Time for Allante?

[Bruce Nunnally]

The Cadillac Allante entered production in 1987, although the first full year of production was 1988. It ran through 1993. The 1993 model has been considered by some to be the 'best' of the Allantes, because it got the Northstar powertrain in that year. These models have traditionally commanded premium pricing.

Photos similar to what you might find in 'the wild': http://www.andersonauto.ca/pics/459pics.htm

The Cadillac Allante is a 2-seat Cadillac with styling characteristic of its production run. It was definitely the 'elite' flagship model of the range at the time, and got the best of anything available. The bodies were made by Pinin Farina in Italy, and flown on specially designed airliners for delivery to the Cadillac factory for assembly.

The Allante has a manual cloth top, although a all-aluminum hardtop was available for winter driving through 1992.

1987: 4.1L tuned to 170hp

1988: 4.1L tuned to 170hp 0-60 mph in 9.5 sec

1989: 4.5L tuned to 200hp; 0-60 mph 8.3 sec

1990: 4.5L tuned to 200hp

1991: 4.5L tuned to 200 hp

1992: 4.5L tuned to 200 hp

1993: 4.6L DOHC Northstar tuned to 295 hp; 0-60 in 7.5 sec?

The Allante was considered a commercial failure at the time. Articles such as http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...mp;pagewanted=1

from 1987 suggest it was not 'bold' enough, and that there was some pricing resistance to having Cadillac sells cars that cost as much as the Allante did. Cadillac added brighter colors the next year.

With the 2009 models arriving at dealer showrooms, the Allantes are now 16-22 years old. They will have normal sorts of older car issues, compounded by lower production levels and less familiarity with the Allantes from your local Cadillac dealer. On the other hand, specialty shops and suppliers who only deal with Allante parts and systems have cropped up, such as http://www.allantesource.com/

Allante club site: http://www.allante.com/content.aspx?page_i...;club_id=179768

Interestingly, Allante prices seem to have settled to a healthy $5K-10K range, which makes them interesting as a weekend/hobby car. I would look for a 1991-1993 model. My understanding is that although the 1993 has the more powerful engine it also got decontented a bit for the final year, so I would shy away from paying a premium for a 93 car except based on condition.

[BodybyFisher]

Everytime I see one it grabs my eye, I remember looking at one in the dealer and through it was so cool. The convertible top leaks turned me off. I have seen a few lately and would love to have one as a unique toy.

[OynxSTS]

I owned a 1990.5 Allante... Bright red with black interior.. it was the 27th car made with the power latching top. It was an amazing car... and the 4.5 was under rated at 200HP it had no trouble breaking the tire loose at take off...

The 93 Allante was a 6.4 second 0-60 car... If you tested one at 7.5, it was broken.

While these are great cars... good luck getting parts... even in 1994... parts took MONTHS to get... most where shipped in from Europe... even after only 4 years many parts were disco'ed and impossible to get... If you buy one... get a second for a parts car.

I would love another some day. While most auto purest hated the FWD platform.. I had no issues with it, the car was amazing in the slow... better the some 4x4's it was a great car to take skiing... You could actually get two pair of ski's inside the trunk...

[bluecadillac]

i really like the allantes also. if i was to buy one i would get the 93 just for the northstar engine.

the only thing i really dont care for is the some of the dash and gauge cluster looks little tacky.

i know this is a caddy forum but do any of you remember the chrysler built maseratis now those where

some sweet cars.

[Cadillac Jim]

I had a friend who had a Chrysler-Maserati and I was underwhelmed. My 1990 Pontiac Grand Am GT with the 180 hp Quad 4 HO and Level 3 suspension package outclassed it for performance, and handling was absolutely in a higher class.

On the other hand, I lusted after an Avanti, even with the 4.5 and with the Northstar... but $80K was out of my reach for a car. I went to paying cash for cars a looooong time ago and $80K was just too high for any car to me. This was in the late 1980's, when $80K was a lot of money, and you could get a Corvette for half that.

[Ed Hall]

I own 2 Allantes, an 87 and a 93. I can say that they are not a car for the everyday typical driver. They are finicky cars and some parts are extremely expensive. For example, on the 87, the brake fluid needs to be flushed every 6 months to extend the life of the ungodly expensive braking system. The braking systems on these cars stop faster than just about anything out there but their complexity and price is very high. Other parts such as the front bumper cover, grill and headlights are also very expensive. A used front bumper goes for around $1200, grill goes for $800 and a used headlight is $600. And if the gears in the front header pull down goes bad, good luck, you may never find one for less than what your car is worth. Also, the transmission solenoids are unique and cannot be found new so the only way to buy a solenoid is from a parts car.

On the other hand, these are very nice driving cars. They are quiet even with the top down and they handle well. The power on my 93 Allante is explosive, however, it guzzles gas. These cars could be bought with either the digital dash or the analog dash. My 87 has a digital and my 93 has an analog. The digital is cool looking almost like what you would see in a jet. Another thing is the 87-90 came stock with a hardtop and then from 91-93, the hardtop was optional. My 93 did not come with a hardtop but I'm buying a hardtop for mine today!!