1988 Cadillac Eldorado | Retro Review 

😂 Underrated comment

@@timswanson2431 I don’t know how many MW videos over the past 40 years that mentioned they were reorganizing lol

@@austinfrazier7325 not to mention all the other automotive news sources that mentioned it.

In my opinion, when GM sped up the Cadillac assembly lines in the early 1970s, it really let both interior and exterior quality go downhill. Cadillac was done with being the "standard of the world". Ever since then, they've just been expensive cheaply made cars. Outside of the Escalade, Cadillac currently offers nothing for me of interest. Yes, even the Blackwings. They are excellent performance cars, but they're not Cadillacs. The 1996 Fleetwood Brougham was, in my opinion, the last TRUE Cadillac. Big, full framed, simple, quiet, and with enough goodies to keep me interested in going on a long road trip in comfort, with little worry. Yeah, the Optispark is a mild concern, but with proper maintenance, no biggie at all.

Right.

Amen

Yes it's nice to not have the music playing under John's commentary.

​@@johnjones393I totally agree! 💯

I really like that '90s El Dorado with the bigger body. If the North Star wasn't such a pile of parts that would have been a good car

@@johnjones393 Motor Week 1980s ans 1990s is best formats

It was weak in 1988, the Mustang had 225 hp that year.

@@tn18977 As did the Eldorado's main competitor, the Lincoln Mark VII. It blew the Eldorado's doors off (not withstanding a very poor running '88 Motorweek tested), and was just a better overall car period (and I'm not hating on these, even though I'm a Lincoln person). But that power was not overly common in cars like that in 1988...a Town Car had 150hp (with a bit more in dual exhaust cars). Mototweek recently put up a vintage review of an '87 BMW L7, and this Eldorado was faster. I'm actually pleasantly surprised by such a good 0-60 on this car, and great brakes.

Imagine them driving the 840hp AMG GT 63s e hybrid sedan? Or the 1234hp Lucid Sapphire sedan? They'd shit themselves lol...

Crazy thing about GM in those days... my parents had an 88 Buick LeSabre with the 3800 3.8L V6, and it made 165 hp. But I remember my grandparent's generation were turned off by GM going to V6s in "high end" cars. Leaving them with few options.

They could have had all the V8's pushing 250hp back then. They didn't to give it more mpg and it was cheaper to build them that way.

Both Seville and Eldorado resembled the Cutlass Calais, which is why sales plummeted for 1986 and 1987. Only when Seville/Eldorado got the rushed face-lift for 1988 did sales start improving for this generation.

I agree reminds me alot of the calais

@@BrianHornak supposedly they actually were quite similar but Cadillac made the car a few inches wider and longer but they basically developed the K chassis and the N chassis simultaneously

I think the E/K-cars (Toronado, Riviera, Eldorado/Seville) were supposed to debut first, earlier in the '80s, to be followed by the N-cars. But GM's 1984 reorganization created a lot of chaos and they got delayed. So the mini-me, aspirational clone N-cars (Grand Am, Calais, Somerset Regal) actually beat them to market. Since GM pretty much invented the concept of having styling cues "trickle down" the lineup they should have known doing it backwards would make the E/K-cars dead on arrival.

@@iluvcamaros1912 ah yes just like the Maserati TC and 1987 Lebaron. The TC was supposed to arrive first.

👋😂👍

seconds were shorter back then

😂😂😂

Well, he was going almost 80 MPH!

Even as a sports car guy, if I can't have that, I want something with a seat that's actually comfortable to sit in for hours on end, a suspension that floats effortlessly along even if it means it can't put in a good Nurburgring time, and an open feeling inside. The SUVs that effectively replaced these kinds of cars don't ride terribly well (there are probably some that do, but all the ones I've been in from different manufacturers have been disappointing and it makes sense as they need to be stiffer to counter the high center of gravity in turns, plus they put elastic band tires on everything no matter how inappropriate) and often have overly hard seats (I rarely have a complaint about the seat backs, but the bottoms are mostly mediocre or terrible in modern cars, either unnecessarily constricting bolsters-and I'm not a wide guy-as if everyone is pulling turns at over a g in every corner or they turn to stone after a couple hours or both) with interiors that feel cramped thanks to enormous center consoles and bank-vault-thick doors (which, OK, the latter is for safety, but it doesn't help the situation with the giant console).

@@mitchkelleher7972agree. I hate how uncomfortable modern cars are. When I was in my teens and early 20s, I allowed myself to be convinced I wanted something sporty. I’m guilty of bashing on comfy cars. Didn’t take long for comfort to go to the top of my priority list though.

They should launch an oversized rear wheel drive sedan with a relaxed under stressed V8 with a cushy ride. Happy to sacrifice handling for that.

The 3800 went on to become legendary for its power, fuel economy and reliability.

Yesssss it's Ruth Pointer!!

Big Mike.

Yes the transmission is, Automatic.

HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAA!!!!!! 😂😂😂 I see what you did there. 😂😂

By far the better vehicle. Less baroque styling and in proportion to the stretched Fox platform, 5.0 HO, and not overpriced when new.

Was that the North Star? Or did it actually come with a optional engine in the '90s?

@@GS-zc4sk northstar was a 4-cam 4.6L that came on larger El Dorado around 92-93 , 4.9 was the standard engine in 1990 for all modeles except the large full size Cadillac,,those had the vortec 5.7L

What a rich did, being given a Cadillac. I had to buy the two Caddy's I've owned - and I certainly wouldn't ever give anything to my nephew, will just make him lazy.

