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78 Biarritz with T-Tops

Started by acedriale, December 22, 2017, 09:06:15 PM

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acedriale

Interesting evening for me.   ;D  Had to leave the office for a few minutes early in the evening, which I never do (always stuck there late).  Saw an appealing caddy on the city streets, which basically never happens around here.  Back-tracked and found the owner with the car parked at his estate a stone's throw from where we live.  Turns out it is a '78 Biarritz with factory T-Tops (one of seven made according to the owner).  Owner just got it back from the restoration shop today and had her out for a spin.  He let me take a couple of pictures, which I've posted for your enjoyment...
Alex
A. Edrington

'55 Eldorado

STS05lg

Alex,

Did he have it done at Phantom Works?  ;D ;D ;D

Daniel Jobe the owner of Capital Cadillac in Greenbelt has one (see photo attached). So that is two of the seven made are local. The power T-Tops were hand made so they are a really rare car.

Great find.

Lynn

acedriale

My first thought was Phantom Works, since we were just a few blocks down from their building on Hampton Blvd. when I saw the car.  But the work was done in Chesapeake VA - he didn't seem interested in revealing the source other than commenting that they had the car for a few years.  A couple of donor cars were sacrificed.  Weird thing is that after all that work it has the same interior smell as a low mileage '76 Eldorado.
Alex
A. Edrington

'55 Eldorado

STS05lg

Alex, Figured it had to be a restored car. Seems like restoring any of the early 70's Eldorado takes a donor car or two. Daniel purchased a mint condition 78 Eldorado to use as a parts car for his T-Top car. The 77-78's really look good in Cotillion White. As for the interior I would bet he had the seats redone in new leather. The leather used in the 77-78 Biarritz from the factory was really thin and dried out and cracked like none I have ever seen. I had a two tone custom Biarritz in early 1980's and the leather began to crack and split before the car was 5 years old. Again great find. If the owner is not a member of the CLC should invite him to join. Lynn

TonyZappone #2624

This option was available for Olds Toronado also.  I ordered a demo for myself, and it kept being put back.  If I remember correctly, only one or two were built. There were problems with the power t tops.
Tony Zappone, #2624
1936 Pierce-Arrow conv sed
1947 Cadillac Conv cpe
1958 Cadillac conv
2016 Cadillac CT6 Platinum
2022 Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle

Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373

How does the "power" system work?
Jeff
Jeff Rosansky
CLC #28373
1970 Coupe DeVille (Big Red)
1955 Series 62 (Baby Blue)
Dad's new 1979 Coupe DeVille

76eldo

Are they power or just T tops?

Not to be a nit picker but what's the deal with the rear horizontal bumper filler fit over the rear bumper?  That's a really easy adjustment to make on the 77-78 without tail lights in the way.  If it's a fresh restoration that should be fixed.

Brian
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

STS05lg

Brian, the seven cars built by the factory had power T-Tops, it is a complicated movement that when activated moves the glass down, towards the center, and then back, this may be why they never went into production other then the seven or eight cars that were built. Next spring at the Potomac Show if Daniel has the car there we could see how they work. Also the rear bumper fillers on the white car are very poorly fitted. It appears they have them to tight to the deck lid. The mounts are adjustable so the owner could fix that, there are only three screws. The difficult ones as you well know, are the front pair and the rear ventricle ones. Oh by the way, have a merry Christmas, I know Santa has already delivered your present in the form of a 1970 black Eldorado,  ;D  ;D

Jeff Wilk

Alex are you sure these were power TTops or were they The manually removed ones? We also had a pre order in on the Toronado XSR that was never filled as they were all canceled.

Jeff W
"Impossible Only Describes The Degree Of Difficulty" 

Southern New Jersey

1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special
1975 Eldorado Convertible (#12 made)
1933 Phaeton Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"
1933 Master Sedan Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"

SOLD
1976 Cadillac Mirage (factory authorized Pick-Up)
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sedan
1958 Cadillac Coupe Deville

acedriale

Hi Jeff,
The owner insisted they were power T-Tops and I think that may be the only reason he bought and restored the car - license plate says "One of 7".  I asked if he knew the heritage and he deflected and said he was the 3rd owner and really didn't know where the car came from originally.   I would have been interested in this -- a $3K option on a $7K car always makes you wonder who signs up for that.

He is not a CLC member - I asked about that as well and he said he isn't very sociable and so wasn't part of the club...

I would have liked to have spent more time looking at the car and seeing the T-Tops in action but my visit wasn't exactly invited!

BTW this Christmas I have a full set of ABS bumper fillers on the way for the '81 Fleetwood so I'll at some point in 2018 get to enjoy that process. 

Alex
A. Edrington

'55 Eldorado

Jeff Wilk

Thats awesome Alex. Nice spotting that one. Sombody should get a cideo of it working and post here one day. Thanks

Jeff W
"Impossible Only Describes The Degree Of Difficulty" 

Southern New Jersey

1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special
1975 Eldorado Convertible (#12 made)
1933 Phaeton Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"
1933 Master Sedan Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"

SOLD
1976 Cadillac Mirage (factory authorized Pick-Up)
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sedan
1958 Cadillac Coupe Deville

Matt CLC#18621

#11
It appears to be my beloved 1978 Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz with Power T-TOPS installed by ASC. 

Exterior Paint: Cotillion White (11);
Interior Trim: White (114); and
Accent Stripping: Red (F).

This beautiful example had every conceivable Cadillac option with the obvious exception of an Astro Roof.

I sold my beloved 1978 Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz with Power T-TOPS with steel wheels and painted white hubcaps. The new owner made a very wise decision to replace the Ugly-Ass painted hubcaps with aluminum laced wheels by Appliance and gorgeous Vogue Tyres. (I never installed my set of Appliance laced wheels.) It appears that he also had the solid bar steering wheel restored as I had replaced it with a three spoke steering wheel from a 76 Eldorado.

