If there’s one thing that gets me about long-stored cars, it’s how quickly some of them went into storage after being used for just a few years. This 1966 Cadillac Eldorado convertible here on eBay went into long-term sequestration in 1974, a mere eight years after it was sold new. As someone who almost exclusively drives used cars all at least 20 years old, it makes me scratch my head – especially since cars like this Caddy usually emerge from storage worse for the wear.
The seller is liquidating quite an inventory of parts along with cars like this Cadillac and a super clean 1983 Ford Mustang GT convertible, also here on eBay. The Cadillac still runs, drives and shifts, despite its long slumber but will need brakes. The fifth-generation platform represented a dramatic design transition from the era of big fins and horizontal headlights, moving to a more subdued rear end treatment and vertical light pods. The massive 7L V8 shuttled occupants in steady, quiet comfort, aided by a new-for-’66 quiet exhaust.
The interior, which should offer plenty of room for you and your friends when you fulfill your obligation to take this land barge cross country, appears largely intact. It’s no where near as nice as the Mustang posted above, but definitely holding up OK given its long-term storage. However, you can see where moisture has begun to create film across the seating surfaces and the carpets look pretty grungy, conditions which can be attributed to the lack of a functional soft top.
These stately Cadillacs were equipped with a respectable 340 b.h.p. and 480 lb.-ft. of torque. When your right foot gets intimate with the plush (and in this case, damp) carpet below, you may not be thrown back in your seat but you’ll eat up highways with ease. That’s what these cars were all about, and while your bank account may balk at the fuel bill, I can’t think of a better way to cruise in comfort. Bidding is quite active at the moment but the reserve is unmet – I wonder how many bidders are picturing themselves driving this Eldorado around in the coming summer months?
Please put the top up, the girls are to saggy to be hot.
Animal House 2016 ride but I’d puke even thinking of a remake of the all time best movie ever. Can’t even imagine that one.
“Don’t you have any respect for yourself?”
Somehow I keep thinking about the field workers at a professional baseball game dragging out the big roll of plastic to cover the infield when it rains. The same workers pulling out the material for a new convertible top. This land yacht would be awesome all restored.
I call Bovine Excrement on this one. That car was never parked for that long and if it was it was outside in the gravel with the top down. There is way to much rust underneath the car for that to have 28 thousand miles on it.
128,000 maybe 228,000
I don’t see anything here that indicates true mileage one way or the other. The surface rust inside the car and underneath it tells me only that the car was stored in a moist-air environment without protection, but nothing more. It has absolutely nothing at all to do with mileage on the car. If anything, the condition of the upholstery and pedals, etc, tend to support a low-miles claim. No way to know just by looking at photos.
(shrug)
Love to see it restored.
Poor thing looks like it was rode hard and put away wet. No thanks.
@Jeff. “As someone who almost exclusively drives used cars all at least 20 years old, it makes me scratch my head”.
Cars of the 60 and into the late 70’s lasted 50-60k before needing major service or repairs. It was rare to have a car work well past 100k back then. It was very common to have a short block installed or heads redone @ 60k miles if you were going to keep the car long term. Cork gaskets leaked, mild steel exhaust and brackets rusted, the imprecise machining made engines burn oil and have low oil pressure, etc, etc, etc. No American engine came close to blueprint off the factory floor back then.
The Japanese and Germans in the 80’s implemented tight machining specs and better materials/sealants and now everyone has cars that can last at least 150k even with poor maintenance and 250k with proper maintenance. Engines are simply made better since the late 80’s, how quickly people forget.
My family routinely drove cars from new until over 200K, often on the original engine. Granted people usually did trade cars more frequently, and one did have to perform more maintenance on those cars compared to today’s cars, but the overall quality was not bad on a full sized American car in the 60’s. A 66 Bonneville with a 421 tri-power ran 188K before needing an overhaul. A 66 New Yorker with a 440 ran 270K on the original engine. A 66 Newport with a 383 ran 240K before needing a rebuild. Valve cover gaskets, spark plugs and other such items were constant, and one could always count on a car needing ball joints before 100K. And the average for oil consumption back than was a quart to a 1000 miles.
Nothing screams “junkyard find” more than when a forklift is used to show the undercarriage. On the other hand, it’s nice to know the car can handle such abuse without breaking in two.
Poppy, I was thinking the same thing about the forklift photos, and wondering what damage was done by doing that…
I bet that green on green was SHARP new! I’d love to have it.
I love the under hood gas tank made from a milk jug. I made one out of a large OEM coolant overflow reservoir (drains right at the bottom), some fuel line and a fuel filter when I was troubleshooting fuel supply issues on one of my old cars. Ran great with that setup but talk about range anxiety.
This was a very, very nice car when new. Would look…wow, restored!
Car looks terrible for being on the road 8yrs then sitting could have got one for 1200 in the early 90s it needed to much work then