Never said I got it for nothing

Same thing I thought lmao or one of the women from the girl group Klymaxx 😅

I was thinking she's one of The Pointer Sisters!😂 "I'm So Excited"!

Russel Clark? I checked out IMDB 😂

@@brentm.871 Yup!

Yes!!!!

of course....

The last Cadillac I rode in was a 2010 CTS. I was shocked at how uncomfortable it was. It did not convey a sense of luxury.

Unfortunately luxury makers put sport suspensions in their cars now, aping the Germans. Regretful.

I to have a 89 sedan deville. Have been driving it for 20 years now. It's a dependable vehicle.

@@palebeachbum The CTS is a sports sedan. If you want a boring car with no road feel, don't buy a sports sedan.

I had a 91 with the 4.9 and a drivers airbag. What a great car.

In this price range in 1991 a Lexus was a much better choice

Especially the ETC with all the leather & wood veneer.

It's funny how many people comment on her. Being a teen of the '80s It all looks everyday cool to me.

The Northstar engine ruined the great looking lean body coupe of the '90s

@@GS-zc4sk The Nortstar is big engine V8 of Cadillac Eldorado from 1988

I have 1992 Eldorado with the 4.9L, it's absolutely bulletproof

The 80’s good times

Still looks great now.

Look at 7:01, big, generously sized side window, but there was no money left for the rear window, so sadly, due to cutbacks, the company had to cheap out and put a slit of a window in the back. Hopefully no one will notice.

The trunk bumper and tail light configuration on this is mint.

Agreed about the downzing era at GM 1985-1990. They had upsized everything by 1992 model year.

Yes that's it. I didn't like the front for some reason. But the rear ensemble looks great to me. Especially The trim prominent tail lights.

Absolutely. Analog controls with a sane amount of electronic displays.

Cadillac has been chasing BMW since the early 2000s. They lost their opulence and distinctive traditional American luxury flavor in favor of chasing after younger buyers.

She looks more like Chaka Khan 😂

I thought 91 was first year for 4.9

4.9 but I agree.

@@MPMeterman Yes, correction the 4.9..

The downsized era at GM 1985-1990 was indeed a rough and lean time. All GM brands suffered because of it( Chevrolet Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac). They spent the late 1980's upsizing cars and fighting to get market share back.

@@OLDS98 yea, the first downsize effort from the late 70s by GM, (Seville, 79-85 Eldoardo) were very successful for GM and a dismal failure for Lincoln (Mark VI, Versallies). Go figure. It's amazing that with the GM failures that they remained in business.

I've owned multiple Caddy's, literally never had any issues with them. Sounds like a you problem.

@@rodmunch69 I owned a Seville around this time and never had a major issue with it either, bought it two years old and kept it another 3 years, traded it in with around 85-ish thousand miles for an Audi 100 in 1992 - Some of the interior materials in the Caddy didn't hold up particularly well and the power trunk pull down and power antenna both quit one after the other towards the end, no mechanical break downs though.

@@rodmunch69 Caddy's are poorly made in USA of China

I had an '88 Chevy Beretta. Same problems. Thanks GM! 😏

@@trevorgwelch7412 oh I see, you're one of those bores who repeats bumper stickers like they're original thoughts.

I saw that too. 😂 Typical GM of that era.

😂

I printed out the service bulletins for an 89 Buick and it took 2 reams of paper and a 5" binder to hold them all 😂

Still much nicer than inline 3 1.4l turbo with 160 hp

WTF

WTF

Yeah it’s a Chevy Celebrity rebadged as a Cadillac lol

@@bahamutsix5765 more like a cutlass calais

Apparently you are ignorant of the downsizing of cars that happened after the ‘70s models??

um go back in time to 1984, and 1985, that was the beginning of the end of the full-sized rear wheel and front wheel drive caddy's, by 1990, the only big rear wheel drive Caddy that was left was the Brougham

um go back in time to 1984, and 1985, that was the beginning of the end of the full-sized rear wheel and front wheel drive caddy's, by 1990, the only big rear wheel drive Caddy that was left was the Brougham

The buying public thought so too. The downsized era at GM 1985-1990 was a lean and diffcult era. The issues was not only the styling of the cars from GM at the time, but the downsizing of the cars that impacted all its brands. The 1990's upsizing could not come fast enough. This car in the video was redesigned and upsized for 1992.

Hate to break it to you but 88 is 36 years ago. I know, right?

1988 fashionista asks: "What's an 'Internet' ?"

As a GM person, I have to agree with you. It is true. The downsized era at GM 1985-1990 were some hard and lean times.

Better than the Cadvalier....err Cimarron

You mean like My Little Pony? 🤔😂

😂😂😂😂. Nissan released a 3.0L V6 with 160hp the very next year. Insane!

@@user-sk1eh3pg6j That was a Yamaha engine. Japanese.

Chrysler had a 175hp t4 available that same year (Turbo II) also GM had an same hp n/a 4 (Quad 4). GM released a 280 hp v6 that was toned down to 210 in '91..

@@user-sk1eh3pg6j Though only 200lb-ft. The Taurus SHO was still faster of course. Later improvements to the HT4500 were able to get it up to 200hp and 270lb-ft, in the Allante for the 89 model year.

@@user-sk1eh3pg6jFord wanted to use its short block with Yamaha heads but Yamaha refused. Yamaha did a clean sheet design of their own. Look it up.

4.5 and 4.9 were. It was the 4.1 people call a boat anchor among other things.

HT4100 = Hook & Tow