1981 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz

$1500.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/d/1981-cadillac-eldorado-for/6472001856.html

 

Only $1,500? I wonder, what's the catch? If it runs and drives great, it's a give away. The leather sofas are worth at least half that

 

If it's $1500, it's either because of an engine issue (because who doesn't love problems with a 4100's wet cylinder liners), or it has electrical Gremlins From the Kremlin.

 

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It does look decent for the money, but it also looks a little rough around the edges. For one thing, we have a trunk lid fitment problem. Was the car in an accident?

The plastic fillers between body and bumper are damaged.





He never gives a clear, straight-on shot of the front end, but from what we can see in the photos that do show a glimpse of it, the front plastic fillers look ok.

Again, I'm thinking back-end damage at some point.

 

I actually like this car. I think for $1500 it's certainly got potential.

The seller may just be someone who doesn't actually know much about the car. In the ad they state I have a "1991 Cadillac Eldorado" for sale.

 

As long as it has a straight frame and runs decent, it's worth going after. A wet-liner engine could always get replaced with one from an Oldsmobile, once it starts acting up. Aren't there up-dated wet liner rings available for it?

 

Yeah, but much more expensive than a Toronado drivetrain. If, on the off-chance it has an Olds or even a cast iron Caddy engine (I can't tell what the fender badge says), even better.

The trunk fitment issue can simply be a problem with the power trunk closing gear, like something got caught, and the trunk lid's tweaked; but no matter the actual problem, I just realized--it's for sale in Seattle! The rain!

 

Olds and Caddy bellhouse bolt patterns are identicle. No need to replace the entire drivetrain. In a worst case scenario, only the engine and mounts. Of course, the torsion bars will have to be adjusted, to compensate for the heavier cast iron block

 

Right, but if it has a 4100, the trans is a 4T60 with a different bellhousing. But if it does have a cast iron engine, then yes, the trans is the same.

 

That's one of these badges:

 

----standard engine in '81.

 

It has the distance to empty gauge on the right side of the digital dash, so it's a V8-6-4. Not a horrid choice, since you can disable the solenoids by pulling the plug on the transmission to it. Which is SO much better than a 4100...

Price seems about right though. The '80s Cadillacs have horrid reputations and resale value.

 

My goodness, this one has attracted so much more comment than I would have imagined.

 

As if you couldn't use a comment or two in your threads, to accent the constant bumping of them with statistics

Mainly because of the gadgetry. As recently mentioned, disabling the solenoids and whatever other unneccesary ballast