1973 Cadillac Eldorado Reminds Us Of The Brand’s Forgotten Swagger: Video
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The idea of luxury vehicles has changed tremendously over the past few decades. One thing has remained consistent: big, imposing vehicles are a status symbol.
That was true with the 1973 Cadillac Eldorado, and it remains one of the reasons why consumers can’t stop buying the 2016 Cadillac Escalade. Petrolicious took a look back at the 1973 Eldorado in particular, traveling to Peru to find a Scottish gentleman keeping the land yacht alive.
The owner tells of his ownership experience as a distinct one and says the Eldorado gets smiles everywhere it goes. Knowing Cadillacs weren’t exported to South America, it’s a treat for people to see the 1973 Eldorado on the road where it continues to capture the essence of traditional, American luxury still to this day.
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the only Cadillac that meets that 1970s big car swagger is the Escelad….all the Cadillac sedans are just undersized and uninspired cars.
The real swagger was on the decline at this point. A little was left but it was eroding greatly.
With the change in how large luxury cars were seen after the gas crises and how the market changed from floating boats to more focused performance luxury models Cadillac just did not change with the times.
Cadillac just held on to what used to work too long and then a series of poor product decisions in the 80’s and 90’s did horrendous damage.
Swagger was 1920’s to 1960’s where they were on target with the market and what they were really wanting.
Scott3 no offense but you obviously weren’t alive in 1973 (or were too young to remember anything about it) – your comments regarding Cadillac’s “history” are all clearly derivative of today’s typical auto writers, who have a very warped perspective regarding Cadillac and cars in general. There was plenty of swagger and leadership at Cadillac in 1973 and well beyond.
Cadillac was the biggest selling luxury brand in the US through 1998. In 1999 that crown was briefly held by Lincoln. In 2000 it was briefly held by M-B. From 2001-11 it was Lexus. Lincoln, Lexus, and M-B all offered large plush rides during their reigns as top luxury brands. It’s only in the past 5 years that the “performance luxury” brands have moved to the top.
Cadillac did not lose the crown (and did not lose it to “performance” cars) after the 1960’s or even after the “gas crisis”. The revisionist auto writers wish that it were so (they heavily favor “performance” cars across the board, and deride a nice riding car as a “floaty boat”) but anyone who lived through that period knows better.
I was very much alive and saw the large cars start to fade away once the gas prices went up and people sat in line.
Cadillac was not dead but they were past their prime and on a slow decline that took us right into the 80’s.
I am not saying Cadillac failed in 1973 I am just pointing out that they failed slowly over two decades to reach the pit of the Cimarron, Diesels, Smaller FWD models and the 8-6-4.
Few automakers fail in one years it normally a slow decline over years. Just look at the history of Packard.
You can hold a crown and fall from grace at the same time.
Hind sight is 20/20 and while at the time GM though they had it good at the top the others gained ground in areas the public were moving too and when the shift happened the crown faded.
On the converse BMW was still finding their legs in the mid 70’s as they were being dicovered as they moved to a segment people started to take interest in the odd car from Germany. They were not all the luxury then either. As time passed they added more Luxury content and built an image with a car that became a status symbol to many.
There is not day time and hour the change happened they were like two ships in the night that slowly made their way past each other. Images and status is not gained or lost in short order but over years and many models.
The cars of the early era were works of art often many were eve offered in limited numbers hand crafted. Over time they made them more standardized but still with top quality materials like a full stainless roof on a limited 4 door sedan.
The the 60’s came and while still a step above they became more and more standardized with the Buick and Olds. Sure you got a few things extra but they were no more special than the others. FWD sure Cadillac had it but so did Olds. The 225 was basically the same car but many were turning to it and the 98 as they were cheaper and had most of the same bells and whistles.
Later the down size. After that they had a Cadillac engine for a short while but then went to an Olds sourced operate engine.
We now move to the 80’s were they tried to force everyone first to a Diesel that had horrid quality issues. and a Deville with a standard Buick V6.
Next they tried to force small FWD models on all of us. When that failed then they added longer quarter panels to fix their grave mistake. By then the luster was gone and the crown came off. Customers went looking else where.
The truth is BMW did not take people away but Cadillac and GM drove them away with cars that just no longer had the swagger or image anymore.
