If you’re looking for a beautiful design from the William Mitchell era of General Motors styling, you have an abundance of riches, and one such peak was the E-Body triumvirate of the Buick Riviera, Oldsmobile Toronado, and Cadillac Eldorado. I’ll take one of each, but if you had to choose one, few could fault you for choosing the 1968 edition of Cadillac’s Fleetwood Eldorado. It still had the original 1967 model’s hidden headlights, but it also had Cadillac’s big new 472-cubic-inch V8. A lot of work has been done on this example that Tony Primo found on craigslist in Cathedral City, California, and the seller has receipts for all of it. Considering all that, the asking price of $24,995 doesn’t seem too bad.
Using the same front-wheel-drive architecture as the Toronado, the Eldorado has the same flat floor, and all that room is the first thing you notice upon opening the door. The next, in this case, is the immaculate condition; the upholstery has the original patterns (they have been “rebuilt with new foam and new fabric”), and there are no cracks that I can see in the dashboard. The Eldorado was certainly the sportiest Cadillac in 1968, but it still had an oblong speedometer, sparse instrumentation, and a bench seat up front, in addition to standard features that would be optional in almost every other new car at the time.
Unfortunately, the seller of this Chestnut Brown Eldorado hasn’t included any pictures of the engine compartment, although they mention that the 375-horsepower 472 has been rebuilt, as has the transaxle. It has a new water pump, alternator, battery, and exhaust system (with Flowmaster mufflers).
That’s not all—the seller mentions that the following work has also been done:
- “Brakes, [including] rotors, calipers, hoses, master cylinder”
- “Front end, including ball joints, bushings, tie rod ends, CV joints, hub bearings, wheel bearings, [and] pitman arm”
- “[New] shocks: Front coilovers, Rear Air”
- Door and roof rail weatherstrips
- New vinyl top
Even though I don’t ever follow this advice, it’s often said that collectors should buy the best example that they could afford, and this Eldorado certainly falls into that category. Of course, it should be inspected like anything you’re paying twenty-five grand for, but if it all checks out, you’ll have one of the most beautiful Cadillacs built at a price that is certainly lower than the cost of all the work done.
Nice catch, Tony Primo and another Aaron Toth example of excellent automotive journalism.
How could anything like this be created today with a soulless logic driven computer? The hours of crafting this on sheets of drafting paper are evident.
Exuding the class, power and elegance they were known for, this is one critical piece of mosaic that the Cadillac of today is trying to recapture.
Thank you! Nice of you to say.
I always loved the styling of this car. I know front wheel drive offers better traction, but one has to wonder, if that transaxle could hold up to all that power. Not to mention, when the tires lose traction, you lose your steering. Beautiful car and a great find.
Absolutely it could! The TH425 was an adapted version of the TH400. Rather than a gearing system, the transmission is connected to the engine via a 2-inch-wide “Hy-Vo” chain, which connects to the transmission, positioned (and geared) reverse to what you’d see on RWD, underneath the driver’s side of the engine. I have one on my 1970 Toronado (no slouch at 385 HP and 500 lb/ft torque and 4200 lbs empty). A lil leaky at 55 years, but well-built. So robust, in fact, that they were used with a 455 in GMC motorhomes with a stellar reliability record.
GM used the same drive train under huge motor homes. Holds up perfect. No, you don’t lose steering if a wheel spins, which rarely happens.
Have you ever driven in snow with a front wheel drive? I have, for many years. When the front tires lost traction, you couldn’t steer, unless you let off the gas.
As for your question Khayes, no
absolutely not! The Oldsmobile
425 transaxle was a real money pit for those poor souls that bought a Tornado or an Eldorado.
If it wasn’t overheating, you had to put new tires on it EVERY other
week as alignment issues and
wheel shimmy would scrub the
tread off he front tires in no time flat. And let’s not forget that God
awful whining sound you heard all the time from the transaxle? It was enough to make you pull your hair out. No KHayes, these cars may have looked great, but they were nothing more than rolling lemons that kept you broke constantly. I’ll bet I spent
over $2K in ’70s money before I
wised up and got rid of that POS
Tornado! After I sold it, I wrote and called my legislators to see if
Congress could ban FWD vehicles as a financial danger to
the consumers that bought them.
Even today, I still hate FWD but I’m forced to accept it. While I hate FWD cars, my girls love them. They like all those bells and whistles that’ll cost you thousands to fix when they fail.
America would be much better off if we started building RWD
vehicles instead of caving in to
the global market!
Ken, you must have had a real lemon!
NONE of the many toronado’s and eldorado’s I’ve owned had ANY of those problems.
No trans issues, no whine, no alignment issues, etc.
Sorry you missed out on the great experience it is to drive these remarkable cars.
I’ve drove these for many years, nothing you said happened to me.
Geez, Ken…
Still kinda angry after 50+ years
Let it go
What? The Th425 was solid. Either you don’t know how to screen a car or you got an oddball lemon. The Caddy 472, the Olds 425 and 455 were solid engines. Sorry, these were great and solid for their time. Stock, high durability, high torque.
Elvis had a black one similar to this. Great cars
IMO the best-looking Eldo caddy ever built. timeless style. standard of the world back then
Totally Agree
Factory style twin exhaust, great. Cut off the flow masters and go with stock mufflers! What a find. The Toro’s fancy cousin.
I bought a 1970 Eldo in 1979 for $800, a very good driver in good condition in Santa Rosa, CA.
Kept it for 2 years until I moved to Fla., then sold it. I once drove it to Denver doing 90-100 miles an hour, when conditions allowed, and it was so smooth, quiet, and effortless. Drove it to Tahoe in the snow, no chains needed. Fantastic car, I still look at these “for sale” hoping to find one that may entice me.