So my parents bought a brand new ‘87 Silver over burgundy Allanté. Dad was able to overnight test drive it against a Mercedes 560SL. I was 15 and road shotgun. The Mercedes was clearly screwed together better, and had more umph under throttle. The Caddy however road more comfortable, looked great, had a far better radio and an easier way to put on the hardtop. It was still a chore. Dad just kept saying the Mercedes felt primitive compared to the Cadillac. The Cadillac did feel more quality than his ‘84 Biarritz. My parents owned it was about 3 1/2 years when the impractical nature of two door became annoying. I and my Dad LOVED the buttons and carphone. Mom was overwhelmed. I took my date to the prom in it. She made me put the top up to protect her hair! I was bitter. I have a lot of fond memories of that car. Edit: I took my driver’s test in it. I passed.
When I took my test, you couldn't take it in a car with a center console; that way the registry guy could reach the brake if you couldn't complete the test safely. I guess they have to live with that risk nowadays.
I find it surprising how many people have absolutely no idea what a tachometer needle indicates. I remember when I was a little kid, even my cousin’s piece of crap Vega came with a tachometer. That would have been the Vega with one squarish taillight on either side of the license plate.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic. I don't know why anyone would need all these gauges. If the car is reliable, these are not used frequently, if at all. The only time i used a tach was when i drove a manual, and that was 15 yrs ago. and it's extremely difficult to buy a manual car nowadays for the average buyer.
The only benefit I see to a screen is minimal wiring and not needing to replace individual wires, buttons, or switches. I'd still rather not have a touch screen.
When I was a kid, My best friends dad received a fancy hardcover box w promotional material on the car when it first came out and we both thought it was the coolest car. But then when the Lexus came out, this interior immediately felt dated.
If someone wants to see the operation of the top and the crazy dashboard, Bill at "Curious Cars" just did a review of a white 1992 Allante a week or two ago, and showed the [awkward] operation of the convertible top and the button-crazy radio, HVAC etc. That one had a CD and cassette, but the instruments looked more 'basic'
I love Bill! He and Adam have done an amazing job showcasing unique and fascinating cars from the 50s-2000. I lusted after many of these cars, and their tests and unique knowledge of so many interesting cars have been my favorite RUclips videos!
Worked at Cadillac throughout the Allante run. One thing I will always remember, the first few years these came shipped to the dealership in a canvas enclosed car hauler. The drivers wore a jump suit type uniform with no buttons, zippers so as not to scratch them. By the end, they were on the same trucks with Chevrolets, Pontiacs, etc. with "standard" uniformed drivers.😊
My mom's best friend had a new '87 Allante. It was a gorgeous car and fun to drive, especially with the top down. At night, the dash made it feel like you were piloting a space ship. It had a very finicky top, which did not fit its price or image. Thanks for the memories!
I was a Cadillac Master Body Technician back in the 1990s. I learned aluminum repairs at Hinsdale Ill. I actually liked working on them. I found humor when Ford came out bragging about aluminum f150. Some twenty years later.
I owned an Allante.LOVED it. To me the 2 things which cursed it was competing with MB with the GM Lease program, and the Northstar engine. Mine ran well. only major issue was the ignition interlock, and then the dealership fixed it they stripped the battery bolt, causing me to replace the alternator 2 times before being stranded and the tow driver telling me the bolt was striped. Dealership service seems to have been the downfall including on my CVS-v's. I can tell you horror stories including a certain sales manager who took a V on a test run and blew the rear end out, while the service dept was denying a TPS/recall was needed from CADDY.
You are not alone... I went through two or three alternators on an Eldorado before I found that the ground cable nut was tight to the terminal - because of rust - but the terminal wasn't tight to the block. After cleaning and tightening it, I never needed another alternator.
And today a nice GN is quite a sought-after collectible worth quite a bit of money, compared to a clean ‘87 Allante (if you can even find one clean today).
Remember getting invited to a Lexus ride and drive event at the time. One of the competing cars was an Allante. The switchgear just felt cheap compared to all the other cars.
Simple, elegant lines. Not the interior though. That is a mess and the pricing was through the roof and they still lost money on every single one they sold.
Thank you for all of your comprehensive videos and thank you for not using AI voice! I always found this car interesting and the interior is really cool. I love Pininfarina styling.
In addition to the Allante and the Pontiac 6000 Adam shows here, the Pontiac Division went button crazy through the ‘90s. Google a 1993 Bonneville SSEi interior and see the center stack and console. All these buttons were eliminated with Pontiac’s orange backlights and along with the instrument panel lighting one could say the SSEi was ahead of its time in creating interior “ambience”.
That SSEi had so much rubbish tacked on the exterior and interior. The basic Bonneville was a fantastic car and look great; my grandfather worked at GM and said it was the best car they made in the 1980s.
@@dosgos I had a white ‘93 SE with a red interior as a company car and absolutely loved it. My boss had an SSEi and had electrical issues it took several visits under warranty to correct.
@@dosgos I wish I'd kept my '88 Bonneville SE that I'd bought for the radio buttons on the wheel. They fixed its 3 minor flaws in the '89: enlarged the glovebox, shrunk the windshield tint, and loosened the air vent controls.
I've never seen the inside of an Allante, so this was interesting. In fact the only Allante I ever saw was in a nearby used car lot, just two or three years ago. I took one picture of the car, and never actually checked into it. It's long gone now. On the other hand, last year during my parents' house cleanout, in anticipation of them moving, I found paperwork from Cadillac which was for my dad buying one of these cars. But he never did buy it, and I never even heard about it till I found that paperwork. which was for a pre-delivery inspection form for a 1988 model.
