1968 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado Hardtop Coupe

Cadillac wowed the auto world with a crisply beautiful 1967 Eldorado sharing GM's E-body personal luxury coupe architecture with Oldsmobile's Toronado and Buick's Gen II Riviera, both introduced the previous year. Its 340 horsepower 429 CID V8 powered its front wheels through a Turbo-Hydramatic 425 automatic transmission with its torque converter driving a planetary gearbox that was tucked alongside the engine through a metal chain. This 'Unitized Power Package' configuration was shared with the Toronado, but not the rear-drive Riviera.

With variable-ratio power steering, optional disc brakes, and good performance for its time - 0-60 MPH in under nine seconds and 120 MPH top speed - the 1967 Eldorado drew praise for its styling and handling and sold well (despite the high price) at 17,930 units, nearly tripling the previous model's best, helped Cadillac to its best sales year ever. Upgraded for 1968 with Cadillac's new 375 horsepower 472 CID V8, standard disc brakes, and minor exterior changes to comply with new federal safety standards, it set another record at 24,528 units, accounting for nearly 11% of 1968 Cadillac sales.

The current owner found this rare (151 units) Topaz Gold, one-owner example in a Lakeland, Florida airplane hangar in 1989, where it had languished for 19 years, and restored it himself with NOS parts.