1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible

1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible.  Very nice loaded low mile original garaged Texas car.   This car is not one of the many "0" mile 76s I have had and have.  It is more of a "driver" but that nasty word really should be more on the lines of drive and show with this one.  Miles under 30K, always stored and maintained to the top levels.  This is a ready to drive cross country car, ready to show car, ready to impress car.  I have one of these with well under 1000 miles that is hard to tell this one from that one.

 More soon!

They called these cars the "last of the breed".   They were so "last" they built 14,000 of the darn things.  The highest production Eldorado Convertible of all times.  Probably more than any other car in the history of cars to date, these cars were saved as collectors items from new.  1976 was really kind of the start of the car collecting phenomena of buying a brand new car and saving them undriven from new.   Of course very few people knew how to store a car long term and the build quality of these cars were not exactly stellar either... Many thought it neat to buy a car and collect it at first but it soon got old quick with a large car in their garage with lawn mowers hitting it, kids bikes and more.  All the while the nice family station wagon (that would be rare today) was sitting in the driveway rotting away fast.  Because it got old fast, many "collectors" sold them in the first few years flooding the market with these things low mile so much it has carried over 35+ years later today.  However these cars have now earned their respect as collectors and have finally seen the values that GM thought they would have 30 years ago.... BUT only the few good ones.    So many 76s are low mile but so many have storage damage its not funny...   None of these cars really were worn out.... They were either weathered out or beaten to death from improper storage. 

Today 76 Eldorados are a true desired collector.   If a person has a diverse car collection, more than likely, a 76 Eldorado Convertible is in the mix.  These are not the rare year Eldorados like the RWD 53-66 Eldorado (2000 or under per year)  or an 84-85 Eldorado (2300 or under).  But even with so many saved from new and so many that are actual low mile cars, they are not as easy as the internet will have you think to find one that stood the test of time properly and is truly a good original.  Probably more of these cars were simply "wasted" because people all thought they had gold on their hands but they treated their gold like tin and neglected the heck out of the cars.

Anyway, a 76 Eldorado Convertible is a neat car.  It is a collectible car, it is a good looking car.   Rare they are not.  But there is one example of a 76 that is rare as far as production #s.  That is the "last 200" white bicentennial cars.  Although there is nothing the bicentennial offered that could not have been ordered in any of the 14000 other ones (incuding the seat piping), what makes the Bicentennial rare is it has the $ 2.00 plaque and is actually one of the last 200 made...The down side for me is the Bicentennial only came in white... But they are the most collectible of the 76s...    Why dont I have one????    I would but for me, put a white one next to to this Firethorn car, I dont care what is rare but I know what is good looking.  There is no comparison.