I always liked the this sporty Cadillac!! I even seriously considered buying one but I bought a Mark Vll instead!!! Even J R Ewing had one of these beautiful Cadillac convertibles!!!! 🤠
I owned a beautiful ‘90 Allante that I enjoyed paying for repairs and maintenance throughout my ownership. I still remember the warm fall Chicago day that I drove it to CarMax and received a check for $2500. Given that the radio started working only intermittently, it was time to say goodbye to the 65k mile beauty. I could not stomach the thought of selling the car privately. I took my $2500 and never thought twice:)
I hate todays buttonless cockpits and I have to say I kinda like this. The buttons are not overly distracting because they are arranged in a very orderly way. The styling of the displays and buttons on the center console reminds me of Becker radios of that era. Nice!
I prefer knobs to buttons, but buttons have it all over most touch screens, and nothing could be worse that those mouse-wheel things BMW was pushing for a while.
I test drove one of the 4.5 or 4.9 cars, and actually liked all those buttons falling right to my hand. They were also smart enough to use LCD displays that wouldn't wash out with the top down like the vacuum fluorescent displays. It ran well, drove nicely and was beautiful... but the salesmen couldn't make that damned top work even in the showroom! It was light and straightforward, especially compared to the 500SL's 17 hydraulic actuators, but the trunk-lid pull-down they used at the rear of the top kept cycling back up...
You've been knocking it outta the park lately with all the strange cars! Great job! The only Allante I ever saw in the wild was when I worked for GoodYear. The boss drove it in for tires because the customer didn't trust our general service techs "not to touch anything" concerning all the buttons. LOL
A gentleman on the island has an 88 Allante.One night we were at the pub and he had a bit too much to drink and I drove him home.1st time I ever drove an Allante.It only has 50,000 miles.It drove like new,New, all the buttons gave me a headache I tried the top,but gave up on that.2 Things in my opinion as to why it wasn't succesful ,are cost to ship from Italy and price point.I think that if Cadillac built them here and priced them accordingly they would have been more succesful.Love your videos and Cheers from Eulethra.
I would suggest that the 57-58 Eldo Brougham, with its astronomical price, competed in the ultra-high price stratosphere at the time. Even the 59-60 Eldo Broughams, which like the Alante were constructed by Pininfarina, would qualify as ultra-high price offerings.
I have a 93 and it came with the digital dash I changed it over to the analog dash . and yes it has 44 buttons why ?? Every Gm every division had lost it's idenity and quailty control . I feel GM was so mis managed at this time in automtive history . thanks Adam for all your great videos.
Thank you Adam. I have said it before Cadillac was indeed innovative in their reach. I thank you for bringing this type of video. Allante's could have been a winner, but it is a collector in 2023. You see what Cadillac was trying to do and achieve. The GM studio proposal was quite nice. I know GM wanted a true Euro fighter with the Allante'. They had that in terms of looks and appearance. I do recall those seats changing as well. I prefer the digital cluster myself. If they had the other things correct, where would they be now. Every time I see the Allante' I start singing the commercial song "Allante... the new spirit of Cadillac! XLR tried to do what Allante's could not do correctly, and it still came up short. That is a story for another day. Thank you Adam.
They are much less common, but it seems like they were in quite a few GM cars, I think there was a version of the Grand am that had it or some other Pontiac, and the Camaro Berlinetta with the famous "swivel center console" definitely had a flip out tape deck lid .
I had no idea how high the MSRP was! How did they even sell any? The Allente was very high tech, with all kinds of diagnostic functions, etc. GM repair techs needed expensive training on just the Allante. It belongs in a museum next to the Edsel.
They sold because expensive halo luxury coupes were very desirable and common among Mercedes-Benz BMW Jaguar etc, $150,000 really isn't that much in today's money for an ultra luxury top of the line model. Many run-of-the-mill SUVs that are just derivatives of suburbans easily cost that much without near the style , flash, or influence. In the 80s , it was about conspicuous consumption and no one trying to show their upward mobility would have been caught dead driving a big lumbering troop carrier, it was all about the sleek looks and how you can express how much money you have.
They were heavily discounted by the dealers. That was true of most US cars that weren't big hits in the 60s and 70s--if you paid cash you could usually get 15% or more off MSRP.
Bought a ‘93 in 2006 because of it’s Northstar, had the analog dash😢. I sold it a year later-not a lot of fun to drive with huge torque steer. That said, still like the car’s styling and mystique of the world’s longest assembly line. 😊
I was at Sonoma Raceway last weekend working a 24 Hours of Lemons race, and one of the teams was running an Allante. It had markings on the sides for a past Index of Effluency win (this is basically "the best finish from the worst car"). Not sure what year it was, but if it was an IOE winner I'd guess it was an early car with the 4.1L engine...
I was thrilled at 12 yrs old to operate a touch screen for the first time, in the EPCOT Center "World Key" system. So I was pretty keen to see Buick roll out the Graphic Control Center in '85-86., but could see that it was pretty compromised, and quickly realized that you would have to take your eyes off the road to do just about anything. Today I would rather have twice the number of buttons of the Allante than any touch screen. I like the aesthetic of the Allante dashboard...so many buttons make you feel as if at the helm of a substantial ship or spacecraft. I also think that the digital IP is more appropriate in this car. Some of the contemporary Toronados and 98s also had a pretty huge array of buttons!
