CadVetteStang
Member
Restoring/Racing 70 Eldorado in 1986 SCCA autocross in AR (old pictures)
Hi everyone, I’m new here. My name is Cody G. Carson. If you google my full name in quotes, you will get a lot of info about me, but this post is about my car…. My favorite car…. My first car…
I found some old pictures of my dad and me restoring and racing my 70 Eldorado in the 1986 SCCA autocross. Most of these pics are in very bad condition. They had been cut up and placed in a collage on a cork board that hung above my bed in my college dorm room. I found that cork board last year in storage, but it had been water damaged. These are the pics that I could salvage (they are not the best pictures- only the surviving ones) - I am still looking for the negatives to make another set.
This story actually starts when I was 14 back in 1980…
My Driving: Brief Background- We had a large back yard (see picture above). My father had access to a supply of pylons. Before I got the 70 Eldorado (or had ever heard of an autocross) I learned how to drive with a Datsun pickup truck and practiced my maneuvering in a homemade pylon course setup in the backyard. The better I became, the more difficult I set up the course and the faster I drove. (I had no idea that autocross racing existed). I eventually put broom sticks in the pylons and set them to a one inch clearance between the side mirrors. When that got boring, I started driving the course in reverse. (I really tore up the yard). So I guess you could say that I was a self-taught autocross driver before I started driving on the streets. I did not discover real autocross racing as a sanctioned sport until I 1985 when I was in college. When I drove my first practice run (in a 70 Eldorado) it felt very natural… It’s in my blood…. It’s how I learned how to drive.
1970 Eldorado: Brief background- I got the car when I was 15 (back in 1981) It was a gift that my dad had bought for my mom for $600. It was Turquoise, dented, and scraped up by a 16 year-old girl who got it from her parents but said it was too big to drive. My mom did not want the car because of the gas mileage. (8.5 MPG city/ 13.5 MPG highway) I asked if I could have it- and it became an early 16th birthday present. (How many kids have ever been lucky enough to say that their first car was the legendary 70 Eldorado?) If you are not familiar with that car, do a google search on them. Powered by a 500 CID engine that produces 550 lbs. of torque @ 3,000 RPMs in stock trim with all accessories hooked up and running including the AC (and with points ignition, a carb, a solid fan spacer, and quiet single exhaust.) Based on the ’66 Torodado FWD torsion bar chassis they were famous for handling like they were on rails and few cars could beat these 4,860 lb. cars off the line in a stoplight drag race.
Note: The poor fuel mileage of these cars was due to a combination of weight, poor aerodynamics, the lack of an overdrive transmission, the solid fan spacer, and an inadequate ignition system. Upgrading the motor with a thermal fan clutch, HEI Ignition, a modern cam grind, and a non-restrictive exhaust system, can bring the car up to better fuel mileage ratings than Small block Chevy powered full size trucks of the same weight range (even if that truck has an overdrive transmission).
During restoration, we painted it White because the A/C was going to be too expensive to fix and it was the only color that looked right with the Turquoise interior. My uncle (now deceased) is the guy without a shirt who is painting it. He learned how to paint while in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He was in the motor pool and his unit used to steal Army Jeeps and re-paint them with Air Force colors and numbers. That was Air Force “creative acquisitions†of that day - LOL.
My Eldorado was the third fastest car at my high school and I street raced it while I was in college (during my late rebellion). My first autocross, however, was in 1985, and it was at the U of A in Fayetteville. I had only mild success- beating half of the Camaros, Trans Ams and Mustangs. I was told later by observers that my front wheels were folding over; when the race was over, I had asphalt scrapes on the outer lips of the hubcaps and the whitewalls were deeply scraped. I was running BF Goodrich 235/75 R15s on the stock 15X6 rims.
However, In 1986 I still had the stock rims, but was running Pirelli 215/75 R15s that had tread which folded over onto the sidewalls and had recessed whitewalls between two flat “racing slick†like areas on the sidewall which allowed the tire to grip on dry pavement when folded over during hard cornering (I can’t remember what they were called, but they were performance tires for soft suspensions). My favorite opponent (victim) in 1986 was the ‘86 IROC Z because I could beat them in the drags as well as in the corners.
Being a Cadillac, my car was the obvious underdog and some spectators laughed when they saw me entering it. However, my first practice run followed the second practice run of a teenager-driven Porsche 944. When I put up faster numbers, I received a standing ovation from a “wowed†crowd that realized my entry was no joke.
The week before the race, I had to cut the exhaust system off of the car because the dual wall pipes had collapsed on themselves. I did not have the money for a new exhaust at that time, so I drove it for a couple of weeks with straight pipes.
