GM’s Cadillac division introduced the ultra-chic Eldorado as a model from 1953and the name Biarritz was first used three years later on the Eldorado convertible. Thereafter, Eldorado Biarritzes were built intermittently in various forms over the following decades. The end eventually came for the Biarritz 1991when the last eleventh generation Eldorados rolled off the production line the Hamtramck line. Today Jewel of a car graveyard is one of those cars, found at a self-service yard near Denver, Colorado.
Biarritz is a seaside resort on the Atlantic coast in the French Basque Country, just the sort of place where a wealthy oil heiress might have shown off her new Eldo in the late 1950s. The title Biarritz was used to refer to Eldorado convertibles until 1964, when it was dropped until the name was again used as a glorious rococo version before 1976.
For me the definitive Eldorado is Biarritz the 1979-1985 versionwith its stainless steel roof panel inspired by that of the 1957 Eldorado BroughamWhen Robert De Niro, playing the pink-suited Ace Rothstein, is the victim of a bomb in his car in the 1995 film “Casino,” the car is a 1983 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.
The Eldorado received a radical downsizing for the 1986 model year and its penultimate generation, losing 16 inches from overall length and a corresponding amount from overall size. The Biarritz version remained, but without a stainless steel roof.
The 1991 Biarritz Pack did you get two-tone paint, “Tampico” carpet, bird eye maple wood on the dashboard and center console, plus 10-way power adjustable bucket seats in the front.
Also included were ‘spoke wheel discs’, also known as ‘fake spoke wheel hubcaps’.
The capitonné landau roof with the sleek, integrated opera lights was also fitted to the Eldorado Biarritz in 1991.
All Eldorados from 1986-1991 received a fully digital instrument panel.
This generation of Eldorado never received the DOHC Northstar engine. Instead, they were all powered by a member of the Cadillac High Technology pushrod V8 family. The Northstar was used in the final generation of Eldorados from 1993 until its end in 2002.
This is the 4.9-liter HT engine, rated at 200 horsepower and 275 pound-feet. If you want to upset the engine-name purists, just call it the “HT4900” within earshot. Previous versions came in 4.1- and 4.5-liter displacements, with 1991 being the first year for the 4.9.
When this car was new, a manual transmission had not been available in a new Cadillac since the last three-pedal transmission. Cimarrons were built as 1988 models. The transmission in this car is a four-speed automatic.
The final year for the Cadillac Eldorado it was 2002after which it was replaced by the CTS coupeThe 11th generation Eldos from 1986-1991 turned out to be the smallest of all generations.
This one had a suggested retail price of $34,425, or about $80,326 in 2024 dollars. That was slightly cheaper than the cost of the comparably sized BMW 525i from 1991which was listed at $34,900 ($81,434 after inflation). Meanwhile, the most expensive Cadillac of 1991, the Allanté hardtop convertiblecost $61,450 ($143,384 today).
Winner of the 1990 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award!