Forty-five years ago today...

[Greg McDonnell]

Hi Folks,

I've known for some time this anniversary was on the horizon.  Today, I made a startling discovery.  I only wish I'd not waited so long.  Allow me to explain.  Forty-five years ago today, a gentleman must have had a very big grin on his face as he drove his brand new, 1966 Cobalt Firemist Eldorado away from Bob Olsen Motor Co. in Stillwater, MN.  See attached photo below of what it looks like today-probably not all that different from what it looked like so long ago.  He kept the car until '73 when a collector living nearby bought this example of what would end up being the last rear wheel drive Eldorado ever built.  The collector loved and pampered the car until his death in the early Nineties.  His widow sold the car to another collector in South Florida who kept it for only two years.  He collected mostly Ford and Mercury products from the late Fifties/early Sixties and just wasn't in love with it like the previous owners must have been.  Along I came in October of '95 and purchased the car from the South Florida collector.  

Through the years of ownership, I've returned the car to as close to factory original condition as I could-even down to the reproduction triple stripe tires on which it left the dealership on 11/15/65.  All these years I wondered who was the original owner and what was he/she like.  All I had to go on was the Protect-O-Plate still in its' original cover in the glovebox.  Unfortunately, the original purchaser's name was not listed but instead the name of a business.  I got busy with life, work, other car restorations and did not pursue the search as I should have.  

Fast forward to today.  Through some rather simple, but intense (I was determined to find this last piece of the puzzle) research today, I finally learned the identity of my car's original owner.  Sadly, he passed away October 6, 2010 so my chance has pased to have a conversation with him about the years when he owned it.  He was only 39 when he bought this beautiful car.  I plan to contact his children and let them know I am the current owner of a car their dad must have been quite proud of 45 years ago today!


http://ahharsfnews.com/2010/10/21/visionary-retail-center-developer-gerald-schoenfelder-celebrated-at-church-of-nativity

Greg McDonnell
CLC #20841
Mobile, AL

[Davidinhartford]

Sounds like he was pretty wealthy from the land developement in the mid sixties.   But with ten children it was no wonder he had little time to drive and enjoy that beautiful Eldorado.   LOL

[76eldo]

That's a beautiful car!

Brian

[Greg McDonnell]

Thanks very much Brian!  I've always thought so but living in the Deep South, I'm not sure it has always received its' fair share of admiration.  This part of the country seems to go more for muscle and pony cars than luxury cars.  Oh well, each to his own.  I may be saying goodbye to it as it is for sale.  I have other cars needing their turn at restoration and I've owned the Eldorado the longest.  It is probably time for it to go to another home.  I've taken it from a tired driver to an AACA Senior National First Place winner!  It's been both an honor and a pleasure to have owned and improved this car for the last fifteen years!

As a follow-up to my original post, I spoke to the son of the car's original owner.  He is now sixty and recalled his dad owning the car with fond memories.  He was thrilled to hear from me and we spoke for almost an hour!  His father loved his Cadillacs and kept his '66 Eldorado the longest of any he owned.  He grew up poor -  he and his family were tenant farmers in Rochester, MN.  He was working on a farm as a child one day when the owner of the farm pulled up to check on the progress in the field.  The boy could not take his eyes off the farm owner's beautiful Cadillac.  The foreman couldn't help but notice the boy staring at the car and hollered at him to get back to work.  The foreman also yelled to the boy he would NEVER see the inside of a car so nice as the Cadillac!  The boy never forgot that putdown and in time managed to graduate from high school and later college.  He taught agriculture courses at the college level for a while but eventually left that position and began selling insurance.  He traveled a good bit in his new line of work and began noticing farm land for sale along the roads he traveled.  He worked long hours and saved his money, not only to one day buy a beautiful Cadillac but to buy and develop some of those acres of farm land.  Here's the great part of the story:  He ended up buying the land he had worked on as a child (where he saw that beautiful Cadillac so many years ago) and developed it into one of the first retail centers in the country in Rochester, MN!!!!!!  Only in Americal!!!!!!!  He went on to develop other retail centers across the Midwest and also owned a horse ranch in TX.  He was a mulitmillionaire yet came from very humble beginnings.  All the years I've wondered who the person was who thought my car was so beautiful he bought it new!  I had no idea how interesting and successful that person would turn out to be!  

Greg McDonnell

[Bill Podany #19567]

What a great story, and what a beautiful Eldorado; congratulations on its restoration and TLC.  This model has long been a favorite of mine, and I would love to own one fully restored today.  Thank you for sharing your story; I am aware of that first mall in Rochester, MN as I was an executive trainee with the Dayton Department store in Minneapolis, which was the first anchor in this mall.  30 years later I was CEO/President of a large regional chain of stores and we built several new stores in Rochester, including the original mall.  What a nice personal story and personal connection of years gone bye.

Bill Podany
Knoxville, TN

[Rob Troxel]

Greg,

Great story.  Perhaps in another 45 years someone will write about what you did to save this 1966 Eldorado time machine.  I always thought we are just stewards on these fine cars, doing the best job we can until it is someone else's turn.

Regards,

Rob Troxel