The seller of this 1969 Cadillac Eldorado says it’s one of fifteen with dealer-installed T-tops. Really? I didn’t know such a thing was an option, and I also wonder how that accounting would be known. Well, it’s an intriguing enough claim to dig deeper, so let’s do that. Clearwater, Florida, is where you’ll find this hair-in-the-air conversion, and it’s listed here on eBay for a BIN price of $16,995, OBO. A tip of the hat is due to Curvette for this unusual find!
I will say this about Caddy’s eighth-generation Eldorado (’67-’70): they were beautiful, memorable cars with their sharply chiseled body lines; a Bill Mitchell design at its best – they looked fast just sitting still! After that, they entered the bloato stage, especially from ’73 forward, and subjectively lost some of their charm. Unfortunately, these eighth-gen cars lacked a convertible option, so if you really had to have that open-car experience, I suppose T-Tops were one way to do it. The listing for this rig is way too light in detail, so I’ll have to go with the claim that this was a dealer-installed option, even though I cannot find any documented reference to such a modification being performed anywhere. And that whole dealer-installed business reminds me of a time when I worked in a Chevrolet body shop. I was assigned to a guy named Harold, and he was a master with an air chisel. One afternoon, he walked across the street to a Ford dealership, bought a brand new Econoline van on the spot, brought it back to the Chevy shop, and immediately started to air chisel an opening into the roof of this new van. He wanted to install a pop-up vent in the rear cargo portion of the truck, and he essentially did it freehand. I stood there watching him aghast at the thought of him potentially butchering the roof of this new ride (this was in ’73, and he paid $3,300 for the Econoline). The last thing he mumbled before he started cutting was something to the effect of, “I hate doing this s%!^.” Well, a few minutes later, the perfect opening was cut, in went the vent assembly, and that was the end of that matter. I would imagine that an Eldorado T-Top addition took quite a bit more planning and measuring than ole Harold employed!
Anyway, the job looks well done, though I would like to catch a glimpse from the interior looking upward. As for the rest of this 82K-mile rarity, it appears to be in fine condition, likely well parked/stored over the years. The Landau half-vinyl top is not showing any evidence of degradation or fraying, and I don’t see anything worthy of demerits, except maybe for the listing photography that’s not at all comprehensive and makes a thorough exterior assessment difficult.
Big power is on tap in the form of a 375 gross HP 472 CI V8 engine, driving the front wheels via a Turbo-Hydramatic 425 combination transmission/differential. Nothing is said regarding running and driving characteristics – just the mention of a rebuilt carburetor.
Inside, we find white leather upholstery, but again the images aren’t too revealing, so the entire environment’s condition is unclear. There are some observed cracks and creases, and maybe a bit of discoloration, but nothing beyond typical for a 57-year-old car – and one that probably spent some outdoor time with the T-top panels removed. The substantial black dash pad checks out as OK.
Cadillac produced 23K Eldorados in ’69, and finding one today is really no big discovery. But a T-top-equipped edition? That’s a horse of a different color! This one’s a first for me; how about you?
I believe the “Hurst Hatch” was the first aftermarket T-top offered to the public. They were introduced on the 1975 Hurst/Olds. Cars & Concepts also offered an aftermarket T-top, but this installation looks more like the Hurst/Hatch. So, the T-top may have been professionally installed, but it’s unlikely it was dealer installed.
The only references I can find to Eldorado T-top are the handful of 1978 versions with ASC self-storing T-tops.
1978 had aftermarket t-tops that came off & they also produced 7 or 8 electric t-tops that slid sideways to open. I don’t know for sure if the electric ones were factory or not.
That’s one of the things I really like about Barn Finds. You learn something new every day! And in answer to your ending question, Jim: No. I had no idea such a thing existed until now. Keep up the good work!
really cool but you can bet if you need seals for them, they will be tough to find.
Enlisting anyone to cut up my car leaves me a bit squeamish. This looks top notch but as you say we don’t get to look up. Otherwise, a nice looking Eldo.
May have been installed at a dealer, but that doesn’t make them an authorized dealer option. At a dealer I worked at, we had a lot of “dealer installed options”, but many weren’t authorized by the manufacturer.
I’m thinking it may have had T-tops installed by the dealer sometime in the 70s, but these definitely didn’t happen in 1969. Other “embellishments”, like the oversized and much later Cadillac Crest on the dash leads me to think there has been an amount of “upgrading” over the years on this one. 1 of 15??? Probably not!!!
I had a 1969 Eldorado, beautiful car!
Cadillac dealers around here were customer service oriented. If someone came in wanting something they tried to make it happen. We also had several custom shops back then who could execute special orders. It is doubtful there are any official records of how many were made unless you could get into a dealer’s records. Sadly, ALL of the Cadillac dealers around here have been bought out by chains.