• Seller: Chalie G rant (Contact)
• Location: Oak Park, Michigan
• Mileage: 41,000 Shown
• Chassis #: 693471Q401002
• Title Status: Clean
• Engine: 500cui V8
• Transmission: Automatic

For those who like their Cadillac luxury to be classically sized, the newly-restyled-for-1971 Fleetwood Eldorado would be an obvious candidate for “favorite coupe” honors. Did you know, however, that it is less than an inch longer than its immediate predecessor (221.6 inches versus 221 inches)? That new fabulously baroque styling certainly makes it look even bigger than it is, and that’s a good thing for those who are shopping for a clean example of this popular 1971-76 bodystyle. This Eldorado is being presented as a 41,000-mile, two-owner car that the seller has hung onto since 1996, and it’s now being offered as a Barn Finds Exclusive in Oak Park, Michigan. The asking price is $15,000.

By 1971, one could expect a Cadillac to be laden with almost every luxury feature as standard equipment. Power brakes, power steering, and automatic transmission were obviously included in the $7,383 base price, but so were power windows, a two-way power seat, and automatic level control. The seats in this car appear to be the optional “expanded leather upholstery,” a $184 option that appears to be in fine original condition.

You can see that this Eldorado has the optional power door locks, and a wild stylistic touch is the windshield wiper control pod on the door panel, as if there were no more room on the dashboard. I love it.

The standard engine in all Eldorados was Cadillac’s huge 500-cubic-inch V8. The compression ratio was lowered to 8.5:1 in 1971, but gross horsepower was still ample (365), as was torque (a whopping 535 lb.-ft.). Cadillac did advertise the net horsepower rating in the 1971 sales catalog, and in that new format, the 500 was rated at a more accurate 235 horsepower and 410 lb.-ft. of torque. That was still enough to outdrag the Lincoln Mark III in a July 1971 Motor Trend road test; the Cadillac accelerated to sixty in 9.8 seconds (compared to 10.25 for the Mark) and completed the quarter-mile in 17.06 at 83 miles per hour (17.7 at 82.5 for the Lincoln). Fuel mileage was about what you’d expect: 9.2 to 11.3 miles per gallon.

In 1971, General Motors introduced a one-and-only-one-year feature: “flow-thru ventilation,” which “assures a continuous movement of air through the passenger compartment.” The evidence of this short-lived system is the louvered trunk lid.

The owner says that the Eldorado “drives straight and strong,” and it has nice chrome and good tires. Back in the 1970s, Cadillac still had their exceptional reputation for quality, and a low-mileage Cadillac like this one should last for years. If you want to cruise the Great Lakes (or anywhere) next summer in an extroverted big, big coupe, make an offer on this ’71.