It’s incredible that finds like these still exist, but they do: a 1973 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible, in one family ownership since new, and barn stored since the early 2000s. We featured it a while back, but it’s such a great find that when it was relisted, we thought we better take another look! While we all fantasize about the dusty, dirty car sitting on a forgotten farm, there are plenty of vehicles that simply get retired and stay in the family homestead for years, safe from the elements and usually never too far from being fired up again. That’s certainly the case with this big body Cadillac convertible, that the seller snagged out of Washington State with just 22,000 original miles on the clock. The colors aren’t the greatest, but it looks quite tidy nonetheless. Find it here on eBay where bidding is at $10,200 with no reserve.
You can’t not love this profile, if for no other reason than appreciating the raw excess this generation of cars represented. The Cadillac looks laser straight down the sides, so whatever the storage arrangement was helped to ensure it wasn’t exposed to paint cans and recycling bins. The Cadillac retains its original hubcaps and comes with an older soft top that still appears to be in excellent condition. The chrome bumpers and all lenses look to be in good shape, along with the glass, and none of the beltline trim appears to be missing, either. The Pacific Northwest is a great place to find rust-free vintage vehicles, and the underside photos reveal a classic car in excellent shape, top, and bottom.
The color combination really is an interesting one, largely because it seems most Cadillac buyers at this time wanted a snow white leather interior with a bright red or deep gold exterior. This is one of the more muted Eldorados I can recall seeing, with what looks like a pewter exterior over a slate gray leather cabin. It’s extremely subdued, but also in mint condition. It was repainted once before, but the seller doesn’t confirm if it was in the original colors. The power top functions as intended, and the dash has no cracks. While the underside is rust-free, the seller has noted some bubbling in the trunk lid but claims it’s nothing serious.
What’s amazing is how easily the seller claims the Cadillac started back up once he received it, with a new battery and new fluids being all it needed to run and drive with no signs of knocking or smoking. The engine bay is clean, with just some minor cosmetic blemishes, and I might proactively change hoses, spark plugs, and plug wires just to get ahead of any deferred maintenance. I don’t necessarily see these as growing in value in the future, but they do have a following that will always pay this kind of money for one. You can’t go wrong if you’re in need of a droptop cruiser that can take some friends or the whole family along, and buying one like this with a great story and in time warp condition just makes it even sweeter.
Seems dash has a crack…
I don’t see any crack in the dash….but the steering wheel appears to need replaced.
The steering wheels in these were very fragile. I bought a ’72 Eldorado coupe in ’76 and the plastic wood trim in the wheel was already starting to disintegrate.
Seats were reupholstered in a non-stock pattern. Terrible colors lol. Cool cars, but beware of the scissors top these cars have. The mechanism can be a nightmare!
Déjà vu…this one was already featured on 8/15. https://barnfinds.com/only-22k-miles-1973-cadillac-eldorado/
Still don’t believe the originality claims. The seats are obviously wrong for this car. They shouldn’t be blue based on the rest of the interior colors.
Everyone sees colors differently. I see this as Champagne with blueish seats. Could be gray, but the fact that everything else on the interior is Champagne (dash, door cards, carpet, I’d say the seats have been recovered with the cheapest covering possible, and it just happened to be in this awful color.
IMO 10 grand is too much for this car
It seems they changed the pattern some on the backrest. I looked at pictures on-line and these to have been altered to make it easier to cover. Keeping with the cheap theme.
Brown door panels and blue seats? No way Cadillac offered that in 1973.
was reupholstered.
badly.
Awful reupholster job
22k, humm – with replacement upholstery, missing window weather seals, and rusty crust on seemingly everything? Yeah, I think 22k is someone’s foggy memory (less than 500miles per year).
When I see pictures of the owner, I wonder how much they lowballed them?
“Sorry ma’am, since the car has been in the garage for years, I don’t think it will ever run properly without weeks of mechanical labor and expensive non-available parts. The best I can do is $1,200 and I’m taking a huge risk here.”
