Yesterday, I got an email from David with a link to a car from our very own S.W. Gossin, from over in his neck of the woods. I took one look at the car in the ad and knew immediately what I had to do: make it a Cadillac day. I found a comparable car, not here in Portland but in California, for us to check out. First, however, let’s put the ’90s to bed and see who took home yesterday’s prize:
Yep, that is what I expected. It’s hard to beat the utility of a simple little truck. And yes, thank you all for pointing out that I’m a idiot and the Saturn is in fact the SC2 model. I trusted the listing instead of my own eyes, and I should know better by now. Doesn’t matter, I guess, since it lost anyway.
Moving on: Today, it’s an East Coast vs West Coast battle, courtesy of Cadillac’s dinosaur of a personal luxury coupe: the Eldorado. The two cars we have today are only a year apart, but that year spans a generational change. And similar as they may have once been, three thousand miles of open road isn’t the only thing separating them now. Let’s check them out.
1991 Cadillac Eldorado – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 4.9 liter V8, 4 speed automatic, FWD
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Odometer reading: 83,000 miles
Runs/drives? Drives well, according to the ad
Our East Coast contender is the final year of the eleventh (!) generation Eldorado, downsized from the already-downsized 1979-85 model. It has the final evolution of Cadillac’s HT V8 engine, here displacing 4.9 liters and putting out a nice round 200 horsepower. This engine had troubles early on, but by the mid-late 1980s, GM had ironed out most of the kinks and it became a reliable, pleasant beast (as long as you didn’t need to change the rear four spark plugs).
This Eldorado is the Touring Coupe model, with larger wheels and a little bit firmer suspension than the standard car. It isn’t quite “The Caddy That Zigs,” but it doesn’t quite lumber around like a drunken rhinoceros either.
The seller says they bought this car “to restore,” but it looks to me like it doesn’t need much. New tires, freshly-serviced air conditioning, and “a bunch of other fixes” sounds like a pretty damn nice $2000 car to me. The windshield is cracked, but if that’s all that’s wrong with it, it’s a good deal.
It is too bad we don’t get any photos of the interior, because that might be the make-or-break factor. If it’s trashed inside, that could turn off a lot of buyers. But I’d say for $2000, it’s worth going to take a look to find out.
[Editor’s Note: I’d like to point out that whomever had this car took the trouble to replace the all-red-with-a-fussy-little-Caddy-crest US-spec taillights with these Europe/global-spec units with amber rear indicators. Or, as I look into this a bit more, it could be that this one was one of the Eldorado Touring Coupe edition ones that used the amber/red taillights to give it a more sporty look. Either way, I think they work in the car’s favor. – JT]
1992 Cadillac Eldorado – $1,950
Engine/drivetrain: 4.9 liter V8, 4 speed automatic, FWD
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Odometer reading: 154,000 miles
Runs/drives? Doesn’t explicitly state, but I think we can assume
When I first saw the lead image of this car, I assumed it was just faded red. But then I looked at the other photos, and I am convinced that it is, in fact, painted in a color somewhere in the magenta/fuchsia/hot pink neighborhood.
That’s right, folks; history is being made. For the first and possibly last time on Shitbox Showdown, we are looking at a pink Cadillac.
The twelfth generation Eldorado grew a bit, and lost a little bit of the old-man stodginess of the previous generation’s styling. Gone are the bolt-upright rear window and optional landau top (though the aftermarket was happy to oblige, if you really wanted one). This being a 1992 model, it still uses the 4.9 liter HT engine, which would be replaced in 1994 by the notorious powerful-but-fragile Northstar V8.
Again, we aren’t given any interior photos, and there’s precious little else to go on about this car’s condition in the ad. But if the tags are current, one can assume it’s being driven at least now and then. Like too many Cadillacs, it appears to have some additional chrome stuck on it; I don’t think the bumpers were originally that shiny. And the wire wheels are aftermarket as well. They’re nowhere near deep enough to do Houston proud, and don’t fit the sleek style of this car at all. But when you start out by painting a car hot pink, I guess you stop worrying about what “goes with” the rest of the car.