That is why today they are working to get it back. Cadillac could build the best car in the world for $75K but they they will not get the crown back on Tuesday. They need to continue to make even better cars over a series of years to earn back the admiration and trust of the customers. This is a difficult thing to do new and after you have failed the public it is even tougher but it still can be done. I firmly believe they can do it with continued improvements and investment as we have shown they finally commuted to.
Personal performance is where the market went because they were not happy with what Cadillac had been offering. The market as a while was going to cars that stop and tuned better as a whole. Cadillac just did not adapt and almost paid a fatal price for it.
BMW and the others really if you look at this did not take the crown. They just picked it up when GM dropped it.
If Cadillac and Lincoln were not managed into the ground we may have still considered BMW that that quirky tweed cap wearing owner down the street owned.
In this industry you open the door a crack and someone will try to come in. If Cadillac and Lincoln had remained strong some of the brands we have today would not be where they are or even here.
Scott3, ok you lived in that era. I was not quite of driving age in 1973 (that would be 1975), but I was well aware of the cars of that era myself, and I get tired of hearing American cars of the day called “floaty boats”, or knocks on the squared-off/angular design vs. Euro-rounding. So many people quote the same old things about American cars – without actually having experienced the era – that I thought you were yet another of those.
There are factors that took Cadillac off the top pedestal that aren’t mentioned in your write-up. First and foremost was reliability. American cars had poor reliability compared with Japanese cars especially Toyota. So it’s no surprise that Toyota grabbed the luxury car market from Cadillac for 10 years starting in 2000 with the Lexus brand. Lexus was not a performance car, and the designs were nice but fairly generic, what people liked was being able to get most of the amenities of a Cadillac with the reliability of a Toyota.
There was also the supposedly coddling of the customer at the Lexus dealerships, I don’t relate to that kind of ego-stroking or whatever it is that people like about that, but apparently that sells to some people as well. Which is why Cadillac is doing “Pinnacle” now.
Furthermore, I think US cars in general were unfairly poorly regarded by baby boomers, who seemed to turn against a lot of things that represented America. Much of that was due to the Vietnam War removing the idea that everything the USA did was right and successful. And since Americans had preferred big roomy cars with powerful engines – and did not have ultra-high gasoline taxes like Europe and Japan – they were looked upon with scorn as wasteful gas-guzzlers (even when this was no longer the case), to the point where certain affluent people (especially the “bi-coastal” types) would deride anyone with a large American car.
Also the baby boomers had positive feelings about early Euro imports such as the VW bug and bus, and Volvo, which were reliable cars. Euro cars in general are actually not very reliable (VW in particular does not have a good reputation for reliability, yet some still think of the old reliable early “bugs”), but the perception became that anything not American was reliable.
And eventually even Euro-design and Euro-handling became fashionable to some people, mainly because this was pushed by the auto writers (rather than actual public demand), but partly because to some people, if it was American or looked American or drove American, it must not be as good as something else. But I think it all comes down to mainly the reliability record, and a kind of anti-American sentiment that pervaded the US after Vietnam. There was nothing Cadillac could do about that.
Yes Cadillac had a few slip-ups, but I doubt many people declined to buy a big Cadillac just because they rebadged a Chevy Cavalier as a Cimarron in the 1980’s, or because a quirky but well-intentioned (fuel efficiency plus power) V8-6-4 engine was problematic, or because the rebadged German Catera had typically poor German reliability, due in part to typical German overengineering (the Catera also had a really stupid ad campaign with a duck). If the Cimarron, Catera, and V8-6-4 led to Cadillac’s decline, then the irony there is that each of those was a panicked reaction to a perceived desire for smaller, more fuel-efficient, and/or more German-like cars. If Cadillac had stuck to its original mission of building large, comfortable, well-powered cars, none of those particular “screw ups” would have occurred.
Surely the other automakers have had some duds too; no one declines to buy Mazdas today just because they once sold gas-guzzling wankel-engined cars. And today’s BMW i3 looks like a really dopey little car to me, but I doubt its existence is hurting sales of other BMWs.
So I still don’t think Cadillac lost the crown by not building “performance handling” cars soon enough, but for a variety of other factors. And I don’t think they need to focus on “performance” cars today, but I realize that is open to debate.
