1988 Cadillac Eldorado | Retro Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- Was the '88 Eldorado classy enough to pull it off?
Show 717 | Original Airdate 01-21-1988
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GM has been “reorganizing” for the past 50 years😂
😂 Underrated comment
@@timswanson2431 I don’t know how many MW videos over the past 40 years that mentioned they were reorganizing lol
@@austinfrazier7325 not to mention all the other automotive news sources that mentioned it.
In my opinion, when GM sped up the Cadillac assembly lines in the early 1970s, it really let both interior and exterior quality go downhill. Cadillac was done with being the "standard of the world". Ever since then, they've just been expensive cheaply made cars. Outside of the Escalade, Cadillac currently offers nothing for me of interest. Yes, even the Blackwings. They are excellent performance cars, but they're not Cadillacs.
The 1996 Fleetwood Brougham was, in my opinion, the last TRUE Cadillac. Big, full framed, simple, quiet, and with enough goodies to keep me interested in going on a long road trip in comfort, with little worry. Yeah, the Optispark is a mild concern, but with proper maintenance, no biggie at all.
Right.
On one hand, GM must be given credit for trying to reaffirm an industry styling lead; they calculated the public was finally ready for "downsized vehicles" across the board, on all fronts. On the other hand, just how did they manage, with all their "professional prowess," to miscalculate so badly?
I bought one of these at auction for $1300 and flipped it for $1600. Good times
Eldorado (AKA) my little Cadillac ❤❤❤.
Better than the Cadvalier....err Cimarron
You mean like My Little Pony? 🤔😂
Wow that’s some jacket!
Remember when 155hp out of a V8 was “healthy”? How times have changed.
It was weak in 1988, the Mustang had 225 hp that year.
@@tn18977 As did the Eldorado's main competitor, the Lincoln Mark VII. It blew the Eldorado's doors off (not withstanding a very poor running '88 Motorweek tested), and was just a better overall car period (and I'm not hating on these, even though I'm a Lincoln person). But that power was not overly common in cars like that in 1988...a Town Car had 150hp (with a bit more in dual exhaust cars). Mototweek recently put up a vintage review of an '87 BMW L7, and this Eldorado was faster. I'm actually pleasantly surprised by such a good 0-60 on this car, and great brakes.
Imagine them driving the 840hp AMG GT 63s e hybrid sedan? Or the 1234hp Lucid Sapphire sedan? They'd shit themselves lol...
Crazy thing about GM in those days... my parents had an 88 Buick LeSabre with the 3800 3.8L V6, and it made 165 hp. But I remember my grandparent's generation were turned off by GM going to V6s in "high end" cars. Leaving them with few options.
They could have had all the V8's pushing 250hp back then. They didn't to give it more mpg and it was cheaper to build them that way.
MotorWeek could go back to this exact format and I would love it.
Amen
Yes it's nice to not have the music playing under John's commentary.
@@johnjones393I totally agree! 💯
I really like that '90s El Dorado with the bigger body. If the North Star wasn't such a pile of parts that would have been a good car
@@johnjones393 Motor Week 1980s ans 1990s is best formats
That generation Eldorado looked like a dressed up Cutlass Calais
Both Seville and Eldorado resembled the Cutlass Calais, which is why sales plummeted for 1986 and 1987. Only when Seville/Eldorado got the rushed face-lift for 1988 did sales start improving for this generation.
I agree reminds me alot of the calais
@@BrianHornak supposedly they actually were quite similar but Cadillac made the car a few inches wider and longer but they basically developed the K chassis and the N chassis simultaneously
I think the E/K-cars (Toronado, Riviera, Eldorado/Seville) were supposed to debut first, earlier in the '80s, to be followed by the N-cars. But GM's 1984 reorganization created a lot of chaos and they got delayed. So the mini-me, aspirational clone N-cars (Grand Am, Calais, Somerset Regal) actually beat them to market. Since GM pretty much invented the concept of having styling cues "trickle down" the lineup they should have known doing it backwards would make the E/K-cars dead on arrival.
@@iluvcamaros1912 ah yes just like the Maserati TC and 1987 Lebaron. The TC was supposed to arrive first.
This man got a helmet on for a 17.9 sec 1/4 mile
👋😂👍
seconds were shorter back then
😂😂😂
Well, he was going almost 80 MPH!
