Rare 1972 Cadillac Eldorado Is a Coachbuilt Two-Door Station Wagon With a Past
And just look at that vinyl top.
This 1972 Cadillac Eldorado wagon that's for sale is three kinds of weird. For starters, it's an Eldorado wagon that was coachbuilt by the American Sunroof Company, of which there are only thought to be eight in the world. The listing then says it's believed to have been owned by Evel Knievel, despite not having any actual proof of that. And lastly, it's currently up for auction in the UK, which is the very last place I'd expect to see a custom-body '72 Eldorado.
Despite its Montana plates, the Cadillac wagon is said to be located in Reading, Berkshire in England. It was brought there almost 30 years ago and was kept in a dry barn for almost its entire time in the UK. While it was mostly kept in good shape, there's a bit of surface rust throughout and some of the chrome is oxidized. Overall, it's solid and I never knew a two-door Eldorado wagon (or is it a shooting brake?) would look so good.
The contrast of the white paint and black vinyl wagon roof looks so perfectly '70s and gives the car a ton of Americana that you simply can't find east of the Atlantic. However, its massive chrome grille and flying lady hood ornament are very Rolls-Royce-like, so that helps it fit into its environment a bit.
Since it sat in storage for so long, the interior is essentially perfect. Its red leather looks great, all of the wood trim is in nice shape, and even the carpets are clean. With only 43,000 miles on the clock, though, that's not too surprising. This Eldorado was criminally under-driven.
Under that massive hood is an equally massive 500 cubic-inch (8.1-liter) V8 engine that made 235 horsepower in America, which was a big dropoff from the previous year's 365 horsepower due to emissions restrictions of the time. Unfortunately, one of this engine's cylinder heads is missing, as is its carburetor, and it's really kind of gross under the hood. It will take some work to get it running again but the extent of its issues and how much work is needed is unknown.
There are three days left on the auction and the current bid is up to £2,650, so it could go for pretty cheap. I love this coachbuilt Eldorado wagon and I sincerely hope it stays in the UK after it's sold because it must be absolutely hilarious to see it drive down those tiny backroads. Brits love their wagons, right? What about one that's as long as an aircraft carrier?
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