Well, there they are: one survivor from North Carolina and one modified California special. Both run and drive well, and the price difference is only $50. I guess if you can’t decide, you can flip a coin. (Yes, in fact, I can work a music reference into just about anything.)
I had this engine in my ’94 Deville and it’s just shockingly good for the numerical power output.
I liked the onboard diagnostics in it – and I tricked it into thinking it was an Eldorado so that I could get coolant temperature on the digital dash.
Between these two I’d typically take the 92-93 Eldorado – but a drive thru paint job – wire wheels – and janky trunk? 91.
I’d bet the 91 also has more Cadillac touches in it than the 92 does. Little Caddy crests dispersed throughout, etc. That’s my vote.
I went with the 91 as the 92 seems to have something off with the trunk (looks open on the sides, closed on the back). That screaming accident damage not fixed.
The ’92 not only has almost double the miles, but those wheels and terrible paint color just make it a ‘no’. I wouldn’t want to be caught dead in that thing. The ’91 is the better deal with fewer miles and no need to drop $$ on new wheels and paint.
Can’t believe nobody’s mentioned the mileage, the white ones way lower plus it’s not pink. I would think interior is decent with only 83K
I’ll take the ’91 just because it’s pretty weird-looking. I’m not saying it looks *great*, but the ’92 is just boring. The ’92 looks like what I would expect to see a little old man driving, except I think by now it’s likely to have been handed down to that guy’s grandkids. Point is, it looks old but not old enough to be interesting. The ’91 looks genuinely as if it’s from another era, and if its proportions are a little awkward, well, at least they’re different.
Neither is particularly desirable to me overall, however.
With no interior or engine images, neither seller is trying very hard.
The white one calls to me more. I do want to see both interiors.
All else being equal, I prefer the style of the ’92 to the ’91. It’s not quite as stark as the difference between the 1993 and 1994 Dodge Ram, but the ’92 Eldo just looks way more modern than the ’91. What a difference a year makes, huh?
But all else is not equal.
When someone says that they intended to restore a car but are selling it before the work has been completed, that’s a red flag to me that the issues are far greater than originally anticipated, and the seller is just trying to unload the basketcase. That’s a point against the ’91.
The color of the ’92 is perplexing. In some pictures, it looks like it just may be a faded red; in others, it may be hot pink / magenta. The late-evening lighting in the photos is a little funky making it hard to tell for sure. Drug dealers and pimps paint their Cadillacs hot pink / magenta. My grandfather used to say “When you’re buying a used car, you’re buying someone else’s problems.” I do not want drug dealer / pimp problems.
So for me it’ll come down to the true color of the ’92. If it truly is just a faded red, then I’ll go with it, knowing that the Northstar engine will let me down, and the janky misaligned trunk will let in water. Otherwise I’ll roll the dice with the ’91.
Gotta be the ’91 ETC with its’ Trabant-esque taillights. Since it’s in NC if an actual Autopian reader actually buys it, the buyer should get to hang out with Jason for a day in exchange for letting him drive it for the first-ever “We Drive A Shitbox Showdown Car” article?
I prefer a good ’92 to a good ’91. But that’s not a good ’92 – plus I can’t buy a car from someone who thinks those wheels are okay – and the funky taillights make that a great ’91.
I never cared for either of these.
What I would take is a 1990-1993 Buick Riviera, a car I believe to be more cohesively designed than the 1991 Eldorado, and with the bulletproof 3800 Series I.
Tough call. I’m going for the ‘91 simply due to the fact that there is clear coat failure on the drivers side fender of the ‘92. It also looks better cared for.
I’m going to go with the white ’91. I’m betting the interior is Carolina sun-baked, but for a windshield and ~$2K, who cares? This is the only one of these cars I’ve seen for sale (in this purported condition) in this area for years.
There are mopeds posted for sale locally for around the same price as this V8 luxury coupe.
Hat tip to Mark for including it today!
The styling of the ’91 is much cleaner, IMO. They also have basically identical interior volume, despite the fact that the ’92 is a bigger car. Also that particular ’92 is a hideous color with hideous wheels. I’d definitely take the ’91.
