Rare Rides Icons: The Cadillac Eldorado, Distinctly Luxurious (Part XLII)

In our last Eldorado installment, we reviewed the exterior changes that accompanied the all-new Fleetwood Eldorado for 1965. With its stacked headlamps and modernized perimeter frame underneath, things were looking forward for the Eldorado. However, the interior fared a bit worse and seemed to step back in time with the seventh generation.

(Note: The teal interior is a 1964 Eldorado, while the red and white is a 1965.)

Upon first glance, the 1965 Eldorado’s interior was much the same as the prior year. Present and accounted for were a sweeping speedometer, horizontally laid out controls, and a big wheel in front of the driver. However, several odd decisions were made in 1965. We’ll start with the three-spoke wheel.

Featured in the brochures, the three-spoke wheel is not seen on many present-day examples of the ‘65 Eldorado. While replacement steering wheels are not unheard of, the number that sport the 1964 two-spoke wheel today may suggest supply issues during production. The three-spoke wheel looks much more modern than the 1964 wheel and reflects monochrome coloring to match the interior. The wheel center was raised, and for the first time there were raised buttons on each spoke for horn usage. 

The gauge cluster was updated for 1965, and lost some of the speed markings of the prior year. Light controls were in the same position as before, but the temperature and fuel gauges previously set off to the right were moved back to their traditional position underneath the speedometer. The climate control dial (new for 1964) moved to the right side of the steering wheel. In the radio’s former position was a new central HVAC vent, which was thin and narrow and didn’t match the circular vents found elsewhere in the dash. It looked like a compliance exercise begrudgingly given after customers complained there wasn’t enough interior air flow.

The analog clock at the center of the dash moved to the left in 1965, and took up the space occupied by the warning lights of 1964. This freed up space for the ignition to move up high on the dash. Keys and keychains (newly in view of all) made fun jangling noises against the metal air vent, and surely scratched the finish off it as time passed. 

The new placement meant the ignition was next to the relocated radio controls, which were now further toward the passenger side than in previous years. Looking at the radio as an interior element on its own, it seems an afterthought. It’s far off to the right, isolated in a metal trim strip, and not aligned with anything else on the interior.

Notably removed from the dash design is the cockpit element that arrived for 1963. The dash was no longer sculpted around the instruments to create a separate and “more sporty” personal space for the driver. Instead the design reverted to an entirely horizontal dash like anything in the Fifties. 

With a more spacious interior courtesy of the perimeter frame (which allowed the engine to shift six inches forward), designers made a very odd decision in 1965. They removed the traditional glove box, and put a sculpted panel in front of the passenger to emphasize the space. The glove box was relocated to the center of the dash, underneath a large new flip-up ashtray area. 

This served to make the passenger side of the cabin look more spacious, but also very empty. With its linear shape the dash angled away from front occupants more sharply than before, and used much less wood trim. In its place was shiny aluminum trim straight from the Fifties, along with some additional chrome. 

The door panel itself was revised in 1965, and was arguably less cohesive than in 1964. A thin metal trim band at the front of the door ended abruptly in a wood panel that began from nowhere. The wood lacked the wreath and crest ornamentation of 1964 and saw its grab handle move forward and shrink in size. 

Wood showed more grain detail than the prior year, and was surrounded by a ribbed trim strip that was roughly the same as 1964. Seat controls moved back onto the seat bottom, which shifted the window controls and door latch forward. This extended the arm rest area in the door, but meant there was more of a reach for the door handle. 

More interior regression happened with the seat design. Where the 1964 model emphasized its broad pleating pattern and had at least some defined bolstering for thighs and shoulders, the 1965 reacquainted itself with the traditional ribbed stitching and rounded shape of the Fifties and early Sixties. Rear seat passengers were treated to new chrome detailing at the front seat backs, and some additional wood paneling for visual interest.

It would seem the first Fleetwood-bodied Eldorado of 1963 and 1964 was a one-off in its efforts to stand out from the DeVille convertible. It tried a sportier personality with minimized exterior and interior chrome, a cockpit-like interior that favored the driver, and open rear wheel wells. Those traits were erased in 1965 with a return to a horizontal dash design, with additional oddities like central glove box placement and controls thrown at the dash haphazardly. 

But perhaps these issues would be corrected in the 1966 model refresh. That’s where we’ll start off in our next entry. There were changes to the exterior and interior design for its second and final outing, as well as some feature introductions. Warm buns, anyone?

[Images: seller, seller]

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Source: The Truth About Cars