Cadillac

Cadillac’s hope of increasing sales via the exciting new Seville and Eldorado in 1992 didn’t quite pan out, as the rest of the lineup’s aging status meant sales remained flat at 221,112 cars. In 1993 things were a bit worse as several models concluded their tenure in the lineup, and sales slipped to 214,807 vehicles. Surely 1994 with the launch of a new DeVille would be a stellar year! Let’s see.

After 12 generations and an impressive 50-year run, the very last Cadillac Eldorado rolled off the line on April 22, 2002. When the Eldorado bowed out it stood as the last of an old, previous style of Cadillac products. Its styling was no longer worn by any of the other vehicles in the lineup, and Eldorado was sold alongside models that had been replaced twice since it launched in 1992. 

After its exciting launch in 1992 as a twelfth-gen model, the Cadillac Eldorado began the decade-long march to its demise. The exterior design that drew criticism from its contemporary audience was updated in 1995 for the first and only time. And while that made the coupe look more modern (no more hood ornaments), the Eldorado was already behind the rest of the lineup in terms of looks. This would persist through the rest of its run, as the brand’s entire portfolio was updated with new models while the Eldorado remained in stasis.

The Cadillac Eldorado that debuted in 1992 would end up as both the model’s final generation, and the longest lived. Both of those data points were driven by the consumer’s lack of love for the personal luxury coupe: It was a segment well in decline by the mid-Eighties. The ‘92 debuted to very mixed reviews of its mishmash exterior styling, and its interior included strange design choices and was not up to par with the competition. Starting in 1993 Cadillac began making strategic updates to keep the Eldorado limping along before it headed off into the sunset. Did you know there were three Eldorados in 1993?

Last week we reviewed the exterior of the “all-new” Cadillac Eldorado of 1992. Though the body was indeed new on the outside, bones underneath were the same as the old one: the platform, wheelbase, and engine were all carried over from the ‘91. While the exterior proved a messy mixed bag of new, old, and throwback design cues, the interior was a more solid step forward. It was apparent even from a casual glance that GM wanted to be taken more seriously as a competitor to established European marques. But the devil is in the details, as they say.

In 1992 a new Eldorado debuted alongside the flagship Seville, as both models ushered in a new era of styling for Cadillac. With the promise of more technology, luxury, and refinement than ever, Eldorado was supposed to look forward. However, the past was firmly on the mind of Cadillac’s designers as they penned the Eldorado’s exterior.

Cadillac introduced what would be the final generation Eldorado - the twelfth - amid a flurry of product activity and a vision of brand rebirth. When it debuted in 1992 alongside a new Seville, both models previewed what the brand would look like moving forward: angular, European-inspired, and altogether less baroque than outgoing models. The Northstar was supposed to power these new flagships, but alas it was not ready and the new models fell back on the trusty 4.9-liter V8. Like the carryover engine, the new Eldorado was more similar to the old one than it appeared.

Cadillac’s sales fell precipitously after the brand downsized all of its vehicles in 1985 and 1986. Once the downsizing transformation was complete, sales fell by over 100,000 units and continued to decline through 1991. In 1992 the company began the attempt to rework its image (again), shed the design cues of the past, and appeal even more to the mythical “Euro intender” customer who could theoretically be persuaded into a Cadillac.

After a stellar sales year in 1985 with a partially downsized product range, Cadillac sales promptly fell by over 100,000 units in 1986. The debut of the exciting new Allanté in 1987 did not act as a halo for the brand as intended, and the roadster managed only 3,363 sales its first year. Would 1988 be the year Cadillac rebounded? Not quite. 

The eleventh generation Eldorado got more exciting as it neared its end with reintroduction of the Eldorado Touring Coupe in 1990. The sporty Euro-inspired model had inexplicably gone missing after 1985. The big news for its final outing in 1991 was the new 4.9-liter V8, which just about brought engine standards to where they should have been circa 1986. These changes and the shuffling of the other models in the brand’s portfolio were all an effort to bump Cadillac’s sales figures during a difficult time.

