Cadillac eldorado
Cadillac eldorado cadillac eldorado
On a huge compact cassette (about four in size that some still remember) tucked into the hollow of a Cadillac tape recorder, Hotel California, and even better, Highway Star, hit in 1972, which is only a year older than this Cadillac, should certainly sound -El Dorado". Here are three opening chords. How's Deep Purple? “No one will beat my car! I will overtake the whole world on it!” Exactly! It suits us.
GOLD OF AMERICA
There is no better name than an Eldorado for such a machine. The country of gold and jewelry with the same name was once sought by the Spaniards. Traveling for happiness, whether to Klondike or to a neighboring state, is an American way of life. Well, the one who bought such a car has already acquired a considerable amount of it.
Each next generation of Eldorado, which started in 1953, became more luxurious and powerful. And in 1971, the model reached its climax: a two-door convertible almost 6 m long, with a base of 3210 mm! The V8 engine is the largest in the history of the company - 8.2 liters. True, 365 hp the unit developed according to the American SAE standard, and by our standards it is about 190 hp. Little? I assure you, such a whopper is enough. What do the "singers" sing about this? Oh, it's a killing machine! Right!
Cadillac-Eddorado Engineering gourmets are a great object for sarcasm. No design tricks. Well, V8, and above it is a giant pot (to cook soup - feed a platoon) of a filter, under which there is a four-chamber Rochester. The front suspension is the simplest: wishbones and springs. Behind and at all a beam on long springs. True, all brakes are disc brakes. Already good! Indeed, a “ship” weighing almost 1800 kg must not only be dispersed, but sometimes stopped.
The huge sofa, like most American models of that time, was considered a triple
The huge sofa, like most American models of that time, was considered a triple. The huge sofa, like most American models of that time, was considered a triple.
To a certain extent, this Eldorado is a parody of a car. Rather, a hyperbole, an illustration of an idea brought to the absolute. But I admit, all this painted and chromed metal, which seems to be enough for a small bus and motorcycle to boot, these grandiose leather sofas, which would harmoniously adorn the office of a Russian company from the time of the initial accumulation of capital, irresistibly attract not only eyes, but also the body.
EASY LIFE
That was the name of another fatal hit of 1972 - the band Uriah Heep. He is also very suitable "caddy". Do you think such a car is for respectable masters who are wise in life experience who do not listen to noisy young hooligans with electric guitars? Not at all. In that country and at that time in a convertible rather bohemian than representative, those who were not stranger to hard rock could well ride. Not that on the other side of the ocean, where, if not the secretary of the district committee or the director of something major, then at least the winner was sitting in the black Volga. Well, the Cadillac could be bought by anyone with $ 7, 751. Not cheap, of course. A compact three-door Ford Pinto hatchback cost $ 2, 078, a huge Oldsmobile-Delta 88 sedan - 3, 826. But for the Mercedes-Benz 280 SEL cabriolet with an automatic, 10, 790 bucks had to be paid.
We must be able to make such a huge car not at all spacious! According to the passport, it is six-seat and is really large in width. But in order to be comfortable driving, I had to move completely, and the rear passengers grumbled - they rest against their knees. Here you have six meters in length! Everything went into beauty.
And the back is not at all as spacious as it seems when you first met with the Cadillac
And the back is not at all as spacious as it seems when you first met with the Cadillac. And the back is not at all as spacious as it seems when you first met with the Cadillac.
And ergonomics! In a good way, it must also be described in hard rock. Powerful sliders are scattered around the car, following some completely mysterious logic. But it’s understandable as an ABC book: several divisions between Off and On, and sometimes there are no divisions.
But how huge the "eight" growls! How smoothly and impressively the car floats on asphalt! Still “speed bumps" to remove. They have to be overcome in a whisper: it’s not an hour, you’ll hit the base, or even the rear overhang. Of course he needs highways! It is there that he is a star. And on the narrow European streets, the caddy and I are sailing with the grace of a barge in a river that is barely visible on the map. In the corner, it seems that a huge yellow "piano", crowned with a chic emblem, is about to touch the oncoming car.
Finally, a piece, albeit a narrow, but empty highway! I press the pedal. Having woken up and growled in surprise, the figure-eight tells the box: it would be necessary to switch down. She finds the second of three, and finally, after a significant push, the Eldorado and I accelerate with the swiftness and inevitability of a hungry bear.
But a sharp turn is from another life. It seems that the body is already almost on the ground, and the banks are stormy. The steering wheel is so empty that sometimes it seems that it is not connected to anything. But in the parking lot of the club (yacht, tennis, whatever you want!) It is easy for them to operate even with the most elegant hands with the most sophisticated manicure.
For the sake of such a steering wheel, such a car, finally, such an emblem is not a pity for seven thousand dollars and a little more for gasoline. The current owner of the Cadillac notes: 35 liters per hundred - normal average consumption! I recall an old American joke. The tanker on the column says to the driver: “Sir! Turn off the engine, otherwise I will never fill the tank!” But, as sung in "Star of the highway", "Eight cylinders, and all mine!".
Cadillac eldorado
Cadillac eldorado cadillac eldorado
SENDING MESSAGE
The easy life that Uriah Heep so selflessly sang about ended a couple of years after the fifth generation Eldorado premiere - with the advent of the oil crisis. The model was kept in the program for several years, but demand, which grew before 1973, decreased. In 1977, there was a small revolution (from the point of view of the Soviet people), but painful for the fundamental principles of the American automobile industry: the cabriolet was discontinued. And on the remaining compartment put “only” a 7-liter engine! Well, from next year, a completely different Eldorado - front-wheel drive (ZR, 2009, No. 7) got onto the conveyor.
Sarcasm is sarcasm, but you don’t feel like parting with a cruiser. I laugh at him and myself. In general, he is unsophisticated, like the songs of rockers of the early 1970s. But it also captivates with brightness, pressure, energy.
Exactly in 1971, Alan Shepard and Edward Mitchell stepped from Apollo 14 to the surface of the Moon. I wish they could bring the 1971 Eldorado there - a symbol of the American automotive industry and the American dream! I wonder what the descendants who saw the car years, say, after a hundred would say? Surely would marvel …
HONORARY CITIZEN OF DETROIT
The fifth-generation Cadillac-Eddorado was produced in 1971-1977. with two-door bodies, open and closed. The 8.2-liter V8 engine developed 365 hp. according to SAE standard. Transmission - automatic three-speed. In total, 300, 585 cars were built, convertibles - 54, 640, of which 6, 800 in 1971.
