Back in June the husband of my ex-wife passed away. At that time both had a couple older cars that they had for many years and had just used them sparingly from the storage garage. Actually this was her third husband, her second one died as well.
So I'm the only one that got out alive!
About four years after our divorce she purchased a used '88 Cadillac Allante gold metallic and tan interior. They were the most expensive car "made" in the US during that time frame, '87/'93. Two seater with a V-8 front wheel drive. Mine has the puny 4.1L (250ci) all aluminum Cadillac engine with an auto 4-speed. It's in fair shape. The storage did not help it much as most of the steel lines have lots of surface rust on them. The Cadillac has only been driven 110 miles since '07. At least that's what the service receipt says. They had put new struts, rotors and calipers, front brake line hoses and new Goodyear Eagle tires. I will probably have to replace the tires if I plan on doing any serious driving with it. But it's been inside out of the ultraviolet light, so maybe not too bad.
These cars were made in Turin Italy by Pininfarina, the same company that builds the Maserati's. GM flew sub assemblies over and Pininfarina would install the sub assemblies, basically all but the drivetrain. Then they flew them back in a modified 747, I believe 24 at a time to Detroit where GM would do the final assembly.
GM always had the Cadillac line as the innovators of tech items, computers etc. These cars were no exception. There's 57 dash buttons alone. The readout screen tells you good morning along with the date and temp. Right now I'm fighting a "coolant fan fault". I have two coolant fan control modules and I've replaced the coolant fan relay. I can force them on through the ECM, but not running automatically, still diagnosing the issue.
Well here's the story, I know, too late...
She called me and said she had talked with our son and asked him if he wanted it and he said no, but ask dad. So she asked if I was interested in it and I said not really and asked what she wanted for it. She said that she had tried to sell it, but not running well etc, all she got were low ball offers. She said if I wanted it, just come and get it out of her yard. I said I was interested...
My nephew took his trailer about 40 miles south in MI and took it back to my brother's house and garage. In August while in MI, I trailered it back home to MO. I've put some money and effort into it and it runs good, but still the coolant fault issue.
So it's sitting right beside my CVO and '76 FLH in the garage.
Here's a few pictures.
You can see the acorns on the intake manifold in this picture. It needs a TON of cleaning, but doable for sure.
The interior is in okay shape, but needs a very good cleaning and conditioning.
They made less then 3000 per year and in '88 they sold 2657 I believe. Even with the scarcity of them, a good '88 will only bring around $3000 to $4000. A good '93, which was the last year and it was also the first Northstar powered Cadillac, will bring in the mid teens. The '87/'89 came from the factory with aluminum hard tops. The rag top is manual and stores in a nice compact boot with a leather covered fiberglass tonneau cover. Almost every surface of the interior is leather covered. The only option in the early years was a cellular phone.
So now that I'm retiring the end of the year, this is my first project to get finished. Then the Boardtrack racer to finish. It's getting really close to painting soon.
Have a Happy Holidays!
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Topic: What sits in the garage next to your harley ?? (Read 981528 times)