The quality issue was industry wide with the big three so it does not even need to be singled out.
As for Cadillac and GM much of the problem was that GM really began to fail internally as a culture. They were always lead by strong leaders and then were taught that they were too big to fail. Well the strong leaders were gone and culture became toxic inside.
Yes even in the 60’s just look at how GM would have major inter rival wars between their brands. I just read a new Firebird book that did a good job of covering the with Pontiac and GM over doing their own sport coupe. Chevy won the war as GM forced Deloreans hand. In the end he build a better Camaro that did not make many inside GM happy,
GM as a whole not just Cadillac was out of touch with what the industry needed and what customers wanted. They became reactionary.
GM still had the best engineers and designers but too often the things they were working on did not make it to market till another brand beat them or they would push the technology out before it had enough work to resolve the issues or the computers to control things like in the case of 8-6-4.
The Cimarron was a joke as it even still looked like a Cavalier. It was just a weak and poor effort. But what many tend to not know or understand GM was not going broke in 2007 they were going broke decades before. Even in the early 80’s the struggling Pontiac line was considered for closing till sales picked up with the Pontiac Excitement line. Olds then killed the one car that supported them the RWD Cutlass and then applied the name to several FWD cars that never replaced it.
The whole time the others began to redefine what a Luxury cars was with the yuppie crowd that wanted a luxury car they could relate to. Cadillac and Lincoln kept pushing the plush ride cars of the Yuppies parents and grand parents.
You and many others forget the market defines what a market is or will become. The car companies toss out ideas and watch to what takes. Then it is either adapt or decline.
The bottom line is who defined what Luxury is considered today? Was it Cadillac or was it the German brands that the public embraced.
If Cadillac had continued the cars they were building odds are they may have adapted to more what the market wanted with less image damage. That is something neither of us can say today.
But we can look at Lincoln and see they did continue what they had in the 70’s with the town car. It did well for a while but it never adapted to the more modern handling with a sporty edge to it. It became in essence a livery fleet car till it just was so outdated it did not fit anymore. Today Lincoln is trying to find their place again but Ford to this point has refused them the RWD they really need for the division. They could even share it with the Mustang but yet they fail to do it.
The Catera was a big mistake because in the Saturn Showroom you had nearly the same car. Be it an Opel or Saturn or Cadillac it was not a great car period and if anything it was a bit dated by the time it got here. Marketing could not save that turkey.
No matter what the sins of the past it totally lost the image and lust of the market. Today that has to be earned back as nothing is given. It took time to lose this and it will take time and continued investment to bring it back.
What many need to learn is Cadillac of the past is just that the past. They need to redefine their models and make them competitive but still distinctly Cadillac. Lexus has just tried to make a Car with some Benz shapes with Toyota quality and because of that they will never pass up Benz in image.
To beat the others you need to match them but in your own way. If you try to look like them you will never surpass them. This is what Cadillac is attempting to do. They have their own style and their own takes on things but yet they are still trying to match the segments of what people are buying today and the images they want the cars to show on them as a customer.
Much of this segment is ego driven. Many people buy these cars as it is telling of your image and it makes people feel important. In business it tells people just you are successful. Many people feel and are judged on how they work and operate. A car defines them when they drive up just as if they are wearing a Rolex and an Armani.
The funny thing is now even the 3 series is being replaced by the high end SUV. The Porsche SUV and even the Benz and Escalade have become what people associate with luxury and success. Hey that is how the market is thinking and buying.
I suspect much of the Cadillac’s future image will be built on the SUV models they have coming.
Good comments Scott3. By the way, I meant to compliment you earlier on the former image of BMW, as you described it: something that the quirky guy down the street with the tweed cap would own. That’s exactly right, I remember when BMW first had a dealership in my neighborhood in the early/mid 1970’s. I couldn’t imagine who would buy them, but your description seems to fit.
To me those 1970’s BMWs were cramped, overpriced, silly-looking cars – but for some reason a few people bought them. As far as I knew, it was just to stand out a bit, same as the tweed cap might do for them. I didn’t even realize that these were supposed to be “driver enthusiast’s cars”, if they in fact were.
