Today we reach the proof in the sales pudding for the eighth-generation Eldorado. The model was a highlight of design and a sales success at a time when the Cadillac brand could do almost no wrong. Though compromised in styling by its final year in 1970, the high-priced front-drive personal luxury coupe was still a sales standout.
Cadillac started out strongly in 1967. The company trumped its 1966 sales record of 196,685 vehicles with a grandiose 200,000. The brand continued the simplified lineup it started in 1965 when it eliminated all standard length six-window sedans, and the base Sixty-Two model was replaced by the Calais line.
The base Calais returned in coupe, hardtop sedan, and pillared sedan in 1967. Calais coupe was the cheapest Cadillac available at $4,698 ($45,563 adj.), and managed a decent 9,085 sales. The hardtop and pillared sedan were priced identically at $4,865 ($47,183 adj.). But the budget-priced Cadillac consumer was looking for style, which showed when the hardtop sold 9,880 cars and the pillared sedan managed only 2,865. That version was cancelled for 1968.
Mid-priced DeVille offerings were four in 1967, and started with the base Coupe DeVille at $5,033 ($48,812 adj.). It managed an impressive 52,905 sales in 1967. Next in price was the DeVille convertible, which sold 18,200 cars at an ask of $5,238 ($50,080 adj.). The DeVille pricing meant there were more conservative customers who sought a pillared sedan, and Cadillac moved 8,800 at a price of $5,255 ($50,965 adj.). But the identically priced hardtop was much more popular, and sold 59,902 examples.
Standard Fleetwood models began with the Sixty Special pillared sedan. It sold 3,550 copies priced at $5,990 ($58,094 adj.). But Brougham was in, and a bedazzled version with vinyl roof was marketed as a separate car to the standard Sixty Special.
It sold 12,750 examples for a base price of $6,290 ($61,003 adj.). Separately, the standout new front-drive Eldorado asked $5,875 ($56,978 adj.). It managed a very impressive 17,930 sales, or about 800 percent more than in 1966. The new take on Cadillac’s PLC simply worked.
For the long-wheelbase type customer in 1967, the Fleetwood Seventy-Five Sedan and Limousine returned for duty. With revised styling that was a further enhancement over 1966, the Limousine sold 965 examples at $9,897 ($95,986 adj.), while the Sedan managed 835 sales for slightly less, $9,697 ($94,046 adj.). Commercial chassis based on the Seventy-Five were still on sale, but suffered a steep decline in sales around this time.
Cadillac smashed its sales record yet again in 1968, when the brand moved 230,003 cars. Calais deleted the pillared sedan option, and customers took almost no notice. The base coupe asked $5,315 ($49,733 adj.) in 1968 and sold 8,165 examples, while the hardtop sedan was $5,491 ($51,380 adj.) and continued steady in sales with 10,025 copies.
DeVille sales continued on their upward trajectory in 1968, as the Coupe DeVille sold 63,935 examples at $5,552 ($51,951 adj.). The convertible remained popular as its price increased to $5,767 ($53,963 adj.) and sales remained steady at 18,025. The hardtop Sedan DeVille jumped its sales to 72,662 that year, while the pillared sedan increased its sales to 9,850. Both were priced at $5,875 ($54,973 adj.).
Fleetwood sedan and Brougham showed an even greater gulf in sales than previous. The $6,899 ($64,555 adj.) Brougham sold 15,300 examples while the less expensive $6,583 ($61,598 adj.) base model sold only 3,300 copies. Upon its 1967 success, the Eldorado increased its price 11 percent to $6,605 ($61,804 adj.). Customers cared not, and 24,528 Eldorados found homes that year.
The Seventy-Five held its sales steady despite a price increase in 1968. A total of 805 Sedans were sold for $10,630 ($99,467 adj.). The Limousine managed 995 sales at a costly $10,767 ($100,749 adj.).
The notable sales success of Cadillac in 1967 and 1968 spurred accountants (and designers) to keep things fresh and maintain the momentum. As it turned out, 1968 was a last-of for all models outside Eldorado. Since about 1961 Cadillac’s designers had been shrinking fins, making flanks smoother, hoods taller, and facades angled further forward.
All Cadillacs were looking longer and lower than ever before, and had adopted the more simplistic and sweeping side profile that was en vogue at the time. But one old detail remained: The thoroughly early-mid Sixties looking vertically stacked headlamps. By 1968 it was a design detail done to death by Cadillac, Pontiac, GMC, AMC, Ford, and even earlier by Nash.
And so in 1969 as the Eldorado lost its covered headlamps due to regulation, all other Cadillacs adopted a quad headlamp design with a new stepped grille that featured a larger egg crate texture. It was a look that would serve the brand well and create a strong (if eventually flawed) identity. Even when those circular sealed beam headlamps became square ones, the general look of the 1969 Cadillac front end continued.
The four headlamps look would serve the brand through 1989 when the last holdout – the Fleetwood Brougham – adopted composite glass. Cadillac debuted its new 1969 look at a time when it needed to eke two more years out of its contemporary designs. We’ll cover 1969 and 1970’s sales in our next installment.
[Images: General Motors/Cadillac]
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Source: The Truth About Cars