And to think; all Cadillacs today focus on beating BMW and Audi and Mercedes so its Recaro seats, analog gauges, side bolsters, firm handling, and 660hp monster v8 engines in the V-series Blackwing. All the things John Davis, and other reviewers complained about 30 years ago which forces Cadillacs hand, and Cadillac is no better off really. Luxury has long been gone since the demise of the dts and xts. Sure, they get respect in the horsepower community but we wish for a soft riding Eldorado or Fleetwood Brougham with cushy seats that can take the pressure off aging spines and backs.
Even as a sports car guy, if I can't have that, I want something with a seat that's actually comfortable to sit in for hours on end, a suspension that floats effortlessly along even if it means it can't put in a good Nurburgring time, and an open feeling inside. The SUVs that effectively replaced these kinds of cars don't ride terribly well (there are probably some that do, but all the ones I've been in from different manufacturers have been disappointing and it makes sense as they need to be stiffer to counter the high center of gravity in turns, plus they put elastic band tires on everything no matter how inappropriate) and often have overly hard seats (I rarely have a complaint about the seat backs, but the bottoms are mostly mediocre or terrible in modern cars, either unnecessarily constricting bolsters-and I'm not a wide guy-as if everyone is pulling turns at over a g in every corner or they turn to stone after a couple hours or both) with interiors that feel cramped thanks to enormous center consoles and bank-vault-thick doors (which, OK, the latter is for safety, but it doesn't help the situation with the giant console).
@@mitchkelleher7972agree. I hate how uncomfortable modern cars are. When I was in my teens and early 20s, I allowed myself to be convinced I wanted something sporty. I’m guilty of bashing on comfy cars. Didn’t take long for comfort to go to the top of my priority list though.
They should launch an oversized rear wheel drive sedan with a relaxed under stressed V8 with a cushy ride. Happy to sacrifice handling for that.
Ah, the fringe on that jacket. I remember those days
5:13 the odometer mileage is 666. Lmao
The seats lacking side bolsters is weird imo. The soft padding (which makes it comfy) is nice however.
You can have seats that are comfy and hold you in place in corners. It already rides like a cloud over crappy surfaced roads which is the best thing yet.
It's pretty crazy to me that the Quad 4 was putting down more horsepower than a v8 caddy at the time. No wonder so many people opted for that option. Even the 3800 v6 in the toronado was putting down better numbers with less cylinders. For shame.
The 3800 went on to become legendary for its power, fuel economy and reliability.
155hp from a 4.5 liter. But a big wallop of torque for wafting along.
I would still get the Lincoln Mark VII LSC.
By far the better vehicle. Less baroque styling and in proportion to the stretched Fox platform, 5.0 HO, and not overpriced when new.
I miss traditional American luxury, even from these downsized Cadillacs. Everyone is trying to be a sports sedan now. Luxury is dead.
Nice, but the 1991 is the best choice for this series..🇺🇸
I had a 91 with the 4.9 and a drivers airbag. What a great car.
In this price range in 1991 a Lexus was a much better choice
Especially the ETC with all the leather & wood veneer.
I have a Cadillac Deville 89 sedan 89,000 miles rides better than my new CTS 2014 V6
of course....
The last Cadillac I rode in was a 2010 CTS. I was shocked at how uncomfortable it was. It did not convey a sense of luxury.
Unfortunately luxury makers put sport suspensions in their cars now, aping the Germans. Regretful.
I to have a 89 sedan deville. Have been driving it for 20 years now. It's a dependable vehicle.
@@palebeachbum The CTS is a sports sedan. If you want a boring car with no road feel, don't buy a sports sedan.
Love the Pointer sister. LOL. 😀
Yesssss it's Ruth Pointer!!
Big Mike.
Yes the transmission is, Automatic.
HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAA!!!!!! 😂😂😂
I see what you did there. 😂😂
this is what happens when the gov't tells you how to build a car...anemic V8s...and now we have nothing but gross nasty, front drive suv boxes, and too big pickup trucks that cost what a house did then..
4:47 John: MAYBE CADILLAC WILL GIVE US A COUPLE OF SEAT SIDE BOLSTERS NEXT YEAR! LOL
Dang that ladies got some smokin style ❤❤❤
It's funny how many people comment on her. Being a teen of the '80s It all looks everyday cool to me.
Had a 90 Eldo in that champagne color with a brown cloth carriage top. My aunt ordered it that way. I drove it from 25k miles when I got the car from her and ran it to almost 190k miles and sold it. Wasn’t a bad car except I was never the biggest fan of the smaller Eldo. Ran great and everything worked well. That review was a throwback for me.
What a rich did, being given a Cadillac. I had to buy the two Caddy's I've owned - and I certainly wouldn't ever give anything to my nephew, will just make him lazy.