Google “1973 BMW” images – compare to the 1973 Cadillac Eldorado above – and it’s hard to imagine that BMW would one day be the standard that some at Cadillac would want to copy. We aren’t going to agree 100% on how or when the door was opened to BMW, but It eventually opened and BMW made the most of it. I still want Cadillac to be Cadillac, of course adapting to modern tastes, expectations, and technology – but never thinking that BMW has it all figured out and just following BMW’s lead.
Thanks!
But I hope you see what I mean about how the market changed and how it gravitated to a more Euro market.
Audi was just an expensive VW. Benz was nothing accept for the 450 SEL for status and BMW was more a cult car.
In the mid 70’s Bob Lutz was at BMW and brought them a little more main stream and made them less quirky.
As time went on they became more conventional. Benz worked to really try to match them in segment and Audi moved a little more upscale with the 6000 till the acceleration issue got blown out of control with the false 60 min story.
Cadillac did not change much. They kind of headed in this direction with the first Seville but GM would not let them change it that much. As they got to the 80’s they were fighting the GM mandate on everything FWD and on shared odd sized platforms. Most of the GM line up suffered at this point but the full sized cars suffered the most.
Right now they are targeting the right segment but they are trying to do it their way. The trouble has been GM has interfered with the previous people in charge and with Mark Reuss. JDN I believe was brought in by Mark as he is not an insider and is not intimidated by the board as he is not a GM lifer. These other guys fear a crash of a 25 year career with GM if they disobey not so with JDN.
They also moved I believe to keep the anti change people at GM out of the way and not just dropping in to the Cadillac studio any time they like at the tech center.
The bottom line is too many think everyone is chasing BMW and Benz. The fact is BMW and Benz are just where the market is and Cadillac is targeting the market segment where it is today not so much copying the others. Yes they bench mark the others but how else do you know you are making a better car?
None of Cadillac’s styling is rehashed BMW or Benz. The fact is you can remove the emblems from a Cadillac and I would bet just about anyone would be able to name the car as a Cadillac. Lets face it the Genesis and in the past some Lexus were just clones of a Benz or BMW styling.
I am wanting to see just what they get done now with the proper funding and the lack of interference from GM. The leadership had been a revolving door and just little continuity.
Will JDN save them? I don’t know but he has been given the tools most others have lacked so he has a good shot and we can only judge once the new product arrives.
I am sure there will always be those who are not happy but with change there is always that segment that is never going to be happy with change.
The bottom line is at lower volumes they will make more money on these cars than some of the high volume cars of other brands. This is key for income and only added profit. GM does not survive on Cadillac but they do fill the budget with their income.
Interesting, I didn’t realize that Bob Lutz spent time at BMW in the 1970’s. I knew he was with GM, Chrysler, and Ford – especially Chrysler and GM.
I completely agree that Cadillac has kept it’s own styling, and that’s one of the best things (IMO) about Cadillac now. Yes even without badges you can pick out the Cadillac from the others. I hope that continues to be true.
JDN might have been brought in by Reuss (I was unaware of this), but a year ago there was a report (or “rumor”) in the automotive press that they were clashing on Cadillac’s future styling. JDN was said to have wanted something softer and sophisticated (which to me sounds “Euro-clone”) while Reuss was said to want Cadillac to remain uniquely American (i.e. bold, angular styling). Again I hope Cadillac remains Cadillac/American in terms of styling, among other things.
Yes he was there and grew to second in charge. the whole Ultimate Driving Machine started under his management. One of is subordinates came up with it and he put it to use.
Lutz started at GM went to Ford, then BMW, then to Chrysler and finally finished at GM.
He butted heads with everyone he worked with over the years. HF II, Lee and the head of BMW who’s name i can not recall at the moment.
He had a habit of not just stepping on toes but mashing them and he admits today it cost them the top stop at all the places he was.
I would recommend any of his books. They are frank no BS reads. Some read him as arrogant but he was nothing but confident and honest in his opinion and in business that can hurt you.
His book Icons and Idiots is a good read on where he was and who he worked for and with.
JDN would not be at GM if not for Mark and Mary. They made the call and got him here and supported giving him the money needed to fix the brand. Or at least to start.
