71-78 Eldorado v. DeVilles

[D.Smith]

I have no trouble telling them apart.   

Despite being larger and bulkier than their 67-70 versions, they had different styling. 

And as pointed out Front-Wheel drive vs. rear wheel drive.    The added traction in snow and rain is not usually a consideration in a collector car, but it was when new.     

Don't forget back then you got a totally flat front floor with the front drive Eldorados for added front leg room.

[TJ Hopland]

There are downsides to the flat floor.   One is you have to keep your car interior clean because there is nothing to stop things from rolling around and ending up under the pedals.  Also no easy place to put one of those cheapo center console things everyone used to buy to get cup holders.   An up side is it makes it easier to work under the dash.     

[e.mason]

I did like the added space on the floor with the FWD Eldos.  I just thought my '77 was just a little too big and bulky for FWD.

[e.mason]

There are downsides to the flat floor.   One is you have to keep your car interior clean because there is nothing to stop things from rolling around and ending up under the pedals.  Also no easy place to put one of those cheapo center console things everyone used to buy to get cup holders.   An up side is it makes it easier to work under the dash.   

I agree. l hated it when my bowling ball got loose and use to roll around the front compartment.

[Eldorado James]

Flat floors were great at vacation time, it was like bunk beds for the young kids in back...one slept on the seat, the other on the flat floor....the wife would fully recline in the 50/50 seats.  As for me, I'd put in that Johnny Cash 8 track tape, hit the cruise control button, and float effortlessly down the highway for hours (filling the tank every 300 miles)..........JK...LOL.   As a kid I do remember my first FWD Eldorado ride and thought that the flat floor was pretty cool.  Truly a comfortable seating in front for 3 adults.

E. James

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I will second and third the flat floor for convenience.

This fella is getting too old for contorting over a transmission hump, or twisting over the sill.

Waste of time having Cup Holders in a car, as cars are for driving, not drinking.

Bruce.

[e.mason]

I will second and third the flat floor for convenience.

This fella is getting too old for contorting over a transmission hump, or twisting over the sill.

Waste of time having Cup Holders in a car, as cars are for driving, not drinking.

Bruce.

I have been doing this for years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmkfrJnTA9o

[cadillacmike68]

Ok, back to the original post.

There was a BIG difference in appearance and size with the 1971 ElDorado. The wheelbase grew over 6 inches only 3.7 inches shorter than the DeVilles while the overall length ended up being longer than the 1968 DeVilles (225" vs 224.7"). So they mere much closer in size to the RWDs than the 1967-70 cars. The rear deck bumpers, etc also changes to lose the cutting fin edge look to what was closer to the RWDs in appearance, especially the 1974 & later, while the front was also closer in appearance, especially from 1975 on with the rectangular headlights, which just about ruined the front end appearance of all cars from 1975 onward.

So there was a greater "family resemblance" with the 1971-78 ElDorados.

Yes there was a Lot more front overhang on the ElDorado, especially from 1973 onward with the isolated bumpers (and the self disintegrating fillers that we have all come to hate). The removal of the skirts made them easier to spot as well, but overall, the cars looked more like brothers & sisters than 2nd cousins from 1971 onward, until the 1979 FWD revolution.

[Eldorado James]

Interesting perception -- The 1971 Eldorado was actually only 0.6 inches (15 mm) longer than the 1970 model....and the curb weight only went up 75 pounds.  But...there was another 400+ pounds to gain by the mid 1970's.

E. James 

[BJM]

Ok, back to the original post.

So there was a greater "family resemblance" with the 1971-78 ElDorados.

While I have come to appreciate the 71-78 Eldorados a LOT more in the past few days from research on the 74 Lime Green car, I do believe they were more homogenous.  You had to squint your eyes a bit more in 1971 and by 1975, there was even more homogeneity to the Cadillacs.  Not that you could not tell them apart, but I suspect when the new for 1979 Eldorado program was greenlighted some time mid decade, there was likely a collective "thank god" from the Cadillac styling and engineering teams. 

I have learned quite a bit about Wayne Kady.  I certainly do not want to pick on any one associated with Cadillac styling during this period, so I will leave it at that.

This much I know - they were still greatly detailed and styled cars that I have come to appreciate. When you combine that with the against the grain colors of Lime Green, Cranberry and so on - it makes for a fun hobby. 

[BJM]

Interesting perception -- The 1971 Eldorado was actually only 0.6 inches (15 mm) longer than the 1970 model....and the curb weight only went up 75 pounds.  But...there was another 400+ pounds to gain by the mid 1970's.

E. James

I have not decided if I like the 71-74's better than the 75-78's.  I personally prefer the 74 over the 71's. 

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I like the '72's better because they have the fake vents in the rear quarter, like the '53's, and they don't have the trunk vents of the '71.

Bruce.

[cadillacmike68]

Interesting perception -- The 1971 Eldorado was actually only 0.6 inches (15 mm) longer than the 1970 model....and the curb weight only went up 75 pounds.  But...there was another 400+ pounds to gain by the mid 1970's.

E. James 

Yes, but then the bumper overhang started taking over and it just kept getting longer... No real "car" length increase, just overhang and fillers.

My 1996 Fleetwood has some 8 or 8.5 inch shorter wheelbase than the 1968 DeVille, but it has an overall length of 225" compared to the 224.7" of the Deville. But the DeVille is more spacious inside. That's because there's about 8-10 inches of bumper sticking out from the car on both ends!    The two cars are only about 100 pounds different in weight as well

[e.mason]

I like the '72's better because they have the fake vents in the rear quarter, like the '53's, and they don't have the trunk vents of the '71.

