1986 Chevrolet Corvette - Don't Meet Your Idols

How many times do I need to be reminded not to meet my heroes and idols? 

I was quite enamored of the "new-Corvette" when it first came out for no other reason than it was finally a Corvette that looked to be really all-new. For years prior Chevrolet touted the subtle and not so subtle changes made to the old Corvette, the star-crossed third-generation or "C3", as being substantial, world-changing and world-beating, Oh, how we longed for something all-new. Careful what you wish for.  

History the cruel judge it can be, we fast-forward the better part of four-decades and we find there's less respect for early fourth-generation or "C4" Corvette's like our burnt-orange '86 "drop-top" here than there is for "C3's". In particular the later ones like my 1977. Styling being the main culprit for certain no one would argue that a C3 of any year belongs on the same track as any C4. 

Most of the sins of the C4's styling, through my foggy goggles, were forgiven when Chevrolet came out with a convertible model in 1986. Built in partnership with the same talented folks who gave us the convertible 1982-1985 Buick Riviera and 1983-1985 Cadillac Eldorado, all the half-baked awkwardness of the fast-back was gone, replaced by a silhouette, top up or down, that's pure Hollywood. 

I found this one not far from my office. With only 43,000 on it's thirty-five year old ticker and a semi-digestible asking price of $10,500, the wife and I kicked its tires on a Saturday afternoon about a month ago. 

It's been years since I've driven a C4 and I've forgotten how hard they are to get in and out of. My '77 is certainly not as easy to get into as most SUV's or even a sedan but this thing is ridiculous. The "sill" so wide I had to take a giant stride to get over it then grab the steering wheel as I swung myself into a ball and plopped myself down into a seat that was somehow simultaneously rock hard and softly enveloping. 

My tiny wife had to do the same only her immediate reaction was different than mine. "Smells like (cigarette) smoke", she said. Sure as hell did. It was also filthy inside then again the salesman said it hadn't gone through service yet. Hmm, ok. 

The seat was too low and too far back and it wouldn't move. Then I noticed the manual was a 4+3; GM's goofy transmission that skips 2nd and 3rd gear when you're going slow to save gas. The engine has enough torque that you don't really need 2nd and 3rd when just cruising casually; when you're getting on it 2nd and 3rd are magically available to you. I've driven these before and thought nothing of them but sitting as low as I was, I felt as though I had to reach up to shift the comically long shifter. Awkward. 

Sitting as far back as I was, pushing the clutch in was a real joy. And it's heavy and long play didn't help matters. Finally I got the engine turned over and the big old L-98 didn't disappoint. It's growling manliness reminding me of the way engines used to sound. Actually, it sounded a lot like the L-48 in my '77 but...I digress. 

Then I couldn't find first gear. Or was that reverse? No, wait...isn't that fourth? I hoped and prayed I was in some forward gear when I let out the clutch and...I stalled it. Subsequent tries weren't much better until finally after maybe the sixth try, I got the thing to move.  

I tried in vain to shift out of first with about as much success as getting it in there; the sales guy must have thought I'd never driven a manual before as I herked and jerked it. It's been a long time since I'd driven a manual with as clumsy a gear box and with a clutch that might be failing too. 

I never left the dealer lot. 

I put it right back where I found it pulling through a parking space so I didn't have to attempt to find reverse. I popped open the clam-shell hood to peak at the engine and the passenger side hinge was collapsed; it took both me and the sales guy to prop it open. The wife had long given up and was sitting in our car playing Words with Friends. 

He called me nearly three weeks later after it "went through service". I thanked him for the call and told him I wasn't interested in getting another "project car" like the one I had already. Interesting how a dealership would sell such a rough car "as-is" especially with an asking price of $10,500. Did they service the transmission, fix the power seats and replace the hood-hinge? I didn't ask lest I give the impression I was still interested in it. 

Amazingly, as put-off by this car as I was, I wasn't dismayed. Well, maybe just a little as I think if I was to get one of these I'd opt for an automatic. I'm still casually looking for an L-98 powered, C4 convertible and I know if I put my mind to it I will find one. Only, again, not this one. 

