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1969-1970 Eldorado with sunroof

Started by rwchatham CLC 21892, May 16, 2020, 11:10:21 AM

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rwchatham CLC 21892

Does anyone know how many 1969 and 1970 Eldorados were built with the sunroof option ?
R. Waligora

"Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364

I believe that sunroofs were dealer “installed” typically by ASC those years. My information tells me that ASC did not start installing sun roofs at their Detroit facility and delivering them back to the factory until 1971.
Greg Surfas
Cadillac Kid-Greg Surfas
Director Modified Chapter CLC
CLC #15364
66 Coupe deVille (now gone to the UK)
72 Eldo Cpe  (now cruising the sands in Quatar)
73 Coupe deVille
75 Coupe deElegance
76 Coupe deVille
79 Coupe de ville with "Paris" (pick up) option and 472 motor
514 inch motor now in '73-

rwchatham CLC 21892

Yes ASC did the installs , Cadillac offered them starting late 69 I believe , here is an add from 1970 .
R. Waligora

chrisntam

Hmmm.

Bottom ad says sun roofs are only available with vinyl roofs.  Wonder why that was?
1970 Deville Convertible 
Dallas, Texas

The Tassie Devil(le)

Wouldn't be surprised if the vinyl covering was required to hide the imperfections and damage caused in the fitting of the Sun Roof and all its' mechanisms.

One of the reasons that extend wheelbase vehicles have the Vinyl Roof.   To hide where it was cut, opened up, and filled in.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

D.Smith

#5
They were being offered by the factory as early as 1969 in Eldorados but were being installed off line by ASC.

There are press photos and ads showing them as previously posted.

The earliest service manual I have seen is for 1970   (below)

And there is NO mention of a power sun roof option in the Cadillac Optional Specifications books before 1971.

Below is a excerpt from the 1971 book I have.

J. Skelly

The first factory literature I've seen (and have) is the 2-sided sheet pictured above.  ASC started installing them on '67 Eldorados in their California plant, but those were on cars that had already been built.  I don't believe they were coordinated with the Cadillac plant until the '70 model year when ASC had their Southgate, Michigan plant.  I would consider the '70 models to be the first with the official factory option of the power sunroof.   
Jim Skelly, CLC #15958
1968 Eldorado
1977 Eldorado Biarritz
1971 Eldorado (RIP)

D.Smith

1969 factory press release photo

J. Skelly

If anyone has the Cadillac Service Roundtables for that time period, it should have been mentioned in there.  Can anyone confirm that?

It's possible that the '69 Eldorado in the press photo was a one-off, and production got delayed for some reason. 
Jim Skelly, CLC #15958
1968 Eldorado
1977 Eldorado Biarritz
1971 Eldorado (RIP)

"Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364

We had a Tech. seminar at the Texas GN with a fellow by the name of Chuck Krupczak who was with ASC from their beginnings in Southgate (I erroneously said Detroit) Michigan until the early 80's.  I will not try and repeat all the information he had for us, but essentially ASC "gently" eased into a major production facility serving Cadillac and a couple of other (to remain nameless) brands.  They received cars directly from the factory (yes Bruce, that as the reason for the vinyl tops, a metal top would end up "wavy"), and had a regular assembly line with production stations each with specific tasks in the disassembly, cutting, installation and final fitting.  Chuck said that there were literally a hundred trailer trucks on site at any one time, delivering cars and picking up finished cars to return to the Cadillac factory.
All that doesn't snswer the original question of the original date for factory installation, but as someone previously stated, it started with a one at a time effort both at the Michigan plant and their Los Angeles faciloity, until sun roofs gained enough acceptance for Cadillac to go full bore.
Greg Surfas
Cadillac Kid-Greg Surfas
Director Modified Chapter CLC
CLC #15364
66 Coupe deVille (now gone to the UK)
72 Eldo Cpe  (now cruising the sands in Quatar)
73 Coupe deVille
75 Coupe deElegance
76 Coupe deVille
79 Coupe de ville with "Paris" (pick up) option and 472 motor
514 inch motor now in '73-

rwchatham CLC 21892

R. Waligora

J. Skelly

Thanks for solving this mystery, Greg and RW!
Jim Skelly, CLC #15958
1968 Eldorado
1977 Eldorado Biarritz
1971 Eldorado (RIP)

