Minneapolis Street Sighting: Cadillac Eldorado

   I know I keep writing that Cadillacs are a dime a dozen here--and honestly they are. By this point, I am almost bored of them. Well--most of them anyway. I tend to look past the vast majority of sedans because they're the most often seen bodystyle. El Dorados, on the other hand, are not quite as common, thus I tend to go after them moreso their sedan counterparts. One problem--aside from very few generations (this one notwithstanding), El Dorados don't really do much for me on the whole. I tend to like specific examples of the breed rather than whole groups of model years.
   Introduced in 1967, this one marks the start of the seventh generation in a long series of personal luxury coupes; what makes this generation unique, is it shares the underpinnings with two other much-lauded GM personal luxury coupes--the Buick Riviera--which debuted for 1963, and the Oldsmobile Toronado--which debuted in 1966. Reading up on wikipedia, I learned that Bill Mitchell had a hand in the design of this bodystyle---yes, that Bill Mitchell--you know, the one who penned the 1963 Corvette, 1963 Riviera, and the 1970 Camaro and many other classic GM designs.
   And he did a swell job with this car; sure, it isn't exactly as good looking as the Riviera, but it does have unmistakable style that can only be described as "Cadillac". From the traditional long hood short(er) deck, to the big eggcrate grille, this personal luxury coupe means business. With 430 cubes under the hood, I'm sure it handles whatever business its owner dare throw in its direction--except for racing.. but its a Cadillac, so why bother?

   I will say that this generation of Eldorado is far from my favorite--those have to be the 1957 and 1958 cars, and the 1964 cars tied for first, with the the Boss-Hogg era cars coming in third. Okay, I still like these, but they're not my prime pickings. I have no qualms about this particular car, though. The paint suits it quite well. I don't see very many green Cadillacs, but this Eldo wears the hue quite well; its sets off the minimal chrome quite well. I also dig the stock hubcaps even though they're not the prettiest design Cadillac has offered.
    I didn't get to peek inside, but I would probably guess that the interior is just as nice as the exterior; in decent shape, but likely shows some wear. I would also guess that this example doesn't get driven much, as evidenced by the flat tire--which was there for more than a week. 
   This is by no means the coolest Cadillac I've shot, and it's by no means the nicest example even, but.. I still dig it, and its a piece of Cadillac's history that still exists to roam the mean streets of Minneapolis.