It never entered John Torzilli’s mind to buy the Rolls-Royce.
In 2009, on a tip from a cousin, the Fishkill resident headed to West Virginia to look at vintage cars whose owner had died. “I went there for a 1932 Ford Deuce coupe, but the only cars left were the Caddy and a Rolls-Royce,” he recalls. “I wasn’t buying a Rolls!”
He did buy the Eldorado for $4,000, the equivalent of about $6,000 today.
What does he like about the car? “Everything — it’s great for comfortable, relaxing drives,” especially in summer with the top down, he says.
The car has 103,000 miles on the odometer; over its 50-year life, that’s an average of 2,060 miles per year. The Eldorado was in great condition, and Torzilli says he’s purchased only a few replacement parts.
He did update the interior, “which was all orange,” he says. “The guy who owned it before me stained it white, but the orange bled through, so I had it redone in orange and white.” He tried to find a replacement convertible top in orange but had to opt for white.
In 1975 the Eldorado was available in any of a startling 23 colors. It was also the only new luxury car in the U.S. that year offered as a convertible.
When built, it also was the only car in the world to combine front-wheel drive, power steering, automatic level control and automatic climate control. Other features included a leather interior available in 12 color combinations, AM-FM stereo, power antenna, six-way power seats, power windows and door locks, and white-wall steel-belted radial tires. It is considered a six-passenger car.
The 1975 Eldorado marked the end of the “land yacht” era, a term that wasn’t usually meant as a compliment. Luxury cars, including Cadillacs, became smaller as consumers looked for fuel efficiency.
The Specs
Assembly: Detroit
Body: 2-door convertible
Total Production: 44,752
Convertibles: 8,950
Engine: 500-cubic-inch V8
Horsepower: 190
Drive: Front-wheel
Transmission: 3-speed hydra-matic
Carburetor: Single Rochester 4-barrel
Curb weight: 5,170 pounds
Top Speed: 110 mph
0-60 mph: 13.1 sec
Fuel economy: 11.8 mpg
Price: $10,350 ($60,700 today)
Torzilli hasn’t pushed the car beyond 75 miles an hour; he chuckles when asked about gas mileage. “If I’m doing 60, I get good mileage,” he says. “But around town, it’s lousy, maybe 6 or 7 miles per gallon of high test.” That’s not surprising, given the 500-cubic-inch V8 engine, four-barrel carburetor and 2½-ton curb weight.
What would he change about his Eldorado? “Nothing,” Torzilli says.
When Cadillac announced it would end production of the Eldorado convertible in anticipation of stricter government standards for rollover safety, sales went from fewer than 9,000 units in 1975 to 14,000 in 1976, the ragtop’s last year. The last 200 convertibles off the assembly line were decked out in red, white and blue stripes in honor of the U.S. bicentennial. When the stricter regulations didn’t materialize, the Eldorado convertible was reintroduced in 1984 and 1985, although sales were not strong.
The Cadillac Automobile Co. was created in 1902 and produced its first car the following year: a single-cylinder, 10-horsepower Runabout “horseless carriage” that sold for $850, or about $30,000 today. The company was purchased by General Motors in 1909.
Cadillac produced 532 first-generation Eldorados in 1953 as a concept car for its golden anniversary. Torzilli’s convertible is the ninth generation, and the car had 12 generations before GM halted production in 2002.