Bruce.

Where are these fake vents in the rear quarter? Is it possible that what you are calling "vents" are actually called the "stoneguards?"

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

I believe the correct term is "dummy air scoops". Definitely not stone guards as they offer no such protection, nor were they designed to do so.

[67_Eldo]

There were at least two specific forces at work during the seventh-generation (1971) Eldorado redesign.

1. The seventh-gen Eldorado paid deliberate homage to the very first Eldorado (the 1952 "Golden Anniversary" show car and its 1953 production follow up) by applying the "jet-intake" look to the rear fenders.

2. Some of Cadillac's customers were afraid that the sixth-gen Eldorado (1967) looked "too sporty" for the Eldorado to be properly called a Cadillac. The move toward a more conservative look began with the 1969-model tweaks (e.g. no hideaway headlights, a less-"threatening" grille) and continued in earnest with the more corporate appearance of the seventh-gen cars. In other words, Cadillac was *trying* to make the Eldorado look more Cadillac-ish.

Other pervasive early-1970s automotive design forces were at work as -- e.g. bigger is better, planned obsolescence, changing federal regulations, keeping an eye on the competition from Cadillac's corporate kin and competition (Lincoln et al) -- to reduce the "Eldorado-ness" of the radical 1967 look. Keep in mind that, for 1971, Oldsmobile essentially completely copied the look of the 1967 Eldorado and held onto that design from 1971 to 1978. Much to Bill Mitchell's dismay, even the Chevrolet division got into the "Eldorado" groove by borrowing the 1967-Eldorado look for the 1970 Monte Carlo.

So you're correct in seeing a greater resemblance between the Eldorado and its Cadillac kin beginning in 1971. That was Cadillac management's intention!

As we would say nowadays, Cadillac more carefully defined their design language -- to which the 1967 Eldorado clearly had no relationship -- and, after 1970, was applying it more rigorously. :-)

Bonus reference material: Here is Cadillac's press release of January 22, 1953, celebrating the features of their Eldorado prototype.

"Cadillac has created two special automobiles designed and appointed to symbolize its Golden Anniversary. The motorist who shares the craftsman's pleasure in exquisite handiwork will instantly find kinship with Cadillac's fabulous Eldorado. This exotic convertible dramatically blends two great fields of human endeavour. In an expression of the ageless arts, Eldorado reveals a treatment of gold on a gleaming ivory-like surface. For appointments of the future, Eldorado presents an aircraft-type crash pad and jet-like rear fender air scoops and dual exhaust openings in the rear bumper. A sports car in character, the long, low body of the Eldorado is finished in a dazzling, white lacquer. Specially designed, the vertical pillar windshield houses extremely curved, tinted, heat-resisting glass. Rectangular wings of the same material are installed on the upper leading edge of each door. Radio antennae are mounted just forward of the tail-lights on Cadillac's now traditional rear fender fins. The antennae raise and lower automatically, depending on the "On-Off" position of the car's radio. Bright, East Indian red pepper leather heightens the enchanting effect of the artistic interior. Seat cushions are stitched in parallel three-quarter inch rows with a heavy, white waxed cord. The seat backs are piped in modern horseshoe pattern with door inserts of the same theme. Crash pad and instrument board top are of an expanded Royalite base covered with Royalite skin, perfectly matching the leather. The steering wheel carries on the theme with its covering of hand sewn, East Indian, pepper-red leather, which is baseball stitched on the back. Floor coverings are a modern texture weave backed with deep, foam rubber. The Eldorado's instrument board inserts, door moldings and kick strips are of 14-Karat, gold-plated, ripple-patterned metal."

[e.mason]

I believe the correct term is "dummy air scoops". Definitely not stone guards as they offer no such protection, nor were they designed to do so.

https://www.caddydaddy.com/shop-parts/moldings-trim-bezels/1953-cadillac-see-details-left-driver-s-side-rear-fender-stone-guard-with-studs-and-molding-2-quality-used-free-shipping-in-the-usa.html

[e.mason]

I believe the correct term is "dummy air scoops". Definitely not stone guards as they offer no such protection, nor were they designed to do so.

https://books.google.com/books?id=TBp1CzGZN_IC&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=cadillac+rear+fender+stone+guards&source=bl&ots=S_Muvoplxv&sig=KFP8m0b7qYOPBMhY0k9t91Lab-g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwix-5OZpt3ZAhUJwlQKHXzVBswQ6AEIcTAP#v=onepage&q=cadillac%20rear%20fender%20stone%20guards&f=false

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

https://books.google.com/books?id=TBp1CzGZN_IC&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=cadillac+rear+fender+stone+guards&source=bl&ots=S_Muvoplxv&sig=KFP8m0b7qYOPBMhY0k9t91Lab-g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwix-5OZpt3ZAhUJwlQKHXzVBswQ6AEIcTAP#v=onepage&q=cadillac%20rear%20fender%20stone%20guards&f=false

The 1949 Cadillac has stone guards. The '71 Eldorado does not.

It is what I said it is.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

https://www.caddydaddy.com/shop-parts/moldings-trim-bezels/1953-cadillac-see-details-left-driver-s-side-rear-fender-stone-guard-with-studs-and-molding-2-quality-used-free-shipping-in-the-usa.html

Not a stone guard either.

The part is misnamed/misidentified by an aftermarket parts vendor. Happens all the time.