The final part of the autocross run was a 300 foot straight stretch that opened up coming out of the hair pin turn and ran right in front of the bleachers. The spectators got all 500 cubic inches through straight pipes at close range under WOT as I would go through the finish. I later heard reports that the car shook the windows on every building at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. The SCCA officials there said it was the biggest and loudest car to ever compete in one of their events.
(These pictures were taken by my brother at the parking lot of Razorback Stadium. He won his class that day with a 79 Datsun 280 ZX)
The night before the 1986 autocross, I spent hours practicing in a vacant parking lot. I showed up at the competition with a mission: That morning, I was able to beat the Camaro, Trans Am, Mustang crowd and had my eyes set on the Corvettes. I was on the heals of the new C4 Vettes and gained local notoriety from that. Unfortunately, there were no C3 Vettes there (which I feel I could have beaten); only 26 total cars showed up because of early morning rain that had most people convinced the event was canceled. (Note the cloudy skies in the pictures and the wet parking lot).
When my last and fastest competition run beat the slower first three runs of an 84 Vette, the other Vette drivers got together in a group and schooled the 84 driver with a few driving lessons. They also gave him a lecture about how he, “had better not let a Cadillac make them all look badâ€. After some expert coaching, he improved his time by over a second and a half and his best run was a full second ahead of mine (which was a second behind the slower of the other three competing C4 Vettes). In the end, I did not beat any of the C4s and the teenager did improve the Porsche’s run times so that they were faster than mine.
However, I do have the bragging rights that I beat the Camaros, Trans Ams and Mustangs while giving C4 Corvette owners (and a Porsche 944 owner) some serious competition in a bone stock, lead sled, Eldorado with 6†wide wheels and whitewalls. Also, my car was the only one that got a standing ovation after every competition and practice run. This car was the crowd favorite that day; they could not believe that an Eldorado was “kicking butt and taking names†in a competition dominated by sports cars and muscle cars.
Overall, I finished 12th out of 26 total cars. Because of the low turnout, they ran F, G and H classes together. I finished 5th out of 12 in that combined class. I’ve been trying to find official SCCA time records for that event to verify my claims to publish with this story, but have so far been unable to obtain them.
Unfortunately, I arrived too late to compete in 1987. And then in 1988 they had us all drive a Dodge Daytona in some type of “Daytona Challenge†(What a letdown for a Caddy enthusiast). Then later that year, I blew the engine in my 70 Eldo in a road race with a Porsche 911. We were side-by-side as he was slowly passing me, when at 85 MPH, a lean fuel mixture disintegrated half of a piston. [I was still able to drive it home- (max speed 50 MPH). Not that driving a car with a blown engine is a good idea, but my mechanic said if he didn’t see it, he wouldn’t have believed it.)]
The car was almost fixed three different times (and there is a story behind each failure – all related to circumstances and finances). The last time was when I pulled the car out of storage to modify my garage for its restoration- getting it ready for my 20th high school reunion. The day after I moved the car outside, a large Oak Tree limb fell on it denting the hood, busting a hole in the windshield the size of a basket ball, and ripping the rearview mirror off of the door. It has since sat in a field awaiting a full restoration and during the past few years has served duty as a condo for squirrels, birds, snakes and who knows what else….. Someday, I’ll put it back together…… Someday. And when I do, It won’t be a stocker. Then, the “Battlecar Cadillactica†with a stiff road racing suspension, 20 X 9.5†wheels, Z rated tires, and an additional 100 horsepower will have another autocross appointment with a few (now antique) C4 Corvettes. It will also be interesting to see how the car does against Camaros and Mustangs of the 90s and today.
EDIT:
Update: My 82 Eldorado and 70 Eldorado were both being stored in the same field behind a friend’s body shop. I have received word that there was some sort of mixup between him and his cousins and that both of my Eldorados and two of his trucks were taken to a crusher. I talked to the crushers who remembered two Cadillacs going through in that time frame (feb. 2009) but am still trying to put the pieces of the story together – as it stands right now, it seems I have lost my cars due to leaving them in someone else’s care for too long of a time. My 82 pro touring Eldorado can easily be replaced, but I don’t know how I will ever get over the loss of my 70 Eldorado (my first, fastest, best handling, and best overall car I have ever owned).
