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Cadillac Allante - READ ONLY

37 messages,  Last post on Jun 03, 2002 at 9:25 PM

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What is this discussion about? Cadillac Allante

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#1 of 37 Allante by megasuvowner May 22, 2001 (3:13 pm)
What a great car by cadillac. I forgot why production of this great car stopped, it was either poor sales or something wrong with production. I thought it looked very sleek and nice for a caddy, maybe because its body was built by pinifinera, the designers for Lamborgini and Ferrari. Another interesting thing about this car was that the "shells" were built in Italy and shipped to the us in 747 jumbo jets. Oh well, heres the place to voice your opinion on this little 2dr convertible.
#2 of 37 by Mr_Shiftright HOST May 23, 2001 (12:31 pm)
I think the car failed not only due to typical GM quality issues but also that it was matched up against the Mercedes SL, which just bested it in every possible area. GM picked a pretty difficult opponent for the Allante, so no wonder.   The 1993 models carried the Northstar V-8, which greatly improved performance and reliability. Unfortunately, way too late to save the car.   Poor marketing, poor quality control, poor positioning against a formidable competitor it couldn't possibly beat, (should have tried the luxury sport coupe market) , and poor engineering development.
#3 of 37 My thoughts on Allante' by sweetjeldorado May 31, 2001 (1:41 pm)
Also, the Allante was marketed in the wrong time, or lets say wrong era. It may have been a great car to some Allante enthusiasts but the car, somewhat, was underpowered with a dismal 4.1 liter engine set-up with poor quality control problems such as leaky convertible roof, squeaks and rattles and etc.   Cadillacs loyal age group back then was over 60 and was successful with that age group statistically. The Allante looked fresh and more modern than most of the current Cadillac line-up at that time but hardly no one noticed the car and thought that the Cadillac image was less significant. The idea was great but execution of the car was way off base and could not influence anyone in the Cadillac showrooms. The Cadillac line-up has abundant amount of chrome externally everywhere except for the Allante' If GM invested money in marketing such as Lemans and NASCAR, commercials and advertisement in mags. and newspapers, it would get some publicity but didn't.   Did you remember that on Married with Children in '87 when Christina Applegate a.k.a. Kelly Bundy trying to win the contest and did won dubiously trying to be a model in front of the Allante' in the showroom. To be honest, they never "mentioned" Cadillac on the show and I did not know that it was a Cadillac back then.   Might be one of the reasons why the car did not sell either because it did not look like a regular Cadillac and the car was just too sporty compared to the limo-like Cadillacs back then. All the apples to one fresh orange does not work.   If Cadillac was fortune tellers, they should had marketed the car as first production in '93-'02 since it looks apart of the sporty '92-'97 Seville (touring sedan) and Eldorado (touring coupe) to set off the upcoming Cadillac CLR (Evoq) nicely as a halo car. I think this time, the CLR will be a success since the other Cadillacs(upcoming fusion of design and tech. edgy-chiseled design models) will look just as sporty back of the CLR. The Evoq this time around will match the next gen. SL and other high end two-seater (and two-seater and a half) in every which way particularly in performance, technology, quality and so on.   J "CaddyLac"
#4 of 37 by ineto6 May 31, 2001 (2:25 pm)
The car was sweet but overpriced. People rather buy the Eldorado instead - more practical.
#5 of 37 Failure of Allante by merckx Jun 01, 2001 (3:54 am)
It's easy to be an armchair quarterback,but I would say the biggest problem was that GM was asking Mercedes 560SL money for the Allante-they probably had to though with the air freight and cutting Pinninfarina into the profit loop.But think of it-the Merc should have been easy to beat,having been designed in 1971.But at least at first Gm had to undercut it in price,but they didn't.Obviously,the Benz became an icon,because the driving expierence was not really that great-at least compared to a much more modern car like,say,a BMW 3-series convert.But after so many years on the market(and not all that up-dated either)many non-enthuesists lusted for one,without having any real interest or even knowledge about cars. Gm needed to be patient-with time the Allante could have given the Mercedes a run for its money,but not right at the beginning,and not at the same price. It was hubris that made GM price the Cad that high.
#6 of 37 by Mr_Shiftright HOST Jun 01, 2001 (6:54 am)
Yes, good point. Cadillac's big mistake was to design a car to compete with an OLD Mercedes design, so it was obsolete the day it hit the market. Benz already had a replacement for the 560SL in the cooker. Allante couldn't match the old 560SL and was completely outclassed by newer Benz models. It would be the equivalent say, of some company entering the 2001 SUV market with a copy of a 1985 Chevy Suburban.
#7 of 37 Proud Allante owner by Bushwack Jun 03, 2001 (7:13 am)
I own a '93 Allanté and for what the car was designed to do, it does very, very well. The car was designed to cruise down the interstate with power readily available when needed. It rides like a Cadillac - as intended.   The Allanté should have been marketed the same way Ford will market the new T-bird - a high horsepower highway cruiser with a firm yet gently ride.   Aesthetically, the Allanté's interior is (imo) a love/hate relationship. Aside from the instrument cluster, the car could have used some subtle contemporary styling. I think the upcoming Evoq will very much what the Allanté was intended to be. Now if the boys at GM would just market the car correctly, it will be a success from both an aesthetic, engineering AND marketing perspective.
#8 of 37 by Mr_Shiftright HOST Jun 03, 2001 (3:15 pm)
You have the Northstar V8? MUCH better car than the older ones. As an appraiser, I award considerably more value to a Northstar Allante.
#9 of 37 And by im_brentwood Jun 04, 2001 (12:47 am)
The Northstar is the one that's going to be a collectible IMO.   You guys also forgot another thing... Staggering depreciation (93s Excepted). Allantes often were advertised for $15K or so off original list when they were a year old.   As a dealer, I can't think of a nice thing to say about 87-89s... By the time they fixed the car it was too late.   Bill
#10 of 37 Neighbor's Allante by andre1969 Jun 04, 2001 (7:37 am)
Our neighbor's "boyfriend" (I feel weird using the term "boy", because he's gotta be in his 80's!) had an Allante. I remember he said that he got it new for something like $10,000 off the advertised price. I forget what year it was...but it was late 80's (definitely pre-Northstar)   He didn't keep it long though, I guess because it was too hard for him to get in and out of it.   -Andre

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