1993 Cadillac Eldorado with Sports Appearance Package

Of Menhirs and Wedges

and

May 24, 2024

Note: Today’s column was prompted by me, but was written by ACF member and prior ACF contributor, April C. As you’d expect, I always loved the Eldorados, from the parade float ‘71-’78s to even the Mini Me ‘86-’87s. She recently aquired our featured subject. And was kind enough to send me some pictures. I heartily conveyed my extreme interest in doing a column on the car. And not only did she send a healthy amount of Brougham cheesecake photography, she even submitted a column. So to paraphrase a rather famous quote, read on, MacDuff. -TK

-The twelfth and last generation Cadillac Eldorado. I admired them when new and saw the design as a great improvement over the 86-91 platform, (though I do have a soft spot for the 90-91 Touring Coupe).

I remember attending an ‘International Autoshow’ in the mid-nineties and trying on all the Cadillacs for size. I found the fwd coupes and sedans too modern, preferring the traditional bench seat like interior of the LT1 powered Brougham.

It wasn’t until I spied an early version of this model Eldorado at a commuter rail station, that my opinion began to change. The black over red leather spec’d car was a base model, which meant that it had the standup hood ornament, white walls and aluminum wheels that mimicked the 55-58 “Sabre” turbine rims. I would see the sleek Cadillac most days from the window of the 7:00am express as I journeyed to a cubicle in the city.

Soon I begin looking for it as I passed the station, I mused that here was a cool looking contemporary Cadillac that I might consider if I landed that promotion. Then one day it was gone.

The Northstar arrived as an option in 93 on the Touring Coupe and Sport Coupe models. The following year saw the last of hood ornaments, turbines, and column shifters. A dechroming occurred next and we lost the traditional Cadillac grill, chrome bumper applique and side trim. The more Euro looking, performance-oriented Eldorado soldiered on to 2002, denied its planned golden anniversary model year.

An early production 12^th gen Eldorado, especially one with the more kindly regarded 4.9 litre engine remained on my short list of modern drivers for years. As I spend most of my time in a metropolis ranked third on a list of the most congested cities in the world, I need something with air bags, abs, and fwd. It’s like Death Race 2000 out there.

This low mileage 93 Eldorado popped up locally and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was meant to be. The car ticked all the right boxes, including a lovely carmine red metallic exterior and white leather, the last year for this option. The car looks at first glance like that year’s Touring Coupe or Sport Coupe, rather it wears the Sports Appearance Package. Ticking this box on the option sheet got you most of the other model’s performance design elements and upgraded rims but retains the chrome grill and most importantly the torque happy 4.9 litre engine.

The Eldorado had three prior owners, all enthusiasts who have worked to preserve this example. I am starting to feel bad about my decision to drive her in anger. I can’t tell you how many cars I have purchased to be daily’s only to have them become pampered pets. Maybe I need to add an early Seville STS to the fleet?

A Contemporary Design

The Seville that debuted in 1992 is elegant while its platform sister the Eldorado is brutalist in design. I wish I could find the quote; I remember reading years ago from a Cadillac executive, maybe John Grettenberger himself. He sought to compare the new Seville to the Eldorado; ‘the Seville design was likened to a rapier while the Eldorado was a saber’.

More like a Roman gladius, am I right?

The Eldorado looks compact parked on the current year’s street, amongst the elephantine SUVs and crossovers, but parked besides a contemporary Lexus SC 400 it appears to be the size, of well a Cadillac.

From some angles graceful; from others, it’s the shuttlecraft Galileo from TOS Star Trek.

Going out on a limb I would say it shares more in common with the Harris Mann school of wedges, than any Deville or Fleetwood. Think Aston Martin Lagonda, Austin Princess nor even Lotus Esprit. Of course, only one of those were Mann’s, the Lagonda was William Towns and the Esprit the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro.

The Eldorado is a product of a design team that had more than a foot in the European camp. Does the design herald the Art and Science school of the early 2000’s or is the Eldorado a stylistic missing link, Detroit’s late to the party contribution to the wedge era?