The downsized Cadillac Eldorado appeared in 1986 in its smallest ever iteration with the HT4100 V8. Within two years it shed the troublesome engine in favor of the (HT4100 derived) 4.5-liter V8 and received a visual update that made it longer and more Cadillac-like. It was also dethroned during that period as the brand’s halo two-door, as the Allanté arrived in 1988 as GM’s super expensive competitor to the Mercedes SL. The 1989 model year brought a few new features and a revision of vinyl roof configurations, but the really exciting edits arrived in 1990.

General Motors will take another step toward automated driving with a new version of its Super Cruise system—one that will allow drivers to look away from the road entirely. The so-called “eyes-off” mode is expected to debut in the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ, this will be GM’s first attempt at delivering Level 3 autonomy.

Today we bring you a 2008 Cadillac XLR.

When Cadillac introduced the freshly downsized Eldorado for the 1986 model year, the brand was riding a wave of success. When the majority of the line downsized in 1985, Cadillac experienced its best sales year ever. It was also the best year ever for the Eldorado as it was snapped up by customers before its larger traditional shape headed into the sunset. By the conclusion of 1986, the bloom fell off the sales rose: Sales dipped by over 100,000 units brand-wide, and Eldorado sales were down nearly 79 percent. Revisions to the Eldorado were needed pronto.

Cadillac and General Motors have confirmed the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 sedans will go to car heaven/the junkyard in the sky after the 2026 model year.

What, you ask, clutching tightly to whatever buff book you have on hand, will happen to the Blackwing? Oh god, no, the manuals! Save the manuals!

Well, as NFL quarterback and psychedelic substance enthusiast Aaron Rodgers once said, relax.

The Eldorado’s 11th generation debuted in 1986 with downsized styling in line with the rest of Cadillac’s portfolio, save the lone rear-drive Fleetwood Brougham. The smaller coupe (sans convertible version from 1986 onward) was newly very similar in looks to its platform mates the Oldsmobile Toronado and Buick Riviera. And like the other two, it implemented a new transverse engine layout. Said layout paid dividends in the interior, where Cadillac promised just as much space as the outgoing Eldorado. But boy did it look different inside.

The Vistiq is smaller and less expensive than the Escalade IQ with plenty of the same luxury. Which one's for you?

As covered in our previous installment, Cadillac unveiled the new and very downsized Eldorado coupe for 1986. Both it and its sibling the Seville received new designs in line with the rest of Cadillac’s offerings (save Fleetwood Brougham) that were previously downsized for the second time in 1985. The lineup was down to when early 80s GM management bet the farm on projected high gasoline prices that did not come to fruition. Today we’ll take a look at what the shrinkage meant for Eldorado’s exterior styling that no longer came with length.

We rejoin our Eldorado coverage today at a turning point for Cadillac’s lineup. The brand’s first downsizing effort in 1977 worked wonders for sales and proved to be exactly what consumers wanted: A slightly smaller yet still grandiose vehicle with a large V8. The second downsizing effort embarked upon in 1985 would be looked upon much less fondly after the fact. But is that hindsight feeling reflected in the sales figures? 

The tenth generation Cadillac Eldorado was launched to great fanfare in 1979 and saw its sales figures fly higher than ever. Also buoyed was the Cadillac brand as a whole, which downsized its lineup at the right time and brought forth its first midsize - Seville - to great effect. As a result the brand managed its all-time sales record in 1979 of 381,113 cars. 

Never to be matched again, 1980 was a turning point in Cadillac’s fortunes. The economy, inflation, and a poor job market caused a downward slide for GM’s most prestigious marque. That year sales declined by 55.8 percent, to 213,002 in total. Not to worry though, Cadillac had prepared a new type of engine to hit the competition where it hurt the most. The V8-6-4!

Today we present you with a relatively rare 2014 Cadillac ELR.