David Greenburg

Interesting.  I recall hitchhiking with a buddy  in the early ‘70’s and getting picked up in a ‘70 Fleetwood Brougham with a sunroof, being driven by a young doctor. I remember thinking the sunroof was pretty unusual for an American car at the time, but mostly I was impressed that someone who owned a nearly new Brougham would actually pick up a couple of shaggy teenagers. The car was black with red leather.  I wonder if it’s still around somewhere.
David Greenburg
'60 Eldorado Seville
'61 Fleetwood Sixty Special

The Tassie Devil(le)

I had a '72 Eldo with the Sunroof, and the only problem I had was that one of the jacking pieces at the end of the drive cable that lifted the back up as it closed broke.   It was made of Diecast, and was difficult to maker a replacement, as I couldn't buy a replacement anywhere.

Plus, me being 6'6" back then, I was really made aware of the lower height of the headlining, and therefore had to keep the seat as low as possible for comfort   That 1" did make a difference, and I had hair back then.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Rich S

Although I agree with all the comments above relative to the history of a factory sunroof option, there have been discussions on this Forum about the feature on even earlier Eldorado Coupes. A dealership called Hufstader Cadillac and located in Pittsburgh was familiar to me because my parents dealt there for new Cadillacs, and though I am a 1963 vintage, my Dad used to tell me the dealership was the "distributor" to other Cadillac dealers in the Tri-State area (OH, WV and PA.) Hufstader Cadillac went out of business around 1977. The dealership often displayed various "custom" Cadillacs that I recall--a 1968 Sedan DeVille Station Wagon, a 1970 Eldorado Station Wagon, a 1972 Sedan DeVille Station Wagon, a 1975 Eldorado Convertible with a "rumble seat," plus other various custom limousines, and once had on display a 1962 Commercial Chassis sort-of custom Gold colored limo/ambulance-like car, said to have been custom built transportation for a sheik.

During those years, Hufstader Cadillac offered an electric sunroof option on 1967 Eldorados. They had a color brochure featuring the city's relatively new "Civic Arena" facility (built around 1962, and containing the ice hockey arena, but multi-purpose) which was a domed shaped structure (now no longer there) with an opening, domed, roof--and also on the front of the brochure is a photo of a 1967 Eldorado with an electric sunroof--sort of mimicking the opening roof of the structure. I will try to insert some photos of the brochure pages:



Rich Sullivan CLC #11473

1971 Eldo Conv., 2013 CTS Cpe

jknight

Hello to all on my first time post.  I have a 70 Eldorado el'clasico with the power sunroof.  Interestingly it does not have a vinyl roof but does have a white fiberglass partial rear quarter roof.  Also it does not have the open/close power switch on the dash.  The rear passenger windows are hidden by the fiberglass cap and are not functional, however, the drivers left rear window switch is what controls the power sunroof. I'm probably just adding to the build confusion on this subject but wanted to share.  The build date for this car is 02/70 and has a paint code 90 J with white belt line trim.

j knight

chrisntam

Welcome to the forum!

Please post some pics of your car!  Would love to see it.
1970 Deville Convertible 
Dallas, Texas

Cadman-iac

Quote from: jknight on May 19, 2020, 09:52:28 PM
Hello to all on my first time post.  I have a 70 Eldorado el'clasico with the power sunroof.  Interestingly it does not have a vinyl roof but does have a white fiberglass partial rear quarter roof.  Also it does not have the open/close power switch on the dash.  The rear passenger windows are hidden by the fiberglass cap and are not functional, however, the drivers left rear window switch is what controls the power sunroof. I'm probably just adding to the build confusion on this subject but wanted to share.  The build date for this car is 02/70 and has a paint code 90 J with white belt line trim.

j knight

Is it possible that yours was done by a vendor that the selling dealer used? The description doesn't match up with the ones that the factory had done.
I know that when I was still working for a dealership,  we had a local business that would do these kinds of jobs for us. They were apparently approved by GM to do the work, although I'm not 100 percent positive about that.

Rick
CLC# 32373
1956 Coupe Deville A/C car "Norma Jean"

jknight

I'm not very savvy with the computer and hope my attempt to post pictures works out.  These photo's were taken back in 2002 and unfortunately the car is no longer in this condition. 
j knight

Matt CLC#18621

Hi Rich,

Those pictures of the 67 Fleetwood Eldorado with the power sunroof are tremendous!

It appears to be Marina Blue Metallic similar to my previously owned 67 Fleetwood Eldorado.

Regards,

matt CLC# 18621