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There was a time when American personal luxury cars were arguably superior to those from the German likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. The 60s Chrysler Imperial and the 70s Lincoln Continental are fine examples of how beauty and luxury were fused to create gorgeous land yachts. But in today’s luxury cars, that essence of a lavish American coupe dream is missing.
We do have the bold 2023 Cadillac Escalade and the future-ready Lucid Air. But the Caddy is a big and bulky SUV, whereas the Lucid is an all-electric car filled to the brim with technology-induced luxury. There is a huge disconnect between the ‘present’ and the ‘past’ of personal luxury cars. We decided to address this with the revival of the last-gen Cadillac Eldorado as a 2024 model rendering.
This all-new Eldorado Render by HotCars Digital Artist Rostislav Prokop transforms the forgotten 2000s Cadillac luxury car into a V8-powered luxury sleeper that can surprise the likes of the 2023 Bentley Flying Spur and the 2023 Mercedes-Benz S-Class with luxury, performance, and good-old American lux-appeal.
We Create The Perfect American Luxury Rival To The New Bentley Flying Spur
Today, brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley come to mind when we talk about luxury. The comparatively “affordable” side of around the $250,000 mark among personal luxury cars is dominated by Bentley. Even then, American automakers are nowhere near that ballpark. But Prokop, with the HotCars Exclusive 2024 Cadillac Eldorado, turns the tide around and creates a worthy Bentley Flying Spur rival.
If you look at the last and twelfth generation of the Eldorado (1992-2002), its design was quite bland compared to its rich, luxurious, and curvy predecessors. But this design was actually way ahead of its time. It was too bad that no one wanted to see beyond the squared-off design, as the last-gen Eldorado was quite a luxurious American coupe.
But Prokop has refreshed the last-ever Eldorado into a cool neo-retro personal luxury car. The 12th Eldorado saw the introduction of Cadillac’s Northstar V8 engine, which was packed with close to 300 hp. To give you perspective on how powerful this was, the 2000s Aston Martin V8 coupe packed 350 hp. But the most powerful Bentley of the time, the 420-hp Continental S, was still far from Cadillac’s reach.
We change that with this modernized reincarnation of the 2001 Cadillac Eldorado. This car’s Northstar V8 has been replaced with the same powertrain setup as the Camaro ZL1. It churns out 650 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque.
We also had the 2024 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing’s 3.0-Liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine in mind for this build, but it was way less powerful than we had envisioned. We have not fiddled with the engine specs here, although a 1,000-hp Eldorado, courtesy of Hennessey Performance, would be epic.
Our 2024 Eldorado Concept competes directly with the 2024 Bentley Flying Spur, specifically the V8 model. With 542 hp and a gorgeous combination of style, luxury, and comfort, the Flying Spur ticks all the right boxes of a fine personal luxury sports car. But it falls short of outclassing our vision of the coolest American personal luxury vehicle.
Our Inspiration For Cadillac To Bring Back The Eldorado Luxury Coupe
We wanted a fine balance of performance, luxury, and driving pleasure. So, the 650-hp supercharged V8, taken from the Camaro, is unadulterated. But the gearbox has been tweaked for a more linear driving experience. For a plush driving and chauffeured experience, our Eldorado utilizes the sophisticated magnetic suspension that GM uses in top-spec Camaros and Cadillac luxury cars.
As for the lux appeal, the interior is layered out with the finest leather and bleeding edge technology. It even packs the Super Cruise self-driving technology, as seen in the latest Cadillac Escalade line-up.
In short, our imagination of an all-new Eldorado packs the best that all the brands under the GM umbrella have to offer. The Camaro ZL1’s performance, the Cadillac CT-5 Blackwing’s driving dynamics, the lux-appeal and technology from the Cadillac Escalade, and the design language of a nostalgic Caddy of the era bygone.
All this comes together to revive America’s definition of a sporty personal luxury car. This is exactly why Cadillac should bring back the Eldorado nameplate. It was the car that defined Cadillac as a brand. The lux appeal was the best that an American automaker could provide. Bringing back that and a lot more is clearly going to be an epic move if GM decides to.
2024 Cadillac Celestiq: A Possible Spiritual Successor To Iconic Eldorado
While this will most likely remain a dream, there is a luxurious new Cadillac incoming that might be worthy of being the spiritual successor to the Eldorado. GM plans to revive its lost personal luxury charm with the all-new Cadillac Celestiq electric car. This time, it will not settle by being a Bentley rival but also go beyond and challenge Rolls-Royce’s opulence.
The Celestiq will be the first hand-built Cadillac in decades and the first-ever all-electric car to be hand-built. There will be a plethora of customization options, a direct attack on Rolls-Royce. As per Celestiq’s executive chief engineer Brandon Vivian, the all-new Cadillac personal luxury car is “a custom-commissioned celebration of the client’s individuality.”
The 2024 Celestiq interior will be far more futuristic and tech-savvy than any other GM car. Performance is also highly esteemed as the Celestiq will be powered by a dual-motor AWD system that churns 600 hp and 640 lb-ft of torque. At over 6,000 pounds, the Celestiq will be the modern equivalent of a classic land yacht. But Cadillac claims it will be able to do 0-60 in an impressive 3.8 seconds.
Also, due to the sheer size of this Caddy, there will be adequate driving range, as it is expected to go over 300 miles on a single charge. But all of this will also bump up the premium to a new height. The most expensive Cadillac you can buy today is the 2023 Escalade-V, with a starting MSRP of $150,000. The 2024 Cadillac Celestiq is expected to start over the $300,000 mark.
Why Did Cadillac Stop Making The Eldorado?
Cadillac stopped making the Eldorado personal luxury car due to dwindling sales figures. The Eldorado was once the most luxurious Cadillac ever made. It was in its prime from the 1950s to the 1980s. But from its eleventh-gen model (1986), things started to go downhill.
This is evident in the sales figures. The Eldorado saw a reduction in sales from 1993. The last production year saw only 193 units of the Cadillac Eldorado being sold.
How Much Does A Cadillac Eldorado Cost Today?
Cadillac Eldorados are plentiful in the used car space. But it is the older generations that have higher asking prices. The 12th-gen Eldorado, which we have used here as a donor car, sells for an average of $8,368 today, as per Classic.com.
But with every passing older generation, the prices go up. The most expensive Eldorado today is the first-gen that sells for an average of nearly $130,000.
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