The eleventh generation Eldorado got more exciting as it neared its end with reintroduction of the Eldorado Touring Coupe in 1990. The sporty Euro-inspired model had inexplicably gone missing after 1985. The big news for its final outing in 1991 was the new 4.9-liter V8, which just about brought engine standards to where they should have been circa 1986. These changes and the shuffling of the other models in the brand’s portfolio were all an effort to bump Cadillac’s sales figures during a difficult time.
Picture it, 1986. Cadillac finalized the downsizing of the lineup with its new Eldorado and Seville and looked forward to another stellar sales year. 1985 saw the brand’s best sales ever, with roughly 387,000 cars sold. This set the stage for a grandiose disappointment in 1986, after consumers decided they did not especially want another new downsized Cadillac.
At the base of the lineup was the Cavalier-based Cimarron, roughly halfway through its tenure as the company’s smallest car. The DeVille coupe and sedan continued as the company’s mainstay models, supplemented by the front-wheel drive Fleetwood (a DeVille trim). The newly downsized Seville and Eldorado were the brand’s higher priced cars, both of which were much smaller than the full-size Fleetwood Brougham but were now more expensive. Also smaller than Fleetwood Brougham was the DeVille-based Series 75 limousine, an unpopular vehicle which pushed the limits on how far a front-drive sedan platform could be stretched.
The Cimarron saw its second highest sales figures in 1986, as 24,534 exited showrooms. It would be the final successful sales year for the model and asked $13,959 ($41,367 adj.). DeVille saw a decline of over 30,000 sales in 1986, where the comparatively rare Coupe DeVille sold 36,350 examples and the Sedan moved 129,857. Coupes started at $19,669 ($58,289 adj.) in 1986, while the sedan was slightly more at $19,990 ($59,240 adj.). These sales figures included Fleetwood trim variants.
The downsized Seville saw its sales figures halved over 1985, down to 19,098 cars in 1986. The steep base price of $26,756 ($79,291 adj.) didn’t help matters. Eldorado fared much worse and tumbled from 1985’s sales total of 76,301 to just 21,342 in 1986. Once again the base Eldorado was less expensive than the Seville, and asked $24,251 ($71,867 adj.) before any options.
Fleetwood Brougham stood as the brand’s last traditional vehicle, and managed a respectable 49,115 sales. Pricing changed places with the Seville and Eldorado, as those new models were made considerably more expensive in 1986. Fleetwood Brougham remained steady at $21,625 ($64,085 adj.). The Series 75 limousine remained in production and saw minimal sales in 1986, at 757. Pricing is not available.
The figures were grim reading in Detroit, as sales fell by over 100,000 cars to a total of 281,683. Customers had a taste of the downsized models, and many moved on to other offerings. Similar vehicles were available at other GM brands with near-matching content for much less cash, and other manufacturers offered more prestige or sporty credentials (European) or still offered more full-size cars (Lincoln).
But Cadillac felt it had an ace up its sleeve for 1987 with the introduction of a brand new and exciting European touring convertible that would go head-to-head with the best Germany had to offer. The base of the lineup remained the same that year with Cimarron, and DeVille coupe and sedan alongside its Fleetwood variants. Seville and Eldorado formed the middle of the range, as the Fleetwood line expanded this year.
Opposite to its Euro-intender goals, Cadillac introduced a new and more conservative model for the traditional buyer who wanted front-drive, but felt the Fleetwood was not formal enough and the rear-drive Fleetwood Brougham (now named Brougham) was not expensive enough.
Fleetwood Sixty Special returned from its watery 1976 grave, introduced as a lengthened and formalized version of the DeVille sedan. Available only with four doors, Sixty Specials were made by cutting a Fleetwood behind the B-pillar and adding a five-inch stretch. Then longer rear doors were installed, along with a new interior and (later) some fender skirts. The work was performed by Hess and Eisenhardt, the same firm that made Series 75 limousines.
The Brougham lost its Fleetwood credentials in 1987 as it was deemphasized. Cadillac sought to separate it from the Fleetwood line which was now front-drive oriented. It was accompanied at the back of the brochures by the Series 75 limousine, which returned one final time in 1987.
Headlining all news at Cadillac in 1987 was a brand-new car: Allanté. It was Cadillac’s first return to production car collaboration with Italian firm Pininfarina since the 1959-1960 Eldorado Brougham. At the protest of every Cadillac designer, the Allanté was designed and built in Italy. Then it was flown via specially built 747s to Detroit for final assembly, 56 cars at a time. Cadillac did not have an appropriate assembly plant to build the entire Allanté, as it closed down Fisher Body in 1987 and moved its assembly to Hamtramck Assembly.
A two-seat roadster with a removable hardtop, the Allanté was built on the “V-body,” an E-body with its wheelbase shortened nine inches. As such it was front-drive and had a transverse HT4100 under its hood. GM intended it to act as a halo car for Cadillac, and pitted it directly against the Mercedes-Benz SL.
Cimarron neared its end in 1987, and consumers largely moved on from an early 80s Cavalier masquerading as a Cadillac. Only 14,561 Cimarrons sold that year, its worst yet. Cimarron’s price increased to $15,032 ($43,906 adj.) in ‘87. Sales figures for DeVille/Fleetwood are not available in 1987, but there was some sales improvement and the prices for both models increased. Coupe DeVille asked $21,315 ($62,258 adj.) while Sedan DeVille was $21,660 ($63,265 adj.).
Seville sales fared slightly worse than 1986, at 18,578 in total. The Seville’s asking price lessened slightly over its debut year to $26,326 ($76,894 adj.). Eldorado experienced its worst sales year since the Sixties, and only 17,775 were sold in 1987. That was despite a decrease in the asking price to $23,740 ($69,341 adj.).
At the pinnacle of the company’s four-door models was (oddly) the Fleetwood Sixty Special. The new model asked an eye-watering base price of $34,850 ($101,792 adj.). Sales figures are not available, but with its unique pricing proposition, the Sixty Special was a slow seller. Slower still was the other car built at Hess & Eisenhardt – the Series 75. It returned for one final time in 1987 and might have managed three-figure sales totals.
The renamed Brougham saw a jump in sales as other Cadillac models faltered. Its traditional nature and perception of quality saw 65,504 examples leave showrooms in 1987. Its new name was applied only to a four-door sedan, as the unpopular two-door was dropped after 1986. The grandiose Brougham was priced affordably compared to the Sixty Special, at just $22,635 ($66,113 adj.).
For the debut year of the exciting new Allanté, Cadillac expected great things. At an ask of $54,700 ($159,771 adj.) Allanté attempted to undercut the slightly more expensive Mercedes-Benz 560SL which asked $55,300 ($161,523 adj.) that year. It didn’t work. The Cadillac was no match for the SL’s decades of prestige and allure, and against 14,770 SL sales Allanté managed 3,363.
At the end of 1987 Cadillac had an almost identical sales year to 1986 and moved 282,582 cars. While more expensive models did worse, the DeVilles and the Brougham performed better than the prior year and made up the difference. We’ll cover sales from 1988 to 1991 in our next installment.
[Images: GM]
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