Another great video… I like that it sounds conversational, like a group of car enthusiasts hanging out and listening to one talk about his cars. Thanks for all the effort you put into these videos, they are really helpful and appreciated by me and many others, I know 🙏 Re: Allante - a neighbor got one of the early models, black over red… I LOVED the dash and all the buttons! This was right after my dad got my mom her 560SL. The neighbor said he wanted an American SL bc he hated German cars. He kept it less than a year then traded it for an XJ-S convertible, a beautiful car, and as he said, far more reliable than the Cadillac (crazy that a Jag was more reliable!)
The digital dashboard was just gorgeous, and it was disappointing when they moved to analog gauges. Cadillac definitely allowed the ludites to steer the direction of this car. The convoluted top was no worse than the top that you'd find in the R107 Mercedes. However, the Allante was FWD. It was an inherently wrong setup for a car like this, and is what really did it in.
If each button has a dedicated function, so much the better. Better than modern screens where you scroll through endless menus just for a small adjustment of the radio or the hvac. This dash suits me well cause my desk computer monitor screen is cluttered with shortcut icons anyway .
Excellent video as always! I’d be interesting to hear more about your background and where your amazing knowledge about the auto industry comes from, because the videos you make and the info you share is above interesting.
8:43 . . . Totally agree with your comment how similar this is to what Tesla does for some of their cars today! That was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the Cadillac interior design team proposal.
There is one of these for sale in Toronto Ontario Canada. A 93, northstar eng, red exterior 37,000 Kms/23,000 miles, $27,000 CDN. Currently advertised in the Canadian Old Cars newspaper. Cheers 🇨🇦
The most interesting thing to me about the Cadillac Studio proposal is that the button panel in the middle of the steering wheel looks like it _might_ have been intended to stay fixed while the wheel turned around it, which... I can't think of a car that actually did that, off the top of my head, but it would be pretty neat.
Franz von Holzhausen did work for GM for a short time he was the Design manger for the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice. So maybe he did see the Cadillac team's design at one point.
1:35 I believe the 1959-1960 Eldorado Broughams were built in a similar fashion, though I don't know if they actually flew the bodies back to the USA, shipped the engines over there, or had some other arrangement.
It was kind of rare, but this is not the only one, they could be found in a number of GM cars I believe a Pontiac Grand am or some other model but the Camaro berlinetta with its famous "swivel center console" definitely had a flip out cassette deck, and it also seems like something AMC or Chrysler would have done in the 80s lol
I've heard many completely different opinions about the Allante. I've heard some owners praise the car and call it underrated and some have called it a mangey dog. Cadillac had worked out most of the bugs with the 4100 by the time they dropped it in so these weren't bad engines. I do think that it would have sold better and been more collectable if it had been RWD with a manual transmission.
I think the 4.5 liter version was the best. The bugs from the 4100 were fixed. And the power was decent. The Northstar was much more powerful. But it introduced an entirely new set of problems. If I were to buy an old Cadillac , I’d choose a 4.5 vs a Northstar any day. I think I put them just a bit higher as far as reliability as the early 4100 before they improved them.
Buttons at that point in time were an analogue of technical superiority and sophistication. An offshoot of the jet cockpit design ethos. Not specifically a luxury feature, it was meant to signal cutting edge technology. Cadillac was trying to show it was far more advanced and up to date than the Mercedes 560SL upon which it was benchmarked. Time has shown the Mercedes design to be the enduring one. But I do applaud Cadillac for its effort. Sort of like comparing the 300SL gullwing to the Eldorado Brougham
The v864 and the Cadillac diesels were pretty to my Grandfather Cadillac Joe Dugan. He had a used car lot in Toledo and sold nothing but used Cadillac. He told me that they used to drive them home from the auction in Detroit on the frozen lake.
Cannot see or hear about an Allante without picturing. J. R. Ewing behind the wheel 😎. I always have and always will think the Allante was the sexist Cadillac to ever go into production.
Wow, I was literally just looking at Allantes on Craigslist two hours ago and found a really nice one. 60k miles. White. 1992. $8,000. Not gonna lie, I am kinda freaked out right now. 😂😂
It's a bargin basement collector car .and has good club support I would get a 92 or 93 seems to be the best of the lot . ! have a 93 a picked up low miles for 5k
@@SuperJoes70 I have heard the early ones were a bit fiddly, but the late ones are okay...even with the dreaded Deathstar under the hood. The Allanté is a little frumpy, perhaps, but I always thought they were good looking cars.
Yesterday, I thought about posting a pic of my old Deville's inside door latch at CurbsideClassics, so I typed "O4 Deville interior" into duckduckgo images, and it came up with 3 ads for replacement door latches at the top. Freaked me out, too! BTW, its latches were lovely, quite functional, and the only chrome in the interior besides the seat belts.
Pricing it so high was a huge mistake. The biggest goal should have been to grab as much market share as possible as soon as possible. it would have meant losses short term but buyers would have had an easier time overlooking its flaws and giving Cadillac time to have a sales success out of the box and “buy” time to improve the car.
Add the Allante to the short list of GM cars with a front-loading cassette deck, just like the '84 Berlinetta - and another car which you just recently featured, which escapes me right now.
If only Cadillac had made this a rear drive car with a little more hose power at the start than using the anemic HT4100, I’m convinced it would have sold in very close competition with the Mercedes SL. This car has great style and the futuristic interior would have been acceptable more customers simply if the performance was there.
If I'm not mistaken, there was an IN - HOUSE WAR, because the GM design team was looked over....the GM Design team went ape sh#t!!! I would really love if the Allante design, like the interior shot you found, what did they want...
Cadillac could have had any number of US based coach builders make the car and save over $15,000 per vehicle. That car would have been a hit if GM didn't make so many stupid, unnecessary decisions.
