Cadillac Eldorado (8th, and Final Generation)

For 1992, a new Eldorado appeared. It was in fact only slightly bigger than its predecessor, but it was so much more adroitly styled that it seemed greatly so. Window glass was once again frameless, and shortly after introduction Cadillac's new Northstar V8 became available in both 270 and 295 hp variants, replacing the 200 hp 4.9 liter.

The combination of sleek styling and increased power seemed more like the great Eldorados of the past, and reviews were generally good. Sales were up, though never again at record heights. Buyers were seemingly turning against two-door bodies, as illustrated by the fact that the Eldorado's very similar four-door relative, the Cadillac Seville, consistently outsold it.

The Eldorado continued for the rest of the decade with incremental changes and gradually tapering sales. In the wake of declining sales, circulating reports that the Eldorado would get a redesign for 1999 � similar to that which its Seville platform mate underwent for 1998 � would prove false as the car soldiered on largely unchanged into the new millennium.

Having lost its only remaining 2-door platform mate, the Buick Riviera, after the 1999 model year, rumors of the Eldorado's imminent demise began to circulate. GM showed a lowered, customized Eldorado-based concept at the 2000 North American International Auto Show, which was called EldoRODo, to little media or public interest.

Not long after, GM announced that the Eldorado's 50th model year, 2002, would be its last. To mark the end of the historic name, a limited production run 1,596 of cars in red or white - the colors available on the original 1953 convertible - were produced in three batches of 532, signifying the Eldorado's first year of production.

The last cars had exhausts that were specially tuned to imitate the note of their illustrious forerunners from a half-century earlier and dash-mounted plaques indicating each car's sequence in production. Production ended on April 22, 2002 retooling the Lansing Craft Centre to build the Chevrolet SSR.