New Member-1978 Eldorado Biarritz ASC Last 2000 Commemorative Followed Me Home..

[CORVAIRWILD]

 merry Christmas, happy holidays to all, I'm Jewish but I guess I just have to join along for the day anyways...

Here goes the long story,.. The first car I remember as a kid was my father's 1965 Parisienne convertible, 283 Powerglide, white black top turquoise interior, he traded it in in 1969 for my grandfather's 1967 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, white with a black vinyl top and black cloth interior and freezing cold under-dash air conditioning. That car was wrecked in the police strike in Montreal in 1970 ish, when we were visiting my uncle for his birthday. The locals are doing donuts in the middle of a wide Boulevard, and crashed into the Cadillac on the driver's side, pushing it into a light pole and wrecking the passenger side. The car was repaired but of course it was never the same, and in 1971 my father traded it in and got his father's light brown 1969 Sedan DeVille, black interior, black vinyl top with Michelin Tires. I vividly recall the oval sticker showing all the national flags around the Michelin X. My father then bought a new 1973 Calais 2 door, and he had a vinyl top added. The car was a real lemon, the beginning of pollution controls, and he wasn't happy with the car. I was 13 years old and always quite interested in cars. In 1975 he traded it in for a navy blue Coupe DeVille. He had a white vinyl top added, it had blue leather interior, and even when he bought a 1980 Coupe DeVille in medium brown with a light brown velour interior, he kept that 75 Cadillac parked beside his office for years, it had 85 or so thousand miles, and only the drivers door bottom was rusty. He traded the brown Coupe Deville in on a rust orange 84 Eldorado, which was stolen exactly one year later from the front of our house. He replaced that with a dark blue 85 Eldorado, and after 5 years and 80000 miles, the 4.1 engine cam went flat, so he traded it in for a 1990 Coupe DeVille, and that was the last car he owned before he passed away in 1995. So one could say Cadillacs have played a large part of my life. Plus my uncle, his brother, also drove a new 70 Deville convertible, dark green with a black interior. Both my grandfather and Uncle went to Lincoln's in the early 70s after my then very sick grandfather refused delivery of a 72 Eldorado. I remember the phone conversation with the dealer. No more Cadillacs for him!

I recall my father almost cracking a hundred in the new Mark III in the early seventies, that he borrowed from his brother. My mother wasn't impressed as the Cartier spedometer moved around the dial towards the four o'clock position. I was quite impressed by the extra long hood and RR like grille, but I've never been a Ford fan.
The last Cadillac he had of any interest to me was the '75, because I got my driver's license a year later, and burned up the right rear tire and spare tire having fun with the locals' impromptu quarter mile drag races. In 1978 I'd had my driver's license for 2 years, and he bought me a very rusty but reliable 67 Parisienne 2+2 convertible, similar to the 65 he'd had 10 years earlier. It was a 283 Powerglide, but I put in a turbo 350, 3.36 posi, three two barrels, and Corvair turbo mufflers with no tail pipes.

Fast forward 10 more years and my interest in Corvairs, I repaired them for many years, and now I had a whole bunch to drive around with, but along with a few other cars that I had to have, there was always a hole in my heart for a Cadillac. You know how it is, you look on eBay and you see all these beautiful cars that look better in the pictures than in person. I've bought a few over the years with mixed results. The dealers are always the problem, they just want to move the unit, and never describe the car accurately.

So here we are, and you wonder why I'm writing all this blabber blabber blabber???

I met a fellow on a recent trip to Israel who HAD TO HAVE a Cadillac Eldorado. We looked at an early 80s Eldorado in Israel, supposedly from Los Angeles, but it was a total rust bucket, probably shipped from Los Angeles, but spent its life in Chicago! It was a total junker, really rusty, cracked leather, just disgusting, it ran well, but maybe it was a good parts car or a pizza delivery vehicle.

Anyways I told him when I get back to the States I'd find him a REAL Eldorado, a full-size Eldorado. Convertibles were out of the question as they were too expensive. So there of course I was shopping on eBay, and I came across this last 2000 Commemorative Edition. I've never seen or heard of it, but it sure looks great in the many many pictures. The dealer didn't describe the car whatsoever in the thousands of words he copied from the sales brochures of a ASC, American Sunroof Corporation of Southgate Michigan. So I won the car on eBay, and it took almost 2 months to get it paid for and delivered, and here are the pictures and video of the car on delivery day this past Thursday, Dec 21, and I'll fill in the rest of the story in the very near future...

