Looking to buy a Black '79-'85 Eldorado Convertible, Good Driver Condition
Rod Shade nycshade@aol.com or call 917 696 9107
Ron,
I sold one a few years ago, it was a black 85 with black top and red interior.
The 84 and 85 Biarritz convertibles were "factory" convertibles, sold through dealers, converted by ASC.
Anything you find in an earlier car will probably be a Hess and Eisendardt conversion. Many of them were not built as Biarritz models, but the base Eldorado.
The easiest way to tell is the pleated diamond pattern on the seats, and the wide Biarritz chrome beltline that runs from the fronts of the fenders, across the top of the doors, and around the convertible top opening.
If you are not familiar with the HT4100 engines in these cars, you should get acquainted with the HT4100 message board that can be found at www.ht4100.com (http://www.ht4100.com)
I am attaching a couple of photos of the one I had, and there are always some on ebay. You will see lots of red ones, white ones, and blue ones, but not too many black cars.
I have owned 3 of these over the years, and I would say if you could find a 79 or 80 that was a conversion, you would be able to stay clear of the HT4100 issues. The 81 cars had the V8-6-4 engine, which from what I have read is not a bad motor, and the variable electronics can be disabled if not working correctly.
Good luck, these are great looking cars, but you need to find a NICE low mileage car, or else you will be doing a lot of work on it.
Brian
There is a black 84 on eBay right now. The car has been listed a few times, it sells every time.
The owner is proxy bidding the car. That is one of the major drawbacks of eBay.
If you want a black one, it will have to be a 84/85. I know that Hess did a few in between 79 & 81, I don't recall ever seeing a black one.
There is also a clean 81 on eBay right now, definitely not the problems of a 4100. I'm just not crazy on how they did the top, doesn't run well with the lines of the car.
The white 85 on eBay thats in Staten island is a rat, stay away from that one. I looked at the car in person.
Good Luck
The photos look so good...
You never know.
I still have a red/white/white 85 Convert, but it needs a full cosmetic resto. Paint, top, seats fixed.
Keep looking,
Brian
Hi All,
On alot if not all of the non ASC/factory Cadillac's they don't have the rear windows, the top comes right to the door window, thats another way to spot them.
I'd like 1 myself, beautiful cars, too bad the 84/85 has the 4.1. The 1990's-2002 Eldo aftermarket convertibles should be nice with the Northstars but I like the 79-85 style better also.
I guess if you find a red, white or blue 1 with good interior and solid body you could always have it pianted, some I see for sale could use a new paint job anyways, red interior would look good with the black.
Eric :)