory term, used to say that in some way(s) people born between this period of time are inferior. Sorry, just a rant.
But when it comes to texting, the prevalence of smart phones has made full sentences and punctuation much more common and expected with texting. Everyone I know does it, regardless of age.
@Brendan Saur – I’d never call you a Millennial. My younger stepson is also not a fan of the term for the very same reasons.
And your writing style and knowledge of cars, especially all things BMW is QUITE impressive, young guy or not! I enjoy your articles very much.
As to texting, I think you’re right. With smart phones, you get a full keyboard, which makes full sentences much easier than with the old “dumb phones”. I imagine the abbreviations came from a time when all you had was the number keypad, and full sentences were cumbersome. I still tried though in those days, and was lucky enough to have a flip (camera) phone that was pretty good at guessing the word you wanted, maybe in some ways BETTER than today’s auto-correct (Apple’s can be particularly annoying).
But those dumb phones in the early days of texting taught me a skill that harkens back to a time way before even an old guy like me… knowing the letters associated with a number on a phone (rotary dial in those days). There are probably a few guys here that may remember phone numbers that started with two letters which, ironically was an abbreviation for an area, IIRC* – (*LOL).
Funny thing is, the only people I know that text with abbreviations are between the ages of 60-75. My guess is they think that’s what the youngsters do, while listening to their hippity-hop and getting on The Googles.
Rick, I’m “only” 40 but I still remember the exchange in the area I grew up was FIllmore. Still a lot of signs, etc. that had the old number up.
http://www.urbandictionary.com
Helpful to interpret texting abbreviations!
@RetroStang Rick
Thank you, I really appreciate your kind words, and I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees the term “millennial” in such a light.
I’ve had a cell phone (or is it “mobile phone” these days?) since the mid-00s, but I’ve been of the iPhone faithful since my senior year in high school in 2010. My final non-smartphone did have a full keyboard, but IIRC, I didn’t text all that much before iPhones.
So I guess I’ve always just been used to texting with the ability to easily use proper punctuation. Of course, some of those pre-smartphone abbreviations have just worked their way into everyday vocabulary, such as “LOL” and “WTF”.
I’m 53 and had to ask one of my kids when they congratulated me on an accomplishment with “savage AF”
I will defend his use of “AF” due to my having used “OPP” once in an article I wrote for this fine website.
“Who down with OPP? Yeah, you know me…!” Good reference…
To this day, I am still astounded how many people reference that song and seemingly don’t know what OPP “is”…
As I’ve now finished scrolling back and forth looking at this Cadillac, I will submit this is one of the best looking Cadillacs ever – and definitely the best looking of my lifetime. While being a foot longer than a new Camry, it is narrower, so there isn’t the obsessive amount of size found in earlier Eldos.
The only thorn is the 4100 but not all of them were prematurely suicidal.
The only Cadillac from this time period that I would own!
A fine car handicapped by the DOG slow and terminally unreliable HT (Hand Tight) 4100 V8 engine.
I’d go as far as to say the 79-85 Es (Riv/Eldo/Toro) might be the best looking GMs of my lifetime, but I’m biased.
I absolutely agree with you. Born in 1980…these cars were a very common site & my older brother had an 80 Toro. I love seeing these cars now that they’re not a common site.
Unlike the cartoonish previous generation, and the equally cartoonish (but for the opposite reason) following generation, there are few changes I would make to this. It says ‘prestige’ in a language that is not cliched (in this trim level, at least), not dated by the passing of time. Those few changes? I’d position the door handle and rear view mirror a couple of inches further forward.
The absence (delete option?) of the vinyl roof turns this from “meh” to “hmm, maybe?”
Thanks to the fine folks at Car and Driver for this perfect period counterpoint:
We here at CC have also given primers, using a similar Eldorado, in other things such as overdrive…
And underdrive. And they look good every step of the way. 🙂
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/features/curbside-movie-review-the-junkman/
Wow that’s some extreme body lean! Those things were so softly sprung. Enjoyable to see one about to mangle its tires off the rims
I drove my stepmother’s 1983 Eldorado a few times when I was in high school in the early 90s. I don’t think the CD guys had to work hard at all to get the car into those extreme attitudes. The suspension was amazingly flacid. The limits on the Caddy were stunningly low even compared to my 1970 Pontiac GP on bald tires or the early 90s New Yorker we inherited in that time frame. I would not have wanted to face an emergency avoidance maneuver on the freeway.
I also find this generation of “LD’s” stately and elegant, a car with “presence”.
Almost as stately and elegant as the much more reliable Lincoln Continental Mark VI.
