2026 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, what was at the time, supposedly, the last factory convertible sold in this country. Someone must have really missed the good old days of Eldorado convertibles because on top of this 1998 Cadillac Eldorado's $42,000 window sticker, the original owner forked over an additional $25,000 to get this literally converted to a convertible.
Problem with convertibles whether they're factory or not, they don't all look good top up, top down. or both. This conversion here actually doesn't look half-bad top up or down. Also means it doesn't look half good. At the end of the day, how a convertible looks is what it's all about because the experience of driving topless is not all it would appear to be cracked up to be.
You'd think it would be. I mean, what wouldn't there be to love? Top down, the wind in your hair, you and perhaps your passenger or passengers becoming one with mother nature's song. Doesn't that sound lovely? It does. Then reality sets in. Trust me, I currently own two-convertibles, which is ironic since I'm not a convertible girl per se, so I know a thing or ten about convertible motoring.
First off, if you live up here on the cusp of the North Pole, "convertible season" is incredibly short; shorter than "pool season" which is, on paper, Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend but more like the Fourth of July through Labor Day. You drop the top on any day outside of that window and the wind chill will have you pulling over the first chance you get to put the top back up. My wife and I both have hoodies stashed in our 1991 Corvette convertible "just in case". Perfect weather can feel less so once the wind hits you.
In the height of summer, even up here, with the top down, the sun will broil you. We drove with the top down on an anniversary weekend trip to Toronto several years ago in my wife's 2004 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GTS and I got sun sick so bad I nearly threw up at the border. The poutine didn't help either.
On the open road, though, when the weather is perfect, even at night, driving a convertible can be a clandestine experience. Again, problem up here is those moments are few and far between. Also, most convertibles with fabric tops like ours both have and this car has, are much noisier inside than their comparable fixed roof versions. Head room is also compromised with the top up.
The biggest problem with this car, though, is not its after-market chopped top - it's the fact it's powered by Cadillac's infamous "Northstar" V-8 engine. Especially one with 95,000-miles on it and the seller asking $14,000 for it. The "low refrigerant" light is on too. Bruh, seriously? The problems with these engines are well documented which is a shame since when they're not eating their head gaskets, they're wonderfully smooth and powerful. Until they're not. The fix is expensive and I've yet to see anyone swap in a different engine into these cars and have everything work right.
Sadly, someone who doesn't know about the Cadillac Northstar will buy this and hopefully they won't soon be sorry.
No comments:
Post a Comment