Was just thinking about all the money they saved on that extra "e" in "employe" also would've translated to a really loaded up Allante for sure, never mind the other models in their lineup🙂
I know a guy whos collected a literal warehouse of Allanté and Allanté parts. He's been in the auto recycling business for decades and fell in love with them. I was just stunned at the shere volume he's got. What do you think? Was it a good bet or is he loony?
You can read most of them by enlarging the image, there are about 30 plus in the middle, which since everything has its own button the climate control alone would be about 10, since you have a button for hotter cooler and fan speed up down rather than knobs or sliders, so it really isn't hard to imagine all the ones for the trip computer, stereo including the equalizer and a button for each function of the tape deck to get to 30 buttons. It doesn't really have any many more control options than any other car from then or now, it's just that every single function has its own dedicated identical button, and that looks like more functions than if they are divided between knobs sliders dials and buttons.
Today's cars have just as many buttons...but almost all of them are in touchscreens. That way you don't need to have every button ready to press until they need to be pressed.
"Buttons, buttons, who's got the buttons?" One must not forget that Chrysler tried to compete with the Allante step-for-step with the Chrysler TC by Masarati. Initially, the Chrysler TC had a 16 valve 2.2L Turbo II motor. (Yes, a 16-valve head * and * a turbo!) that later got replaced by a Mitsubishi V-6. Both the Allante and the TC had their bodies produced in Italy and then were shipped to the US for final assembly. The fatal flaw of the Chrysler TC was that it looked too much like a Chrysler LeBaron convertible and, as such, wasn't considered to be worth the hefty price tag to step up to the Chrysler TC. They still have a cult following though...
Allante. The Cadillac that could have kicked the M-B SL to the curb and failed. Like most Gm vehicles, it suffered from GM's "too good" disease - meaning - "we can't do (what ever) it would make the car "too good." Case in point, Allante was FWD with a transverse engine and underbuilt, P.O.S. Gm final drive and transmission. Jag and M-B were RWD as all proper high end cars should be with much better transmissions and rears. Allante has an all plastic interior with mounds of buttons. The other guys have nice, round gauges and simplistic controls. The goofy top and JC Whitney exhaust outlets only further cheapen the vehicle. Front drive has no place - at all - at the high end of the market. Ever.
My Father currently has(although in storage)a '91 Allante. Having driven it several times, in the early '00 I can attest to the fact that it gives a serious sense of "ick" to the driver. I find it to be very uncomfortable and doesn't have enough power to justify the fuel consumption. The top is difficult to operate as it is mostly manual. It was easier to operate the top on the same-year Chevy Cavalier! I think that the GM designed interior looked much more refined.
Especcially in Silver, it still looks stunning. About the buttons: yes, there are way too many. But I still would prefer this over todays total lack of buttons like Tesla...
Авто/Мото
So my parents bought a brand new ‘87 Silver over burgundy Allanté. Dad was able to overnight test drive it against a Mercedes 560SL. I was 15 and road shotgun. The Mercedes was clearly screwed together better, and had more umph under throttle. The Caddy however road more comfortable, looked great, had a far better radio and an easier way to put on the hardtop. It was still a chore. Dad just kept saying the Mercedes felt primitive compared to the Cadillac. The Cadillac did feel more quality than his ‘84 Biarritz. My parents owned it was about 3 1/2 years when the impractical nature of two door became annoying. I and my Dad LOVED the buttons and carphone. Mom was overwhelmed. I took my date to the prom in it. She made me put the top up to protect her hair! I was bitter. I have a lot of fond memories of that car.
Edit: I took my driver’s test in it. I passed.
I wanted to take my dad's 90' Shelby Daytona VNT to grad but I went X-Country dirtbike racing instead.
When I took my test, you couldn't take it in a car with a center console; that way the registry guy could reach the brake if you couldn't complete the test safely. I guess they have to live with that risk nowadays.
@@pcno2832 nowadays in 1987 that was.
Great story…thanks for sharing!
You grew up rich.
Every car should have a Speedo and tach. As well as Oil Pressure, Volt meter, water temp, and Fuel level. NO EXCEPTIONS.
I find it surprising how many people have absolutely no idea what a tachometer needle indicates.
I remember when I was a little kid, even my cousin’s piece of crap Vega came with a tachometer.
That would have been the Vega with one squarish taillight on either side of the license plate.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic. I don't know why anyone would need all these gauges. If the car is reliable, these are not used frequently, if at all. The only time i used a tach was when i drove a manual, and that was 15 yrs ago. and it's extremely difficult to buy a manual car nowadays for the average buyer.
@@Wasabi9111 I'm serious.
@@joshuagibson2520 what do you use these gauges for in a modern car?
@@Wasabi9111 To monitor the engine. As one would.
Cadillac Allante looking today maybe better than in the 90s...
Loved the Allante from day one. For me it was hard to believe it was a Cadillac as it had style and wasn't a Land Yacht. Still looks great today.
I'll take buttons over touch screens any day of the week and 2x on Sunday.
The only benefit I see to a screen is minimal wiring and not needing to replace individual wires, buttons, or switches. I'd still rather not have a touch screen.
So would I, that's why I like the early Porsche Panamera with all the buttons around the shifter.
When I was a kid, My best friends dad received a fancy hardcover box w promotional material on the car when it first came out and we both thought it was the coolest car. But then when the Lexus came out, this interior immediately felt dated.
I agree!
Yes and no it depends on the application
It seems that the movie TRON had a huge influence on gage clusters and the dashboard overall back in the day.
They beat out the Lagonda in the button war!