Mark Reimer, you and I agree on many things automotive. Not this. These 1980+ Mark VIs are simply Fugly (to use an expression a little older than AF). What you see as stately and elegant I see as awkward and crude. As we say in farm country, that’s why they have red tractors and green tractors.
Opinions Vary.
🙂
I was waiting for you and/or Paul to respond.
Perhaps we can agree that the later model, smaller LD’s were “Butt Ugly”? (To use a phrase even older than “AF”)
We absolutely can!!!!!
Agreed. GM really nailed the design on these E-bodies.
But then the HT 4100 engine was a real nail that “nailed down” the reputation of Cadillac in the 1980’s, followed by the additional, subsequent nail in the coffin, the later “Northstar”. GM’s Cadillac had a bucketful of nails, so to speak working against a decades long reputation of reliability..
That said the lines of this Eldorado are cleaner and more lithe than the 1970’s Eldorado with its dead reliable 8,0 litre V8. I happen to like this version of the “green tractor”, to quote JPC. The companion platform mates, the Rivera and Toronado, likely are the “red tractors” of the trio.
With Cadillac GM was hard pressed to achieve engine reliability (definitely not with green or red tractor reliability) with a suitable size starting with the advent of models using the HT4100. Better to have stayed with the Olds V8 before the foray into the dismally downsized, sorrowful, even pathetic Eldorado following this generation. Another well documented story on the previous pages/chapters of CC.
Ah, AF!
I’ve never been able to find an extensive article about these two engines, the HT4100 and Northstar. Any ideas where I could? So if the V864 Digital Fuel Injection was horrible, and the aforementioned engines were horrible, and the Oldsmobile diesel was horrible, did Cadillac have any good engines in the mid 70s through the 90s?
At least the 8-6-4 could be defeated by cutting a wire and had a reliable 3 speed auto. Sure then it was just a big block Caddy with terrible fuel economy but at least it was smooth and stately and minus the electronic trickery.
The 425 V8 introduced in 1977 was solid, as was the 368 it spawned in 1980. That is the motor that had the V8-6-4 scheme foisted on it in 1981. As Dan notes, it was fine if you disabled the system.
The Olds FI 350 used in the first gen Seville from ’76-79 was also well regarded. The fuel injected version was specific to Cadillac. After those engines, the later iterations of the HT4100 family that displaced 4.9 liters eventually were reliable. And of course you could get the Olds 307 and SBC in various iterations of the Fleetwood in the late 80s and 90s. The Buick V6 was also available in certain years, but the take rate was probably minuscule and performance would have left a lot to be desired.
Thank you so much for the information!
Hey Brendan,
As another counterpoint… this was parked in front of the hockey rink down by the water in Southie on Saturday… see CC for more pix of same car…
Right by Castle Island I see!
Pity the owner couldn’t had done better than the “Earl Sheib” paint respray job.
I would put a fiver on the hood that this is what GM’s lacquer paint looks like after too many years in the weather. There was something unique about the hoods on bigger GM cars of the era (I recall reading somewhere that they were aluminum) which killed the finish on them. I owned 3 beautifully maintained older B/C body cars from the 80s and the hood finish was bad on every one of them owing to little teeny checking cracks all over (despite a beautiful shine on the fender tops).
That soft lacquer paint that GM favored looked beautiful in showrooms but did not age or weather well.
IIRC in the GM ads they referred to this paint finish as “Magic Mirror Lacquer” paint.
Smooth, shinny and pretty when new; but a painus in da annus to maintain 5 or 10 years down the road.
Reminds me of a line in one of Ray Steven’s comedy songs…
“I’m so fat Earl Shieb wouldn’t paint me for $99.95…”
I find the talking ’71 Chevy…. disturbing.
Oh no! More slang from my generation! Don’t let it slip into common parlance! Moreover, I like these Caddys. They do really stand out from the ilk of the roadways, What with their fancy curves and “com-pu-tors”. Who needs ‘em? It must be nice to roll up to anywhere and feel like Jay Gatsby for a just a moment (before a Prius parks next to you and the green light across the water finally winks out.)
The mid to late 70s design details on this Cadillac work so well, because it was still a large car. Long hoods and short decks helped sell the style of a lot cars back then. And made designers lives a lot easier. When Cadillac tried to use this design formula on further downsized cars, it looked like a compromise.
This model certainly hit the sweet spot for proportions.
I am another guy who is not generally a fan of post 1980 GM styling who finds these Eldos quite attractive. One with a 368 and a THM could find its way into my garage even in my advanced state of fatigue with 80s GM iron (after owning three of them).
And there is something about navy blue cars of that era that made them look particularly elegant. The squarish shapes, the abundance of chrome highlights and that shade of navy (that had a teeny touch of green in it as I saw on the waxing rag of my 85 Crown Vic of a very similar color) was a perfect color for these more traditional cars.