Cody G. Carson
My Myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/codygcarson
My Caddy Performance group:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Cad ... sociation/
My 67 – 70 Eldorado performance and restoration group:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Cad ... 0Eldorado/
My 79-85 Eldorado performance group:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/79t ... _Toronado/
My 92 – 2002 Eldorado performance group;
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/92t ... 97Seville/
Hi everyone, I’m new here. My name is Cody G. Carson. If you google my full name in quotes, you will get a lot of info about me, but this post is about my car…. My favorite car…. My first car…
I found some old pictures of my dad and me restoring and racing my 70 Eldorado in the 1986 SCCA autocross. Most of these pics are in very bad condition. They had been cut up and placed in a collage on a cork board that hung above my bed in my college dorm room. I found that cork board last year in storage, but it had been water damaged. These are the pics that I could salvage (they are not the best pictures- only the surviving ones) - I am still looking for the negatives to make another set.
This story actually starts when I was 14 back in 1980…
My Driving: Brief Background- We had a large back yard (see picture above). My father had access to a supply of pylons. Before I got the 70 Eldorado (or had ever heard of an autocross) I learned how to drive with a Datsun pickup truck and practiced my maneuvering in a homemade pylon course setup in the backyard. The better I became, the more difficult I set up the course and the faster I drove. (I had no idea that autocross racing existed). I eventually put broom sticks in the pylons and set them to a one inch clearance between the side mirrors. When that got boring, I started driving the course in reverse. (I really tore up the yard). So I guess you could say that I was a self-taught autocross driver before I started driving on the streets. I did not discover real autocross racing as a sanctioned sport until I 1985 when I was in college. When I drove my first practice run (in a 70 Eldorado) it felt very natural… It’s in my blood…. It’s how I learned how to drive.
1970 Eldorado: Brief background- I got the car when I was 15 (back in 1981) It was a gift that my dad had bought for my mom for $600. It was Turquoise, dented, and scraped up by a 16 year-old girl who got it from her parents but said it was too big to drive. My mom did not want the car because of the gas mileage. (8.5 MPG city/ 13.5 MPG highway) I asked if I could have it- and it became an early 16th birthday present. (How many kids have ever been lucky enough to say that their first car was the legendary 70 Eldorado?) If you are not familiar with that car, do a google search on them. Powered by a 500 CID engine that produces 550 lbs. of torque @ 3,000 RPMs in stock trim with all accessories hooked up and running including the AC (and with points ignition, a carb, a solid fan spacer, and quiet single exhaust.) Based on the ’66 Torodado FWD torsion bar chassis they were famous for handling like they were on rails and few cars could beat these 4,860 lb. cars off the line in a stoplight drag race.
Note: The poor fuel mileage of these cars was due to a combination of weight, poor aerodynamics, the lack of an overdrive transmission, the solid fan spacer, and an inadequate ignition system. Upgrading the motor with a thermal fan clutch, HEI Ignition, a modern cam grind, and a non-restrictive exhaust system, can bring the car up to better fuel mileage ratings than Small block Chevy powered full size trucks of the same weight range (even if that truck has an overdrive transmission).
During restoration, we painted it White because the A/C was going to be too expensive to fix and it was the only color that looked right with the Turquoise interior. My uncle (now deceased) is the guy without a shirt who is painting it. He learned how to paint while in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He was in the motor pool and his unit used to steal Army Jeeps and re-paint them with Air Force colors and numbers. That was Air Force “creative acquisitions†of that day - LOL.
My Eldorado was the third fastest car at my high school and I street raced it while I was in college (during my late rebellion). My first autocross, however, was in 1985, and it was at the U of A in Fayetteville. I had only mild success- beating half of the Camaros, Trans Ams and Mustangs. I was told later by observers that my front wheels were folding over; when the race was over, I had asphalt scrapes on the outer lips of the hubcaps and the whitewalls were deeply scraped. I was running BF Goodrich 235/75 R15s on the stock 15X6 rims.
However, In 1986 I still had the stock rims, but was running Pirelli 215/75 R15s that had tread which folded over onto the sidewalls and had recessed whitewalls between two flat “racing slick†like areas on the sidewall which allowed the tire to grip on dry pavement when folded over during hard cornering (I can’t remember what they were called, but they were performance tires for soft suspensions). My favorite opponent (victim) in 1986 was the ‘86 IROC Z because I could beat them in the drags as well as in the corners.
Being a Cadillac, my car was the obvious underdog and some spectators laughed when they saw me entering it. However, my first practice run followed the second practice run of a teenager-driven Porsche 944. When I put up faster numbers, I received a standing ovation from a “wowed†crowd that realized my entry was no joke.
The week before the race, I had to cut the exhaust system off of the car because the dual wall pipes had collapsed on themselves. I did not have the money for a new exhaust at that time, so I drove it for a couple of weeks with straight pipes.
