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The spotted specimen

This week we have only one photo of the car spotted, but it is exclusive enough to show anyway: a 1989 Cadillac Allanté. The car has been in the Netherlands since 2012 and only since this summer with its current owner.

What was the Cadillac Allanté?

Introduced for the 1987 model year, the Cadillac Allanté was intended as a sporty addition to the Cadillac lineup. The model was positioned above the Eldorado, the larger and more luxury-oriented convertible. Specifically, the Allanté was intended to compete with cars such as the Jaguar XJ-S and Mercedes-Benz SL. The car’s name was determined in a very modern way: ‘Allanté’ was chosen from some 1,700 computer-generated names.

Arguing about design

Cadillac wanted a European-style roadster and sought contact with several European coachbuilders to do so. In the end, the choice fell on the Italian company Pininfarina, which took care of the car’s design. This, incidentally, much to the displeasure of Cadillac’s own design team, which felt rather passed over. After the many “ordinary” models, this fun prestige project of all things passed them by….

However, the management held firm, because for this top model they wanted a design that was associated with a big name. Pininfarina also handled the production of the bodies. For that, they even built a completely new assembly hall, just north of Turin.

Powertrain Cadillac Allanté

On a technical level, the Cadillac Allanté was on a completely proprietary platform, a shortened version of the platform on which the Eldorado, among others, stood. The engine was a slightly modified version of the 4.1-liter V8 found in other Cadillac models. The engine was transversely in front, with drive to the front wheels, via a four-speed automatic transmission.

In 1989, the engine was replaced by a version enlarged to 4.5-liter. In the final 1993 model year, the familiar 4.6 Northstar V8 took over. With each engine change, engine output climbed slightly, from 127 kW (173 hp) of the first to 220 kW (300 hp) for the last.

Rich equipment Cadillac Allanté

As the top model, the Cadillac Allanté was equipped with all sorts of luxuries. Especially special for that time was an (optional) built-in cell phone. Also unusual were the light units: almost all lighting was double. If a bulb failed, a spare bulb placed directly next to it would automatically light up. In principle, the Allanté had a soft top, but a hardtop to place over it was standard equipment.

During the course of production, items such as an adaptive suspension were also added. Cadillac was also progressive in terms of warranty: specifically for the Allanté, (starting in 1990) as much as seven years and 160,000 miles of factory warranty applied, plus a model-specific emergency number for when assistance was needed.

Digital instrumentation

True to the latest trends, the Cadillac Allanté had a fully electronic instrument cluster, in addition to a highly driver-oriented center console. Interestingly, General Motors already provided touchscreens in certain models back then, but precisely not in prestige model Allanté. Later you could optionally order a traditional instrument cluster. Still later, precisely the digital instrument cluster became optional.

Air Bridge manufacturing process

The Cadillac Allanté is also known for its cumbersome production process, especially its logistics. The bodies, as mentioned, were produced by Pininfarina in Italy. The powertrain, however, was simply produced locally in Detroit. GM decided not to ship the bodies, but to fly their own specially modified Boeing 747s from Turin to Detroit. Cadillac called this the Air Bridge and it is sometimes called the world’s longest production line.

Of course, this was not a cheap manufacturing process, but flying was a lot faster than boating. Previously, Cadillac did have a local factory for specialized bodywork, but it had closed permanently shortly before the introduction of the Allanté. So that was no longer an option either.

Production numbers Cadillac Allanté

Although the Cadillac Allanté was quite appreciated by the press, even in direct comparison with its competitors, it was a very expensive car partly because of this production process. This inhibited sales. Eventually, the Allanté did remain in production through model year 1993, but only a little over 21,000 were produced during that time. Almost all of these were sold in the home market. Even in neighboring Canada, they remained at a few copies per year.

A facelift for the Allanté was in development but ultimately was not introduced. Nor did a successor arrive. Not right away, at least, because in 2003 the Cadillac XLR did appear.

The Cadillac Allanté in the Netherlands

Although, as far as we can tell, the Cadillac Allanté has never been officially delivered in the Netherlands, according to the vehicle registration register, there are 27 examples on Dutch plates. That’s quite a bit more than we expected.