Fantastic Front Wheel Drive! 1967 Cadillac Eldorado
Dare I say the first iteration is usually the best? As with movies (The Godfather; Star Wars – a New Hope), the first stab is, subjectively, the best. It can be the same with certain automobiles, such as in the case of the first Front Wheel Drive (FWD) version of Cadillac’s esteemed 1967 Eldorado. This is a beautiful and deadly serious Caddy! It is located in Cincinnati, Ohio and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $18,200 with 42 bids tendered so far.
The Eldorado model dates to 1953, but 1967 was the year that it made the transition to FWD. As for Bill Mitchell’s lithe, light, breezy, and creased styling, I believe that ’67 is the best. Post-1970 and Boss Hogg is the first image I conjure when spying an Eldorado. There was a somewhat return to sanity (somewhat) with the ’79-’85 version, but beyond that, fuggedaboutit. Again, I must emphasize subjectivity, because styling always is, but those are my picks on the Eldo comparison chart.
Appearing as a survivor, this Eldorado has had a repaint, in its original Sable Black hue, so it doesn’t quite make that cut but it still retains a lot of originality. It is being sold from an estate where the owner started a restoration project and then he passed before final completion. It is claimed as a 59K miles example containing its original interior and powertrain. And other than some minor, and typical for 55-year-old car annoyances, it’s hardly changed from the day it was assembled. It’s difficult to nitpick the exterior, other than the mentioned missing Eldorado passenger side lettering, nothing is out of place. There are no scrapes, dents, dings, observable scratches, no nuffin’ marring this Cadillac’s expansive stretches of sheet metal. It’s the same story with the black vinyl roof covering, there is no sign of degradation.
Following in the footsteps of the 1966 Oldsmobile Toranodo, this Eldorado is the first of its ilk to employ a Turbo-Hydramatic 425, three-speed automatic FWD transaxle. And longitudinally connected to this unique gearbox/differential is a 340 gross HP 429 CI V8 engine. The seller adds, “It starts, runs, drives, shifts, brakes and handles excellent(ly)“. It is certainly one clean-looking engine!
Inside, we are treated to a cloth and vinyl (I thought leather but the Cadillac sales brochure says otherwise), Strato bench seat environment. Note the seatback shells, they’re the same ones found on countless bucket seat equipped late ’60s/early ’70s GM intermediates. The driver’s side of the backrest shows just the slightest bit of getting in/getting out wear but it’s minimal. Nothing else appears to be out of place; and notice that FWD-allowed flat floor – no transmission/driveshaft hump!
I’m generally not a fan of FWD, but I make an exception for that drivetrain when it’s wrapped up in clothes like a ’67 Eldo. And of course, the cause is helped by that 340 HP V8. What’s your opinion, do you think that first is best or would you prefer to wait for the rest?
Auctions Ending Soon
2006 Ford Mustang Saleen S281 SCBid Now1 hours$18,000
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now3 days$333
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now3 days$3,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now3 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now5 days$10,500
Comments
Given how the Eldorado evolved in the 70s and 80s, it’s easy to forget just how elegant these first FWD models were. What a great example of 1960s design at its best.
While the car is great, I’m sure someone will mention that Godfather Part II and The Empire Strikes Back were both excellent sequels. It might even be me!
LOL, Yes this car sired Darth Vader.
This one looks sinister in black. If you saw one of these driving through Hell’s Kitchen in the late 60’s you grabbed your kids and went inside! This is when Cadillac meant you have arrived and when GM was at the top of their game. I think if you offered a car like this today people might forget the silly SUV craze enough to enjoy a smooth cruiser like this. And you would get thumbs up and cool car comments and people again would say you arrived!
These have some great lines – especially in black!
Someone got a little to happy with the blue spray paint in the engine compartment 🖌️
Yes, and the wrong shade of blue, at that.
Don H. That’s the factory blue, with the blue oil filler cap. Just the way they were built. The 67,68 and 69 were something to see back in the day and still are.
My Pappy had a 67 Olds Toronado and it was fun to drive. I always love the look of the Olds and these Caddies. One thing to remember all those ponies went to the front wheels. I learned a lot about torque steer. And in the winter with studded snow tires, you could make it look like the 4th of July. Beautiful Car.
Yeah ’67 was great year for GM design. Just look at this and a ’67 Corvette/Camaro/Chevelle/Nova/C10. Great stuff!
Don’t forget the Firebird!
And the late model Corvair (don’t laugh). Those designs still look fresh today.
Great car but it’s a shame it’s the most boring possible color combo. Must’ve been really striking back in the day before black cars became overdone and tedious.
When the Europeans reckoned that FWD was good for 200 BHP, the General comes out with torque monster Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs. Triple black works here.
One of the best looking American cars ever produced. Designed before the government took over with crash car bumpers and choked down horsepower.
True story – in Europe it was generally thought that anything beyond 150 horses was too much for a frontwheel drive car and that a 50 horse 1 liter engine was it for a 2-stroke design. The latter myth was one of the pillars of the anti-2-stroke movement which essentially killed off the entire innovation driven German 2-stroke car and motorcycle industries, all of it government sanctioned.
Although I liked all the pre 71 Eldorado’s, my favorite were the 69-70 models. I loved all Cadillacs from 1964-1970, with the 1970 Fleetwood in black being my favorite. In my opinion, every year after 1970 went downhill to where today they all look like everything else.
