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Eldorado exits Cadillac's lineup on a weak note
Cadillac discontinued the Eldorado coupe April 23, when the last 2002 model was built and sent to the private Cadillac museum in Warren, Mich. That seems to end a line of exceptional — or at least unusual — Caddies dating from 1953.
"Our current plans are not to have another Eldorado," says Pat Kemp, Cadillac marketing director in charge of Eldorado coupe and DeVille sedan. The model made its exit with multiple nods to the 1953 original. Caddy manufactured the final 1,596 Eldos in three batches: 532 red ones, then 532 whites, then red again. Red and white were the original's abbreviated palette of exterior color choices, and 532 is how many 1953 models were built.

Those Eldos were specially equipped, dubbed Collector Series cars and priced $2,395 more than the next-most-expensive version. That one's called Eldorado Touring Coupe, or ETC, as in etcetera. That's like calling it the Whatever.

Despite the retirement pomp, the defining circumstance is that the '02 Eldorado isn't very satisfying. It has more in common with the bad, old days at Cadillac than with today's machines or tomorrow's promise of really wild ones.

That's largely because Eldorado's built on a previous-generation platform. When the mechanically similar DeVille sedan was made over for '00, Eldo soldiered on with aging underpinnings.

"We didn't update that platform for a vehicle that is now running out its final year of production," Kemp says. The DeVille platform "is a little tighter structure, a little firmer ride, and can give you a little more balance from wheel to wheel; it's a little more sophisticated" than what's under Eldorado, Kemp says. It took barely a mile in a $46,102 '02 Eldo ETC to notice.

• Steering's light and feels disconnected from the wheels.

• Suspension bobs and bounces, proving the unappealing combination of mediocre ride comfort and slack handling.

• Brakes feel numb. There's no sense that the car will stop at a rate related to how much you push the brake pedal.

• Seats aren't as comfortable as they look. It's hard to find a perfect combination of height, distance, rake and lumbar support.

• The so-called Smart Stalk — General Motors' do-everything turn-signal lever — is a dumb, old design. It feels like the cranky curmudgeon it is, clacking instead of smoothly engaging. And it lacks the inviting surface most controls have nowadays.

• Cup holders are shallow. Put tall beverages there at your own risk, especially considering how much the car leans in corners and jostles over normal drainage grooves and speed bumps.

Man, were Caddies that bad? It'd sure explain why the brand needs an entirely different type of vehicle and image to dig out from under the consumer scorn it had piled atop itself.

There are a few areas where Eldorado stands out positively, though.

• The Northstar V-8 in the Eldo Touring Coupe yanks the hefty coupe up to fun speeds smartly, aided by an automatic transmission that's generally smooth. Though mainly good, Eldorado's powertrain is not all sweetness and light. There's enough power to pull the front of the vehicle sideways on hard acceleration, making it a minor handful sometimes. That's called torque steer, and it's prevalent on high-power, front-wheel-drive vehicles. But, "They all do that" is no excuse. Also, hard-throttle downshifts sometimes are preceded by an annoying pause, then are executed abruptly. That's not the feel you want in any car, let alone one with a luxury nameplate.

• The dashboard is elegant. A brow covers the main instruments in front of the driver, then arcs gently down to become a plateau extending all the way across to the passenger's door. Very refreshing these days of phony cockpit layouts and other silly executions.

• The instruments and controls stacked in the center, from the console up to the dashboard, are a marvel of simplicity and restraint, at least in contrast to the ridiculous overkill popular today. The stereo is easily operated, without having to toggle through layers of electronic barriers to, say, turn up the bass one notch. The trip computer rotates through its information displays logically, changing to the next item every time the "info" button is pushed. The climate control offers big knobs to set the temperature, as well as a small lever on the steering wheel to do the same. In fact, the stereo and other functions also are easily controlled from the wheel. The levers to do that, though, stick out gracelessly.

• Memory settings respond to the remote-control key fob, as expected, and are comprehensive, recalling stereo and climate control preferences as well as seat and steering wheel positions. Of course, you're that much more out of whack if you grab your mate's keys by mistake.

Cadillac discontinued Eldorado because it plays in a shrinking sandbox. Even luxury paragon Lexus had trouble selling fancy coupes before it launched the SC 430 with the extra appeal of a folding steel top. Just 9,859 people bought Eldorados last year, and sales are 7% behind that pace this year, according to sales tracker Autodata, as the phase-out takes effect. Caddy says the peak was 77,804 in 1984.

It's sad to see the Eldorado name die, because it's stood for innovation, ostentation and a lot that's uniquely American. But spare no sorrow for the death of the car currently wearing the name.

2002 Cadillac Eldorado

•What is it? Front-wheel-drive luxury coupe built at Lansing, Mich., before being discontinued this year, apparently the last to wear the venerable Eldorado name dating back to 1953. Cadillac hints that the name could resurface.

•How soon? On sale now and still on dealer lots.

•How much? Base model, called ESC (for Eldorado Sports Coupe), starts at $42,130, plus $770 destination charge. ETC (for Eldorado Touring Coupe) starts at $45,265, plus destination. ETC Collector Series starts at $47,660. Edmunds.com car-shopping site says a typical Eldorado is an ETC with a window-sticker price of $48,975, a dealer invoice cost of $44,687 and a selling price averaging $45,123. Dealer pays 88.5% of sticker price for the car, after destination charge is subtracted, and an average 82% of sticker price for options, Edmunds reports. Those are calculated by subtracting extra profit called holdback from dealer invoice cost. Cadillac holdback is 3% of sticker price.

•What's the powertrain? 4.6-liter V-8 rated 275 horsepower at 5,600 rpm, 300 pounds-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm; electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission; all-speed traction control. ETC and ETC Collector Series have 4.6-liter V-8 rated 300 hp at 6,000 rpm, 295 lbs.-ft. at 4,400 rpm.

•What's the rest? Anti-lock brakes; dual-zone climate control; power steering, brakes, windows, seats, locks, mirrors; leather upholstery; heated front seats; remote-control locks; tilt-adjustable steering column; AM/FM/cassette stereo; auto-on headlights; auto-dimming inside rearview mirror and driver's outside mirror; mirror defrosters; automatic rear leveling; power trunk-lid closer; 12,500-mile interval for oil and filter changes; one-year free OnStar concierge and emergency communication service; P225/60R-16 tires. ETC adds or substitutes road-texture-sensing to make anti-lock brakes more effective; Stabilitrak anti-skid system; single-CD player and weather-band radio; perforated leather upholstery; wood-trim steering wheel; automatic rain-sensing windshield wipers; road-sensing suspension with computer-controlled shock-absorber damping; P235/60HR-16 tires. ETC Collector Series adds or substitutes numbered dash plaque; unique upholstery, trim, wheels and exhaust system.

•How big? Midsize: 200.6 inches long, 75.5 inches wide, 53.6 inches tall on a 108-inch wheelbase, with a 15.3-cubic-foot trunk. Eldorado weighs about 3,900 pounds and is rated to tow 1,000 pounds.

•How thirsty? Rated 18 miles per gallon in town, 27 on the highway, 24 in combined driving, on regular-grade gas. Test car's computer showed 13.3 mpg in rambunctious town driving.

•Overall: Its time to go had come.