As we learned in our last installment, 1965 and 1966 were both banner years for Cadillac in terms of sales, as customers just loved stacked headlamps and luxury. A record 182,435 Cadillacs were sold in 1965, a figure which increased to 196,685 in 1966. For comparison, Cadillac’s nearest luxury competitor Lincoln managed 54,755 sales in 1966, largely due to their popular Continental line of cars. For 1967 it was time for a revised lineup, and the Eldorado in particular branched off in a new direction.
Worth noting in the era was the lengthening of model generations. Though small changes to interior and exterior appearances were still made annually, the prior methodology of an all-new generation every two or three model years was eliminated. The trend started after World War II, and started to wane at Cadillac in the early Sixties. It was readily apparent in the brand’s long-running model, the Sixty Special.
The upmarket four-door stayed true to its short generational runs from 1946 through seven generations. Its eighth generation reflected the start of longer model runs, when it was offered from 1961 through 1964. The ninth generation was even longer, from 1965 to 1970. And after that, all bets were off with regard to generational length. The Eldorado was the last to give up the two-year ghost with its new eighth generation in 1967, which would run through 1970.
Though Cadillacs were not all-new in 1967 (apart from the Eldorado), the Cadillac lineup was reworked visually. The stacked headlamp front ends continued but were made even more angular. In the new design theme, the upper headlamps were extended further forward than the lower set.
This coincided with a more pointed front end that had sharper creases, and grilles which looked more Chevrolet than Cadillac as the egg crate grew larger. Rear fenders were also sharper, and there was different fender styling on sedans and coupes. Sedan models saw a new downward sloping character line that was meant to give the appearance of greater tailfin height.
Coupes had the same new character line, with an additional kick in the window line aft of the door. The change meant a smaller rear side window and was paired with a more aggressive roof angle. The overall effect was a sportier, more aggressive look that was not as upright and formal. New 1967 styling was the end of the conservative two-door sedan look at Cadillac, though other manufacturers would persist with the design through the Eighties.
In 1967 the Calais returned as the entry-level model, and wore new more aggressive styling. Its status was conferred through very limited badging and chrome, along with the most basic disc wheel cover design. Most power features were optional or off-limits to the Calais customer, though power windows were newly standard. Calais was available as a two-door coupe, and four-door hardtop and pillared sedan. 1967 was the final year a pillared Calais was offered.
The DeVille received the same styling as the Calais models. For their extra spend, customers were provided with large DeVille script at the rear fenders to indicate their status. Standard features of the DeVille included a glare reducing rear-view mirror, a clock, climate control, hazard lights, a padded dash, and seat belts that retracted automatically. The DeVille was available in two-door format as the Coupe DeVille and DeVille convertible, and with four doors (hardtop or pillared) as the Sedan DeVille. Notably, the pillared Sedan DeVille would persist even though the equivalent Calais version went away after ‘67.
Sixty Special continued as the base Fleetwood Sixty Special or the upmarket (and separate since 1966) Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham. The more expensive Brougham was continually more popular than the base version, netting more than double the sales. Sixty Special was available only as a pillared sedan as usual, and was the only model offered with an extended 133-inch wheelbase.
The top of the line Fleetwood Seventy-Five received new styling in 1967, and continued in its Sedan and Limousine formats. Spanning an impressive 244.5 inches in length, the new longer look styling of the fenders made the Seventy-Five appear even more enormous. Changes to the model apart from styling included new automatic leveling suspension, standard air conditioning, and foot rests for rear passengers that were carpeted. The model continued with its formal roof design, and remained as the only six-window sedan on offer from Cadillac.
Suddenly in 1967 and for the first time ever, a front-wheel drive vehicle appeared in the Cadillac lineup. The brand new eighth generation Eldorado separated itself from the C-body and the DeVille, and became an E-body like the front-drive Oldsmobile Toronado and the rear-wheel drive Buick Riviera. The E-body was a flexible platform that could support driven wheels at both ends.
The Riviera was an early player in the personal luxury coupe market, and leaned more toward the sports side of things when it debuted as an E-body in 1963. The stunning Toronado joined the fray in 1966 as a brand new model from Oldsmobile, and Cadillac’s Eldorado was the last to arrive as the most conservative brand of the group.
We’ll maintain our Eldorado focus in this series, but the Unitized Power Package that debuted on the new front-drive Toronado for 1966 deserves coverage of its own. Our next installment will be of the Abandoned History variety, where we ask ourselves if we’re down with UPP. See you there.
[Images: GM]
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Source: The Truth About Cars
