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2022 Shannons Autumn Timed Online Auction
Lot
122

1987 Cadillac Allante Coupe (RHD)

$17,000

Melbourne

Sold

Specifications

Engine 4.1 litre V8
Gearbox 4-Speed Auto
Body Work Convertible
Colour Pearlescent White
Interior Burgundy
Trim Leather
Wheels Alloys
Brakes Disc/Disc

Description

This lot is no longer available

Cadillac has represented the pinnacle of American luxury motoring for the past century and its products have often reflected the mood of the nation - witness, for example, the rise of the fins and other styling excesses in the booming 1950s and the more sober, restrained elegance of the early 1960s as the Cold War era began in earnest. To maintain Cadillac's position in the luxury car market in the 1980s, an aspirational model was needed and the Allante – a name selected from 1700 computer generated words – was born, as a two-door, two-seater luxury convertible.  It used a Cadillac chassis and running gear, with a body built in Italy by coachbuilder Pininfarina. It was hideously expensive to produce, with complete bodies flown by specially equipped Boeing 747s from Turin to Detroit in batches of 56, for final assembly. The front-wheel drive Allanté featured a transverse multi-port fuel injected variant of GM's aluminum 4.1 litre HT-Cadillac 4100 V8, along with roller valve lifters, high-flow cylinder heads, and a tuned intake manifold. The suspension was independent strut front and rear, with Bosch ABS III four-wheel disc brakes. A removable aluminum hardtop, Delco-GM/Bose Symphony Sound System, a fully electronic instrument and control panel, angled towards the driver, featuring no knobs or manual controls, were all standard. So too was the industry's first power retractable AM/FM/phone antenna, and a complex light-out exterior lighting system which could utilise an adjacent globe until the dead one was replaced. The only option was a mobile phone, installed in a lockable center console. Marketed by Cadillac from 1987 until 1993, over 21,000 were built during its seven-year production run.