There was some talk but I would not put much into it. Everyone will disagree from time to time.
To be honest the softening of the styling started with Lutz years before JDN arrived.
To be honest the Hard Edged A&E did it’s job to get peoples attention but it was also very polarizing. It also did not age well over time as the first models now are looking old and dated. Lets face it even the Stealth aircraft no longer needs the diamond patterns to avoid radar so the inspiration for the styling is now gone.
I think they have kept the styling to the point it still has the A&E edge but it is now more appealing to a larger segment. In this class it is a mix of those who want to be noticed and those who do not. They have a nice blend now where it has both.
Think of Cadillac A&E as like Metallica in the early days where it was pretty much Metal Thrash. Then they went to the Black album where it held a softer edge but still had the thrash bite. It appealed to a much larger segment and they toured 3-4 years on that record and made more money than all the others.
Striking the right balance for profits is key. Some folks think it is a sell out artistically but there also have been many starving artist over the years too.
In building a car the ones that make money are the ones who do what is best for business and not what is always in their heart.
Those who build cars only from the heart have a short life span.
Even old man Ferrari hated road cars. He only built them to fund his race cars. Oh what a life LOL!.
Thanks for the comments Scott3. I enjoy the back-and-forth also, whether we agree or not, and often it’s more interesting when various commenters here have different points of view. I do agree that there needs to be passion for the product, with some concession to profitability. I realize that most “car guys” want to build sports cars that push the limits of handling and power, eschewing “consumer” things like ride comfort, interior roominess, and traction on snow/slippery surfaces.
I happen to be someone who favors the classic American luxury town and highway “cruiser”, rather than the tight turning European style (Ferrari type) sports car. I appreciate what those cars can do, it just doesn’t interest me to have a car that does those things. I would hope that Cadillac manages to get some people that actually enjoy the strongly powered, roomy, “riding on a cloud” luxury cruisers, rather than having people who only enjoy producing sporty cars and hate making “road cars”. But we’ll see what JdN, Reuss, Barra, Ellinghaus, and the rest have in mind as time progresses.
Scott3, I am not sure that Lincoln needs a RWD entry. I suppose they could put an ATS-sized (BMW 3 series sized) car on the Mustang platform, and it might sell almost as well as the ATS (i.e. not very well). The MKZ could use more interior space, but it’s fine as a FWD car on the Fusion platform. Putting it on RWD would eat up even more interior space. The new Continental is surprisingly on the Fusion platform also, instead of the Taurus platform, also FWD – some of us consider that a benefit, not a drawback. The Continental was always a big luxury smooth cruiser, not a sports sedan.
Not all luxury cars need to surrender to the supposed benefits of RWD, except to please the auto writers. But the auto writers will probably never embrace Lincoln anyway. Nor will much of the public that wants RWD, they’ll keep buying German cars for that. If Lincoln is smart, they’ll embrace the market (big smooth roomy semi-affordable FWD luxury) that Cadillac seems intent on abandoning.
In this segment there is expectations and one is RWD.
Now if Ford ever wants Lincoln to be with the top brands they will have to give them a RWD platform. As it is now they are just doing what Cadillac did in the 90’s and are just rehashing a cheaper platform into a Lincoln.
In Luxury you can take a good platform and dumb it down for the other brands but you can not take a entry level platform and move it up. There is a stigma there that many people in the luxury class are aware of and it detracts from their perception of the car being of a top tier.
Kind of like Acura as no one is fooled with it being just a upgraded Honda. But at the price point it is at people are ok with it but if they ever want to go higher it will be rejected.
The biggest issue is that they had Lincoln set to die. The previous leader wanted just all Ford and nothing else. Well he left and that opened the door to the group that wanted to keep Lincoln. The one issue is Ford is not all in and are not going to fund Lincoln as GM has funded Cadillac. This will limit them in the market and on price. I hope the good guys are still fighting for better funding as this is a line that needs to go big or not at all. Other wise they will end up selling for a lower price with incentives that will cut into profits much more at that price than the higher one.
Also Ford could use a shared platform like the Camaro is from Cadillac. It would help Ford make a better Mustang and make it more profitable. If the had done that they could have cut weight and not added weight.
