Not long ago, Barn Finds featured a 1970 Cadillac Eldorado that was turned into a tribute to the cruiser driven in the movie Super Fly. Thanks to reader Sam61, the fun doesn’t stop there, as he recently spotted another Caddy wearing some of the same adornment. This 1978 Cadillac Eldorado here on Facebook Marketplace is a bit more subdued than the last, but it’s got some mods and bling that would likely get a thumbs-up from Youngblood Priest! This customized personal luxury car is located in Island Lake, Illinois, and comes with an asking price of $18,500. Sam61, we appreciate your great tip here!
True, the Super Fly movie car was an earlier model and not red in color. Nonetheless, the owner here must have been a fan, as he equipped the front with a similar grille, headlight mods, plus vanity plates just to make sure passersby understood the message. This one even took the mods a step further out back, as a Continental tire was placed on the rear bumper. The body and paint present well overall, but unfortunately, it looks like some rust is beginning to form around the trim surrounding the white vinyl roof. Hopefully, it’s all confined to this area and hasn’t spread elsewhere. Some fun news is that the car also has Hurst T-Tops.
The late seventies Eldorados just screamed luxury and excess once you got inside, with those leather seats looking about as inviting and comfortable as any from this era. Many of the accessories here are found on most cars nowadays, but niceties such as power windows and seats weren’t quite as common during this period. Most of the interior components appear reasonably well-preserved, and while the seller doesn’t confirm that the listed mileage of 41,000 is actual, the condition here makes me feel the odometer might still be on its first spin.
Under the hood, the seller mentions that the 500 cubic-inch engine has been refurbished. However, by this time, Eldorados were born with a 425 V8 instead. It seems this one’s either gotten an earlier powerplant, or the owner didn’t realize that motors shrank for the last couple of years of ninth-generation production. In any event, the car is said to run and drive well, and I can’t help but wonder what tune those musical horns on the fender skirt play. What are your thoughts on this 1978 Cadillac Eldorado? Are the front and rear mods keepers?
Needs more fur and shag.
Needs more cowbell.
What’s a whip like this doing w/o curb feelers?!
T-Top Eldo. 😎
https://www.theautopian.com/lets-peek-at-all-of-the-incredibly-superfly-accessories-you-could-get-in-this-old-jc-whitney-catalog/comment-page-1/
Cool find Kendra.
For a point of reference, $350 in1974 (which I think is the vintage of this catalog ad) is about $2200 in today’s dollars.
Seems silly until you realize some guys spend that much on a single oxcart-sized alloy wheel now.
Wish I’d kept one of those old JC Whitney catalogs. It would be a blast to look through!
Several dozen JC Whitney catalogs from the 1970s are on eBay.
I’ve got my old 1970 original JC Whitney catalog … “spruced” up my ’50 Biscayne with ah-ooga horn, spring lifts, moon hub caps, etc – it’s what us “rednecks” did back then … those tail lights were the most expensive things I replaced … moved to Chicago in 1971 – going to the JC Whitney place on Archer Ave was a Southern boy’s Disneyland …
Howard needs this.
Ohh, Superfly! You’re gonna make your fortune by and by
But if you lose, don’t ask no questions why
The only game you know is do or die!
Looks like something my old friend Buzzy Thomas would’ve
whipped up back then. I tell ya’ that guy was one of the most creative people I’ve ever known. No matter what kind of ride you
took to his shop, you could count on it being built to your specs
or his wild imagination. I recall a ’77 Monte Carlo that he pimped
out and the car was amazing! It had a tri tone paint job of gold and black with a white vinyl half roof. Up front, he kept the stacked headlights but added a Rolls Royce syle grille with some kind of stand up hood ornament. Round back, he added custom tail lights and one of those toilet seat spare tire doo dad’s off a late ’50s Imperial. Then, he tied it all together with a set of gangster Whitewall tires wrapped around Tru Spoke wire wheels. He went over the top by adding a set of outside exhausts that really worked. There was no way on earth you could miss that car coming down the road that’s for sure. Next time I saw it, the owner added custom T tops to it to raise the pimp stakes a little higher. Yeah, Buzzy was a local legend in our town and some folks said that he was Bloomington’s answer to George Barris. He passed away in 1985 and believe me,he was
sorely missed. Can’t help but think of him when I see stuff like this on BF. Oops! Forgot about the Cherry red ’76 Cordoba he
put together. But that friends and neighbors is another story.
Remove the continental kit, the superfluous pinstripes, the tacky grille, and the absurd headlight trim, and you’ve got a really cool T-top Eldorado Biarritz. The wheels can stay. They add the right touch of flash to go with the T-top.
I was always crazy about JC Whitney and I still have hundreds of things that I had ordered from them. I am positive that that is a 500 cubic inch Cadillac engine and not the 425.
You need this parked next to your Rolls Royce/Monte Carlo. The 500ci engine ended in 1976.
Someone mentioned curb feelers, but it’s also missing the bullhorns on the hood.
I’m sure Rick W has both in his collection unless he’s sold them to Lady Diva! LOL!
I think all of the gaudiness ruins the look of the car.
My concern here is the bubbles at the roof line. Peeling that roof back could open a whole can of worms. Look in the trunk and maybe remove the back seat to look for any rusty water trails.
An also the possibility of those T-tops leaking. That’s why I don’t like them.
Other than these concerns, I like the color contrast.
Looking this over there are several comments I could make, but won’t. The engine appears to be the infamous 8-6-4 set up. The only thing good about that engine was that the system could easily be disabled. They were ok a V-8. Beautiful car if those ridiculous headlights can be removed.