If someone wants to see the operation of the top and the crazy dashboard, Bill at "Curious Cars" just did a review of a white 1992 Allante a week or two ago, and showed the [awkward] operation of the convertible top and the button-crazy radio, HVAC etc. That one had a CD and cassette, but the instruments looked more 'basic'
Ugh can’t stand that guy
Incredibly annoying personality
I love Bill!
He and Adam have done an amazing job showcasing unique and fascinating cars from the 50s-2000.
I lusted after many of these cars, and their tests and unique knowledge of so many interesting cars have been my favorite RUclips videos!
That was an absolute beauty
Worked at Cadillac throughout the Allante run. One thing I will always remember, the first few years these came shipped to the dealership in a canvas enclosed car hauler. The drivers wore a jump suit type uniform with no buttons, zippers so as not to scratch them. By the end, they were on the same trucks with Chevrolets, Pontiacs, etc. with "standard" uniformed drivers.😊
Even Kelly Bundy couldn’t save this car.
My mom's best friend had a new '87 Allante. It was a gorgeous car and fun to drive, especially with the top down. At night, the dash made it feel like you were piloting a space ship. It had a very finicky top, which did not fit its price or image. Thanks for the memories!
The digital dash along with all the buttons makes me think of a cockpit of a jet airliner!
There's a white Allante parked outside of a house on a side street I occasionally drive on. The exterior design is so beautiful.
I was a Cadillac Master Body Technician back in the 1990s. I learned aluminum repairs at Hinsdale Ill. I actually liked working on them. I found humor when Ford came out bragging about aluminum f150. Some twenty years later.
I love the Alante design and dashboard.
I owned an Allante.LOVED it. To me the 2 things which cursed it was competing with MB with the GM Lease program, and the Northstar engine. Mine ran well. only major issue was the ignition interlock, and then the dealership fixed it they stripped the battery bolt, causing me to replace the alternator 2 times before being stranded and the tow driver telling me the bolt was striped. Dealership service seems to have been the downfall including on my CVS-v's. I can tell you horror stories including a certain sales manager who took a V on a test run and blew the rear end out, while the service dept was denying a TPS/recall was needed from CADDY.
You are not alone... I went through two or three alternators on an Eldorado before I found that the ground cable nut was tight to the terminal - because of rust - but the terminal wasn't tight to the block. After cleaning and tightening it, I never needed another alternator.
I think the digital dash was so cool.
That was a lot of money back then,
I bought a brand new 1987 Buick Grand National for $14,300 (listed for $15,200 base model i bought)
You're very lucky, do you still have it? Was it a regular Grand National or a GNX?
And today a nice GN is quite a sought-after collectible worth quite a bit of money, compared to a clean ‘87 Allante (if you can even find one clean today).
Remember getting invited to a Lexus ride and drive event at the time. One of the competing cars was an Allante. The switchgear just felt cheap compared to all the other cars.
Hands down an elegant, beautiful design…unlike the tortured, angry styles of today.
AGREE!
Simple, elegant lines. Not the interior though. That is a mess and the pricing was through the roof and they still lost money on every single one they sold.
Thank you for all of your comprehensive videos and thank you for not using AI voice! I always found this car interesting and the interior is really cool. I love Pininfarina styling.
The car that brought us the Bundy Bounce. 😁
In addition to the Allante and the Pontiac 6000 Adam shows here, the Pontiac Division went button crazy through the ‘90s. Google a 1993 Bonneville SSEi interior and see the center stack and console. All these buttons were eliminated with Pontiac’s orange backlights and along with the instrument panel lighting one could say the SSEi was ahead of its time in creating interior “ambience”.
That SSEi had so much rubbish tacked on the exterior and interior. The basic Bonneville was a fantastic car and look great; my grandfather worked at GM and said it was the best car they made in the 1980s.
@@dosgos I had a white ‘93 SE with a red interior as a company car and absolutely loved it. My boss had an SSEi and had electrical issues it took several visits under warranty to correct.
@@dosgos I wish I'd kept my '88 Bonneville SE that I'd bought for the radio buttons on the wheel. They fixed its 3 minor flaws in the '89: enlarged the glovebox, shrunk the windshield tint, and loosened the air vent controls.
I've never seen the inside of an Allante, so this was interesting. In fact the only Allante I ever saw was in a nearby used car lot, just two or three years ago. I took one picture of the car, and never actually checked into it. It's long gone now. On the other hand, last year during my parents' house cleanout, in anticipation of them moving, I found paperwork from Cadillac which was for my dad buying one of these cars. But he never did buy it, and I never even heard about it till I found that paperwork. which was for a pre-delivery inspection form for a 1988 model.
I always liked the this sporty Cadillac!! I even seriously considered buying one but I bought a Mark Vll instead!!! Even J R Ewing had one of these beautiful Cadillac convertibles!!!! 🤠
I owned a beautiful ‘90 Allante that I enjoyed paying for repairs and maintenance throughout my ownership. I still remember the warm fall Chicago day that I drove it to CarMax and received a check for $2500. Given that the radio started working only intermittently, it was time to say goodbye to the 65k mile beauty. I could not stomach the thought of selling the car privately. I took my $2500 and never thought twice:)
I hate todays buttonless cockpits and I have to say I kinda like this. The buttons are not overly distracting because they are arranged in a very orderly way. The styling of the displays and buttons on the center console reminds me of Becker radios of that era. Nice!
I prefer knobs to buttons, but buttons have it all over most touch screens, and nothing could be worse that those mouse-wheel things BMW was pushing for a while.
I test drove one of the 4.5 or 4.9 cars, and actually liked all those buttons falling right to my hand. They were also smart enough to use LCD displays that wouldn't wash out with the top down like the vacuum fluorescent displays.
