The Last Eldorado Was A Window To Caddy's Bright Future And Excellence

"Margin Of Error" (marginoferror) 01/27/2015 at 12:45 • Filed to: FORGOTTEN CLASSICS, FC, ESSAY

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The ultimate generation of the Cadillac Eldorado Proper was launched in 1991 as a 1992 model, at the exact same time as its stablemate, the groundbreaking Seville sedan.

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Welcome to Forgotten Classics.

Once again !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , thanks to the Jalopnik editors !

As demonstrated in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the goal of this series of essays will be to bring cars that are getting no love back in the limelight. FC is also a thorough analysis of why such cars remained obscure and never got the praise they deserved.

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The 5 th Gen "Eldo" remained true to its roots, as it featured a longitudinally mounted V8 engine that sent its raw power to the front wheels. Before everyone gets on their high horses, let me reassure you; there's nothing wrong with FWD as long as the decision to use this layout is an engineering choice, and not a cost cutting measure. The Eldorado used this layout ever since the amazing 1967 model, and just as it's the case with other famous FWD cars like the Citroen Traction and SM, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the Mazda6, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

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The 10 th Gen Eldorado was largely inspired by the insanely mind blowing 1988 Cadillac Voyage and 1989 Solitaire concept cars, which featured plenty of Avant-Garde technologies like a backup camera and a surprisingly modern GPS system, all wrapped in gapless shiny body panels that would still look fresh in 2020.

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All that state-of-art-ness continued under the hood. Although the 1992 model was powered by the long-in-the-tooth L26 V8 engine, it was only because Cadillac was not done perfecting the technically complex and awesome Northstar V8 that replaced the L26 on the 1993 model which was at the time perceived as a betrayal by some owners of 1992 models. One could argue that Cadillac should have waited for the Northstar engine to be ready, but unfortunately they can't go back in the past. Did this angered customer to the point that it ultimately contributed to the poor success of the car ?

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In popular culture, the 10 th gen Eldo was showcased in Microsoft's award-winning Midtown Madness video game in 1999, which is the equivalent of Forza today. That's huge considering the car was already 7 years old at the time, and it demonstrates once again how awesome this car was.

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As it's often the case with luxury personal coupes, it sold poorly, so poorly that it was denied an eleventh generation for 1998. The Seville became the STS, but the Eldorado soldiered on with minor changes until 2002, the year of its 50 th anniversary. Only 1593 were built that year. By a strange twist of fate, the Eldorado became the last Cadillac car to ever have a real name.

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After 50 years, the Eldorado went to the great Heaven of automobiles, but its legacy lives on. The Eldorado ETC paved the way to excellent cars such as the whole V-model line, including the wagon.

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The Eldorado may not have been a huge sales success, but as a vehicular embodiment of Nostradamus, you could see the revival of a glorious brand trough that small rectangular side window.

Thanks for reading and see you next week.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , feel free to submit your suggestions and or comments in the comments below.

For Sweden > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 12:48

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Not only was it in Midtown Madness, it was the best car in Midtown Madness.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 12:49

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"The same time as its stalemate"? That doesn't seem right.

Jcarr > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 12:49

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long-in-the-toot L26 V8 engine

My wife has often described me as being "long-in-the-toot".

dogisbadob > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 12:49

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best part

dogisbadob > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 12:50

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the beginning of the end

Margin Of Error > For Sweden 01/27/2015 at 12:50

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I didn't know that !

For Sweden > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 12:51

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It was a monster off-road; great for shortcuts across Grant Park.

Margin Of Error > Jcarr 01/27/2015 at 12:51

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Thanks for pointing out the typo, I'll go fix that

Party-vi > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 12:52

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More visibility issues than Stevie Wonder helping Ray Charles cross the street.

Jcarr > For Sweden 01/27/2015 at 12:53

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Better than the Panoz?

MM2 was better in my opinion.

Margin Of Error > Party-vi 01/27/2015 at 12:54

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You think it's worse than the Camaro ? That C-Pillar was huge but the belt-line was much lower, and it had night vision I think.

For Sweden > Jcarr 01/27/2015 at 12:59

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Did I stutter?

Margin Of Error > dogisbadob 01/27/2015 at 13:00

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Actually, it was the end, it's a picture of the 50th anniversavry (and last) 2002 Eldorado.

A very sad moment.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 13:01

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Cadillac, Y U NO PRODUCTION HIDDEN HEADLIGHTS?

Jcarr > For Sweden 01/27/2015 at 13:01

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I don't know, you might have when you were typing.

Party-vi > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 13:02

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I think it's worse than the Camaro, if only because the Camaro doesn't use what appears to be a goddamn mainsail as a C-pillar.

El Rivinado > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 13:02

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This was probably the best generation since the original 67, I have a 98 ETC and its one of the best cars I've ever been in, it looks great, has got plenty of acceleration, and the ride is really comfortable even with sport suspension. I just wish more people looked at this car for what it was rather than associating it with the stereotypical Cadillac image.

Margin Of Error > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 01/27/2015 at 13:03

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Stablemate. fixed it, thanks.

Margin Of Error > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/27/2015 at 13:03

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Yea, verily.

Margin Of Error > El Rivinado 01/27/2015 at 13:05

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Is it true that the Etcetera model had a Corvette-sourced suspension ?

Sweet ride you have, fairly jealous.

El Rivinado > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 13:19

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From what I've gathered, probably not. The suspension probably was a more sportier version of Cadillac's road sensing system rather than the leaf-spring system on the Corvette. I may be wrong, but considering it switches between marshmallow and track car, I'm guessing road sensing seems more likely.

Margin Of Error > El Rivinado 01/27/2015 at 13:26

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Still very cool for the era !

dogisbadob > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 13:46

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Well I meant, when they took away the hood ornaments. What a stupid decision.

GeorgeyBoy > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 14:07

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I keep thinking of Paulie Walnuts.

I much rather would take a Mark VIII compared to this, if it had to be American.

And at least that 4.9 was reliable.

ranwhenparked > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 16:19

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Actually, the Deville name outlived the Eldorado by about 3 years, it didn't become the DTS until the 2006 model year.

The Eldorado was another missed opportunity for GM. Their styling got back in form in the 1990s after the '80s Smith-era doldrums and they built a lot of great looking cars, with the Eldo being one of them.

Personal luxury cars weren't totally dead either, since the Lexus SC and Mercedes CL both continued to do well. GM just failed to really grasp where the market had moved and kept making the same sort of products their customers had traditionally bought rather than keeping up with the competition, or even recognizing who Cadillac's competition really was.

FiST of FuRRY > Margin Of Error 01/27/2015 at 19:27

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The MAJOR problem with these cars (Northstar or not), was the rear heads. The heat created caused untold head gasket issues very common to transverse mounted (FWD) mounted V8 engines. Great power and comfort and a great idea in theory, just didn't pan out in the real world.

FrankAtlanta > Margin Of Error 01/28/2015 at 06:50

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interesting - similar to today's grilles (I'm assuming this is an old pic).

L80GAGA > El Rivinado 07/18/2015 at 19:41

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It probably was the beginnings of the magnetic suspensions used in corvettes and cadillacs today, I think those magnectic shocks were made for cadillacs originally.