1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible

Pristine in White - Last Full-size Convertible

Cadillac has long been associated with the world's most distinguished motorists demanding luxury and performance. Again in '76 Cadillac was leading the way in defining luxury in the North American automobile with the Eldorado Convertible. Cadillac's advertisement back in the day boldly stated 'Today a classic, Tomorrow a collector's item'.

The Eldorado was a personal luxury car manufactured and marketed by the Cadillac Division of General Motors from 1953 to 2002 over ten generations. The nameplate Eldorado was chosen in an internal competition for a 1952 concept vehicle celebrating the company's golden anniversary and is a contraction of two Spanish words. They translate as "the gilded (i.e., golden) one" and also refers to El Dorado, the mythical South American "Lost City of Gold" that fascinated Spanish explorers. When GM's full-size cars were redesigned for 1971 the front wheel drive Eldorado regained a convertible model on the 126-inch wheelbase. This body design was made famous by Elvis who had a '76 Coupe as his last vacation car. As well, Eldorado was an interesting choice as the pace car for the '73 Indy 500.

In 1976, when other domestic convertibles had been discontinued, GM heavily promoted this generation of Eldorado as "the last American convertible". The '75 cars featured a Cadillac crest in the center of each light, and the '76 models are unadorned. Also, Cadillac script of the hood was incorporated into the grille header in 1975, and was a separate part for 1976, mounted above the grille header on the hood. Now all Eldorado's came equipped with the black detail on the wheel covers.

For personal luxury, with the exhilaration of top down driving, you had one last chance to buy an Eldorado Convertible. Cadillac built 35,184 Coupe models for 1976 and 14,000 Convertibles. The 1976 convertibles were considered instant collector's items, and speculators soon drove prices sky high. Cadillac knew the announcement of the final convertible models would generate additional attention and some report that had it been able to obtain additional convertible top components, Cadillac would have built and sold even more convertibles. Once factory production ended and dealer supply was depleted, prices exceeded the MSRP of $11,049.

This car was purchased and immediately put into ideal climate controlled storage conditions and is one of the finest Eldorado on the market today. The car has only 252 original miles and one documented owner since leaving the GM factory so has lived a pampered life in storage. This Eldorado Convertible has the purity and distinguished Cotillion White Exterior with Black Accent Striping and a White Top with soft White Leather Interior on Black Carpet. This car looks as it did the day it left the GM Factory destined for the showroom viewing. Cadillac Eldorado's have a ride like a dream cloud.

This Caddy, purchased April 1976, is from an era where the 'bigger the better' was the mentality and it shows as this baby makes a massive statement in luxury and performance. Under the long hood was an appropriately gargantuan engine: 8.2 liters a full 500 cubic inch V8 with 4BBL Carburetor, matted to a 3-speed Automatic Transmission. Until quite recently, this held the distinction of being the biggest engine ever offered in a postwar production car and remains the largest engine ever to power a production Cadillac.

This is a Cadillac and as such features everything you could want and more: Power Convertible Top, automatic climate control Air Conditioning, 6-way Power Seat, Power Steering, 4-wheel disc Power Brakes, Dual Mirrors/LH Remote, Tilt/Telescopic Wheel, Power Door/Trunk Locks, Power Windows, 15'' Steel Wheels and Hubcaps on Uniroyal Steel Belted Radials, AM/FM 8-Track Radio with Demo Tape, Power Antenna, Illuminated Entry and Rear Window Grid-Type Defroster.

Thirty Eight years ago, many believed this car would be the last American convertible built.   With this in mind an astute collector decided to go ahead and purchase several fully loaded Eldorado's, this being one of them. After purchase the cars would immediately be put into climate control storage.  They would spend their time in a special "Cadillac Vault" nicknamed the "Caddy room". The goal was to preserve the cars in "as new, as delivered" condition until one day when the investment could be realized.  Another function of the cars would be to have the trunk act as a safety deposit box to hold another investment - silver bars!  As the story goes this would be the worst kept secret, rather than the best kept secret, as many people knew what was hidden in the trunk!  Sorry but the silver bars we not included with our purchase, so we would not be able to pass them along.

Many believed this car would be the last American convertible as stated by General Motors. It wasn't, but it did mark the end of the line for that uniquely American concept: the full-sized open car. The term "land yacht" might well have been coined for this last American convertible.  This is a very rare and unique opportunity to purchase a "brand new" 1976 Eldorado with only one owner from new.