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

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#13 of 37 by dgraves1 Jun 05, 2001 (11:38 am)
Do any soft top convertibles keep the water out in a car wash? I thought car washes were generally not recommended for soft tops.
#14 of 37 by Mr_Shiftright HOST Jun 05, 2001 (12:00 pm)
I think this was with the hardtop installed that the leaks were the worst. That really shouldn't happen.
#15 of 37 by dgraves1 Jun 05, 2001 (12:14 pm)
Ah, forgot about the hardtop.
#16 of 37 The Allanté is a great car by smumfor Jun 14, 2001 (12:27 pm)
First of all get your facts straight http://allante.com/images/COMP.jpg And the water leaks you are talking about were on the early 87 models. I own an 89 Allanté and only during a hard driving rain here in Florida have I had any water leak in, and this is an 12 year old car. http://sys105.cebsbiller.com/aag/Allante1/89/sk.jpg The cars were built by Pininfarina in Turn and there were no GM quality issues. They were brought over without engine/transmissions. The 4.5 litre engine in mine is as fast as the northstar up to about 60 miles an hour. The Speed Dependent Damping suspension is wonderful but was not on the 87-88 years. When I wear this one out I will get another one because it is a great car that most people know nothing about. I would say that the only thing I would like to have is a Power Top, But that's not a real problem as I can put it up and down in seconds Scott http://sys105.cebsbiller.com/allante/
#17 of 37 by Mr_Shiftright HOST Jun 14, 2001 (1:27 pm)
Well, I'm glad you enjoy your car. I think calling the Allante "great" is at odds with the car's patchy history and ultimate withdrawal from the market. This is not to say it wasn't a nice car in many ways...but it suffered from poor marketing, too high a price tag, being rushed to market before it was ready, and of course the old "Italian-American Car Curse" that has bedeviled every US-Italy hybrid effort (Pantera, Iso, Chrysler TC, etc.). If the 1993 Allante had come out in 1987, who knows, things might have been different. The list of both owner praises and laments is well-known to most of us I think.
#18 of 37 Cadillac Allante by tomregan Jun 14, 2001 (4:47 pm)
It is interesting to read the comments of so many people who have never experianced the delights of an Allante. "To hard to get into." The reason that I bought it was ease of entry and egress. No comparison to 560 SL. Much bigger and more comfortable. Top was much easier to use. Especially later ones. Classic design. The only problem with the Allante was it's total abandonment by GM and Cadillac. Shame on them. I have personally owned two Allante's a 90 and a 93. Both wonderful cars. And Mr. Shiftright, your comments on value will be interesting to review in 20 years.
#19 of 37 by Mr_Shiftright HOST Jun 14, 2001 (5:07 pm)
My main evidence to suggest a sluggish value in the future for the car is based on the fact that no car that was a failure in the public eye (no matter what the car was really like) ever became highly collectible--so I would guess Allante prospects are...well...not grim....but not particulary rosy either. I'd peg it with Reatta, , '76 Eldo, C4 Corvette for future value. One not so good indication already is that the Allante is behaving like a used car in value, that is, the NEWER ones are worth more than the older ones. A collectible behaves the opposite, the older the more valuable. I think it will behave similarly to the Mercedes V8 SLs from the 70s, which are now over 25 years old and selling in the $12-14K range for excellent examples. For big bucks in a collector market, a car needs POWER, GLORY and PRESTIGE. I don't see the Allante with any of these in any significant way....not like Dodge Hemis, '57 Chevies, fuelie Corvettes, or even the '59 Cadillac Eldo, which have at least one or more of those three characteristics.   Here's an interesting quote from Business Week, 1993 issue, that I think is a fair and balanced assessment: Perhaps you would like to comment on it pro or con?   For starters, the car, with its 170-horsepower engine, was underpowered compared with foreign rivals. The body, handcrafted at the Pininfarina workshop in Titrin, Italy, was attractive, but not especially distinctive or well made. The roof leaked, and squeaks and wind noise marred the luxury-car hush.   These were all clear signs that the car's handlers should have waited and ironed out the bugs. But signs work only if they're heeded. One executive who worked on the Allante later on says that Cadillac couldn't bring itself to delay the launch. "They had made a big hoopla about the introduction of this car, and when the car wasn't ready, they didn't want to make the hard choice anti hold hack," he says. The result was a car too small anti expensive for core Cadillac buyers. hut not really good enough to lure import buyers. No wonder Cadillac sold fewer than half the expected 4,000 Allantes in the 1987 model year. And it never sold even half its goal of 7000 cars in subsequent years.   By the time GM decided to pull the plug, Allante (now priced at $61,075) had finally become the ultra smooth, high-performance luxury coupe it was originally intended to he. Cadillac had added the 295-horsepower multi-valve V8 Northstar engine and an electronically controlled transmission. But buyers were thoroughly confused. It was five Years too late.   Taking a different view, Cadillac's general manager. John 0. Grettenberger. says: "The car was a victim of economics, not a failure."
#20 of 37 by jonv Jun 14, 2001 (6:37 pm)
Failure? How about a front wheel drive car in a rear wheel drive marketplace? I like the Allante alot, but there are plenty better car, albeit for 10 to $20,000 more. This is a car to drive, repair, & enjoy.
#21 of 37 The Allante by jrosasmc Dec 17, 2001 (4:43 pm)
Why are the Allantes so disliked in the motoring community? I do know that the early '87s had the same sort of problems as our '87 Cutlass Ciera, but hey, Allantes are Cadillacs. I'm not sure why they don't get a lot of respect, even though their build quality was never that good.
#22 of 37 by Mr_Shiftright HOST Dec 17, 2001 (5:38 pm)
I think because they promised so much more than they finally delivered. I think people felt disappointed.   I don't know that they are "disliked" so much as generally ignored except by a small group of dedicated enthusiasts.   That's my own feeling about them. I don't really pay much attention to them one way or the other.

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