There are elements of the Rover 800 coupe (92-96), which was developed for the N. American market but never made it over the pond. And that triangular C pillar, I can’t help seeing the Volvo 262C Bertone. As the Bertone was inspired by the Lincoln Mark IV, (I kid you not… but that is a story for another day) a little trans-Atlantic cross-pollination seems fair play.

Even the seats have a whiff of Volvo about them, while the dashboard owes some royalties to Stuttgart. The seat belts on the other hand look like they came from a 67 Eldorado with their brushed metal body and Cadillac crest release buttons.

I am not suggesting Cadillac copied anyone’s homework, rather, that they had an eye firmly on the continent to help Cadillac capture younger buyers.

The design history would make an excellent mini-series if more people were interested in automotive styling. The design of the Seville and Eldorado would determine the survival of Cadillac going forward. If the GM Board of Directors didn’t like what they saw, the brand would be discontinued.

The new Eldorado was a ruthless competition between Pininfarina and the in-house Cadillac Studio. After you see the proposed Pininfarina mockups, you will agree the right side won. Read the whole thing from the horse’s mouth, leader of the Seville and Eldorado design team, Dick Ruzzin.

"Over two and a half years, I was able to create a new Eldorado and a new Seville that literally saved Cadillac from being out of business." 1

His epic four-part corporate war story can be found at the link: Pininfarina vs Cadillac Part 1 (velocetoday.com)

The Eldorado’s charm comes from its unstable mix of modern euro esthetics and traditional Cadillac design ques, egg crate grills, cathedral taillights and blade fenders. Add in distinctly un-European like Cadillac exterior and interior color options, especially on the early models, reinforces the shot gun marriage of Detroit and Rüsselsheim.

Sergio Pininfarina on a visit to the GM Design Center, gave it a back handed compliment, calling it a great design for the American market. Cadillac marketing called it both contemporary and classically American.

I do think it is a good design, its eleven-year run, supports its claim to timeless styling. The Seville received a complete redesign for the 98-model year. The Eldorado’s unchanging longevity might have also had something to do with GM budget restraints. Still, it is a design that has aged well. The Eldorado could swim through modern traffic without anyone realizing it is a classic car, particularly if finished in the sedate color palate of the 2020s. The only thing that would give the last Eldorado away would be that it is a coupe, a now largely extinct body style.

GM in the nineties still believed in itself and in America, the Eldorado and Seville were sold new in the UK, Germany and anywhere on the continent GM had a presence. It seems they were well received but were not about to challenge Mercedes’ home field advantage. Many have survived into old age, despite stretched head bolts. Numerous examples can be found online attending car shows or doing daily driver duties from Murmansk to Minsk.

The Euro market Eldorado received amber cornering lights, side markers and modified taillights. The taillights had insert amber turn signals and oddly, a reversing light only on the right-hand side. The wider European license plates necessitated the removal of the backup lights designed into the license plate cove. Some mid production cars also sport a Cadillac script on the trunk lid, no doubt to inform the locals that it’s a Cadillac Eldorado…not simply an Eldorado.

Let’s end with some a quote from Auto Motor und Sport,

“Der vor der Vorderachse quer eingebaute V8 lässt den Caddy-Hinkelstein wie von Obelix geworfen über den Asphalt fliegen. Mit Frontantrieb!”

The V8 installed transversely in front of the front axle makes the Caddy menhir fly over the asphalt as if thrown by Obelix.2 With front-wheel drive!

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/oldtimer/cadillac-eldorado-tc-us-schiff-mit-299-ps-v8-ab-4500-euro/

1. Retired auto designer is all about the details, Grosse Pointe News May 03, 2023

2. From Wikipedia:

Obelix is a cartoon character in the French comic book series Asterix. He works as a menhir sculptor and deliveryman. Obelix is noted by .the menhirs he carries around on his back and his superhuman strength.

A menhir is a standing stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found individually as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' size can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top.

Their purpose remains speculative, with theories ranging from druidic rituals to territorial markers or elements of an ideological system.

Further reading:

Swiss 1993 Cadillac brochure

https://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/cadillac/93cad/93cad.html

Driver’s Seat, Canadian road test of 1992 Touring Coupe