At $3,950, Is This 1993 Cadillac Allanté Rough And Ready?

Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Allanté represents a model that was once the halo car for the lofty Cadillac brand. This one’s seen some shit, but we should decide if its price makes it a good basis for a return to that former glory.

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Everybody loves a good Friday. Add to that the prospect of a well-priced Porsche, and things just couldn’t get any better. It turned out that the 2000 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 we looked at last Friday was a great way to start the weekend. And at $15,600, it wouldn’t break the bank either. That was enough for most of you to overlook the car’s minor flaws, high-ish mileage, and having the wrong (read, auto-box) transmission in awarding it a solid 57 percent Nice Price win.

OK, while we’re still bathed in the warm glow of reminiscence over last Friday’s pretty-good Porsche, let’s now take a look at a car that has the distinction of being constructed on what is to this day the longest automotive production line… in the world.

This 1993 Cadillac Allanté was, at the time of its introduction, an attempt by Cadillac to re-invent the brand. They’ve had multiple tries since so it’s easily discernable that the Allante simply didn’t do the trick.

It wasn’t for lack of trying, however. Cadillac went to extreme lengths for the two-seater, engaging Italy’s renowned Pininfarina design house to not only pen the Allante’s clean lines but also to stamp and weld together its body after the fact. Those bodies needed to be mated to drivetrains and other ancillary bits, and instead of shipping all those parts to Italy for assembly, Cadillac took the opposite route, deploying specially designed Boeing 747 cargo planes to cart the bodies to Detroit, where they were then transferred to GM’s Hamtramck assembly plant for final assembly.

The whole thing was called the Allanté Air Bridge and added significant cost and complexity to the car’s production.

The resulting car was pretty nice; however, its FWD V-body platform—a derivation of that used under the recently downsized Eldorado, Olds Toronado, and Buick Riviera—wasn’t fully up to the task of competing with Allanté’s primary target, the Mercedes SL.

Things weren’t all that great under the hood, either. The aluminum 4.1-liter V8 offered at the car’s introduction wasn’t a powerhouse, but that would be bumped for a 4.5-liter, 200-horsepower engine two years into production.

Things really got interesting in ’93, though. That’s when the cars received GM’s active damping ‘Road Sensing Suspension’ and the lauded DOHC Northstar V8. The Northstar pumped 295 horsepower to the front wheels and finally gave the car the walk to match its body’s talk.

The changes were well received by the car-buying public, as the 1993 model year saw the highest production in Allanté history—4,670 cars. Of course, this being a GM story, you know that once they got it right, GM unceremoniously canceled the car. This is why we can’t have nice GM things!

This one is in the typical-for-the-time Pearl White, although based on the description and reinforced by the pictures, the paint has seen better days. There’s also a crack on one of the tail lamp lenses that will cost a couple of hundred to replace, along with some minor dings in the bodywork needing attention. Chromed factory wheels underpin and are mounted with tires that look… well, tired.

Much the same story plays out in the cabin. As the seller notes, the leather on the seats is intact but appears woefully faded and in need of some attention. Ahead of that, the floppy dash cover is probably worse looking than whatever aesthetic evils it attempts to hide and should be tossed at the first opportunity. Other issues include a warped and poorly fitting glove box door and the fact that there are about six different shades of sadness represented in the small and very ’80s cabin.

On the plus side, the seller claims the convertible top is secure and leak-free and that the car is sound mechanically, running and driving without issue. It has a mere 115,321 miles under its belt and comes with a clean title. The asking price is also fairly meager, representing the car’s condition at $3,950.

It’s somewhat funny that the same price was asked for the little Honda Trail 70 we looked at last week. Most of you dismissed the two-wheeler at that price, although, frustratingly, it was in market range for its condition. I’m guessing that more leeway will be given to the similarly priced Allanté, given its history along with having four wheels and working weather protection. Let’s see if it does,

What’s your take on this aged Allanté and that $3,950 price tag? Does that seem like a fair asking for this tired, old two-seater? Or are this Caddy’s best days already in the past?

You decide!

San Diego, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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