The one key to Cadillac to is they do not need to focus on Lincoln as they have Buick. Same for the low priced models from Audi, BMW and Benz. Cadillac can just focus on the higher priced cars as GM is already filling the lower roll with Buick and Chevy.
GM has finally learned to make their lines compliment each other not compete with each other. They did more damage to themselves over the years than Toyota or Honda ever did in house competition of the divisions. Chevy killed Pontiac for what it is worth by limiting them to what they could do.
I didn’t realize that some at Ford wanted to kill off Lincoln (the car brand) at one point. I think that would have been a big mistake. There is a fairly big Lincoln dealership near me, just Lincoln, no Ford or other brands. It’s nice, bright, clean, but not on the level of the premium dealerships that give you a nice lounge with free food/drinks, and an on-staff piano player for all I know.
Lincoln used to be the Cadillac-wannabe; they made nice cars but never were a leader like Cadillac. I agree they need to get beyond being rebadged Fords, although similar arguments could be made with some other “luxury” brands (I completely agree on Acura, actually that’s become a “mid” brand if there is such a thing, above the common cars but below the real luxury).
Lincoln would make a somewhat interesting topic in itself, but not nearly as interesting as Cadillac, as again they just don’t have the leadership. As an aside, my grandfather was a dedicated Lincoln man (he died in 2001 at age 94, so he was likely buying Lincolns in the 1950-2000 era). He could afford most anything he wanted, but he thought Cadillacs were too flashy. He just wanted a really nice, American car, so he went with Lincoln as such and apparently preferred that it was NOT the status symbol that Cadillac was. I doubt though that Lincoln could use that pitch today, as an anti-status symbol, when apparently status symbols today are as important as the quality of the product itself, to many people.
Although I have a preference for Cadillac, I would love to see Lincoln upgrade, get some respect, and perhaps follow the path of the old Cadillac, updated of course. You may be right though that they don’t have the resources of Cadillac. They also seem unwilling to take the chances that Cadillac seems willing to take; the new Continental is an example – looks very nice, but too derivative of other successful cars. I will say that the Lincoln SUVs seem to be well-done, but the sedans have a ways to go, even though the new MKZ (of 2013-) is a significant upgrade from the former one, and the new Continental looks like a big step up from the MKS.
Yes the original plan by Alan Mulally was to kill off Mercury and Lincoln and make Ford a single brand company.
That is why they did the Platinum models that cost so much at Ford and really did not sell all that well.
He wanted to offer less models but a wider range of options from basic models to top line luxury options.
Well there was a major group in Ford that did not agree. Once he decided to leave those wanting to salvage Lincoln stepped in and are now trying to give them a second chance. The real issue is they are trying to do what GM tried with Cadillac in the 90’s and make a Lincoln based on a FWD model from a lesser brand.
While this works it only works in the bargain luxury segment for the most part. The area where the real money is made it moving up to the next level and that is where Cadillac is moving.
The problem comes in to make money on the lower tier you have to move volume. In the upper tier you can still make money but not have the burden of selling a ton of cars.
Lincoln has had it high points with the Continentals of the late 30’s and early 40’s. Also the 60’s in the Kennedy era they were all the rage.
But Ford often did not give them the money or the support they needed to succeed.
Every time they did get the support they did make earth moving cars but too often they were just a warmed over T bird or larger Galaxie,
Trivia Henry Leland started Cadillac and sold to GM then turned around and started Lincoln and sold to Henry Ford.
The oldest Lincoln in the world is in the Crawford collection in Cleveland. I was lucky to be in the car once.
The greatest issue Lincoln suffered was the loss of Edsel Ford. He understood what they needed to do but died to young to pull it off.
Scott3 – very interesting points regarding Lincoln, thanks.
Scott3 – very interesting points regarding Lincoln, thanks. I would like to see Lincoln (and Cadillac) do well from here.
Drew thanks for the back and fourth debate. I appreciate it!
can they make big stylish cars with great gas mileage….I don’t think the CT6 counts for the return of the American swagger….the CT6 is just a slightly bigger CTS and just a spots sedan….but I imagine a car above the CT6 wont come for another several years.