Never said I got it for nothing
Hahaha. The odometer. Awesome.
The girl demonstrating the interior features looks like Belle from Fright Night 2 which came out that year lol😂
Same thing I thought lmao or one of the women from the girl group Klymaxx 😅
I was thinking she's one of The Pointer Sisters!😂 "I'm So Excited"!
Russel Clark? I checked out IMDB 😂
@@brentm.871 Yup!
Yes!!!!
Bring back the serviceability ratings 😂
Sales disaster that really hurt the brand. They thought they could downsize the Eldorado again and thought gas prices would be higher also.... Bad decision GM. 1985 sold 77k units and was killing the Lincoln mark series, 88 was the best year and sold only 33k units and Lincoln mark series which hadn't changed since 84 outsold it, by 1991 it was down to 16k units...
The downsized era at GM 1985-1990 was indeed a rough and lean time. All GM brands suffered because of it( Chevrolet Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac). They spent the late 1980's upsizing cars and fighting to get market share back.
@@OLDS98 yea, the first downsize effort from the late 70s by GM, (Seville, 79-85 Eldoardo) were very successful for GM and a dismal failure for Lincoln (Mark VI, Versallies). Go figure. It's amazing that with the GM failures that they remained in business.
Ahh yes, the Roger & Me era of GM. They allowed Cadillac to just phone it in. The Brougham kept the traditionalists coming in, but the cars overall were just so underbaked and not deserving of the Cadillac nameplate, especially if you grew up like me and your old man had a REAL Caddy.
Funny, the brand certainly struck gold with the Escalade and their V-Series performance sedans, but they never seemed to recapture their top-dog status in the flagship sedan or coupe market.
Cadillac has been chasing BMW since the early 2000s. They lost their opulence and distinctive traditional American luxury flavor in favor of chasing after younger buyers.
The 90’ models with the 4.9L were beasts. More than enough power.
Was that the North Star? Or did it actually come with a optional engine in the '90s?
@@GS-zc4sk northstar was a 4-cam 4.6L that came on larger El Dorado around 92-93 , 4.9 was the standard engine in 1990 for all modeles except the large full size Cadillac,,those had the vortec 5.7L
In a vacuum these were nice cars, and they were better much better performing cars than what they replaced.
"...Except that cars began being made so small, that you can barely fit into them!"
Look at 7:01, big, generously sized side window, but there was no money left for the rear window, so sadly, due to cutbacks, the company had to cheap out and put a slit of a window in the back. Hopefully no one will notice.
I fell in love with that version Eldorado 1989 was even better, I dreamed of having a bright red and white Biarritz coupe, but my father wasn't going to spend thirty-two grand which was what it was going for at the time.
Isn't it a bit small for being called an Eldorado? 🤨
Apparently you are ignorant of the downsizing of cars that happened after the ‘70s models??
um go back in time to 1984, and 1985, that was the beginning of the end of the full-sized rear wheel and front wheel drive caddy's, by 1990, the only big rear wheel drive Caddy that was left was the Brougham
um go back in time to 1984, and 1985, that was the beginning of the end of the full-sized rear wheel and front wheel drive caddy's, by 1990, the only big rear wheel drive Caddy that was left was the Brougham
The buying public thought so too. The downsized era at GM 1985-1990 was a lean and diffcult era. The issues was not only the styling of the cars from GM at the time, but the downsizing of the cars that impacted all its brands. The 1990's upsizing could not come fast enough. This car in the video was redesigned and upsized for 1992.
Ford loved GM during these years because Cadillac, Buick and Oldsmobile were all producing Cookie Cutter, Dog Ugly vehicles! This car is less exciting than a piece of Burnt Toast!
As a GM person, I have to agree with you. It is true. The downsized era at GM 1985-1990 were some hard and lean times.
I always hated the styling on this generation to boxy and boring. The previous generation and after were much better
I am sorry that I have to strongly disagree with the "Motor Week" Host here. These horrible, poorly-designed, under-powered, sub-compact "Cadillacs" so named, dictated by GM chairman Roger Smith as "Corporate Continuity", failed miserably in the market place. Cadillac lost SIXTY PERCENT of its once dominate market share for luxury car buyers. Lincoln, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, all had an increase in sales when these GM disasters hit the showroom. Cadillac was hit even harder when Lexus and Infinity arrived in 1989. They could not give them away free. The next 10 years for Cadillac would be hell because of upper management bad decisions. Their engines and cars were a total catastrophe.
As side from that, they were styling abomination. The big shots were hitting 1000% on this one.