Common automotive sense dictates that the first year of a model run is the worst year, as the process of the manufacturer discovering long term and model specific problems has just begun, and you’re more likely to have those issues.
Common automotive sense *also* dictates that the last year of a model run is the best year as all the foibles of that iteration have usually been ironed out by then. Revised parts come installed. Recalls are fixed in the factory before the car rolls out the door.
Common automotive sense says the 91 is the better choice, and I agree.
The pink and the wire wheels seal the deal for me. What other bad decisions were made?
Give me the ’91.
I drove a ’91 ETC for a week when they were new. It was not an awful car. Too big for my taste, as most Cads are, but still a decent cruiser. The interior was “meh,” but what GM car from that vintage doesn’t have builder-grade appointments inside?
If I ever drove the ’92 version, I don’t remember it. In fact, all I remember specifically about the ’91 was that it had two tiny lamps above the inside of the rear window that lit up to show you the brake lights were working. At night, it was like being pursued by a rabid vampire bat.
I voted for the white one. Neither I nor any of my girlfriends ever had anything to do with Mary Kay products, and I’m not changing that now.
Hoo boy, do you want the restoration project that didn’t even make it to the cracked windshield or the high mileage sketchy flipped car that probably still has the title in the prior owner’s name? I’ll take the 1991 because the poorly fit trunk on the 1992 edition would drive me nuts every time I looked at the car. Maybe it’s from shitty repairs, and maybe it’s from shitty GM original build quality. I have no interest in finding out.
I voted 91, just couldn’t do the color of the other one. Plus the trunk lid looks like it doesn’t want to close on whatever dead item is stuffed in the 92
I went with white as well. I mean, I’m all about function over form, but I’m not sure what looking at that hot pink hood would do to my mental health long-term. Especially at only $50 difference.
I picked the 92 Caddy. Pink be damned,
I love the OBS (I think I can use that in this context) Eldorado. Beautiful looking car with a solid drivetrain. Shut up and take my money.
That generation of Eldorado reminds me of when I was in kindergarten, which would be around ’89-90. There was an elderly couple who lived next door and they had a gorgeous Cadillac Fleetwood that was still pretty new to them. If memory serves, it was Glacier Blue with a Navy Blue velour interior. Every now and then they’d invite my sister and I to ride along with them to the local county park for walks or just little pleasure drives. I still remember the husband calling out to us in the back seat, “It rides just like a cloud, doesn’t it?” to which we ecstatically responded in the affirmative. Our family was pretty poor, so these were special experiences, one which I still haven’t forgotten.
You get a thumbs up for a story about kids who hopped into someone else’s car that didn’t end with faces on milk cartons. You had cool neighbors. I didn’t grow up poor by any stretch, but a Caddy of that era would have been mind blowing for me since my parents always went for the basest of base models they could get when I was a kid.
I’m going to sound like a boomer (which I’m not obviously), but I guess times were different then? Or, because my mom had 3 spare kids besides us, she was fine with it. Being poor, we always were driving shitboxes near the end of the line. One of my childhood memories was riding around in a ratted out mid to late 80s brown Ford Escort with a missing grill and porch door screen over the front to catch bugs and rocks. I rode in the cargo area with a blanket because all the other seats were occupied by our sizeable family. Good times.
I’m a millennial (born in the early 90s and thus well into the throes of “stranger-danger”). I think the truth is that the number of people who want to harm, kidnap, assault or murder a perfect stranger is pretty small. But those are the stories you always hear about.
The vast number of rapes, kidnaps and murders occur in scenarios where the perpetrator is close to the victim.
As for car safety, I spent most of my childhood in a 1964 Impala Coupe (the last year of the controversial GM cruciform/X frame design in everything but the Riviera, which retained it through 1970). The Impala had lap belts in the front and none at all in the rear. Originally, I rode in the front seat when it was just me and my dad in the car. Once my sister came along, her car seat was belted into the front and I was relegated to the back, where there were no seatbelts. My parents should have known better, but we never did crash, and the other kids always thought it was cool when my dad showed up in that car.
Born in the 80’s, and the stranger danger stuff was so pervasive that I picked up on it even though my parents never emphasized it to me or my brother. I think they had it in cartoons and probably in schools. The cartoons in those days often took a minute or 2 at the end to teach us sometimes useful lessons.
“Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. GI Joe!”
Adam Walsh changed America, man. I remember being finger printed at the local library when I was about 5. Parents actually brought their kids in to be finger printed. There was a fucking line. The logic was that if anything ever did happen and we were kidnapped, that having our prints on file could identify us if we were ever found. My brother loved to point out that it’d most likely be murdered, so they’d be identifying my dead body. Gotta love older brothers.
I was born in a rural Minnesota town in ’80. Pretty much free-range most of my childhood but when Jacob Wetterling was abducted in ’89 maybe 130 miles away my mom and all the others got much more concerned for a few years.
Also, the GI Joe clip I remember most is the kid hiding and getting stuck in the abandoned fridge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQEY8LWi71Y
I was born early 60s. Go outside and I don’t want to see you until the streetlights come on. If you’re thirsty drink from the hose. Back when any adult in the neighborhood could spank any kid in the neighborhood and our parents reacted by spanking us too.
Good times!!!????
Born in the 80’s and that was pretty much our SOP too. Minus the spanking part. Other parents would just report your behavior to your parents.
I was born early 60s. Go outside and I don’t want to see you until the streetlights come on. If you’re thirsty drink from the hose. Back when any adult in the neighborhood could spank any kid in the neighborhood and our parents reacted by spanking us too.
Good times!!!????
I used to have a 1991 STS. 200 hp/275 lb-ft. Easy win for this ETC.
https://imgur.io/a/NG8dSsp
This one is easy–I’m going with the Caddy.
The Eldorado?
The 2 door, obviously.
Damn right.
I know the white one is purportedly half the mileage, but that’s no reason for that unholy-looking cross between a kitchen appliance and a car to be ahead in the poll. I’d roll the dice on the hot pink one because it looks like a car, not a Maytag.
Is that a Mary Kay award car? Didn’t they win pink Caddys for hitting certain sales points? Either way, they’re both junk.
Not to be a pedant guy, but evidently, Mary Kay actually just leased these to top earners. The terms weren’t even very good. You’d have to be chugging their Kool-Aid by the gallon to get onboard with that.
That makes sense. Multilevel marketing scams generally don’t work by being generous to their marks.
I believe Mary Kay actually does pay the lease on the Career Car if you earn one. But if your performance falls below a certain threshold, you’re responsible for the payment…which might be a bit inflated.
Also, the long-standing agreement between GM and Mary Kay is that the pink is exclusive to Mary Kay and that if a dealership takes in a Mary Kay car post-lease, it has to be repainted prior to auction or resale. Mary Kay doesn’t want non-members driving its cars.
I haven’t seen one in ages, but those “Night of the Mary Kay Commandos” cars were pretty common around here and this color is not the same. I do remember seeing one ex-Mary Kay-car on a used lot once, so maybe a few slipped through the net, like Jay Leno’s Chrysler Turbine car.
Oh, for sure this isn’t a Mary Kay Career Car; it’s just that we were on the topic of them.
As far as Mary Kay cars, the lady around the corner from me has one, although hers is a black Equinox. She originally had a pre-refresh version of the Equinox and now she has a post-refresh, so I assume she just re-upped her lease.
The Mary Kay pink is a lot paler, not nearly as bright as this.
They are Pepto-Bismol pink because you need some after seeing one.
I’ll be here all week!
Sorry Bruce, I’m going for the 91. The amber turn signals are cooler, and the pink one doesn’t even have the Northstar in it, either.
The 92’s headlights are the same as used in the C5 Corvette. except they’re glass instead of plastic like in the C5. The Vette has plastic so they could use a weaker motor for the pop-up headlights, but you can probably retrofit the glass lights in it.
Really, this is 6 of one and a half dozen of another. If one had the Northstar, we could exclude that one right away, but these have essentially the exact same engine.
The styling is way better on the ’92, and the interior of a ’92 is a lot more modern than the interior on a ’91.
But that color is atrocious, it reminds me of my late mother’s lipstick. So I want the ’92, but with the touring package, rims, and white paint from the ’91.