The tenth generation Cadillac Eldorado proved a breath of fresh air over its long-lived and bloated predecessor. When the old car bowed out at the conclusion of 1978 it was amidst big changes in the domestic luxury car market, and indeed in the car market in general. The oversized enormous 225-inch American car had come to its end via market and regulatory pressures. 

Competition from Europe was also ever-hotter and demanded more Continental-style automobiles. To that end (and prior to screwing up its entire lineup, more on that in future) the Eldorado of 1979 was svelte and crisp, and even added a Touring Coupe trim for further European cred. Let’s see how Cadillac’s sales fared at the end of its market dominating era.

Hey there, happy Friday! It's podcast time!

In the subsequent years following the tenth generation Cadillac Eldorado’s debut in 1979, GM’s engineers and emissions regulations joined forces to mandate updates to the brand’s expensive coupe. Advancements like electronic fuel injection and more modern digital displays that were a plus balanced against negatives like a V6 engine, a diesel, the V8-6-4 failure, and 6.0-liter V8 engines that produced just 145 horsepower. The Eldorado kept selling meanwhile, and Eldorado’s adjustments through the end of its run shifted more towards trim and the illusion of “sportiness” the affluent luxury car buyer of the Eighties desired so much.

Cadillac’s recent vehicles feature sleek, modern styling, but the automaker has been not-so-subtly eying off-road vehicles with its most recent concept. Last year’s Monterey Car Week saw the Opulent Velocity, which featured an aggressive V-inspired look, but this year’s event will see a beefy off-roader called Elevated Velocity.

Many premium and high-end automakers will build a car in any color you can think of, including wild custom color-match requests. Cadillac recently joined that club with the ultra-premium Celestiq, but it’s now extending custom paints to the CT5-V Blackwing for 2026.

The tenth generation Eldorado was updated in almost every way over its predecessor, turning the model into a much more modern personal luxury coupe in 1979. Our previous two Rare Rides installments reviewed the new-for-1979 Eldorado’s sleek exterior and its interior accommodations. After its debut, American car manufacturers’ tradition dictated it would be visually updated annually to keep sales flowing, but GM had other ideas.

The sleek and svelte tenth generation Cadillac Eldorado debuted in 1979 with a whole new exterior appearance, which we reviewed in our previous entry. As it happened, the illustrious coupe would end up one of the last nicely styled vehicles to come from GM for quite some time. Before we explore the Eldorado’s interior, we take a quick diversion to GM’s sudden change in design ethos. With new and very different leadership at the helm, it was the dawn of a new stylistic era.

Yesterday, we reported on a Hyundai recall that impacted just ten vehicles. Today’s recall is slightly larger, but not by much, as General Motors is recalling 53 2025 Cadillac Lyriqs and 2026 Vistiq EVs for an improperly secured battery pack.

General Motors made news when it announced that its new EVs would lack Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in favor of Google Built-In and in-house software. The automaker argued that the experience would be better with its more cohesive interface, but that apparently doesn’t apply to Cadillac EV buyers down under.

Back in the early 2000s, it wasn’t all that hard to spot a hardworking Mary Kay salesperson touting their success in a pink Cadillac. It’s become a lot harder to spot the cars, at least where I live, but the program has continued and is expanding with a new vehicle. Cadillac recently unveiled its first-ever EV for the program, showing a pink Optiq at the Mary Kay seminar in Charlotte over the weekend.

In our previous installment, Cadillac introduced the tenth generation Eldorado coupe of 1979. The new car was smaller in all dimensions, 900 pounds lighter, and wore very different styling to its predecessor. The changeup was necessary, as Eldorado ventured into a PLC market fundamentally different to the one the enormous and boaty ninth-gen Eldorado occupied between 1971 and 1978. For the second time in its history Eldorado was a clean break design, and attempted to return to the sharp angles and simple lines it wore in 1967.

Today we bring you a 1995 Cadillac Fleetwood that has an LT1 V8 underhood and the rare factory tow package.

