I drive past this car almost every day. I’ve gotten into a habit of quickly glancing in the direction where she’s usually parked. She’s almost always there. A pristine time capsule, the kind you expect to see at some classic car show. Maybe tens of thousands of dollars poured into it with a single goal in mind: to win the top prize. The kind you expect to be not just a garage, but a trailer queen, massaged with the best of paint scratch removers and hauled around for show. Not sitting by the curb a few blocks from where you live.
Basking in the sun like it’s 1967.
As I stood in front of the car songs from the classic vinyl era surfaced in my mind. I have a song for every antique car I get to be in or near. And when I say “near” I mean close, reeel close.
At first I thought this would be “Terminus Eldorado”. You know, by Teddy Nugent (my favorite one of his songs, btw). But somehow that just didn’t… quite suit this car or what I was feeling at the moment. I shifted to my right, out into the street, to take the next picture? From what has to be my favorite angle to photoshoot classic cars. You can almost never go wrong with this one. If there is any menace, any muscle there, this angle is going to show every last inch of it and put it all squarely in the spotlight.
And then I realized. You see, I am a Lincoln guy first and foremost, the Mark series in particular always spike my interest. Any GM, let alone an Eldo, is like a walk on the dark side. From what I do know about them I am fairly convinced that I wouldn’t much like it over there. Front-wheel drive anyone? On a big boat? Come on. Sounds like wrong-wheel drive to me. But now I stood in front of a creature of such style and grace, all of a sudden I didn’t really care which wheel drive it was. All I could do was stare at those curves. Or that…
tastefully sculpted rear end. Pure poetry. Pure lust.
Yes, I’m still talking about cars.
Cue John Cafferty. That’s the song for this car, and no other will do.
1967 was the first year of the radically redesigned 4th gen Cadillac Eldorado, now moved to a front-wheel drive platform. They only made these for four years, 1967-1970. And ladies and gentlemen, this girl is a 1967. One of the first ones. You can pin it down to the first two years of production because 1969-70 didn’t have the hidden headlamps. This one does.
Did you know that for three out of its four production years (with the exception of 1967, when this was an option) the 4th gen had the disc brakes standard? And that acceleration with the 429 cu in V8 was 0-60 in less than nine seconds? No, wait, let me put it this way, did you know that the “compact car” 7th gen Eldo (1986-91) armed with the best 80s technology that GM could muster? also had a 0-60 of 9 seconds, which is to say that under WOT the heavier and in every way bigger and by then some twenty years older 4th gen would probably beat it in a straight line?
Hell, the 7th gen would probably blow a gasket just trying to keep up, while our graceful prowler would barely break a sweat revving her (without a doubt clean) 7.03, or for the final year of production, in 1970, 8.2 liter V8? The sound you hear is that of my laughter, echoing down the corridors of time. Put John Cafferty aside for a minute, this car is to the 7th gen like Led Zeppelin is to Duran Duran.
I’ll leave it to Paul to educate us about how the mighty had fallen (that 7th gen Eldo is in my top 3 all-time not just GM but Detroit sins in general). Let’s just spend our final minute together discarding the images of the ugly from our minds and focusing on one of the last badass cowboys to roam this great land with style, grace, and substance.
The car’s owner, Kurt, with whose kind permission these pictures were taken, told me the car still runs with no known serious issues. The vehicle’s cosmetic condition leaves no doubt in my mind that it is true. It fills my heart with joy when I drive by and once in a while I look to the side street to check on this girl, and she won’t be sitting there.
Kurt, who is not the original owner, noted that these might be the original whitewalls. This vehicle is show ready folks. Even the interior is in excellent condition.
As I said goodbye to the gracious host and his beautiful car, I wasn’t feeling sad inside. My faithful girl was waiting, fresh with a full tune-up and new brakes, eager for us to take the streets in what promises to be a very exciting summer. But something made me turn around and look at the chick in black satin one last time. Actually it wouldn’t be the last time, as I am destined to drive past this car every day, simply by virtue of how the streets are laid out here. And so as I looked her up once more before walking away I knew that each time when I drove by I would be reminded there are times in life…
…when the dark side is calling.
Related CC reading: 1967 Eldorado vs. Renault R10: An Unfair Comparison Thanks To A GM Deadly Sin
Note: A rerun of an older post.
A lovely tribute to a lovely automobile .