Mafia starter car 😉
Nary a word about how it was just slightly larger than a Pinto. GM's 1986 downsizing was a total disaster. This update gave it far better styling but it was still very cramped inside.
Agreed about the downzing era at GM 1985-1990. They had upsized everything by 1992 model year.
Those small V8 engines ran great. Much more reliable than the Northstar engines that came after..
The Northstar engine ruined the great looking lean body coupe of the '90s
@@GS-zc4sk The Nortstar is big engine V8 of Cadillac Eldorado from 1988
I have 1992 Eldorado with the 4.9L, it's absolutely bulletproof
I have a soft spot for the touring version later in the run but this car was junk.
That chicks hair is wild. I love it.
The 80’s good times
Still looks great now.
These mini El Dorados were overpriced GM junk compared to the previous generation. Numbers don't lie. Sales tanked between the '85 and 86-89 model years.
Huge miscalculation. Maybe if this was 1/4 a size larger, maybe. Or better yet, this should have been a Cimarron type product and the Eldo should have moved slightly upmarket, skip the Allante
I always like this model Eldorados, especially in a custom build rare convertible ones. We as H-town houstonians in S.L.A.B culture. We take this 1988 Eldorado, put a burgandy candy paint, wired 30 spokes wheels with vouge tires, leather peanut butter interior with a custom sound system and a screen two din radio setup, a prominent grille with a lady ornament on top, and a fifth wheel continental kit on the back with chrome belt buckles on the trunk.
A cadillac on chrome with vogue tires is 👌
Worst dashboard maybe ever, also, its 1988 and wiper and cruise still on the dash?
1:10 Look at the fit and finish, the gaps between hood, lamp, fender or the panel below the lamp...
And this was called "the standard of the world"...
Yes that's it. I didn't like the front for some reason. But the rear ensemble looks great to me. Especially The trim prominent tail lights.
If I had to choose this bodystyle Eldo , I'll get a '91 STS with the 200hp 4.5..
I thought 91 was first year for 4.9
4.9 but I agree.
@@MPMeterman Yes, correction the 4.9..
Was GM even trying at this point with this bland, boring styling that looked like about 20 other cars across the 5 brands? What a comedown from the striking 1979-85 design to this.
😂 thought they had a guest appearance from Rick James for a second !
Jody Watley made it into the back seat but come on, there's zero room back there.
The Mark VII was a superior car to this Eldo in nearly every way.
Thank you so much for this GM review. GM was going through some lean times back then. They upgraded this generation to add a little length to make it appear longer. The 1992 upsized Eldorado was in the works at that time. The 4.5 liter V8 was a vast improvement over what came before. The 4.5 went to 4.9 liters and gained more power. Sadly, the Northstar V8 was a let down. All the E Body cars were redesigned by 1992. Eldorado got the slight upsizing in 1988, the Buick Riviera grew 12 inches loner in 1989, Oldsmobile Toronado was redesigned and made much longer for 1990. I own a 1992 and it is longer and wider. The Eldorado got the Touring Coupe with the seats John mentioned. Eldorado was redesigned for the 1992 model years where it was longer and wider. It actually stopped Cadillac from producing Coupe DeVille because they were too similiar in size. The 1992 redesin does not use the Northstar V8. Some of the 1993's do not either. You can find a 1992 or 1993 without a Northstar V8.
$80k adjusted for the fully loaded (at time of upload)
0:31........................WHY can't we have that Cadillac back, GM?!!!!! WHY?!!!!!I must go on record & confess that this was always my least favorite body style of the Eldorado. I understand that the name of the game in the 1980's was efficiency, & this car DID have a gorgeous interior, but you could literally park it next to a Buick Skylark/Somerset, Oldsmobile Calais, or Pontiac Grand Am of the same year & people would be very hard-pressed to tell the difference.
666 mileage! lol $73473.62 in 2023 money (didnt go to 2024)
0:17 “progress of GM’s reorganization”
The progress meant GM failing to the point of asking Congress for taxpayer help in 1992 and again in 2009.
I always liked how the deck lid cut into the C pillar, looks like a big 70’s Caddy from the rear
The trunk bumper and tail light configuration on this is mint.
ElDorito
After her mid-80s music career died down, Sheila E found follow-on work with MotorWeek!
She looks more like Chaka Khan 😂
This Cadillac Eldorado looks like it was drawn by a 8th grade middle school student in art class.
Went to my sophomore Homecoming in one of these.
