What kind of irregularities can you put up with in an old car? No matter how long your list, this 1962 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz might test your resolve. We’ll get into that below, but first notice that the car is for sale here on eBay with five days left in the auction, a current bid of $15,600, and the reserve not met. The winner of the car will retrieve it from Rowlett, TX.
The Caddy looks pretty good on the outside. The paint shines except possibly on the passenger’s side door. The seller also notes that the back panels on both sides are incomplete, though it’s not obvious what that means. The convertible top is new, though if I were to have done this one, I would choose a different color top—white probably. This much black vinyl is just not attractive. On the other hand, maybe the top would be down far more than up. Further, the interior, though weathered in a few spots, is lovely, and the odo shows just 49,000 miles, though who knows what the real number might be. The seller says the car is rust free, and it does appear so, but he calls out the trunk floor as a weak spot, and bingo! He’s right. It’s partly eaten away. That means that this one’s going on a lift, and maybe having the carpets taken up, before it’s going to be worthy of trust that other panels are not equally frightening.
What’s the problem? Well, the mechanicals are not finished. It needs window work, an exhaust system, brakes, and trim work. No biggie, right? Then the shocker: “Missing data tag—can order a new one if needed” for a little more money. OK. Put that together with this: “I was told by the widow it had been rebody [sic] twenty years ago but I am not sure.” Instead of couching that in aw-shucks language, it could have said, “Re-body; no VIN tag.” And guess how many people would be running for the exits? Everyone who has a DMV which does business in a must-document, by-the-letter manner. Apparently, that’s not Texas, so there may still be a market of decent size for this Caddy. The seller adds something else in the eBay comments: “Rebody from one Cadillac Coupe and one Convertible so the vehicle is a Cadillac Convertible.” You sort that out.
Title issues behind, the color is right, and if the body is sound, that’s a LOT of paint you don’t have to spray. But this project is not nearly close to being finished, and as is often noted, it’s the last 20% of a resto that goes the slowest, costs the most, and defeats too many would-be classic car lovers.
From the photo, the trunk floor looks OK to me.
Nah. No VIN, No Sale.
Why did you put “1982” just under the first picture?
Typo?
Typo. Now fixed. Appreciate your eagle eye!
My guess is that someone had a solid ’62 Coupe deVille and a beyond-repair ’62 Eldorado. They used the Eldorado parts to convert the Coupe deVille to a convertible, then swapped VINs to make it “official.”
That would have required an entire convertible top, not just a chop of the roof. This one has the top and mechanism.
I think it’s probably the other way around.
‘The seller also notes that the back panels on both sides are incomplete, though it’s not obvious what that means.’
From the photographs it seems, barely, that it’s the fenders underneath the lower fins ?
It can be done. I converted a 1965 Mustang coupe into a convertible. I took the windshield header, the unique pieces behind the rear seat, and the tops of the rear quarter panels and trunk filler from a very rusty 1966 convertible and used reproduction parts for everything else. The result was indistinguishable from a factory-built convertible.
Should have kept it a legit coupe rather than a bastardized car without a VIN
Junk now
The car most certainly has a VIN number. Official Cadillac documentation all states that the VIN number is stamped on the engine block. Cadillac also says that “As a courtesy” there is also a plastic tag on the door post with the same VIN number, making it easier to check out the VIN number instead of examining the engine. On this car the plastic tag must be missing, but since the engine is there, the VIN number is there also. There is also a VIN number stamped into the frame.
No Vin no sale! This one despite the work needed is going to be a nightmare to register with a lot of DMV’s, especially in Fl.
The Fl. DMV physically checks the Vin number before issuing
a title and tags on every vehicle.
So someone chopped a coupe to make it a convertible? That’s major surgery that compromises its stability by altering its design. True convertibles had bodies that were reinforced in areas to provide more integrity. And who knows at this point what level of job was done? I’m sure it has VIN stamps on the frame, because no VIn means no sale IMO.
I have an 87 porsche 944that was wrecked and fixed and made into a cabriolet. It still has a clean title, though. When I brought it to Oregon they registered it as a convertible. But a clear title, not branded.
Don’t walk away. Run! Multiple cars, no VIN tag, which part of what car is the title from? Convertible frames are built stronger- so if the convertible body was put on a coupe frame- no dice. Convertible bodies are structured differently to accommodate the top mechanism, etc. chopped off coupe body on convertible frame- naw, huh uh. Pass- with a wide berth.
Just because you can attempt to convert a coupe to a convertible doesn’t mean you should. Convertibles are designed to have more integral frame and body supports from the factory that you can’t duplicate. Save up your money and buy an originally designed convertible if that’s what you want. You’ll be better off