[CORVAIRWILD]

Here are pictures on delivery day, and yesterday I washed off of the gravel and (transport trailer) hydraulic oil from the trip across the country

https://youtu.be/aZTzzFQwfv0

https://youtu.be/nwW97Bw_D9M

[joecaristo]

Lots of luck! Love those 2 tone Eldos!
Joe

[James Landi]

   Receiving a  4 decade old car in the middle of winter in the dark following a rough cross country trailer trip is a veritable nightmare.  Your good cheer on the you- tube video is nothing short of brave!  Where is the car today?    Happy day,   James

[CORVAIRWILD]

 The day that the truck driver was trying to get out of Boston to deliver the Cadillac, I was the most short-tempered and hard to get along with I've been in years. I was just beside myself, barking at everybody that tried to call me or got in my way. The trailer rental didn't work out, the trailer I could have borrowed was a rusted piece of junk. I realized halfway there that I'd forgotten half of $1,000 I have to give the driver, luckily I was able to withdraw it doing cash advances at the Walmart check out. Looking back, everything went well, I didn't get stopped for an unregistered vehicle, even though it was insured. And now it's in my newly acquired commercial building, the back of the complex is a 30 by 86 former sheet metal bending shop, body shop, and 50 years ago they used to manufacture granite tombstones in that building. I bought it September 1st, and I've been working on it day and night day and night day to try to put it back together after years of being abandoned. Every water pipe and heating pipe was broken from freezing over the winter. The storage building across the driveways roof had collapsed years earlier, and one more winter snow load would have taken down the entire building, I just caught it in time.

[D.Smith]

Congrats on your purchase!

I don't think I have ever seen one with the metal power sun roof.   That's awesome!

Please keep us posted with progress pics!

[CORVAIRWILD]

This car has a glass sunroof as far as I know. I love sunroofs, I only love convertible tops better, but I was so concerned about getting this vehicle 125 miles home, that I never even pulled back the retractable inside cover, but I did press the button for a split second and it did hum.

[Matt CLC#18621]

Congratulations on the purchase of your 1978 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz Classic!

Here is a helpful link.

If it has a metal sunroof, it appears that your Custom Biarritz Classic was 1 of 25 modified by ASC.

Good Luck!

Matt CLC# 18621

http://automotivemileposts.com/eldorado/eldorado1978biarritzclassic.html

Cadillac Eldorado Custom Biarritz Classic

Availability: 1978 only

Production: 2,000
1,499 without Astroroof  (APPEARS TO BE WRONG AS THERE ARE 2 CONFIRMED WITH POWER T-TOPs)
475 with Astroroof
25 with Sunroof
3 with Power T-Tops (2 verified; 1 unconfirmed)

Dealer announcement: April 11, 1978
Build dates: April-July, 1978
Introduction: May, 1978

Accessory code: YP6
Sales code: B
Option cost: $2,466
$3,347 with Sunroof option
$3,547 with Astroroof option

Paint codes: 62 - Arizona Beige and 64 - Demitasse Brown Metallic
Vinyl Roof code: T - Light Beige
Interior Trim code: 644 - Light Beige and Dark Saddle Leather

For the 1978 model year, Cadillac initially offered three Eldorado models: the Coupe, the Cabriolet, and the Custom Biarritz. To commemorate the final full-size Eldorado, Cadillac Division introduced the Custom Biarritz Classic very late in the model year. The Custom Biarritz Classic was identical to the Custom Biarritz, with the exception of duo-tone pillowed leather interior in Light Beige and Dark Saddle, Dark Beige Leather steering wheel jacket, duo-tone exterior finish in Arizona Beige with Demitasse Brown Metallic accent on hood, doors, and roof, Dark Brown accent striping, and gold-plated "Biarritz" script on the sail panel and deck lid.

The 1978 Eldorado in base trim had a wheelbase of 126.3 inches, weighed 4,906 pounds, and had an overall width of 224.1 inches. Truly, a significant automobile. Power was provided by a 425 cubic inch V-8 engine with a compression ratio of 8.2:1 and a horsepower rating of 180 at 4,000 rpm. Driven carefully, this car can get double digit fuel mileage in town, and in the mid-teens on the highway. Cadillac built 46,816 Eldorados for 1978, and 2,000 of them were the Custom Biarritz Classic model.

