1996 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible 4.6L Northstar V8 32V Automatic FWD

Unique hand built car by Coach Builders Ltd. under the direction of Cadillac Motor Division. Car is an 8 out of 10 and in lovely overall condition. the world famous 4.6 Liter V8 NorthStar engine. As always, ully loaded just the way Cadillac builds Eldorado’s.

This handmade car is a highly collectible. American car manufacturers stopped making convertibles in-house in 1976. As fewer and fewer convertibles remained available to U.S. buyers, n aftermarket cottage industry grew for new cars to be converted into convertibles because there were still buyers who wanted them. The few European convertibles that were available was not enough to placate demand. Everything from Firebirds to Celicas, ontinentals to Cutlass Cieras were modified into convertibles. Tens of thousands of cars were converted by several dozen coachbuilders across the country.

Why were they called coachbuilders? Because it was a big job, nd these modern cars did not have enough structural integrity to withstand the loss of the roof structure. The coachbuilder would have to re-engineer the structure of the car, ften adding hundreds of pounds of steel, rior to removing the roof and fitting the convertible mechanism. They would then have to make new interior and exterior trim for all the places that they had to cut, nd make it look, eel, nd drive like it was meant to be a convertible. It would also have to be safe. It was no small task. Coachbuilding was a trade that had been around for centuries. Before there were cars, here were horse-drawn coaches, nd they were all made by hand. With the advent of the automobile, he coachbuilders adapted to the changing times, nd made bodies for cars. These car bodies were made by hand, out of wood and later steel, nd mounted on to the automobile frame. The coachbuilder would be responsible for the interior as well. Eventually car companies started making their own pressed steel bodies. The only remaining market for coachbuilders was the very expensive cars like Duesenburg, olls Royce, and the biggest Packard.

The only negative to this car is that, rom sitting, t has a slight oil drip. This can easily be addressed by your hometown mechanic.