Yes but that 1973 Eldorado is not a BMW, therefore current Cadillac management wants nothing to do with it.
ya today Cadillacs are just undersized BMW wanabees with bad interior packaging….the CT6 is currently the best Cadillac can do and it’s just underwalming inside and out….to me Cadillacs of the glory days look better than Cadillacs of today…its quite sad.
The discussion of the state of the Cadillac Motor Division is somewhat off point with the exception of Drew. He outlines the situation with precision and accuracy. No one has to purchase a Cadillac and no one has to like a Cadillac. Of course, many do and from recent reports, Cadillac sales have exceeded a twenty percent increase now for three months in a row. But sales do not, in and of themselves, predict the future and all automotive manufacturers must continually develop new products that represent improvement over previous models in some manner.
But the more relevant question is the reason(s) for the apparent animosity and disdain for the Cadillac brand. Again, we can all purchase whatever we want. Virtually no manufacturers are still building the vehicles they built thirty or forty years ago. Not BMW (that almost went out of business just a few years ago), not Audi that was sued by everyone that could talk for making cars that drove themselves through the back of the garage with no one in them, not Toyota that has had more recalls than any other builder. Cadillac is a historical brand that will be fine whether some of the writer’s here understand that or not. But there is a more salient point to be made here. Virtually all of the foreign manufacturers out there today are situated in countries that the United States essentially supports and defends at enormous cost to the American taxpayer. As a result, those companies are able to devote full attention to competing with American auto makers without a worry about directing some of their huge profits back into the defense of their own nations while flooding the U.S. with their products. It is a one way street since trade agreements do not permit American auto exports to the degree that foreign imports to the U.S. are.
All I am saying is that there should be a level playing field both in terms of other nations funding their own defense and trade agreements that are balanced and equitable to all. Such is not the case now and, from what has occurred, none of these countries will assume responsibility to fund their own defense since we are all too willing to do so or work to develop more equitable trade agreements. Cadillac and all of the GM roster of vehicles has had to contend with those factors and still be competitive. The same is true for the only other American brand, Ford.
Cadillac are as good as anything else out there and the last time I drove by a BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Toyota or Hyundai dealership, the service bays were full. A more objective analysis of Cadillac seems in order.
I do not see it as disdain for Cadillac I just see it as they failed to remain relevant to what the market wanted.
Here is the deal. If Cadillac had built relevant quality cars the market wanted we would not even be discussing this today. The customers left because they Cadillac did not give them what they wanted or anything compelling enough to leave what they had. They made a lot of mistakes too in quality that lost the trust of the customer too.
Today Cadillac is working to earn that trust back and they are also looking to try to make products that will be relevant and compelling enough to get people to leave the models they are in now.
Right now the market in the luxury segment appears to be going to CUV/SUV while they fill out the line with other car models that compliment the entire line.
Will this work. I think they will do well but how well will only be determined over time and by the market. I like where they are going but the customers are the ones that will determine the future place for Cadillac.
The 1973 Cadillac Eldorado might have it’s moments; but swagger is a state-of-mind.. and nothing puts you in the right state of mind like cruising down the road in a 2016 Cadillac CTS-V because you know this is what George Thorogood was singing about in ‘Bad to the Bone.’
Yes, George Thorogood wrote and performed “Bad to the Bone” in 1982, but he was imagining a car 34 years in the future – the 2016 Cadillac CTS-V. Actually Wikipedia notes that “Bad to the Bone” was used in a GM commercial, but it was for the Buick Grand National. The Grand National was named after NASCAR racing, and the consumer version could best the Camaro in the quarter mile and nearly match the Corvette. You might think this should have been a Pontiac, given GM’s branding inclinations, but it was in fact a Buick – evidently an attempt to give a “performance cachet” to the brand.
By the way, one thing that happened in the early 1970’s was catalytic converters. These were first mandated for the 1975 model year, and while that was a good move for the environment, it was not good for engine performance. It took a while before engineers figured out how to make equally powerful engines with the catalytic converter installed. And by then gasoline prices were higher, presenting another challenge regarding milage.
The 1987 Grand National was by FAR the quickest car in GM’s stable. Much faster 0-60 and 1/4 mile than the Corvette of that year. I would have also had a higher top speed if not electronically limited due to the tires to 126 mph. FBI cards with no speed limiting could do 157, pretty good for a car shaped like a brick! I’ve had mine since brand new in Sept 1987, 48K miles on it now.