Yup! Gotta agree with your navy blue color on cars of this era.
My sister had this same color LD, inherited from her Mother-in-Law, with the medium blue leather interior in it.
A most pleasing, classy, uptown-elegant color combo!
(Just don’t mention the engine, transmission or HVAC system in front of her.)
The 368 was long gone by the time this car was built but the ’84 and ’85 were the only years of this generation Eldo to have a fourth gear in the automatic transmission. How is the reliability on these compared to the earlier 3 speed THM?
The automatic overdrive transaxle in my sister’s ’85 LD was indeed slightly more reliable than the HT4100 V8 engine was.
Faint praise.
“How is the reliability on these compared to the earlier 3 speed THM?”
My 84 Olds 98 came with the THM2004R as its 4 speed auto. That was another of GM’s less than good ideas, as the unit was far too fragile for cars of that size. I had to rebuild mine at 54K miles (although at 13 years old). I do not have specific info on whether a different version was fitted to the Eldo, so perhaps it got something better?
Yes the THM2004R was fragile from the factory but today a lot of owners of vintage muscle cars are putting rebuilt 2004Rs in their cars to add OD. They can be built up fairly easily to handle over 300 hp and 300 lb-ft torque. 84-85 Eldorados had the THM325-4L
Based on the photos, the Cadillac looks to be in its element.
Nice row of townhouses, up scale neighborhood, etc.
Today, it would be row after row of Lexus, MB, and Bimmers with a dash of Tesla thrown in for a hip environment.
Great design let down by a terrible engine once the HT4100 debuted (gad I’d rather have one with the Olds Diesel than the HT4100.)
I saw a guy around my age, no older than thirty, drive by in a pristine white on white example of these a couple of years ago with all four windows down. I heartily dislike the Brougham aesthetic but that thing had a presence.
Also, “evening mist vignette resolution” is the phrase I didn’t know I’ve been looking for all my life!! I could never describe that hazy quality characteristic of 80’s films.
Impossible ….. only the front windows on the coupe rolled down. The back windows were stationary. Sorry to dis your comment LOL
NJcarguy, Indeed, no rear window ventilation available. The rear seat of this “Cadillac” was truly claustrophobic and the tiny tiny rear back light didn’t help.
I offered to help an elderly widow at church keep her late husband’s 1985 (I think it was an 85) yellow over yellow Eldorado running and when she gave up driving, I drove her to the 8 A.M. church service in that car.
From a distance it appeared to be a nice car, but there was an electrical leak that local mechanic could not find and I always had to have my charger/jumper with me when I went to her home.
While she was in church I took the car home and put a charger on it (see photo below). It needed a broom stick to hold the hood open.
Mice built a nest around the air cleaner element (it was fuel injected but still had a carburetor-like single port injection system with an old fashioned air cleaner). I cleaned out the nest and put wire mesh on the intake snout.
One day as I drove down the hill to pick her up after the church service I lost all braking. The brake lines had rusted out right under the driver’s door. I always thought modern braking systems were designed to prevent total failure, but I guess not. Fortunately, the emergency brake still worked.
And… it had the 4100. Actually, the car drove OK when the battery could start it and the brakes could stop it.
It did have the thickest most luxurious gold colored carpet I have ever seen in a car.
It was 20 years old and had 35K miles on it.
GM got these so right and the ’86 successors so wrong. Makes you wonder what happened at the corporate level.
To me, this is the last True Cadillac with the presence and cachet still intact. They lost the plot after this one.
These ’79-’85 E-bodies were some of my favorite examples of GM’s PLCs. Never mind that the ’86-’93-ish transverse-FWD cars were superior in every technical measure; they didn’t have any of the magic.
Fun note: In the recent “La La Land” film, Ryan Gosling’s character initially drives a Buick Riviera convertible, but toward the end of the movie, you see him in a same-generation Cadillac Eldorado convertible.
I was dining at a restaurant with a patio a few weeks ago, and there were parking spaces very near the patio. One of these pulled up slowly to park, an immaculate white/white/white Biarritz with wire wheels. Everyone was oohing and ahhing as it slowly pulled in and it looked nothing short of stunning in this fairly elegant alfresco setting. An older gentleman stepped out, and as he closed the door, it emitted the most inelegant crashing sound of ill-fitting parts and pieces. It’s hard to imagine this lack of precision was once commonplace. He had to close the door a second time so that it latched properly. Still, one of my favorite cars and on my bucket list.
Ugh the blunders of American car quality during the 1980s. It hate to say it, but it exemplifies why so many jumped ship to European and Japanese brands during that time.