The final part of the autocross run was a 300 foot straight stretch that opened up coming out of the hair pin turn and ran right in front of the bleachers. The spectators got all 500 cubic inches through straight pipes at close range under WOT as I would go through the finish. I later heard reports that the car shook the windows on every building at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. The SCCA officials there said it was the biggest and loudest car to ever compete in one of their events.
(These pictures were taken by my brother at the parking lot of Razorback Stadium. He won his class that day with a 79 Datsun 280 ZX)
The night before the 1986 autocross, I spent hours practicing in a vacant parking lot. I showed up at the competition with a mission: That morning, I was able to beat the Camaro, Trans Am, Mustang crowd and had my eyes set on the Corvettes. I was on the heals of the new C4 Vettes and gained local notoriety from that. Unfortunately, there were no C3 Vettes there (which I feel I could have beaten); only 26 total cars showed up because of early morning rain that had most people convinced the event was canceled. (Note the cloudy skies in the pictures and the wet parking lot).
When my last and fastest competition run beat the slower first three runs of an 84 Vette, the other Vette drivers got together in a group and schooled the 84 driver with a few driving lessons. They also gave him a lecture about how he, “had better not let a Cadillac make them all look badâ€. After some expert coaching, he improved his time by over a second and a half and his best run was a full second ahead of mine (which was a second behind the slower of the other three competing C4 Vettes). In the end, I did not beat any of the C4s and the teenager did improve the Porsche’s run times so that they were faster than mine.
However, I do have the bragging rights that I beat the Camaros, Trans Ams and Mustangs while giving C4 Corvette owners (and a Porsche 944 owner) some serious competition in a bone stock, lead sled, Eldorado with 6†wide wheels and whitewalls. Also, my car was the only one that got a standing ovation after every competition and practice run. This car was the crowd favorite that day; they could not believe that an Eldorado was “kicking butt and taking names†in a competition dominated by sports cars and muscle cars.
Overall, I finished 12th out of 26 total cars. Because of the low turnout, they ran F, G and H classes together. I finished 5th out of 12 in that combined class. I’ve been trying to find official SCCA time records for that event to verify my claims to publish with this story, but have so far been unable to obtain them.
Unfortunately, I arrived too late to compete in 1987. And then in 1988 they had us all drive a Dodge Daytona in some type of “Daytona Challenge†(What a letdown for a Caddy enthusiast). Then later that year, I blew the engine in my 70 Eldo in a road race with a Porsche 911. We were side-by-side as he was slowly passing me, when at 85 MPH, a lean fuel mixture disintegrated half of a piston. [I was still able to drive it home- (max speed 50 MPH). Not that driving a car with a blown engine is a good idea, but my mechanic said if he didn’t see it, he wouldn’t have believed it.)]
The car was almost fixed three different times (and there is a story behind each failure – all related to circumstances and finances). The last time was when I pulled the car out of storage to modify my garage for its restoration- getting it ready for my 20th high school reunion. The day after I moved the car outside, a large Oak Tree limb fell on it denting the hood, busting a hole in the windshield the size of a basket ball, and ripping the rearview mirror off of the door. It has since sat in a field awaiting a full restoration and during the past few years has served duty as a condo for squirrels, birds, snakes and who knows what else….. Someday, I’ll put it back together…… Someday. And when I do, It won’t be a stocker. Then, the “Battlecar Cadillactica†with a stiff road racing suspension, 20 X 9.5†wheels, Z rated tires, and an additional 100 horsepower will have another autocross appointment with a few (now antique) C4 Corvettes. It will also be interesting to see how the car does against Camaros and Mustangs of the 90s and today.
EDIT:
Update: My 82 Eldorado and 70 Eldorado were both being stored in the same field behind a friend’s body shop. I have received word that there was some sort of mixup between him and his cousins and that both of my Eldorados and two of his trucks were taken to a crusher. I talked to the crushers who remembered two Cadillacs going through in that time frame (feb. 2009) but am still trying to put the pieces of the story together – as it stands right now, it seems I have lost my cars due to leaving them in someone else’s care for too long of a time. My 82 pro touring Eldorado can easily be replaced, but I don’t know how I will ever get over the loss of my 70 Eldorado (my first, fastest, best handling, and best overall car I have ever owned).
Cody G. Carson
My Myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/codygcarson
My Caddy Performance group:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Cad ... sociation/
My 67 – 70 Eldorado performance and restoration group:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Cad ... 0Eldorado/
My 79-85 Eldorado performance group:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/79t ... _Toronado/
My 92 – 2002 Eldorado performance group;
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/92t ... 97Seville/