It ran well, drove nicely and was beautiful... but the salesmen couldn't make that damned top work even in the showroom! It was light and straightforward, especially compared to the 500SL's 17 hydraulic actuators, but the trunk-lid pull-down they used at the rear of the top kept cycling back up...
You've been knocking it outta the park lately with all the strange cars! Great job! The only Allante I ever saw in the wild was when I worked for GoodYear. The boss drove it in for tires because the customer didn't trust our general service techs "not to touch anything" concerning all the buttons. LOL
A gentleman on the island has an 88 Allante.One night we were at the pub and he had a bit too much to drink and I drove him home.1st time I ever drove an Allante.It only has 50,000 miles.It drove like new,New, all the buttons gave me a headache I tried the top,but gave up on that.2 Things in my opinion as to why it wasn't succesful ,are cost to ship from Italy and price point.I think that if Cadillac built them here and priced them accordingly they would have been more succesful.Love your videos and Cheers from Eulethra.
An Allante would look real nice next to my XTS VSport Platinum! Great video, man
I always liked the look of the allante.
I would suggest that the 57-58 Eldo Brougham, with its astronomical price, competed in the ultra-high price stratosphere at the time. Even the 59-60 Eldo Broughams, which like the Alante were constructed by Pininfarina, would qualify as ultra-high price offerings.
That 60 eldo brougham was super nice!
I have a 93 and it came with the digital dash I changed it over to the analog dash . and yes it has 44 buttons why ?? Every Gm every division had lost it's idenity and quailty control . I feel GM was so mis managed at this time in automtive history . thanks Adam for all your great videos.
A very nice 1993 Allante recently sold in Punta Gorda, FL for $8,600. Sold by Bill at Curious Cars. Price seemed a bargain.
Another hot shitty Florida morning…
Something about the Cadillac interior buck reminded me of the '65-'66 Cadillac interior.
Thank you Adam. I have said it before Cadillac was indeed innovative in their reach. I thank you for bringing this type of video. Allante's could have been a winner, but it is a collector in 2023. You see what Cadillac was trying to do and achieve. The GM studio proposal was quite nice. I know GM wanted a true Euro fighter with the Allante'. They had that in terms of looks and appearance. I do recall those seats changing as well. I prefer the digital cluster myself. If they had the other things correct, where would they be now. Every time I see the Allante' I start singing the commercial song "Allante... the new spirit of Cadillac! XLR tried to do what Allante's could not do correctly, and it still came up short. That is a story for another day. Thank you Adam.
i've never seen a car cassette deck with a flip out door like that. they're always slot loading. how interesting.
They are much less common, but it seems like they were in quite a few GM cars, I think there was a version of the Grand am that had it or some other Pontiac, and the Camaro Berlinetta with the famous "swivel center console" definitely had a flip out tape deck lid .
@@Jack_Stafford Some GM cars also had side-loading cassette slots.
I had no idea how high the MSRP was! How did they even sell any? The Allente was very high tech, with all kinds of diagnostic functions, etc. GM repair techs needed expensive training on just the Allante. It belongs in a museum next to the Edsel.
They sold because expensive halo luxury coupes were very desirable and common among Mercedes-Benz BMW Jaguar etc, $150,000 really isn't that much in today's money for an ultra luxury top of the line model.
Many run-of-the-mill SUVs that are just derivatives of suburbans easily cost that much without near the style , flash, or influence.
In the 80s , it was about conspicuous consumption and no one trying to show their upward mobility would have been caught dead driving a big lumbering troop carrier, it was all about the sleek looks and how you can express how much money you have.
They were heavily discounted by the dealers. That was true of most US cars that weren't big hits in the 60s and 70s--if you paid cash you could usually get 15% or more off MSRP.
I've always be collected uingue cars. My 89 allante is awesome..
The Cadillac Catera certainly had its controversies, too. Great video.
This reminds me of the Cadillac Catera that was basically a Chevrolet Monte Carlo with a Cadillac badge.
Still a good looking car
They also came with water leaks on the soft top and removable hard top.
Bought a ‘93 in 2006 because of it’s Northstar, had the analog dash😢. I sold it a year later-not a lot of fun to drive with huge torque steer. That said, still like the car’s styling and mystique of the world’s longest assembly line. 😊
I was at Sonoma Raceway last weekend working a 24 Hours of Lemons race, and one of the teams was running an Allante. It had markings on the sides for a past Index of Effluency win (this is basically "the best finish from the worst car"). Not sure what year it was, but if it was an IOE winner I'd guess it was an early car with the 4.1L engine...
I was thrilled at 12 yrs old to operate a touch screen for the first time, in the EPCOT Center "World Key" system. So I was pretty keen to see Buick roll out the Graphic Control Center in '85-86., but could see that it was pretty compromised, and quickly realized that you would have to take your eyes off the road to do just about anything. Today I would rather have twice the number of buttons of the Allante than any touch screen. I like the aesthetic of the Allante dashboard...so many buttons make you feel as if at the helm of a substantial ship or spacecraft. I also think that the digital IP is more appropriate in this car. Some of the contemporary Toronados and 98s also had a pretty huge array of buttons!
Cadillac Allante is a very beautiful car, with italian american design and american italian interior
I liked this car. 😀
Another great video… I like that it sounds conversational, like a group of car enthusiasts hanging out and listening to one talk about his cars. Thanks for all the effort you put into these videos, they are really helpful and appreciated by me and many others, I know 🙏
Re: Allante - a neighbor got one of the early models, black over red… I LOVED the dash and all the buttons! This was right after my dad got my mom her 560SL. The neighbor said he wanted an American SL bc he hated German cars. He kept it less than a year then traded it for an XJ-S convertible, a beautiful car, and as he said, far more reliable than the Cadillac (crazy that a Jag was more reliable!)
