Blue Plate Driver: 1982 Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz

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This 1982 Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz is offered up as a good running car with decent cosmetics and some minor wear-and-tear as you’d expect of any vehicle of this vintage. The seller claims the paint is excellent along with the body, and that it runs well with functional air conditioning. The Biarritz package gave the greatly economized El Dorado a splash of luxury with features like a stainless steel roof panel, but the drivetrain was still a shadow of its former pre-fuel crisis self. The Cadillac is listed for sale here on Barn Finds Classifieds in Livermore, California for $5,400 with 130,000 miles on the clock.

The seller acknowledges a few issues, but they all seem relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. The tufted leather seats show some wear and tear, and the fuel gauge doesn’t work. The leather still looks decent by my standards, especially for a car that’s lived in a sun-intense state and has over 100,000 miles on the clock. The seller may also know that in-person, the seats are much drier than they appear to be here, but there’s all manners of leather conditioners and dyes that can restore their bordello red beauty. The wood trim looks to be in acceptable condition, and all factory instruments and radio controls remain in place.

The back seat looks very nice, almost like the sort of backseat you read about that has never actually seen any seat time with passengers. It wouldn’t be surprising, either, considering the Eldorado of this vintage wasn’t exactly welcoming to backseat drives. In response to the fuel crisis, Cadillac shortened the flagship model drastically, and also shaved 1,000 pounds out of the re-design. The result was a car that had the same name but looked much, much different than its predecessor. The seller confirms that the Eldorado runs well and is equipped with cruise control, power steering, and power windows.

The only other real defect noted is a cracking vinyl top, which isn’t a surprise considering this old-school feature has often perished on cars that are left outside. The chrome trim on the bottom portion of the doors, bumper, and rear quarters all looks to retain good shine, and the wire-style hubcaps are also in good order. The Eldorado is equipped with an Oldsmobile-derived 350 good for about 170 b.h.p., and this era of the classic coupe came with independent rear suspension. Overall, this is an attractive example of one of the more affordable iterations of the Eldorado, and is a great choice for an easy-to-live-with cruiser.

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Comments

  1. Driveinstile DriveinstileMember

    I was surprised that the owner left out that its an Olds Diesel. Not too many of them left on the road. It probably gets, or got pretty decent fuel mileage baxk in the day. I’d say its survived really well.

    Like 3
    • CCFisher

      Not too many people would consider the diesel a plus. They were slow, they were loud, and they smelled like diesel fuel even when they weren’t running. It took a diligent owner and a skilled mechanic to keep them running properly, and even those that were properly cared for still had head gasket issues that often led to a hydrolock situation. My uncle had a diesel Seville that was so troublesome, he swapped in a gas 350. Surviving cars are interesting, but probably more fun to look at than to own.

      Like 2
  2. Mitchell G.Member

    Just be careful of any explosions after you get in and close the door. A guy named Ace knows a thing or two about exploding Cadillac Eldorados

    Like 4
  3. mike

    My favorite generation of the Eldo.

    Like 0
  4. Matt Pressey

    But what they didn’t know, what nobody outside the factory knew, was that that model car was made with a metal plate under the driver’s seat

    Like 5
  5. Johnny

    Nice looking car BUT hard to work on .Hate the emergency brake . It doesn,t have a release handle. Only a real small leaver behind the dash and to get it released. Get a pair of vise grips and pull hard on it. While your are on your back in a cramped up area. Or put it in reverse. Ever try that and the rear end is on ramps–tricky and dangereous–don,t try it.Get some vise grips and cuss the emergency brake. Even changing the valve cover gaskets is a pain.

    Like 1
  6. Angel_Cadillac_Diva Angel Cadillac DivaMember

    I don’t get it. Why is there an Oldsmobile engine in a Cadillac? Why doesn’t this Cadillac have a Cadillac engine?
    These were the years of boxy, small Eldorados, and a preview of what was to come. They got even smaller and uglier as the 80s wore on

    Like 3
    • Duaney

      The diesel was an option. I find the diesel to be the preferable engine, I’ve had good luck with them.

      Like 0
    • CCFisher

      The Olds V8 was used in 79 Eldorados, 76-79 Sevilles, and California-bound 80 Eldorados and Sevilles. If that upsets you, don’t read the next sentence. 81-82 Eldorados and Sevilles could be had with a 4.1L Buick V6, which was arguably more reliable than the other available engines.

      Like 0
  7. Rich

    It is never a good sign when a service manual is featured in the back seat.

    Like 2
  8. AZVanman

    A friend of mine was a travelling salesman covering 5 states in the early 80’s. He bought a new Olds with the diesel and proceeded to pile 200K+ miles on it with nothing more than regular maintenance. Certainly the exception, not the rule.

    Like 1
  9. Gordon

    Unfortunately I owned 2 very clean low mileage Eldos back in the 1980’s .. a 1981 Eldo with touring package . . It had the infamous 368 cu. inch V8-6-4 engine . . The engine itself was very good . . The electronics in 1981 couldn’t keep up with the tasks it was called on to do . . Check engine light would come on quite often . . I got a shop manual thick as an old Sears Roebuck catalog that showed you how to enter the trouble code on the automatic climatic control panel to diagnose the problem . . The other car was the 1985 Eldo with the POS small aluminum block , cast iron heads . . Nuff said

    Like 1
  10. Hugh Anger. - Huge

    A car I would like, also the Humber Super Snipe. Their contribution to climate change must be phenomenal. Therefore I would convert them to electric power, the clean power of the future. Some say Diesel is clean, it is not. The
    particulate by product of diesel combustion is smaller than gasoline combustion and invades the smaller airways on the lungs and is much harder to expel, and being carcinogenic is very dangerous. Electric power is the way.
    Huge.

    Like 1
    • Duaney

      See if you can find a record of even one person, who was determined to get cancer from breathing in a diesel particulate. Cleaner than electric are diesels using renewable diesel fuel, and gas engines using synthetic gasoline.

      Like 2
  11. Joe Sewell

    I love the comments here – very few tendered from personal experience. Considered ‘normal’ anymore.

    Like 1
  12. wesley alker

    Used to work on these, back in the day. GM zone reps used to bring these cars to me when they needed them back quickly. Head gaskets ALWAYS failed for the same reason . . . . . worn A/C belt. The vibration of the belt was so violent that it would break the head bolt that the A/C compressor brace was attached to! In 1979, the main bearing webs would crack near cylinder block cooling “jackets”, due to induced stresses from production “improvements” during crankshaft installation. They determined that they could save several minutes of assembly time by no longer “tapping” the bearing caps into place before torqueing. These were great engines with a bad reputation. I bought mine with 120,000 miles on the clock and still miss it every day. (Wife hated it, wife is gone, should have kept the car.) Best damn car I ever owned. Got 35 MPG on a Coupe de Ville. 0 to 60 was timed with a calendar but I could drive over 600 miles on a single fill up. (So long as I kept it under 65!) Overdrive would have fixed that AND given me and extra hundred miles range.

    Like 0

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