Too big for my taste but I remember occasionally seeing these when new and yes, they were definitely driven with verve most of the time .
-Nate
Great biography, and photos! This Eldo looks so out of place in that neighbourhood. Almost like someone’s number is up, and the Mortician is paying a visit. lol
This song is such an excellent timepiece for 1984. As John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band’s commercial success peaked at that time.
I’m reminded of ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’.
It’s interesting that it hit at that time because the movie from which it comes positions it as a retro song: one of the hits of the vanished ’60s rock band Eddie and the Cruisers, whose founder (played by Michael Paré) died in 1964.
It’s an interesting but ultimately not very satisfying movie, whose script ends up backing itself into a corner. I sometimes wonder if the book is better: The movie is an adaptation of a novel by P.F. Kluge, who also wrote the magazine story on which Dog Day Afternoon was based.
Quite a find – and incredible that it’s a one-owner car. Over the years I’ve alternated between loving the Eldorado’s design, and the loathing it. A bit too dark and chiseled for my tastes, but still it’s a design that’s exciting.
And it’s quite a treat to find one of these in a modern setting. I found a similar black ’67 Eldorado a few years ago, also parked in a neighborhood. For some reason, I never got around to writing it up, but it was pretty interesting seeing it in comparison to the Honda Civic parked behind it.
We often talk about Buick Rivera and Olds Tornado, but this Cadillac is beautiful if more beautiful. It was often featured in various movies over years. For me, it has a very simple shape and tail but sophisticated front face, approach similar to the same vintage of Mercedes. More, it is monster size in comparison with the full size car back then.
This was peak Eldorado, in terms of styling anyway. While it influenced subsequent models, none were able to get the proportions just right like this one. And it sold very well.
The next gen went off the deep end with overwrought styling but sales kept going up. The downsizing of 1979-85 was a GM greatest hit, though, as sales skyrocketed to as high as nearly 78,000 in 1984, equaling over a quarter of all Cadillacs sold that year. Imagine what a winner it might have been with something better than that crappy HT4100 engine.
They screwed it up in 1986, of course, and sales dropped like a rock. The 1988 facelift, making it look more like a Caddy, helped a bit but they never were able to even reach half of their 1984 peak.
The final generation was probably the best of them as an actual car, but by then the personal coupe marked had dried up.
I absolutely adore the vinyl roof delete versions. So much cleaner. What a gem !
Can’t imagine too many “67’s” were even made. Quite a rare, ride. Looks to be in “unbelievable, good shape.
Worked , briefly, for a dealer that had a green one (sans vinyl top), in “2017”.
Was one of the “exotics”, available. Can’t remember the milage now. ((about “60-65k”)) come to memory. H’mm
i do recall the chrome and wheel wells were in nice shape. Body,glass wasn’t bad at all , given the age.
Looking back, this almost seems more like a concept car that made its way through to production. The sharp lines, the proportions, the shape of the rear end, the rear window – it manages to combine formality with sportiness without shortchanging either. Hard to pull off, but so well done. Huge, sure, and thirsty, no doubt, but in a culture that didn’t put a stigma on those things it’s no wonder it was a success.
Which made the next generation such a disappointment; it was just another big car.
What’s remarkable is that it shared a good deal with the Toronado and Riviera. It had a different roof upper and a different backlight, but a lot of the body shell was shared.
The Eldo is so dramatic. It’s definitely the kind of car that the Rat Pack would cruise around in. Sammy, get in the back seat!
“The sound you hear is that of my laughter, echoing down the corridors of time.”
Nice line, I like it. The feature car, too, by the way…
Paul,
While I’m aware of the benefits of re-running these older posts at a new URL, I hope you can find a solution that can include even just the year of initial publication in a way that won’t trip Google’s sensors…something that doesn’t require clicking through to the older post. As you know, as this site ages, a bittersweet but essential element is documenting how cars disappear from the curbsides over time, and how impressive it is if a car like this one survives in such a state for almost sixty years as opposed to the roughly forty-eight it had lasted when this post first went up. The more aware commenters are of the age of the pictures, the better the quality of discussion will be. Just a thought.
BK
Cadillac built 17,930 1967 Fleetwood Eldorado’s. I have owned 5 of them but none past the 1990’s due to parts scarcity and resultant expence. They are fabulous cars, we shall never see their like again.