There were other reasons for the Custom Biarritz Classic besides Cadillac's desire to bid farewell to the final full-sized cars with a special edition model. Lincoln was celebrating Ford Motor Company's 75th Anniversary in 1978 with the Continental Mark V Diamond Jubilee Edition, which had been available since the 1978 model introduction, and was selling briskly. Also, Cadillac knew that the final full-sized Continental Mark V would be built in 1979, and a special Collector's Series model based on the Diamond Jubilee Edition was planned for that model's final voyage. This meant if Cadillac were going to provide a proper send off to the Eldorado, they'd have to come up with something quickly. It hardly seemed appropriate to allow the last full-sized Eldorado to slip quietly into oblivion without so much as a special edition, but that's exactly what Cadillac had initially planned to do. This decision was made because Cadillac had hoped to avoid the speculative buying that accompanied the last Eldorado Convertibles in 1976. Many collectors had purchased one of the last convertibles and placed them immediately into storage as a future collectible. This made convertibles difficult to come by for some of Cadillac's customers, so the decision was made to not make a big deal about the final full-sized Eldorado. But that could hardly be allowed with rival Lincoln making such a fuss over its final Mark V.

Since very little time was available for the Custom Biarritz Classic project, Cadillac Division turned to American Sunroof Corporation (ASC) in Southgate, Michigan. ASC would be able to modify standard Custom Biarritz cars quickly, turn them into Custom Biarritz Classics, install a sunroof or Astroroof if ordered, and return them to the Cadillac assembly facility for shipment to dealers.

Image: 1978 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz Classic interiorThe entire modification process took about 5 days, start to finish. In its announcement, Cadillac stated that "various components of this custom option are installed 'off-line'; therefore, a minimum of five (5) days will be added to the normal production time."

Cadillac began the process by assembling a Custom Biarritz finished in Arizona Beige (paint code 62), with a matching Light Beige Cabriolet Elk Grain vinyl roof (code T) with smaller rear window and French seam roof/window treatment. A special duo-tone pillow-style leather interior (trim code 644) was installed (shown above and at right), which featured a Dark Beige instrument panel, steering wheel and column, and leather jacketed steering wheel rim.

Dark Beige carpeting on the floor and lower door panels highlighted the Light Beige vinyl door and rear quarter panel trim, headliner, roof moldings, and seat side bolsters and center panels. Dark Saddle Sierra Grain Leather with Contoured Pillow Style Seating (shown at rightâ€"click image for larger version in new window or tab) featured Light Beige piping. This interior was unique to the Custom Biarritz Classic model.

The partially-completed car was shipped to ASC for modification and completion, where the Demitasse Brown Metallic paint was applied to the center section of the hood, upper sections of the doors, and the forward section of the roof. A supply of exterior moldings was stocked at ASC to be installed after completion of the paint process. Dark Brown accent striping was added as the last step, a final distinctive touch.

ASC also installed sunroofs in 500 cars. A sticker was attached to the driver's door lock face, above the latch, which indicated the car had been modified by ASC, met all Federal Standards, and the date the work was completed. The ink used on these stickers was not stable, and many have either faded or are so washed out they are difficult to read today.

Actual production time at ASC was four to six hours, depending on whether or not a sunroof was to be installed. Once completed, ASC inspected each car and shipped it approximately seven miles back to Cadillac where it was processed through normal channels to be shipped out to Cadillac dealers across the country. All in all, this was a very efficient process and allowed the cars to be available to the public in record time.

The 1979 Cadillac Eldorados that followed would be smaller and more fuel efficient. Built on a 13-inch shorter wheelbase, the '79 Eldorados would also lose 10 inches in length and would weigh in at 3,792 pounds, a reduction of over 1,100 pounds! The 1979-1985 Eldorados were very popular, and sold well. And while they were all distinctive and elegant, with efficiencies demanded at the time, they would not have the presence of the 1978 Eldorados.

The good news for those interested in purchasing one of these cars is that there are plenty of them around. Most original purchasers realized the significance of the final "big" Eldorado, and lavished extra care upon it. Most have held up well over the years. These cars are dependable and a joy to drive. Fuel mileage is not great, but if driven carefully most will find they can live with it. Check the front and rear bumper filler panels for deterioration. Reproductions are available, but they require much time and attention to get a perfect fit. Rust can be an issue on these cars, especially around the base of the vinyl roof. Check this area very carefully, as the heavily padded top can hide a lot of damage. Not everyone is in love with the duo-tone paint treatment, but it is representative of the era in which it was built and many find it interesting that Cadillac pushed the margins of good taste so close to the edge with this model. Others find them to be especially beautiful because of the extra glitz they provide.

Few cars over the years have been as luxurious, as quiet, as comforting, and as beautiful as the Eldorado Custom Biarritz Classic. If you're seeking distinction, this is your car. We promise you will get noticed! And we promise you will enjoy every mile behind the wheel, knowing that you are commanding one of the final full-sized luxury cars built by America's luxury leader, Cadillac. Once you own an Eldorado, it's difficult to accept anything less.

[CORVAIRWILD]

Mine has the glass power sliding moonroof