 

1971 Cadillac Eldorado - Nice To Think About

Another day as we say and another Facebook Marketplace gem. This time by way of relatively nearby Toledo, Ohio we have this 1971 Cadillac Eldorado convertible and I can't tell you how much I want to call on it to at least kick the tires in person and take it for a spin. While I'm at it ride on that swing set and hobby horse too. Of course I won't as the idea of doing so is most always more fun than actually doing it. I'm not into wasting anyone's time either. Still, fun to think about it. If it were a tad closer I might think more seriously about it but I have better things to do than drive three-hours round trip to joy-ride some old hoopty I have no real intention of buying. 

One of the most compelling things about this car is it has an asking price of a scant $6,500 and the only thing the seller claims it needs is a paint job. Well, to do it right that would not be cheap not but if that is all this needs, with a three to four thousand dollar paint job, all in for around ten-grand this might not be a bad investment. Challenge of course would be recouping expenses; in particular if I bought this with the intent to flip it at a profit. These cars in fair condition are valued by Haggerty at some $12,500 but nine times out of ten I've found those values to be generous. Makes you wonder why this one would go for so little. Then again, that hour and half or so traipse west might just answer that question for me. 

The first Cadillac Eldorado was introduced in 1953 as part of Cadillac's fiftieth anniversary celebration. Named by a Cadillac employee, through 1955 all Eldorado's where convertibles; a hard top model was added in 1956. The Eldorado was built on Cadillac's C-body chassis through 1966 and was switched to General Motor's E-body for 1967 sharing it with the Oldsmobile Toronado and Buick Rivera. Whereas Buick chose to keep the running gear of the Riviera "conventional", meaning front-engine, rear wheel drive, Cadillac chose to adopt the front-wheel-drive, "Unitized Power Package" that Oldsmobile used on the Toronado; only difference being Cadillac used their proprietary V-8 engine and not the Oldsmobile engine. There was no convertible Eldorado for 1967; the first time there was none since the model was introduced in 1953. 

That lack of a convertible Eldorado changed with the literal "big-reboot" for 1971. Cadillac overhauled their entire lineup for 1971 and along with a new deVille and Fleetwood line, Eldorado was changed significantly as well. Although less than an inch longer overall, the new Eldorado rode on a wheel base more than six-inches longer; no doubt the bump in wheelbase was to enable the optional convertible top to fold down on top of the rear deck of the car and not take up much if any space in the trunk. The Eldorado was the only convertible offered in the Cadillac line starting in 1971.  

In my opinion, these Eldorado's are one of the few automobiles that actually looks best in convertible form. Fixed room versions are pillared and the look, again, through my goggles, is awkward, clumsy and extremely bulky; I like a big car but even I have my limits. These are not svelte automobiles and along with the bulging rear fenders, a lovely if pointless throw-back styling detail that went into the dumpster on the 1973's, made the cars look even larger. The convertible top helps to trip the over all bulk of the design and add at least some sort of sporting elan to the whole thing. 

While the previous models were hardly "sporty" in terms of their road manners, Cadillac softened the suspension settings on these cars for an even more cloud-like ride. Riding like a cloud does a car no favors when the going gets choppy or twisty but Cadillac determined that kind of super cushy, floaty ride was what their target buyers wanted. They probably weren't wrong with that assessment seeing that folks with money back then grew up with cars that rode like farm implements with hard rubber tires or steel wheels. Couple that with primitive roads, and cars like this Eldorado riding on smooth pavement must have been dreams come true. 

These cars shared most of the same dashboard layout other also-new for '71 Cadillac's did; sadly, a wretched affair of hard, life-less injection molded plastic and hard plastic. The leather trimmed interior it shared with other Cadillac's was also inferior to the plusher high quality vinyl found in Buick's and Oldsmobile's. So, what did buyers get with this car that made it worth the substantial tariff to own one? If they weren't into the subtle brilliance of the torque-steer squashing front-wheel-drive hookup and the styling, not much more than perceived prestige and "pride-of-ownership" as you showed off you could afford it. 

That sort of thing doesn't row my boat but it sure did for people of my parents generation, what Tom Brokaw refers to as, "The Greatest Generation". My mother in particular was steadfast convinced to the day she died that there was something truly special about a Cadillac. That may have been true at one time but by the 1970's that sentiment, clearly, was not grounded in reality. 

Still, I'll take this car simply because I like it. Of course I won't but it is nice to think about.