Beautiful car, but as an owner of 429-powered ’66 Eldo, I can tell you that the 472/500 is a much better motor, and so a ’68 model or later would be a better purchase option.
My Dad was a Olds Cadillac dealer and I remember his best friend ordered a triple black 67 Eldorado with houndstooth inserts! Man does this bring back some great memories!
This was my personal car, when I was a body guard in Philadelphia, in the early ’70’s. My client lived in the swankiest apartment complex, directly across from the famed Philadelphia Art Museum. Parking was under the building with armed guards at entrance and exit. My space was situated between 2 Rolls Royces.
One day my client and several of us were going out to a business meeting, and the contrast was so comical to me, I had to remark. On any given day, my car was the class of any parking lot, but on this day, in this lot I observed “Well, I guess we all know who the poor help is…”
They chuckled.
I my opinion, those rear lights are some of the best ever produced. I showed this car to my wife. Her response, “Is that a Batman car?” Those were the days…
And isn’t it great, the air cleaner is still on the car!
Pretty much every year beginning around 1964, my grandfather used to purchase year-old demo Cadillacs that the dealership owner’s wife drove. The ’64 – ’66 were Coupe DeVille’s and the 67 – 70 were Eldorado’s.
All were black and best I can remember, all had white leather interiors. IIRC, the dash covers were all black, the seats, door panels and the center consoles were white while the carpeting was definitely black. They all had the same great leathery smell, too.
What I’m not sure about was whether or not the ’67 Eldorado had bucket seats with a console or not. I suspect it did because I remember some of the other Caddy’s he had, including the ’64 Coupe DeVille, did have buckets. But it’s been so long ago that memory is just not clear.
Your visual memory may have faded, but your olfactory memory seems to have remained sharp. My memory is similarly selective. I remember only vaguely the appearance of an uncle’s late-1930s Buick. But I distinctly member the smell of the tarred fishing lines he kept in the truck.
Beautiful car, though I’d want photos or have someone look at it for me. The seller doesn’t mention the upholstery material, and the photos are slightly blurry, but I think it’s leather. In 1967 leather seats had smooth leather bolsters with insets of perforated leather, just like these seats. In the photos of the back seat the inset areas have a sheen, which fabric wouldn’t have. This car also seems to suffer from the common misaligned center grill. The bumper/grill assembly is attached to the frame just inside the headlights, and if one bumps the point of the bumper on something (garage wall, parking lot guardrail, etc
) it pivots up slightly, making the grill eggcrate run uphill. Not real hard to fix, luckily.
I thought the grill looked a little bit hinky.
Wasn’t Boss Hogg’s car a DeVille?
I believe it was an Eldo, about 75 or 76, IIRC!
On the TV series, Boss Hogg has a 1970 Deville, in the recent movie (I guess recent is relative), he drove a 1976 Eldorado. So the answer is yes lol.
Of this generation, I prefer the 69/70 models better, due to the factory headrest, the locking steering column, and I would want the Cadillac floor mounted 8 track tape deck, and leather, sunroof was also available
Let’s hope it has the optional front disk brakes. The weight of one of these deserved better brakes than the OEM front drums. And the disk brake upgrade was only a little more than $100 as I recall.
I guess this can’t be said often enough, but… Gasoline was $.35 /gallon. The minimum wage was $1.00 /hr. Your $100 option was approaching $1000 in inflation-adjusted dollars. However; disc brakes were worth it. As soon as disc brakes were available, they should have been standard on everything.
We bought a brand-new Impala Wagon in 1968. On a trip back to Arizona in the same year (the ink wasn’t dry on my driver’s license), we ran through a flooded wash on the highway. On coming out the other side, I simply had no brakes! There was no traffic on the road at that time, but I blew the horn all the way through the red light we ran. I finally got that lead sled pulled over and stopped, while everyone in the car recovered from panic.
From that day to the present, I have wondered why drums were even legal.
Stunning design. I remember when they first came out and the first one I saw at the dealership was white with a black top and black-and-white interior with houndstooth check inserts. I never forgot that look and although the only similarity between the two is front-wheel drive, I put houndstooth check inserts in my ’93 GEO Metro convertible.
My sister had a ’68 Toronado and I bought a ’72 Eldorado when I had my first job out of college, so I really don’t have anything bad to say about GM’s drive trains other than crazy torque steer. But those cars would haul on the highway forever. Great memories.
In 1967, GM put a blue and silver foil sticker on the inside jam of both front doors. This is the ONLY year this occurred despite all the 70 Chevelles you see at car shows with cheap repo stickers on the inside of the doors. Incorrect. The stickers was GM’s commitment to quality in 67. I remember 67 GM cars new and there is no doubt this year was the height of GM quality and styling. Since then, total garbage cars and boring SUVs. Imagine GM bringing this stunning design back today. SUV sales would drop like the Titantic.
RC, when I learned to drive, Dad taught me to lightly ride the brakes for half a minute or so after going through water. This heated the drums and dried them out. Yes, one foot on the gas, one on the brake. But no surprises when it came time to stop. Concerning legality of drum brakes, in the real early days many times the bands were on the OUTSIDE of the drums!
Would’ve been good information for me in that moment of need.
BTW – In the real EARLY, early days, brakes were friction devices, used directly against the tire. They were called rubb’er brakes. To apply ’em, just rubb’er on the tire. :)
Discs were at least as radical an advancement as hydraulics.