The WWD Diary: V. 1

"AthomSfere" (AthomSfere) 04/08/2014 at 23:17 • Filed to: cadillac, eldorado, fr, wwd, wrong wheel drive, athomsfere

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On the off chance anyone remembers this !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

I think I am going to make a diary of WWD cars, or Wrong Wheel Drive cars. This is not going to be an "All coupes should be RWD" diary. Instead, lets call it a rant or rambling of interesting cars that got the wrong wheels connected to the transmission.

The first car up is the Cadillac El Dorado as suggested by Shpuker.

The car was launched in 1953 and was everything right with the world. It was beautiful and American with a big engine and an FR layout. The car evolved quickly visually, and I especially like the 57-58 (third generation)

That is a perfect car for Cadillac, the late 50's and any American Classics fan. The fins, the 6L V8 engine; this was a car to look up to.

Then, 1967 happened.

This was both a catastrophic and a great year for the Eldorado. The car sold nearly 18,000 units giving Cadillac its best year to date.

It was a great looker too, shared the platform from the Toronado and received high acclaim from testers and buyers alike. Vigilant readers however will notice the platform shared was a FF layout. That is correct, this is the year Cadillac decided a front wheel drive Eldorado was a good idea. Sure you could buy these with an 8.2l V8 sent to the wheels through a fancy three speed automatic transmission, but the wrong wheels for this car were used.

I think all of Oppo will agree with me that a Luxo-barge should be RWD, and I think 99% of luxury car shoppers would agree a luxury car should be Rear Wheel Drive. Mercedes and BMW have always known this, Lexus has really figured it out too. Where we have not seen luxury brands do well is with Front wheel drive.

FWD is WWD for Luxury!

And yet, Cadillac continued with this branding and layout until it eventual demise, 50 years after its launch we were left with this corpse of a former glorious and unapologetic American luxury car:

I don't think anyone cared, we lost the good Eldorado decades ago. Those who cared about lower costs of a FWD vehicle or a more practical luxury car were not shopping for something with a roughly 4.6 - 4.9l V8 through the front wheels.

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So there we go, first attempt at the format. Please give feed back on what needs improvement with it and if there is success and enjoyment, I will make this a regular use of my time.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > AthomSfere 04/08/2014 at 23:21

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Drive wheels don't matter, only the luxurious feel matters. That beign said, it odesn't matter what drive wheels the eldorado of that generation had because GM of the period was doing really stupid things. The Catera was RWD..........and was a pile of shit. I would take the FWD eldorado over the RWD catera. But I would take a nice, used 3 series over either.

AthomSfere > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 04/08/2014 at 23:25

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I do somewhat agree, but if you want to have a real luxury car it needs RWD or AWD IMO. Acura has put out some great semi-luxury cars but RWD detracts for sure from the experience.

And geez yes, GM and Ford couldn't make a good decision it seems for decades regarding their cars, lineups and engines. What was good died and what was a poor decision was repeated over and over...

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > AthomSfere 04/08/2014 at 23:26

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My great-grandma had a FWD 'Dorado with the 8.2. My dad said that thing could smoke the front wheels forever before grip finally set in.

AthomSfere > Logansteno: Bought a VW? 04/08/2014 at 23:27

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I totally believe it, getting grip in the front ain't easy... Especially when you have a huge engine, soft suspension and a lot of weight to move.

NinetyQ > AthomSfere 04/08/2014 at 23:29

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I think for subsequent generations you're probably right. I know more about the Toronado than the Eldorado, but if the Eldorado's drivetrain was anything like the Toro's, it was awesome. No torque steer, incredibly reliable, vast power. Who cares at that point which wheels are driven? GM made FWD not suck in the '60s. It was later that it began to suck when fuel economy became an issue and smaller, cheaper drivetrains became necessary.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > AthomSfere 04/08/2014 at 23:29

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He was in charge of it for a weekend and he ate through a set of nearly new front tires. Needless to say, he wasn't put in charge of it ever again.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > AthomSfere 04/08/2014 at 23:29

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let me rephrase what I said in the previous post - I would gladly take an Acura CL of similar vintage to a cadillac catera or even certain BMW 3-series or a Lexus LS/GS. I like the look of the CL better and I like the engine better plus the CL came with a manual and low running costs. It is FWD. And it is better than most of the RWD competition unless you only care about driving dynamics.

AthomSfere > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 04/08/2014 at 23:34

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But... The Catera was one of the worst things ever built... Not even kind of fair.

The CL was basically the early preview of the TL and I love those, but they were a little too "spruced up Accord". Great cars, sure. But lets be honest, who here doesn't weigh heavily on driving dynamics?

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > AthomSfere 04/08/2014 at 23:39

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Who here buys brand new luxury cars? Let's be honest - most people here won't buy 99% of the cars we lust after new so I don't really give two shits about most people's opinion of how new cars should be simply because they won't buy one anyways. The CL was a great car, sold well, was well designed, and drove quite well in type S form. The fact that it was FWD is a bit moot when you consider the RWD luxury cars from Lexus were crap driving cars while the type S CL and TL reward the driver in some small way. Not as good as an M-sport 3 or 5 series by a long shot but definitely more reliable. If you want a reliable and affordable luxury car that drives well, I think Acura is the way to go. It won't be the best driver but it will be a damn sight better than most of the competition for less money. Oh and Acura is committed to the manual transmission in a way that the rest are not. I'd take manual FWD over automatic RWD.

AthomSfere > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 04/08/2014 at 23:44

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I do love Hondas and Acuras (Owned 7 so far). Best manuals around, quick and accurate handling...

On what I would buy if I bought a new luxury car though... BMW 3 series. Good power, the right wheels for it, and a manual.

Next choice though, Acura TL SH-AWD V6 with the 6 speed manual.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > AthomSfere 04/08/2014 at 23:47

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But what would your average El Dorado customer notice? Burnouts? Please, they're 90. Handling? They bought the wrong car if they wanted that. More space inside because there wasn't a driveshaft running the length of the car? That, they cared about. There is no noticeable difference between how a FWD and a RWD 1970 El Dorado would drive the way they buyers drive them. They aren't track cars; they are big old yachts from the 70's that old folks bought, and old folks don't care if their car "has the wrong wheels driving it" because they aren't purists or motoring enthusiast, and if they where they wouldn't buy a Cadillac, whether FWD, RWD, AWD, or noWD. It's not a sports car; it's a couch with wheels.

Cadillac knew who they were marketing to when they first made the Eldo FWD. I agree, it did them a disservice in the 90's when trying to attract younger buyers with a sportier image, but up until then, it was the better option in reality.