Lots of assumptions there Mike…
I am with Mike. I feel compassion for the long-time owner who is sad to see their baby move on to another owner while taking comfort that the next owner will be as loving as they were to their beloved car. It may be why they are willing to get one last photo of themselves with it. Sadly, we are finding too many of these “second owners” are just snakes who will quickly flip the car for large profits and to lord knows who. Wish it were not true but it is apparently increasingly so in many cases.
Helpful tip: Make sure your upholstery guy isn’t colorblind.
Aside from the ugly upholstery color and pattern, I have to ask why it was necessary to reupholster the seats at all with such allegedly low mileage.
My guess is this Cadillac has over 200 thousand miles on it. The Reupholstery Is a tragic blue gray vinyl and they did not follow the original pattern. I can’t see this car pulling any more than two thousand.
Me being a Cadillac tech from this era, Not true mileage. Engine compartment rusted, seats wrong, may be a $3,000 car.
Agree with Greg. I was not a Cadillac tech but I did work on a few while wrenching in a gas station, these cars we’re not fun to work on. Interior is a shameful coverup, how can you mix blue with beige? If this ( and I should not use if) this engine and trans has to be resealed its a huge job. These cars are not that valuable when in good condition anymore. But who know, I am certainly not an expert.
Up to 14 K now ! Yikes……….from the video looks like the front end is out of whack…..at least needs an alignment. Strange the steering wheel has disintegrated………kind of indicates sun damage………..’Merica has been berry berry good to me!
So many red flags in the ad and the details. Read it and you should understand and run away like the gingerbread man.
Even if the ad wasn’t enough to scare you away just the car itself and the obvious issues are plenty to hard pass.
Shame that individuals like this are allowed to do this.
I didnt look at the bid history, maybe shills? But the only way to stop it is to not bid encourage and report to ebay, Craigslist, fb market place.
Buyer beware! If this car actually has 22K miles on it, the car sat outside in the elements for decades. It probably has 122K miles, if not 222K miles.
It’s incredible that finds like these still exist, and it’s also incredible that an elderly woman would pose in front of it.
Agree with just about everyone above. Likely 122k miles.
Having run a restoration shop for many years, here is how I see this car ending up with those seats:
Customer: My car needs the seats recovered.
Shop owner: OK, here is what it will cost in leather:
Customer: EEK!
Shop owner: OK, how about vinyl?
Customer: eek!
Shop owner: OK, I have some cheaper vinyls, but only in a few colors.
Customer: I think the blue will be good.
Shop owner: Blue it is!
And on the 7th day the car was done, and the customer delighted at how much money was saved. All parties were happy!
I’ve rehabbed more than one of these. No way it’s 22k miles. Top is splitting by back window. It’s a $2k car. Ebay buyer will be remorseful, and should expect to empty their wallet getting it back to original Eldo condition.
Reprinting my comments from the earlier BF listing:
As an previous owner of Eldo’s in the era, I offer my opinions:
Pro: Solid ride, excellent motor, professed low miles, sleek body style (before GM introduced rubber filler panels in ’74) and hard-shell parade cover.
Con: Pukey colors, poorly re-upholstered seats, incorrect rear seat, missing sill plate(s), windshield pillar moldings and door window moldings are going to be cracking/missing.
IF the seller has the provenance to prove miles, and with a full re-upholster and repaint with vibrant colors it would be a keeper!
Presently at $15k with 22,000 miles who care about the interior that can be changed the rest of the car looks solid.
IF you believe the mileage, which seem like a fairy tale to me, you’d need a good $4000 to do the seats correctly by the time you had hides of leather dyed the correct color and have a competent upholsterer do the work.
Ended: Aug 31, 2021 , 2:54PM
Winning bid:US $15,101.00
[ 42 bids ]
Located in:Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, huh? I’ll have to keep my eyes open for it. Maybe the “Count” bought it.
Whoever did, I’d love to hear their comments about buying a $2000 car for $15,000
There’s a sucker born every minute!!!
I don’t think the seats are reupholstered, nor are they correct to the car. They are junkyard take-outs from a different GM car. Most likely an Olds or Pontiac, I have bought, sold, traded, and repaired literally dozens of worn-out and beat-up rides from this era. Owned and driven several Caddys from 1968-1976 models, mostly DeVilles, loved every one. Should have found some of that lovely brocade fabric Cadillac used in the late 60s/early 70s.