The digital dashboard was just gorgeous, and it was disappointing when they moved to analog gauges. Cadillac definitely allowed the ludites to steer the direction of this car. The convoluted top was no worse than the top that you'd find in the R107 Mercedes. However, the Allante was FWD. It was an inherently wrong setup for a car like this, and is what really did it in.
If each button has a dedicated function, so much the better. Better than modern screens where you scroll through endless menus just for a small adjustment of the radio or the hvac. This dash suits me well cause my desk computer monitor screen is cluttered with shortcut icons anyway .
I’ve been waiting for a video on this !
Excellent video as always! I’d be interesting to hear more about your background and where your amazing knowledge about the auto industry comes from, because the videos you make and the info you share is above interesting.
Worked in the industry for a good part of my career
@@RareClassicCars Adam are you still working in the automotive industry ??
@@SuperJoes70 not really.
8:43 . . . Totally agree with your comment how similar this is to what Tesla does for some of their cars today! That was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the Cadillac interior design team proposal.
All those buttons are a huge contrast to the R107 Mercedes SL dash, which was almost buttonless by comparison.
There is one of these for sale in Toronto Ontario Canada. A 93, northstar eng, red exterior 37,000 Kms/23,000 miles, $27,000 CDN. Currently advertised in the Canadian Old Cars newspaper. Cheers 🇨🇦
i knew someone who had a red allante i like the bigger cadillacs like fleetwoods, devilles and bustleback Sevilles. i like escalades too.
The most interesting thing to me about the Cadillac Studio proposal is that the button panel in the middle of the steering wheel looks like it _might_ have been intended to stay fixed while the wheel turned around it, which... I can't think of a car that actually did that, off the top of my head, but it would be pretty neat.
Franz von Holzhausen did work for GM for a short time he was the Design manger for the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice. So maybe he did see the Cadillac team's design at one point.
Nice car
A nice looking car. Not $150K nice, but nice.
I'd say the Cadillac El Dorado Brougham was top tier...
Yeah, didn’t they list for more than a Rolls?
1:35 I believe the 1959-1960 Eldorado Broughams were built in a similar fashion, though I don't know if they actually flew the bodies back to the USA, shipped the engines over there, or had some other arrangement.
Also had very good onboard diagnostics.
That's the only auto stereo with a vertical cassette player like a home deck. Note in 6:25 it changed to slot load to make room for the CD player.
It was kind of rare, but this is not the only one, they could be found in a number of GM cars I believe a Pontiac Grand am or some other model but the Camaro berlinetta with its famous "swivel center console" definitely had a flip out cassette deck, and it also seems like something AMC or Chrysler would have done in the 80s lol
I've heard many completely different opinions about the Allante. I've heard some owners praise the car and call it underrated and some have called it a mangey dog. Cadillac had worked out most of the bugs with the 4100 by the time they dropped it in so these weren't bad engines. I do think that it would have sold better and been more collectable if it had been RWD with a manual transmission.
I think the 4.5 liter version was the best. The bugs from the 4100 were fixed. And the power was decent. The Northstar was much more powerful. But it introduced an entirely new set of problems. If I were to buy an old Cadillac , I’d choose a 4.5 vs a Northstar any day. I think I put them just a bit higher as far as reliability as the early 4100 before they improved them.
Buttons at that point in time were an analogue of technical superiority and sophistication. An offshoot of the jet cockpit design ethos. Not specifically a luxury feature, it was meant to signal cutting edge technology. Cadillac was trying to show it was far more advanced and up to date than the Mercedes 560SL upon which it was benchmarked. Time has shown the Mercedes design to be the enduring one. But I do applaud Cadillac for its effort. Sort of like comparing the 300SL gullwing to the Eldorado Brougham
Kelly Bundy comes to mind.
The v864 and the Cadillac diesels were pretty to my Grandfather Cadillac Joe Dugan. He had a used car lot in Toledo and sold nothing but used Cadillac. He told me that they used to drive them home from the auction in Detroit on the frozen lake.
I was going to mention the Pontiac but you did
Looks more like a competitor to the Chrysler FWD cars of the era, than Mercedes!
Mine Flew.❤
The Allante is a very European-Looking Car and is a beauty, but has a few features that are a bit over the top, such as the button overkill, Adam🤔🤲
Cannot see or hear about an Allante without picturing. J. R. Ewing behind the wheel 😎. I always have and always will think the Allante was the sexist Cadillac to ever go into production.
Right along with that movie called "Cadillac Man" or Kelly Bundy doin the Bundy Bounce.
Wow, I was literally just looking at Allantes on Craigslist two hours ago and found a really nice one. 60k miles. White. 1992. $8,000.
Not gonna lie, I am kinda freaked out right now. 😂😂
Google/ RUclips analytics... Good day!😊
@@stuckinmygarage6220Yeah, except I watch this channel all the time and this video was posted an hour ago! 😂
It's a bargin basement collector car .and has good club support I would get a 92 or 93 seems to be the best of the lot . ! have a 93 a picked up low miles for 5k
@@SuperJoes70 I have heard the early ones were a bit fiddly, but the late ones are okay...even with the dreaded Deathstar under the hood. The Allanté is a little frumpy, perhaps, but I always thought they were good looking cars.
Yesterday, I thought about posting a pic of my old Deville's inside door latch at CurbsideClassics, so I typed "O4 Deville interior" into duckduckgo images, and it came up with 3 ads for replacement door latches at the top. Freaked me out, too! BTW, its latches were lovely, quite functional, and the only chrome in the interior besides the seat belts.
