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Junkyard Gem: 1973 Cadillac Eldorado

The 1971-1978 Cadillac Eldorado was a gloriously ridiculous personal luxury coupe, packing a monstrous 500-cubic-inch V8 (that's 8.2 liters for you freedom-hating metric types) under its acre-sized hood for the first five years of production. Fuel economy was comfortably into single-digit territory, which meant you had to be a real high roller to be able to feed a new Eldo after OPEC turned off the oil spigot. I found this '73 in a Denver wrecking yard earlier this spring. View 18 Photos This car appears to have been sold new in Denver, and the extensive bodywork and sanded areas indicate that it was someone's project car prior to coming to the end of the line. The front-wheel-drive system used in the Cadillac Eldorados and Oldsmobile Toronados of this era was known as the Unified Powerplant Package, and it used a longitudinally-mounted engine feeding a chain-drive setup that proved to be amazingly sturdy and reliable. So sturdy, in fact, that it was used in gigantic front-wheel-drive GMC motorhomes. Everyone agrees that these cars are cool, but few are willing to rescue a rough example and take on the difficult and expensive job of a full restoration. This one isn't rusty, but that wasn't enough to save it. Related Video:

Here's what else you could buy for the average new-car price of $40,573

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. The average price of a new car in America hit a new record in December 2020: $40,573. Not that we're surprised — the average has been over $35,000 for the past few years — but seeing that baseline figure crest 40 large is still a sticker-shock to the system. So, as we do every once in a while, we put our collective heads together and came up with a list of alternatives that you could choose to buy for that sum, new or old, classic or practical. Now, let's be crystal clear about one thing here. We're not actually recommending you make this type of decision. That said, we wouldn't blame you if you did. Managing Editor Greg Rasa: $40,000 will buy a fully loaded Camry or moderately equipped crossover. Or, for $39,997, to be exact, one could go motoring in a fine British automobile. This 2006 Aston Martin DB9 Volante in Alabama has 21,452 miles on it, and depreciation has worked its cruel magic: It is listed for less than one-quarter of its $168,000 starting MSRP when it was new. A check of other used DB9s nationwide indicates this is a fair price. This Aston's CarFax reveals two owners. (One, really, as the second was a dealership. Looks like it got traded in for a Porsche.) If you're understandably concerned about reliability, its service history indicates no surprises to date. Remember, it has a 450-horsepower 5.9-liter V12. And spring is coming. Of course a used Aston Martin is riskier than a new Camry. But as Louis Prima sang, "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think." What price beauty? Less than $40 grand. Associate Editor Byron Hurd: This price point opens up a ton of options in the "nearly new" luxury space, including a few good enthusiast picks, but my nod here goes to the Cadillac ATS-V. The discontinued, M3/M4-rivaling, 465-horsepower sport sedan and coupe can be had all day long in this price range with low miles. In fact, the real challenge is finding one in the spec you want, since it's one of those old-fashioned cars that actually presented the buyer with choices. Here's a clean, six-speed sedan in an actual color for less than our target price, for example. Coupes are more plentiful than sedans, especially in interesting colors, but there are plenty of them out there.

Question of the Day: Worst year of the Malaise Era?

The Malaise Era for cars in the United States spanned the 1973 through 1983 model years, and featured such abominations as a Corvette with just 205 horsepower (from the optional engine!) and MGBs with suspensions jacked way up to meet new headlight-height requirements. There were many low points throughout this gloomy period, of course. The horrifyingly low power and fuel-economy numbers for big V8s during the middle years of the Malaise Era make a strong case for 1974 or 1975— the years of Nixon's resignation and the Fall of Saigon, respectively— as the most Malaisey years. But then the GM-pummeling debacles of the Chevy Citation and Cadillac Cimarron could make an early-1980s year the low point. 1979, the year of the ignominious Chrysler bailout? You choose! Related Video: