This 1984 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz caught my attention for all the wrong reasons. I used to make fun of cars like this and considered them to be pretentious posers. The mention of the 4.1-liter engine drew me in too as I have never read anything complimentary about it. Full disclosure, I have never owned or driven a 1984 Cadillac Eldorado so it’s time to be completely objective and review this downsized luxo-ride. Larry D discovered the listing for this car here on eBay where it’s available for a current bid of $8,100 with the reserve not yet met. Apparently it will play in Peoria because that’s where it’s located.
Today’s find is a member of the tenth-gen (’79-’85) Eldo, built on a GM E-body platform that was shared with the Buick Riviera and Oldsmobile Toronado. It’s 204.5″ in length, riding on a 114″ wheelbase and clocking the scale at 3,700 lbs. So, compact compared to a prior gen Eldorado? You bet, and that was the intention. Looking it over, however, I see a big car in shrunken proportions which seems how GM approached a lot of its downsizing. It’s not an unpleasant bearing, entirely, but it doesn’t flow smoothly or seem properly proportioned, at least to my eyes. While stated that it’s far from my favorite, Jim, once again, is on the wrong side of the public’s preference as Cadillac sold about 77K Eldorados in ’84, an all-time high!
Our subject car dons the high-falutin’ Biarritz option which features, most notably, a brushed stainless-steel roof panel along with a padded landau top and special wire-wheel covers. Additionally, there is stainless trim that extends from the C-pillars to the leading edge of the fenders. The Biarritz name harkened back a good number of years, made its appearance as an Eldo option in ’76, and continued through 1991. Being sold by the son of the original owner, this Caddy has experienced 90K miles of use and clearly has been well cared for. Like it or not, it’s hard to find fault with its exterior – sound garaging must have been part of this car’s daily routine. The seller advises that upon ordering, his father requested every available option.
Now, the little matter of the engine. Introduced for model year 1982, the HT 4100, as it’s known, is a 135 net HP 4.1 liter V8 that is set longitudinally and drives the front wheels via a four-speed automatic transaxle. Research tells us that this is an aluminum block engine, wearing a pair of cast iron cylinder heads and connected via an aluminum intake manifold (sound familiar? Same composition as the ill-fated Vega 2.3 liter four). Besides the fact that 135 HP is a pretty measly output for a V8 engine, even by 1984 standards, once again the iron heads/aluminum block decided to not play nicely with each other. According to Motorbiscuit, “Weak block castings, one victim of the rush to production, resulted in head bolts pulling out, taking the threads with them. With aluminum in high-stress areas, and the cylinder sleeves doing their own thing, intake manifolds began failing. Camshaft bearings began eating themselves alive, and the aluminum oil pumps started failing as well. And this was all within the first month or two in the field“. It also stated that silicone was used in places instead of gaskets and that cost saving idea just added to more failures. While eventually garnering a bit more power, the HT4100 lumbered along into 1988 when it was replaced by the vastly improved 4.5 liter V8. How’s this one run? No word, just the sounds of silence and a quick quip of “needs nothing“.
Inside is a tufted and buttoned red leather upholstery environment – standard on the Biarritz. The carpeting is “Tampico” whatever that means but it shows well with just the slightest amount of visible floor mat wear. No worries if you are of an environmentalist nature, the excessive amount of wood veneer is faux – though it probably used a lot of petrochemical input. It seems needlessly excessive – we get it, it’s a Cadillac. As for the seller’s “needs nothing” claim, I’d agree, the interior is about as perfect as you’ll find on a 38-year-old automobile with 90K miles of experience under its cushy seats. The biggest drawback is potentially getting a DWS (drivin’ while snoozin’) citation – the entire environment could be considered soporific.
There you have it. In the scheme of things, 38 years isn’t that long a passage of time and it’s truly telling to see what passed for luxury back then as compared to today. And of course, there were other players in ’84 who had a completely different take on the definition of luxury too. The evolutionary change actually took less than 38 years but the endpoints of ’84 and ’22 just make the differences that much more obvious. No, I don’t feel any different about this Eldorado now than I did when I started out and had not yet researched this model. Regardless, what I think is of zero consequence because someone who really appreciates this type of car is going to snap it up and derive a lot of enjoyment from it. I just hope for their sake that there’s no hijinx left in that HT-4100 engine, right?
Now imagine this car was RWD and had about 200 HP…I think then the looks would start to make more sense. I’ve always thought these to be handsome cars, but the mechanicals turn me off. But I’d give my left you-know-what for a 91 ETC in red, with the tan interior.
I’d give both of my left nuts for one!
Maybe it’s because I’m a child of the 80’s and only 4 years older than this car, but it’s always been one of the more beautiful Cadillacs to me, along with the silver one in the movie Casino that’s lodged in my memory. My stepfather had an 82 sedan Deville with the 4100 motor. I recall a few major engine repairs, but the car was still running strong with 230k or so in 1994 when he sold it, and the leather seats held up really well, unlike todays seats which seem to fall apart after a few years. My Grandmas yellow 85 Deville was of the shrunken variety, but felt really elegant. These 80’s Cadillac’s are really beautiful, I can’t speak for how they drive, but I imagine for my purposes they would do just fine.
Could one ever get cloth seats in a Caddy in the ’70s thru today(excluding the Cimarron)?
They sold well taken in consideration the crappy engine they used.
Back then i had two of them bought as accident cars and both needed
a new bonnet. 3500$ each, shipped from the USA. One front bumper
strip was 280$. Yes, Caddy prices! Indicator lenses varied from clear
to amber with each shipment.
On the outside the only thing who makes them very slight changes is
the front grille, which was common at the time for plastillacs, are distinguishable.
There was also an accessory avail where the frame with the grill
was made of thick polished stainless steel. This was called the
classic edition. and in the back, like on the early T-birds, there was
avail as accessory a faux spare wheel cover. This looked quite
bulky but the things enjoyed further popularity among buyers of
such cars. On the inside, the usual blue digital instruments until
the 79, which had a more suitable bar tachometer. But you could
also order the analogue instruments from GM.
I sold my 2 then for a good profit and was later told that the engine
of the successor would fit with the other engine mount. Voila, an
Eldo with 250 hp!
It drives like a caddy, so it is smooth and quiet because it also has independent rear suspension. The brakes are under dimensioned
for the weight of the car but typical for american cars of this age.
If you want the look of a RR Corniche the factory convertible suits your needs:
http://classiccardb.com/cadillac/403877-1983-cadillac-eldorado-convertible.html
And here it is: https://topclassiccarsforsale.com/cadillac/56197-1985-cadillac-eldorado-biarritz-classic-edition.html
Put an LS in it!
C’mon, somebody had to say it……..
I actually think that this downsized Eldorado was a brilliant design. It captures the image of a legendary car in the size that is far more manageable. Its predecessor had become almost absurd.
The HT 4100 engine had so many brilliant ideas that it’s a shame that it was not given adequate testing.
The later 4.5, Allanté 4.1, and 4.9 engines are really very smooth and trouble free, and generate much more power
I think a lot of people writing about cars today do not understand what a catastrophe the 70s were for Detroit.
Between inflation that makes today’s rates look minuscule, skyrocketing oil prices (to which Europe was already adapted) and cheap Japanese cars flooding the USA thanks to an undervalued ¥ and an overvalued $, they really couldn’t catch a break.
They still should’ve spent a lot more money on product testing and this disaster would not have happened, along with the diesel..,
I suppose I was a glutton for punishment . . I once owned 2 of these . . The infamous 81 and the underpowered 85 . . Both were bought as very clean low mileage used cars . . The 368 cu. Was a good engine in the 81 but the electronics couldn’t keep up (V8-6-4) . . I got a shop manual that was as thick as a Sears Roebuck catalog . . I unplugged the high gear switch and the transmission failed . . The 85 developed A engine knock . . . No more Cadillacs for me . .
They were very stylish and elegant . . When you sat behind the wheel and looked down that long hood with the Cadillac emblem , it gave you a feeling of satisfaction . . When all the bells and whistles were working properly , that is . .
On most front wheel drive cars of the last 30 yrs or so, you can’t even see the hood at all & the car could be dirty as heck & if the windows were clean, you would never know it just lookign out!
& on some old honda 2 doors, the windshield is almost twice as long as the hood! That is so messed up!