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WTB 1976 Eldorado - Please Help

Started by BLeVine, July 04, 2021, 03:33:41 PM

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BLeVine

Hello,

A shot in the Dark: I am on a quest trying to hunt down my late Grandfather's 1976 Eldorado which is near and dear to my heart. My Grandfather, William (Bill) LeVine gave it to his friend William (Bill) Cherkasky in the early 90s (around 1991 give or take). I was too young to drive then. Bill C. then moved that summer from Palm Springs California to the DC area and registered the car in VA. Original license plate was a blue and yellow CA Plate (PIPSPOP) *I think*. When Bill registered the car in VA the license plate became ZUW-7410 from what I can tell in the picture. Around 2010 Bill then sold it to a gentleman whose last name he thinks was Nicholson who lived in/near Chantilly. They met at a local CLC car show in VA. The car originally had a white top and white seats. I believe the color was Firethorn Metallic. Ive attached the photos I have. It was more red than it looks from the pics which were taken when it appears the sky was overcast. This is the totality of information I have which is not much. This car is very important to me and I would love to bring Gramps' car back home and back into the family.

I figured if it was sold at or in relation to a CLC show in the Virginia area, perhaps someone here might still have it or potentially know where it is. If someone still has this car, I would love to purchase it. Or if anyone has any potential clues for me on this quest, I would be sincerely most appreciative. I'm not sure where else to turn.

Thank you for your time,

Blake


LandYacht

#1
Dear Blake,

My name is Eelke. I am from The Netherlands, so unfortunately I am not a local, and in 2010 I wasn't old enough to drive. However, I tried my best to find what  I could.

A man named Dale Nicholson was mentioned in two CLC Potomac region newsletters, in 2008 and 2010 respectively. If I add them here as links, I get flagged for spam. So just Google 'CLC Potomac newsletter june 2008 / 2010'.

I wasn't able to find any further information about this person unfortunately. They may not have anything to do with your grandfather's car, but it is the only relationship I am able to find between CLC Potomac and people named Nicholson.

Also, in 2010, there was in fact a car show in Chantilly, which is mentioned on the CLC website. There are some pictures but unfortunately I don't see the car.
Google 'CLC Potomac 2010 Sully Plantation Show'.

In the 2007 Spring Car Show, there is a car which looks very similar to your grandfather's, but it belongs to one Harry Goins. Also in some of the following years, Harry Goins is mentioned in the archives as the car won numerous prizes.

Google 'CLC Potomac [year] pictures' for a list of events / pictures of a specific year.

This is what I got so far. I will let you know if I find anything else. Best of luck with your search; I really hope you will be able to locate the car.

Eelke

BLeVine

#2
Thank you so much Eelke! You might have found me the lead that I need for the next leg of my quest. I'm taken aback and so very grateful that you would do so much investigation for a random person across the world. So as my late Grandpa used to say, "thanks a million!"

In the event the lead does not pan out, I do have some additional details that I didn't have at the time of my initial posting. In looking at thousands of pictures, I realized that my Grandpa's car had pinstriping around the Cadillac crest/emblem. Secondly, that I think it is fuel injected. From the photo it seems that it has the "Fuel Injection" badge under the "Eldorado" script on the trunk lid. Both of which might not currently be on the car if it was ever repainted. But if these features do exist it might aid in finding the needle in the haystack.

The name Dale did not ring a bell but Bill said its possible that was his first name. He informed that thinking about it further, the gentleman to whom he sold the car, might have lived in the "Penderbrook Golf Club development addition near Fair Oaks (I 66 and VA 50)" at the time. He also informed me that my Grandfather gave him the car shortly after my Grandma passed away and that it was registered in VA shortly thereafter. My Grandma passed in 1994 so it would have been registered in VA in 1994 or 1995 at the latest.

So thanks again, Eelke and future thanks to anyone else who may have any clues or information that aid me on this quest.

Big Fins

Blake, if nothing else, your first picture did help me. BTW, that is the Fuel Injection badge under the script.

Anyway, I acquired 2 small bits of trim that I could never figure out where they went. Thanks to your picture I now know. They are the two small pieces of trim that attach to the inside edge of the tail light fillers next to the back up light fixtures. I know what I'll be doing this afternoon.  :)

Good luck in your quest. I had that cars twin only with Antique Firethorn leather. That car now resides in Sweden.
Current:
1976 Eldorado Convertible in Crystal Blue FireMist with white interior and top. (Misty Blue)
1969 Fleetwood Brougham in Chalice Gold FireMist with matching interior and top. (The Old Man) SOLD!

Past and much missed:
1977 Brougham de Elegance
1976 Eldorado Convertible
1972 Fleetwood Brougham
1971 Sedan de Ville
1970 de Ville Convertible
1969 Sedan de Ville
1959 Sedan deVille

79 Eldorado

Hi Blake,
I guess you would have tried this if you had it already but is there any chance you still have the VIN nr? You could use it to run the CarFax and see where it's registered; assuming it is. The DMV would have had the plate and VIN associated but I'm not certain how long they keep the record and even if they have it I don't know if they have a policy which would prevent them from providing the information.

I thought since it has EFI maybe there's a chance someone would have purchased a temp sensor from me. I did have one customer, a car dealership, in Chantilly VA who bought one in March of this year but they didn't identify the car. Being a dealer it could have been for a customer car. I suspect there could be more than one 70's EFI Cadillac in Chantilly as well so it would be a real long-shot if it was the same car.

I hope you find it.

Scott