Pricing it so high was a huge mistake.
The biggest goal should have been to grab as much market share as possible as soon as possible.
it would have meant losses short term but buyers would have had an easier time overlooking its flaws and giving Cadillac time to have a sales success out of the box and “buy” time to improve the car.
Add the Allante to the short list of GM cars with a front-loading cassette deck, just like the '84 Berlinetta - and another car which you just recently featured, which escapes me right now.
Toronado?
@@MrYobII Ah yes, the mid '80s redesigned Toronado, I'm certain that that is correct.
I know where one is in Milwaukee. I see it every day
We called them the Cavalier caddy
If only Cadillac had made this a rear drive car with a little more hose power at the start than using the anemic HT4100, I’m convinced it would have sold in very close competition with the Mercedes SL. This car has great style and the futuristic interior would have been acceptable more customers simply if the performance was there.
Did they continue flying bodies from italy up 1993? Hopefully, they were getting bonus miles points!
If I'm not mistaken, there was an IN - HOUSE WAR, because the GM design team was looked over....the GM Design team went ape sh#t!!!
I would really love if the Allante design, like the interior shot you found, what did they want...
Take a look at my interviews on the Allante with designers Wayne Kady and John Manoogian. See for yourself what they wanted!
@RareClassicCars
Looking through your,...extensive list, could you add a link?
When this car came out, and I read about having it flown from Italy in 747 back to America..... How could it make since?
Cadillac could have had any number of US based coach builders make the car and save over $15,000 per vehicle. That car would have been a hit if GM didn't make so many stupid, unnecessary decisions.
Was just thinking about all the money they saved on that extra "e" in "employe" also would've translated to a really loaded up Allante for sure, never mind the other models in their lineup🙂
I know a guy whos collected a literal warehouse of Allanté and Allanté parts. He's been in the auto recycling business for decades and fell in love with them. I was just stunned at the shere volume he's got. What do you think? Was it a good bet or is he loony?
An OK bet, but not great.
I'd like a video outlining what each button does.
Would YT allow a video that long?
You can read most of them by enlarging the image, there are about 30 plus in the middle, which since everything has its own button the climate control alone would be about 10, since you have a button for hotter cooler and fan speed up down rather than knobs or sliders, so it really isn't hard to imagine all the ones for the trip computer, stereo including the equalizer and a button for each function of the tape deck to get to 30 buttons.
It doesn't really have any many more control options than any other car from then or now, it's just that every single function has its own dedicated identical button, and that looks like more functions than if they are divided between knobs sliders dials and buttons.
Today's cars have just as many buttons...but almost all of them are in touchscreens. That way you don't need to have every button ready to press until they need to be pressed.
You may be on to something with that Tesla reference.
I think my comment lead you to do this video because you missed this car,,LOL. great video
A little. Ha!
too funny, I know this car, trying to save an 89 Allante, its own my channell@@RareClassicCars
"Buttons, buttons, who's got the buttons?" One must not forget that Chrysler tried to compete with the Allante step-for-step with the Chrysler TC by Masarati. Initially, the Chrysler TC had a 16 valve 2.2L Turbo II motor. (Yes, a 16-valve head * and * a turbo!) that later got replaced by a Mitsubishi V-6. Both the Allante and the TC had their bodies produced in Italy and then were shipped to the US for final assembly. The fatal flaw of the Chrysler TC was that it looked too much like a Chrysler LeBaron convertible and, as such, wasn't considered to be worth the hefty price tag to step up to the Chrysler TC. They still have a cult following though...
Anyone remember if Ford even tried to compete with the Allante or the Chrysler TC? If they did, it's sure not coming to mind...
@@stevejarred6484 Closest thing was probably the Mark VII LSC and later, the retro T-bird.
Allante. The Cadillac that could have kicked the M-B SL to the curb and failed. Like most Gm vehicles, it suffered from GM's "too good" disease - meaning - "we can't do (what ever) it would make the car "too good." Case in point, Allante was FWD with a transverse engine and underbuilt, P.O.S. Gm final drive and transmission. Jag and M-B were RWD as all proper high end cars should be with much better transmissions and rears. Allante has an all plastic interior with mounds of buttons. The other guys have nice, round gauges and simplistic controls. The goofy top and JC Whitney exhaust outlets only further cheapen the vehicle. Front drive has no place - at all - at the high end of the market. Ever.
General Motors: Great ideas poorly executed.
what’s your opinion on them making the corvette electric next year? 🤔
@@jessihawkins9116 Not thrilled. Another GM blunder of one of the few real successes they've had.
They should have based it on the Corvette.
@jamesengland7461 I think that's what thr XLR was.
My Father currently has(although in storage)a '91 Allante. Having driven it several times, in the early '00 I can attest to the fact that it gives a serious sense of "ick" to the driver. I find it to be very uncomfortable and doesn't have enough power to justify the fuel consumption. The top is difficult to operate as it is mostly manual. It was easier to operate the top on the same-year Chevy Cavalier! I think that the GM designed interior looked much more refined.
J.R. Ewing approved
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
If they were rear wheel drive I would consider one,I also put many top on them but have not touched one in about 25 years.
Especcially in Silver, it still looks stunning.
About the buttons: yes, there are way too many.
But I still would prefer this over todays total lack of buttons like Tesla...
At 7:56 that interior sketch is very Tesla-like for the time
Oh that is too funny... I wrote this above comment before watching the rest of your video and your Tesla-like example.
You’ll end up like Jane Jetson. She had a bad case of Buttonitis!