1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible w/ 25 Original Miles!

[Bobby B]

Just passing it on…..
                   Bobby

http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/4902436384.html

[James Landi]

The ad brings up some interesting questions... how can one know for sure what is the authentic mileage for a car like this one with a mechanic driven odometer?  If you wanted this car for your collection with the purported low mileage claim,(and you had a pile of money), how would you verify the mileage claim or a mileage claiming extraordinary low mileage through visual/mechanical inspections???

[David Greenburg]

Seller seems indecisive about the price.  Is it 78k or 85k?

[76eldo]

These cars always have rotted out heater cores and radiators.
Cruise control cars have very easily disconnected speedo cables right under the hood.

You can generally tell by looking at certain tell tale clues as the the authenticity of the super low mileage.

Price is way high though.

Brian

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Are the wheels original?

Bruce.

[76eldo]

No. They are aftermarket wheels.
All 76's had double ring black painted caps.
That's a black center with the outer ring black too.
The Bicentennials had white centers and outer rings.

Brian

[TJ Hopland]

Those are 69-70 Toronado wheels.   How do you end up with that low of a mile car and not have the original wheels (and tires?).

Odd too that there is that much fading on the filler panels?

For that kind of money stuff should really be correct and right.

[waterzap]

When I have sold older cars, people sometimes ask me what the mileage is. I usually say, it could be xxxxxx, but I dont quite know. People that dont know older cars are usually surprised. It literally takes a few seconds to disconnect the speedo cable. You can then use a cordless drill to get any mileage you want. The instruments dont go over 100,000, so it will take me but a few minutes of spinning to get the car to 25 miles.
You cannot buy old cars on mileage. It means very little. You buy on condition.

76 Eldorados in ANY condition isnt worth that much. If he got a generous buyer, thats a $25k car. GENEROUS

Isnt if funny that with strange ads like this someone is always selling something for a friend?
Jalopnik website has a nice price / crack pipe car they feature.
On that scale, this car is
crack pipe --|eldo|-------------------------------------nice price

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Whenever you hear of a sub-100 mile vintage Cadillac, odds are it is going to be 1976 Eldorado Convertible.

Such examples are not that uncommon. Many were snapped up new and put away for posterity; everybody thought they were a sure-fire investment.

In any case, fillers go bad through a combination of heat and age.

Mileage does not enter into it - a car can have 0 miles and the fillers still can bad and often, they are.

I am at loss why the wheel covers would have been swapped out on a car that presumably had never been intended to be taken on the road. Very baffling.

Also interesting is that the car had been apparently sold new by Thomas Cadillac in CA and is now on the East Coast. 

This one is full of mysteries but I haven't seen irrefutable evidence to dismiss the mileage claim - yet. 

[Rich S]

Around ten or fifteen years ago, the Thomas Cadillac collection was auctioned. There was a magazine-like brochure available. Within my files, I have it somewhere. This car was featured then, still on the West Coast, with those same wheels installed by the dealership (an "aftermarket" wheel) along with those same Vogue Tyres. Apparently it was purchased by someone around New Jersey, who has stored it, and now wants to sell it. At that time, the original bumper fillers still looked good, and it had those same wheels and tires. In any case, it's a very pretty car, but priced too high, in my opinion.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Around ten or fifteen years ago, the Thomas Cadillac collection was auctioned. There was a magazine-like brochure available. Within my files, I have it somewhere. This car was featured then, still on the West Coast, with those same wheels installed by the dealership (an "aftermarket" wheel) along with those same Vogue Tyres. Apparently it was purchased by someone around New Jersey, who has stored it, and now wants to sell it. At that time, the original bumper fillers still looked good, and it had those same wheels and tires. In any case, it's a very pretty car, but priced too high, in my opinion.

That makes sense and I do recall the Thomas Cadillac auction. I believe it took place in 1996. A friend owned one of the cars from that collection - a 1960 Fleetwood 60 Special in Persian Sand.

[gary griffin]

1976 was an interesting year. It appeared to be the last year that convertibles would ever be sold in the USA due to safety regulations. Many were purchased new and went directly into storage. I read about one that the buyer had it taken into storage by a flat bead truck so it would not gain miles when driving to storage.

Many people figured that they would be worth a fortune by now and if they were actually the last convertibles manufactured they certainly would be more valuable.   Unfortunately for those investors but fortunately for the rest of us a few years later the government rescinded those regulations and now convertibles are produced.

If you want a trophy this would be one but if you want something to drive and enjoy keep looking unless your name is Jay L - - o

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

1976 was an interesting year. It appeared to be the last year that Cadillacs would ever be sold in the USA due to safety regulations.

You mean that 1976 had been expected to be the final year for convertibles to be sold in the US, due to safety regulations?

Incidentally, Jeep CJ continued to be produced in soft top form, so US "convertible" production never actually ceased. 

[gary griffin]

Eric, you caught my mistake which I have since corrected

[76eldo]

I think it was also the fact that with air conditioning, sun roofs and T-tops, convertibles were not selling.  Anyone remember when the NADA and Kelly Blue Books had a deduction amount listed on the pricing columns for used cars?

It the words of my favorite band of all time, Tower Of Power, "What is hip today might become passe'".

Not many people were buying convertibles.  Then when they were discontinued, everyone wanted one...

Brian