1990 Cadillac Eldorado - Time Marches On

Based on how the passage of time morphs our view of events and circumstances of the past, not just events of the recent past, mind you, but history in general, it's safe to say that the passage of time will change our perspective on "now" in ways we can't even imagine are possible. Whether we like it or not and regardless of which side of any line we currently have decided to stand on. Case in point, years ago, I found these "little" Cadillac Eldorados to be the embodiment of everything that was wrong with GM. And now, remarkably, I find them to have aged into pretty neat little cars.

The 1986 Cadillac Eldorado was a remarkably progressive design for GM; let's not for a second confuse "progressive" with necessarily "good".  It was even more of a break from tradition than their paradigm shifting 1979 Eldorado was. That's saying a lot seeing how different the '79 was from what came before it. GM had engorged the Cadillac Eldorado to unnavigable proportions by 1978 and the downsized 1979 Eldorado was lauded for it's engineering and packaging and for it's styling as well. The 1979 Eldorado had lost the better part of two feet of length and more than one thousand pounds and was remarkably still considered a prestige automobile. However, not willing to leave well enough alone and evolve the 1979 Eldorado further, GM rebooted the platform it was based on completely for 1986. This time, downsizing that resulted in a near watershed automobile for 1979 instead resulted in an ill conceived and poorly received one. Opinion? Somewhat. But Eldorado sales crashed some sixty percent from model years 1985 to 1986.

GM responded with impressive swiftness to cratering sales by making the Eldorado more "Cadillac-like" for 1988 by adding and inch and a half fore and aft while retaining the previous car's relatively diminutive 108 inch wheelbase. Doesn't sound like a lot and in photos it's difficult to notice the subtle improvement in appearance between a 1986 and 1988 Eldorado but the extra sheet metal worked wonders to mitigate the 1986 car's stubby appearance. What's more, Cadillac increased displacement of its transverse mounted, division exclusive V-8 engine for 1988 from 4.1 to 4.5 liters nudging horsepower to 155 from 135. More importantly, torque increased from 200 to 240 foot pounds. By today's standards these increases are minuscule but they were seismic back then.

Shame that Cadillac rolled out the painfully over-shrunk 1986 Eldorado and not at least this car. Our subject here is also an oh-so-rare "Touring Coupe" with a sports tuned suspension along with some hunky cladding. At first it seemed as out of place as sneakers. It was a harbinger of where Cadillac would attempt to go over the ensuing decades with mixed results.

In fairness to Cadillac we have to wonder if there was anything they could have done to usage the hemorrhaging of market share they experienced in the '80's and '90's. The answer is a blunt but qualified, "no". For the first thirty years after World War II Cadillac ruled the domestic luxury car market undaunted and unchallenged by competition. By the second half of the 1970's European luxury imports really began to gain significant traction and literally torpedoed Cadillac. Well heeled buyers passing on the deVille's for BMW's and Mercedes Benz'. Audi's too to some degree. A number of serious gaffes in product planning and execution certainly didn't help Cadillac either. In many ways Cadillac to this day is still digging out from under.

History always being revised, if Cadillac ever goes on a 1980's esque, product swoon again, today's lineup will be revered as the greatest line up of Cadillacs since the days of V-16 lore. Which we all know to be complete bunk. Today's Cadillacs are the greatest Cadillac's ever, V-16's and what not not withstanding; everything being relative. These "little" Eldorado's, though, never got their fair shake because they were (somewhat) unfairly compared to the wonton styling excesses of what came before them. Not to mention Cadillac the did terrible job they did with their first attempts at these things but such was GM years ago. They kept at it until they got it right no matter how much money and market share they lost. And then when they finally did get it right they deep sixed it. By the way, I'd be hard pressed to believe that driven back to back and based purely on driving dynamics that anyone would choose a 1979-85 Eldorado over even a stubby 1986-87 Eldorado. Styling wise there's no comparison but to the seat of your parents there's no question the little Eldo was the far superior automobile.

Our pretty red head here is for sale out in sun drenched Las Vegas for an eye watering $15,000. That's '76 Eldorado convertible money if you ask me. Sure, that big oaf might not be a fraction of the car this is but who would buy this for what it can do when any car today can run circles around it. Aging electronics scare me more than a blown head gasket too. Caveat emptor, y'all.

My sentiment towards these cars is nothing short of remarkable considering I wouldn't have been caught dead in one of these when new. Well, perhaps maybe these '90-'91 Touring Coupes. Then again, back then, this car was lambasted for what it wasn't and not for what it was. Just as, for instance, we'll never know how good a job Gerald Ford could have done since he was judged so harshly by association when he was in office. Time marches on and changes everything.