Conquest customers are a big deal for car dealers and automakers. Stealing buyers from other brands is one of the most rewarding sales a dealership can make, and Cadillac stores are finding that the Lyriq and Optiq are particularly good at bringing people to the brand.

In 1979, Cadillac launched the tenth generation Eldorado into a changing car market. The Eldorado was Cadillac’s last model to downsize, after the rest of the brand bowed to the interests of fuel economy and cleaner styling in 1977. There was of course another big downsizing coming in just a few years, but nobody was focused on that yet. It was time to enjoy a thoroughly modernized, smaller, and more electronic Eldorado coupe.

In our last entry, Cadillac waved a tearful goodbye to the full-size Eldorado at the conclusion of 1978. The model lasted two additional years after the rest of the Cadillac lineup was downsized for 1977, as GM prepared to modernize the E-body platform that dated to 1966. The ninth generation had a very successful run that began in 1971, and improved its sales figure steadily throughout its tenure. But a new automotive world was dawning at the end of the Seventies, and the Eldorado needed to change to stay competitive. Let’s dive into automotive market context.

In our last installment, we wrapped up the ninth generation Eldorado’s run in 1978. With expanded Custom Biarritz and Custom Biarritz Classic trims turning the coupe into a celebration of festoonery, change was in the wind at Cadillac. Let’s take a look at Cadillac’s impressive sales figures and model pricing between 1971 and 1978.

The ninth generation Eldorado was the subject of continual revisions and additional trim during its eight-year tenure from 1971 to 1978. We began with the first edits through 1973 and then explored 1974 through 1976 when the Eldorado shed its round headlamps and its convertible variant. It was the last domestic convertible at a time when consumer interest in them was at a low point, but Cadillac’s marketing people made quite a hubbub about its departure. The following year was a new era across the line at Cadillac, except for the elderly Eldorado.

We first learned about the ultra-luxurious, ultra-expensive Cadillac Celestiq a couple of years ago, but the automaker is just now delivering the first customer car. The handoff happened at an event at the Automaker’s Cadillac House At Vanderbilt, where it also hosts a customer design studio for the cars.

We return to Eldorado coverage in the middle of the ninth generation’s eight-year run. The large and boaty iteration of the Eldorado debuted in 1971, and in 1973 its looks and placement within the product lineup were reworked. No longer a Fleetwood designated vehicle, the Eldorado stood on its own as it progressively became heavier, more trimmed, and larger than ever. Warning: This post contains facts that disagree with the rest of the internet.

The General put some odd-looking rear bodywork on his cars during the mid-to-late Malaise Era. There was the Olds Cutlass Salon Fastback, of course, and the 1977-1979 full-sized Chevy coupes with wraparound rear glass. I've long thought that the "bustleback" 1980-1985 Cadillac Seville was even goofier-looking than those two, and I've found this '82 in a Denver-area car graveyard to share with you.

In 1999 General Motors began its rollout of GMT800 platform vehicles, updated and more rounded designs arrived to replace the square-bodied GMT400 platform that was in production since 1988. The platform’s main family haulers, the light duty (1500) Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, and GMC Yukon made the switch to GMT800 for 2000, while the luxurious Yukon Denali and Cadillac Escalade remained on the GMT400 for one final year. Sending the GMT400 Tahoe out with a bang were two special one-year limited edition models. These special editions made good on the promise of a Nineties concept vehicle, introduced a trim level that would become permanent, and (crucially) used up some excess capacity at one of GM’s most important plants.

General Motors’ EV sales have grown significantly, with Chevrolet now gunning for Tesla’s top spot. Cadillac has announced a few new models in recent months, and the latest is the Optiq-V, a rowdier version of the brand’s Chevy Equinox EV-based SUV.