Edward, very cool that you still have a 1987 Buick Grand National. Not many today would realize that Buick once offered a car like that. Sounds like Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” song was appropriate for that one, in its day.
what about a swagger flagship…..I know the CT6 isn’t it.
Guys, the “new GM” designs cars for women first and foremost. Get used to it! as an example, GM autos have no signature sound, even the Corvette. You can hear a mustang go by and not have to see it to identify it. GM has the wrong goals in mind in my humble opinion.
As an ex Ford performance executive one lamented at the Cars and Coffee in CA, “technology has ruined the driving experience”. Get use to driveless/performanceless autos dudes.
I will have to remind myself and any other male Cadillac owner I see out there driving a Cadillac of your take on the matter! And by the way, performance is not necessarily the only factor to consider in buying a vehicle, any vehicle. The last time I checked, you could still get a ticket driving a Cadillac or any other car for that matter. Comfort, quality and quiet are a few items that may be of interest to many luxury car buyers. And if you think a Corvette does not have a distinctive sound, it may be time for Beltone.
1973-1975 were the last good model years for Cadillac until now. It’s true that Cadillac was the leading luxury brand til 1999, but after the mid 70s Cadillac lost market share every. The reason can’t be concluded by one factor. Many factors attributed to this that include, but are not limited to, shift in consumer preferences, the oil crisis( shift to smaller cars), increased competition, poor quality,and bad management.
The oil crisis definitely had a huge impact not just on Cadillac but the entire American auto industry. The oil crisis allowed imports to get their foot in the door. This competition had a big impact on the big three specifically the luxury market where there was basically Lincoln, Cadillac and Mercedes( exotic and niche)in the 60s. No competition weakened the big three and with the increase in competitors they feel apart .
Modern Cadillacs are not up to some people’s expectations for a few reasons. The performance oriented models are performance cars for a reason, it’s to attract people, not sales wise but to the brand. The alpha platform was originally developed for Pontiac but after the bankruptcy there was no Pontiac so rather than waste R&D , GM used Alpha for Cadillac. We must also remember that even though the bankruptcy was 8 years ago the effects on products is still relevant. Almost every GM product out today was compromised by the bankruptcy. This is why CUE is CUE and the interiors are not up to par with some people’s expectations.
They Eldorado stayed with this body style through 1978. I think the later ones with no fender skirts and the rectangular headlights to be among the best looking of that generation.
What a bad @ss beautiful car , even the clock still worked . I have to dis agree about Cadillac loosing its swagger by the 1970’s . Sure the quality is much better now however the Eldorado was a car that not everyone could afford , even the people that drove Coupe’Devilles looked at the Eldo as the one you really wanted . For me it was the 1976 Eldo that was just the ultimate in class . And I would bet they sold more of those than anything Cadillac offers these days . And being FWD and weighing 5000 + lbs. you had no trouble driving it in the winter ( my Dad drove an Olds Toronado ) the Eldo’s sister car and we never got stuck in the snow , and it snowed alot more back then too .
Sure Cadillac needs to change with the times but there is nothing wrong with looking back at their heritage .
Nice to see that someone else appreciates FWD in the snow. My driving habits are such that I get no benefit from RWD, only problems (higher cost than FWD, less legroom than FWD, lower miles/gallon than FWD, poor traction in snow and slippery conditions). The Eldorado was an early adopter of FWD, which eventually became the preferred standard by the 1980’s. Unfortunately the “enthusiast driver” auto writers have been pushing RWD as some sort of premium feature for luxury cars, even though 80+% of luxury car owners don’t drive in ways that RWD provides any benefit, even on dry pavement.
The Cadillac escalade became the new swagger of Cadillac, the rest were not that good except for the Fleetwood pre-1993 of course.
And you know why? Because the market has started to chase the SUV.
The Escalade did not go to the market the market came to it.
As for the Fleetwood it has only been a shadow of what the Fleetwood used to be. In the 80’s and 90’s it was just a big Caprice.
Years ago it was the biggest and the best of GM with interiors and special body work. At one time it was custom Body work.
at least the fleetwood in the 80’s was nice.