Yann Saunder's was very generous in posting my previously owned and greatly missed 1978 Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz with Power T-TOPS in the Dream Car section of his database.
https://www.newcadillacdatabase.org/static/CDB/DBas_drm/1978/78ASCbia2.JPG

Search the thread and you will find it.

"1978 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz Classic w/ Power T-Tops (2/2)  (Read 1842 times)"

I need to find the 1978 Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz's First Place Trophy earned at the NNJ Cadillac Club's 2008 Fall Show held in Franklin Lakes NJ and forward it along, hopefully it's still in the garage collecting dust!!!

Everyone Have a Happy, Healthy and a Prosperous New Year!

Matt CLC#18621

(post script: If you have any questions about the 1978 Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz with Power T-TOPS, please private message me.)

Quote from: STS05lg on December 22, 2017, 09:42:52 PM
Alex,

Did he have it done at Phantom Works?  ;D ;D ;D

Daniel Jobe the owner of Capital Cadillac in Greenbelt has one (see photo attached). So that is two of the seven made are local. The power T-Tops were hand made so they are a really rare car.

Great find.

Lynn

Matt CLC#18621

#12
This beautiful Triple Yellow 1978 Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz with Power T-TOPS was a "barn yard find" in Chicago.

Exterior Paint Code 54 - Colonial Yellow
Vinyl Roof Code 54T - Light Yellow
Sierra Grain Leather Code 502 - Antique Light Yellow

Maybe the previous Chicago owner will jump on, he performed a lot of research on the origin of the Power T-TOPS.

Best regards for the New Year!

Matt CLC# 18621


Quote from: acedriale on December 22, 2017, 09:52:48 PM
My first thought was Phantom Works, since we were just a few blocks down from their building on Hampton Blvd. when I saw the car.  But the work was done in Chesapeake VA - he didn't seem interested in revealing the source other than commenting that they had the car for a few years.  A couple of donor cars were sacrificed.  Weird thing is that after all that work it has the same interior smell as a low mileage '76 Eldorado.
Alex

Matt CLC#18621

Hello Mr. Edrington,

Could you please email me some of your pictures?

Thank you very much and have a wonderful New Year!

Sincerely,

Matt CLC# 18621

Matt CLC#18621

The White Sierra Grain Leather was in very good condition when I sold it, 8.5 out of 10. It did have some cracking on the driver's seat, minimal cracking on the passenger's seat and near flawless rear seats. This rare 1978 Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz with Power T-TOPS was garaged throughout my entire ownership.

Before acquiring it, I was attempting to acquire a 78 Red Fleetwood Eldorado Custom with Power T-TOPS (not a Biarritz) dressed up with extra chrome, heavily chromed and gaudy grille and aluminum turbine wheels by Western Wheel Company which, in my opinion are less attractive than the laced wheels by Appliance.

A couple years back, a member posted a picture of the Eldorado parked on grass with flat tires and in the process of decomposing. Hopefully the owner found storage it or it was purchased by a new Power T-TOP enthusiast.

Best Regards,

Matt CLC# 18621


Quote from: STS05lg on December 22, 2017, 10:06:32 PM
Alex, Figured it had to be a restored car. Seems like restoring any of the early 70's Eldorado takes a donor car or two. Daniel purchased a mint condition 78 Eldorado to use as a parts car for his T-Top car. The 77-78's really look good in Cotillion White. As for the interior I would bet he had the seats redone in new leather. The leather used in the 77-78 Biarritz from the factory was really thin and dried out and cracked like none I have ever seen. I had a two tone custom Biarritz in early 1980's and the leather began to crack and split before the car was 5 years old. Again great find. If the owner is not a member of the CLC should invite him to join. Lynn

Matt CLC#18621

The 1977 Oldsmobile Toronado XSR with Power T-TOPs was never made available for sale, prior to acquiring my 1978 Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz with Power T-TOPs, I was pursuing the 77 XSR with Power T-TOPs and was posting classified ads for same.

The owner (at the time) of the 1977 Oldsmobile Toronado XSR with Power T-TOPs contacted me and advised me that his 77 XSR was strictly a one-off and that the 2,000 XSR's with Power T-TOPs promised by Oldsmobile and published in Oldsmobile's 1977 literature were scrapped by the Oldsmobile Division.

Hence, the few 1977 XSR's with Power T-TOPs (greater than one (1). less than twelve (12)) had their roofs severed from the 1977 Toronado XSR's and American Sunroof Corporation salvaged same and attempted to resurrect the idea of Power T-TOPs with the Cadillac Division on the Toronado's identical twin, the 1978 Fleetwood Eldorado.

Accordingly, as the story goes, two car transport trailers loaded with 1978 Eldorado's were retrofitted with the harvested 1977 Toronado XSR's Power T-TOP roofs.

My pursuit of a Power T-TOP Eldorado took off when a CLC member contacted me and told me about the limited number of Power T-TOPs installed on 1978 Fleetwood Eldorado's.

Best regards,

Matt CLC# 18621



Quote from: TonyZappone #2624 on December 23, 2017, 06:21:28 AM
This option was available for Olds Toronado also.  I ordered a demo for myself, and it kept being put back.  If I remember correctly, only one or two were built. There were problems with the power t tops.

acedriale

Hi Matt,
Fascinating information!  I will send you the two full resolution images I was able to take on the premises.  The new owner did say he had the set of original wheel coverings and was initially perplexed as to the laced wheels on the vehicle, thinking they were aftermarket.  After some digging he realized they were ~OEM and so left them on the vehicle.

Alex
A. Edrington

'55 Eldorado