There's certainly no Mark 7
The gaps on that hood though 🤦 they didn't even bother to adjust the little rubber bumpers before they sent the car out to the press wtf gm. That said these cars did last a while if you serviced them at the dealer or at least to a shop that had access to the hundreds of TSBs that piled up over the years
I saw that too. 😂 Typical GM of that era.
😂
I printed out the service bulletins for an 89 Buick and it took 2 reams of paper and a 5" binder to hold them all 😂
Love the manual controls.
Absolutely. Analog controls with a sane amount of electronic displays.
666 miles LOL
GM is still GM 😂
I briefly owned a 1990 Seville STS. I gotta say the mechanical bits of that car were pretty good, it was quiet, smooth, steering was tight, rode great(no float), power was decent, handling was decent. It was also really well built, beautiful pearl white paint, leather smelled great, everything worked even after 12 years, it didn't rattle/sqeak and was tomb silent. GM just totally missed the boat on styling and size of the car, it was UGLY, back seat was cramped. Dash was also ugly with those stupid green digital gauges that showed zero info.
Cadillac Style! Amazing, 4.5L V8 engine producing only 145HP! A cheap Nissan or Hyundai is faster of course and 2X the gas mileage! Vehicles have improved!
Crazy to think that the 80s caddi was considered powerful at a trap speed in the 70s and now caddi has a race car that traps more than double.
starting in 1979, the eldorado, riviera, and toronado were essentially identical triplets...i'd like to be surprised that it took gm management 9 model years to realize that was damaging caddy's prestige, but i'm not...the 1992 eldorado couldn't arrive soon enough
$28,000 was a lot of money for a car back in 1988. In my opinion it was over-priced for what you got.
Those baby Cadillac,s were stylish and elegant but was sorely lacking under the hood, which plagued their entire front wheel drive line up.😮
155 Horse Power? 😂😂😂 Im Germay you had more Horsepower with a midsize BMW 325i, or a Mercedes 190E 2.6.
The Lincoln Mk XII LSC has aged much, much better. RWD too.
Imagine they come up with a 2026 version of El Dorado limited edition where they only making a few
I had this car. It was a complete piece of crap, but I still loved it and miss it. So many memories of young adulthood.
From my European view i always wondered how did the Americans cope with the shrinkage of these once imposing and powerful (
I bought an '88 SDV, with the 4.5. Used, with 59k.
Except for the starter, it was anvil reliable. It helped to have a dealer tech in my circle do all my maintenance.
Sadly, at 161k, it was stolen, and that was that.
Buying one of these was like putting money into an oven and burning it. GM's of this era were notoriously unreliable and the depreciation was huge.
666 miles on the odometer! Dun dun dunnnnn
In todays dollars It would have been valued a 61000 adjusted for inflation
Feel so bad for the seniors who paid top dollar for these horrible cars. They associated the Eldorado with premium cars based on models in the past like the ones with the monster displacement that allowed them to move effortlessly from high torque numbers at very low engine speeds. When buying these, they assumed it was this car was worthy of the name and a premium product as well.
Japanese CRX SiR making more power with half the cylinders 😂
I'll take the Lincoln
The only 2 things Cadillac was missing back then was trans Am acceleration and Vette like handling.
150 HP out of a V8? That’s disgusting. GM had V8s with double that.
Liked the 2nd shrink, only thing was that they left the V8 out of the Toro and the Riv, And that wasn't nice.
Proof Cadillac has never been able to make a decent luxury car theyre constantly trying to figure out what they are and who they're for smh
Hilarious how they make it appear there is so much power that the front wheels would be going sideways. lol!
I can’t remember, whether the 4.1 or 4.5 were bulletproof engine. One of them is gem the other is garbage…can’t remember going back 40 years ago…
4.5 and 4.9 were. It was the 4.1 people call a boat anchor among other things.
HT4100 = Hook & Tow
I still see several of those today. Nice taillights.
Those shoulder pads are built in safety features 😂😂😂
That interior is garbage.
I agree. Horrible GM interior quality at its finest.
The Cadillac That Could
Seems a little slow even with the V8 engine but overall it's a nice car.
160hp/230tq in a v8… 😂
oh the 80s😅😊
RIP Wrally Konopaki, this was his car
4:36 lol She should have found out of they were going to post this footage on the internet 26 years into the future before deciding to wear that jacket.
Hate to break it to you but 88 is 36 years ago. I know, right?
1988 fashionista asks: "What's an 'Internet' ?"
This video features two awesome jackets!
Nice chevy
WTF
WTF
Yeah it’s a Chevy Celebrity rebadged as a Cadillac lol
@@bahamutsix5765 more like a cutlass calais
So nobody else saw that the car had 666 miles?