When Sir Walter Raleigh failed to find the lost city of El Dorado, the king of England had him beheaded. Here's a '76 Eldorado that can also flip its lid.

Whether a lost city of gold, or the halo car for the Cadillac brand, the Eldorado has always been aspirational. The Eldorado debuted in 1953, as a special model of the Series 62 convertible. It was the first Cadillac to sport a wraparound windscreen, but shared the standard 210bhp 331 cid OHV V8 with the rest of the range. Cadillac continued to mine the Eldorado for sales gold- emboldening the 1959 model with acres of chrome and tailfins that would have made proud. The 1967 Eldo made history as the first front-wheel-drive Cadillac, and buried its headlamps behind vacuum-operated flipper doors- another Caddy first.

Which brings us up to 1976, America's bicentennial, and what way better to celebrate than parading down Main Street in that icon of the American dream; a Cadillac convertible. This Fire Mist Green with white top, '76 Eldorado has spent the past 33 years doing just that, and has amassed a claimed 1,229 miles in that time. This lightly-used example of the make still has the original window sticker intact, a power convertible top, and even the original 8-track tape to provide the appropriate soundtrack for those trips down to Micky-Dees for some golden french fries. The white leather seats remain buttery soft, and the 500 c.i.d. V8 engine probably still produces a goodly number of the 215bhp it had when it left the factory. As you consider this car, you should also keep in mind that the 1976 Eldorado was the only convertible model produced by any of the big three American car makers that year.

So is $26,000 for this Eldorado the mythical dream of Sir Walter Raleigh and many others? Or does that price make you want this Eldorado to stay lost forever?

You decide!

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