Seems like the two-door A/G always sounded like there was a bunch of wrenches in the door when shutting it. Too bad the Eldorado was also so afflicted.
rlplaut’s story makes me want to rant about all these crazy low mileage cars that people are always asking a premium for.
WHY DO YOU THINK A 30+ year old car with under 100,000 miles is a good deal?
It’s not mileage that wears a car out, for one thing, a lot of things just wear out with age. Rubber parts, brake lines, pneumatic supports, electrical wiring, all wear out with AGE.
Sure, mileage wears out tyres and a few other things, but a lot of parts deteriorate with age. Then the less they are driven, the more things like seals and gaskets and valve guides dry out and crack. Oil and brake fluid accumulate more moisture when not driven than when driven. Mice get into the car.
Then a lot of low mileage cars end up with an elderly/inattentive owner who – she only drove it to the grocery store and back. Husband/Father/Son who knows about cars and knows what bad brakes sound like is gone and so she doesn’t notice the oil light coming on, or a funny noise, or never gets it fully warmed up or never drives it far enough to notice something failing, and a small repair/maintenance issue becomes a big one.
A car that is rarely driven even with a more attentive owner ends up with I’ll-get-around-to-it maintenance, v. a car driven daily which the owner is dependent on. A/C doesn’t work in September? Eh, I don’t need it for the winter anyway, I’ll fix it in the spring. Funny feeling in the front end with worn tie rods? I’m only driving it to the cruise in, I’ll make sure it gets taken care of . . . and then again, nothing gets done to it.
I’m more suspicious of a low mileage car than one which has gone 200,000+. I figure if it’s gone that far, it probably has some life left in it and will have fewer problems than a very low mileage car.
Also we learnt about buying cars from Greatest Generation types with sheaves of service records. They generally kept cars until the wheels fell off and it needed every one of those services. They got rid of no car before it was worn out so if they were selling it, it was USED UP.
Very true. I couldn’t agree more!
Yeah, the car is nice–but what strikes me about these photos is how beautiful the townhouses are, and all that wonderful brick and stone paving and the classical lamppost.
Why can’t builders build like this today? From the ’50s to recent times, we had the dull, unadorned, stark lines of modern architecture. It at least had some honesty about it (i.e. “form follows function”). But some of today’s buildings are just plain bizarre, and NOT based on function at all. Does anyone really think these new condominiums being built in Toronto are beautiful and artistic in any sense?
And that’s why homes in Boston’s South End average over $1,000 per square foot, like this 1,275 square foot, 2-bed/2-bath unit one street over from where I found this Eldorado priced at $1,359,000!
That is one expensive Eldorado!
I think it is strikingly beautiful while paying tribute to traditional….no, I can’t do it. It may be the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. Almost get nauseous looking at it. Now I can’t unsee it. I’m going to have nightmares about being trapped in some gigantic Soviet integrated circuit. Didn’t know Picasso made condos…
I like it, except for the slanted roof. Too much Jawa sandcrawler there.
Wow! Stunning photos, Brendan. I just love when a beautiful car parks on a beautiful street. Hell, I even like it when an ugly car parks on a beautiful street. These are some of the best Curbside photos ever featured on this site.
Love the ’79-85 Eldorado, at least from a visual standpoint.
Thank you Will! That means a lot considering your outstanding photography skills and worldly travelling 🙂
In my opinion these were the last Cadillacs that could marry traditional design cues with a more manageable size. I had a ’77 Coupe de Ville when these Eldos were new, and I was certain that Cadillac had found the right formula for the future.The first two model years ’79, ’80 are the best with the 350 V8. The V8-6-4 can be improved easily. I knew many co workers that owned the early models and they were very happy with them. I later bought a smooth greyhound ’94 Seville but these still remain a strong favorite.
Stately AF indeed…
My 1st car (an 84 SdV) was this same color blue with matching cloth interior, and it was a sharp looker – even if the hood had the same issues with the paint getting dull and cracking in places. But it was a wonderful highway cruiser – hills notwithstanding – and the A/C was always ice cold.
Of course, the THM2004R needed to be rebuilt at 85k…but the HT4100 never gave me any issues.
As far as millennial slang…despite being one…I still cringe when I hear someone say things like “lit”…but Stately AF is appropriate when describing this car.
rlplaut….that’s a FWD DeVille…
Wow, Just came across this loop…. I’m the owner of that Caddy. She’s in deed an all original 85 commemorative edition with about 41,000 miles on the clock.. Sat in a garage up in Fairbanks Alaska for about 20 years. The owner was my best friend’s dad who passed away suddenly about 2 years ago. No one in the family had any interest in her so I had her shipped out to Boston in August 2017. Its is a dream to drive..