Lot Shots Find of the Week: 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible

A parking lot is a parking lot is a parking lot—unless it’s the Summit Racing parking lot. On any given day or time, the lot outside a Summit Racing store can turn into an impromptu mini car show, depending on who’s stopped by the store. On Wednesdays, we’ll share our parking lot find of the week—another benefit of being Powered by Summit Racing Equipment.

…

The 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible was “the last American convertible.”

Until it wasn’t.

According to Hemmings, the Eldorado was supposed to be the last convertible ever from Detroit due to changing consumer tastes and federal rollover legislation that would doom convertible production. In its ads for the ’76 Eldorado convertible, Cadillac stated: “It is the only convertible now built in America. And it will be our last. The very last.”

Or maybe not.

Some 14,000 of the convertibles were sold in 1976 as buyers snapped up the can’t-miss collectors item. However, in 1982, Chrysler introduced a convertible LeBaron. In 1983, Ford produced a drop-top Mustang, and Cadillac reintroduced a convertible version of the Eldorado in 1984.

Original buyers of the 1976 Eldorado convertible were not happy with the return of the soft-top and some even sued over it. Last convertible or not, we were more than happy to stumble upon this road-eating ’76 Eldorado convertible at the Summit Racing Retail Store in Ohio.

It’s the original “last American convertible.” Or something like that.