1978 Eldorado Convertible-Facts True?

[Matt CLC#18621]

Item number: 150212664157

SELLER'S DESCRIPTION

Vehicle Description 

 

You are bidding on a RARE and PRISTINE CoachBuilt 1978 Eldorado Biarittz Convertible.  In 1978 only 200 Two-Tone Bronze Eldorado Biarittz were built by Cadillac.  Only one of the 200 was made in to a convertible by the American Sunroof Company for General Motors as a traveling show car and this is it.   

This car started its life as a eldorado biarittz coupe then was sent from the Cadillac factory to ASC to be made in to a convertible using the same design and parts from the last factory built convertibles the 1976 model.  GM commissioned this car to be built as a dealer showroom car.   This is indeed a rare piece of American Engineering.   The car has just over 24,000 documented original miles.

This beautiful convertible is finished in firemist bronze on the body with tan creme accent color on the hood and hard parade boot which makes it an absolutely stunning vehicle top up or down as you can see in the pictures.

[Davidinhartford]

An exageration at best.    ASC made top quality conversions for sure.   And did alot of work for Cadillac at that time.    ASC was responcible for the Biarritz packages that eventually made up 60% of Eldorado production then.   

But Cadillac had no reason to have a convertible made for showroom purposes.  They wanted to put convertibles behind them.    No doubt someone at Cadillac or ASC wanted one made for themselves.     It is a nicely done conversion.   But a factory travelling showcar?   I doubt it.  There was no reason to do so.

[Lars Kneller 8246]

I have a friend in California that has a 77 Biarritz convertible.  It has the Biarittz trim and interior and 425, and is definitely a convertible just like the 76 and prior years, so some must have been made.  The rear quarters are 76 vintage; everything else is 77.

[Tim Pawl CLC#4383]

I once looked at a 1978 Eldorado Convertible that used factory parts (ala 1976),  It was made by the Mitchell Body Company of Owosso Michigan. Mitchell was famous for making "woody" bodies for the Buick Station wagons among others. I don't know how many of them they may have made.

[veesixteen]

I suspect it is the work of Dick Baker of Custom Coach, Lima, OH. Following the demise of the Cadillac ragtop in 1976, a number of independent coach builders jumped in to fill the demand for the big convertibles. There was  an article about them by Charles E. Dole in the Christian Science Monitor for April 18, 1978. One of these conversions was for sale on eBay in August, 2005. It was described as one of 125 factory authorized convertibles released before the 1979 Eldorado downsized body change over. These cars were left over from the GM Factory inventory of the supposed 1976 Eldorado "LAST CONVERTIBLES EVER" claim GM made and doubled the sticker prices of the '76 models. The vendor asserfted "They were released through custom coach vendors as a "CONVERSION" but was in fact a factory manufactured convertible... "not a conversion" . This was done  to avoid lawsuits from purchasers of  the alleged "last Cadillac convertibles".  My advice:  take this information with a pinch of salt !
____________________________________________________

Item number: 150212664157

SELLER'S DESCRIPTION

Vehicle Description 

You are bidding on a RARE and PRISTINE CoachBuilt 1978 Eldorado Biarittz Convertible.  In 1978 only 200 Two-Tone Bronze Eldorado Biarittz were built by Cadillac.  Only one of the 200 was made in to a convertible by the American Sunroof Company for General Motors as a traveling show car and this is it.   

This car started its life as a eldorado biarittz coupe then was sent from the Cadillac factory to ASC to be made in to a convertible using the same design and parts from the last factory built convertibles the 1976 model.  GM commissioned this car to be built as a dealer showroom car.   This is indeed a rare piece of American Engineering.   The car has just over 24,000 documented original miles.

This beautiful convertible is finished in firemist bronze on the body with tan creme accent color on the hood and hard parade boot which makes it an absolutely stunning vehicle top up or down as you can see in the pictures.

[veesixteen]

While browsing through some old "Cadillac Serviceman" issues, I found on p. 24 of the issue for April 1978 a piece entitled "Identification of Factory-Installed Sunroof Options". It advises servicemen to check the body ID plate for a letter "Z" or combination "Z3", signifying installation of a factory-approved sunroof by ASC. Only THESE sunroofs were covered by the factory warranty.
_____________________________

I suspect it is the work of Dick Baker of Custom Coach, Lima, OH. ...