“Eldosaurus” Has Evolved into White Elephant

No “Superfly” love broker worth his full-length mink would have been caught dead without an Eldorado in the 1970s

by Rob Sass

Cadillac had a tough task in replacing its first front-wheel-drive Eldorado, the Bill Mitchell-designed model of 1967–70. Although gigantic, this first-gen front-driver was, like its stablemate the Oldsmobile Toronado, quite beautiful. Its successor, built from 1971 to 1978, was simply large. But the second-gen did have one advantage over its predecessor— it was available as a convertible.

This series wasn’t referred to as the “Eldosaurus” for nothing. With just two-doors but nearly 19 feet long, it was an arrestor hook and steam catapult short of being able to launch and recover aircraft from the hood. Although Bill Mitchell wouldn’t retire from GM until 1977, the 1971–78 Eldo exhibited none of the elegance and good taste of cars like the C2 Corvette or the 1963–65 Riviera.

The Eldosaurus was one bad design cliché after the next—skirts and phony rear side vents for 1971–72 and a rear marker light disguised as a Cadillac wreath in 1973. However,...