As our Rare Rides series on the Cadillac Eldorado continues through the Seventies, we’re on a collision course with a poignant moment in time: the death of the American convertible. The Eldorado convertible ended up the last man standing amongst domestic-branded vehicles when it bowed out in 1976. American-made convertibles would return years later, the first of which were the 1982 Dodge 400 and Chrysler LeBaron. But who was to blame for those years where there were no domestic convertibles at all, and other manufacturers offered far fewer true convertibles? The commonly held belief is that it was intense safety regulation from the US government that caused their demise, but that’s not the case. 

It constantly seems like the V8 might be dying. Stellantis is slowly killing the Hemi, though like a horror-movie villain, it never quite dies. Electrification and technological advances involving internal-combustion engines with fewer cylinders are both factors that make us think the V8 will be relegated to only niche sports cars and a few trucks. Yet GM made news this morning that has us pausing.

Returning to Cadillac Eldorado coverage today, we find ourselves at the start of the many revisions made to the ninth-generation model. Our previous installments reviewed the boaty corporate-compliance exterior styling compared to the old model, followed by an interior that was in theory “all-new” but looked like a cost-cut version of the eighth generation’s interior treatment. Whether customers would notice or care about these diversions from the Eldorado’s mission and previous greatness remained to be seen. As soon as the ninth-gen went on sale, Cadillac’s designers knew it was time for annual revisions to keep things exciting!

The Fleetwood Eldorado was all new for 1971, as the model stepped away from sporting pretensions and leaned into the burgeoning brougham and luxury tastes of American consumers. As we saw in our last installment, the angular late Sixties look of the Eldorado (lauded by almost everyone) was replaced with a curved and bloated shape which grew in all dimensions over its predecessor. Today we take a look at the lavish interior accommodations of the 1971 model and talk about cost cutting.

While some automakers backed off performance vehicles as they transitioned to a more EV-heavy fleet, Cadillac remained committed to speed with its V-branded vehicles. The brand recently confirmed that its electric Optiq SUV will be the next to wear the V badge, arriving in 2026 as the new Optiq-V.

In 1971 the Cadillac product lineup featured all-new styling, as the brand exited its era of clean lines and minimized chrome ornamentation. As we reviewed in our last installment, weight, cubic inches, and length measurements all ballooned over where they were the prior decade. At the same time, emphasis on build quality and brand differentiation within the GM portfolio began to decline. For the Eldorado’s part, it slipped into a new disco suit that lost its sleekness and sporting appeal. Its new looks in 1971 favored styling that was in line with the brand’s other offerings and was more garish and decadent like the competition from Lincoln.

The Cadillac lineup was all-new in 1971, as the brand entered what would be seen later as its decline from the Standard of the World status established (partially via marketing) in 1908. Slab-sided looks of the late Sixties were exchanged for bulbous fenders, and front ends became ever heavier and chromed. Headlamps (aside from Eldorado) were spread apart by a brougham logo, and made for an awkward visual approach. Pointed front corners, a Cadillac design cue since the early Sixties were removed for all models save Eldorado, and used by Pontiac. The Eldorado arrived in its ninth generation and pointed the way forward as Cadillac’s aspirational halo personal luxury coupe and convertible.

Cadillac saw its sales successes escalate for the entirety of the Sixties, as it absolutely dominated the domestic luxury car market. Faced with lackluster competition from the likes of the conservative and upright Imperial (fuselage design arrived in 1969) or the aging Continental lineup from Lincoln, buyers flocked to Cadillac in droves. Only at the end of the decade did Lincoln get it together when it offered the Mark III as an alternative to the Eldorado and debuted a new (cost-cut) Continental for 1970. For Cadillac, a new era began in 1971 as all its models were replaced and its downhill slide in quality and taste began.

This new third branch of the Rare Rides series will present two competing vehicles from history head-to-head. Each entry will review the two vehicles’ merits in context of the times: historical reviews, model details, pricing, and that ultimate determination of the winner, sales figures. The first Versus subjects were requested by you, the readers. They are the eighth generation Cadillac Eldorado and the Lincoln Continental Mark III, the very first top-tier American personal luxury coupes.