1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible

1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible. As new, highly desired Firethorn Metallic/White/White, under 700 miles. Window sticker on car. Original tires, belts, hoses, everything including fillers. All options but non EFI... (huge bonus). Museum history. Just another one of the many stored as new 76 Eldorado Convertibles, but not just another one that was neglected as so many were with storage damage. For just another 76 convertible, I would say this car encompasses the best color combination. This is not another mom/pop throw in the garage and forget car here, a real survivor kept by a real car person. I tend to stay away from 76s as they are a high production car .. but even with their high production, they really have a low survival %. At least to high standards. This one here is in the top % of good true originals, thus I could not say no to such an excellent example. The color combo, condition and low miles on this car pretty much put it as a holy grail of the 76 Eldorados, at least to me.

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.

Again the car here is original down to the tires, fillers exhaust, belts, hoses, AC, everything. The window sticker is on the car. Although the top section of the sticker is torn off from age and the window going down the few times it has been moved, it is retained in its original position and never tampered with. If you review the window sticker, this car also encompasses EVERY option less the troublesome power robbing fuel injection. (bad option there) The hubcaps are white on this car because they are the bicentennial caps. All 76s have black hubcaps except for the bicentennial. The white just sets this car off so I put them on. Of course I have the black set too. As a redundant answer, the paint of course is 100% original and it is 100% in show condition. No, they never were made that way, but this car has received polishing to its original lacquer paint and a high level of detail that leaves it looking about 40% better than the day it was made. You have to start with a real good car to be able to do this to an original lacquer car and to do this was not one or two weekends but about 3 weeks of work! No they never looked this good new, yet this is still 100% original! This one is, to date, the best looking most striking 76 Eldoraodo I have ever seen... and that goes all the way back to new.

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Notice the trip odo has never been touched.

Window sticker in original location. Sorry nothing is perfect, this sticker has seen 35 years to it in the original location.

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Rare factory security system. Not seen on 76s that often. A 114.00 option in 76.

Green and amber performance/economy fuel monitor system. Optional too, 26.00

Above, Original Uniroyal Tires. Non duplicable.

Original gas door filler and all fillers actually.... These gas door fillers are impossible to really save on these cars.. This one is hanging on but I have a backup too!

Original window sticker on car, some parts missing, but its there, never moved.

Above, Rear fiber optic lamp monitor.

Lighted Vanity Mirror, no not standard but a 60.00 option.

Original functioning power antenna. This car has the 8 track player system option too.

Front Fiber Optic Lamp Monitors... A classic Cadillac item here.

100% original 500 CID Cadillac Big Block. Original down to every belt, hose.. there is NO SPRAY PAINT on this engine as you see most all done now.

I have seen very few cars truly this original that are this old. This is one of them.

Original everything, alternator with FL stamp, and GM oem belt

AC 100% fully functional R12 and original.

Every plug wire, plug, vacuum hose, belt... all of it original, nothing has failed on this car and all works 100%

Perfect front end... visible is the auto dimming eye reflecting through the grill. Original Guide 1A and 2B lamps. Pass sides are a little crooked, but that is how they were made, common breaking adjusters are perfect. I may "alter" that pass side an ounce just to fix the factory quality.

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Cruise control and Heater shut off valve. This is about the first thing to fail on these cars... Still working 100%

Again, NO SPRAY PAINT on this engine. What you are seeing is day 1 original with just a light dusting off, no pressure washing, nothing.

Transmission.... Most of these will have spray paint on them from the "low mile" detail job cars you see... This is what they should look like.

Note the BC tag on the master cylinder/hydroboost system. Those fell off the first cleaning.

Zoom in above!

Note the straightness of the AC condenser. Most have bent fins from one side to the other the first time someone leaned over the engine.

Another shot of master cyl with oem tags and hydroboost system. Look at another true original here and tell me what you see.

Self Leveling Vacuum operated Air Compressor, as with everything it works!

More 500 engine shots. No the battery is not original of course... but I have one that is! Dead of course.

Undercairrage shot. There has been nothing ever detailed here, this is raw original down to exhaust and resonator.. Everything. NO UNDERCOATING OR SPRAY PAINT!

All 5 tires of course 100% original and yea, you can consider 85% of the air in them original too.

Perfect trunk, nothing ever removed even for showing.....

Now this is where you know original from non!

Note the embossed service lamp instructions. No aftermarket filler has this, and these are 100% original. Note the failure on 99.9% of low mile Eldorados and these are still as new.

You will only see this on a true original BUT only one that has been stored correctly.

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Note the original anodized gas cap. IMPOSSIBLE to replace.

Trunk pull down system.

Original 76 Brochure... And guess what color combo they picked to show you there!

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Color Chart... Note the dead center of the page... Think they thought the same thing about this color?? Its the best in these.

The famous " not be repeated, best for last" brochure. Not sure I will agree this is the best Eldorado built, I think 66, 71 and 72 are better years, but hey these are really good cars of course!

However, this example is certainly one of the finest you will ever see and I see 100s of "low mile" 76 eldorados every year only to pass them by.

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