Cadillac Eldorado — E-body, front-drive (tenth generation) (1983–1985)
The 1983–1985 Eldorado were the last model years of the tenth-generation front-drive E-body coupe (this doc covers only 1983–1985). The 1983 and 1985 NICB manuals list the Eldorado (series code EL in 1985); the OCR text of the 1983 and 1984 tables shows body 57 for the coupe; Wikipedia adds a convertible for 1984–1985 only, which the NICB body tables do not list. Wikipedia names the 4.1L HT-4100 V8 (from 1982) and the Oldsmobile 350 diesel V8 (optional in every year) for the generation; the 1981–1982 Buick V6 is outside this span. No GM order guide, data book, Heritage kit or RPO list for the 1983–1985 Eldorado is in the archive, so only engine codes are listed: Wikipedia's engine articles name and date them, and gnttype.org's Buick VIN table prints the diesel code for the Buick Riviera, a same-platform sibling (owner ruling, 2026-11-05). Transmissions, axles, options, packages, paint and trim are a gap in the sources, not a finding that they were not offered. The classic Eldorado doc (1960–1982) has no year in common with this one.
Codes
Engines
| Code | Description | Years | Models/Notes | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LT8 | Engine, 4.1L V8, High Technology HT-4100 | 1983–1985 | Wikipedia's Cadillac High Technology engine article gives LT8 as the HT-4100's option code and lists the Eldorado, and its Eldorado article names the HT-4100 for this generation; the NICB Cadillac engine tables list a 4.1L V8 digital fuel injection engine (no RPO codes, so they do not name LT8; the VIN letter is not legible in the OCR text); no Buick or Oldsmobile E-body used this engine, so there is no sibling source | single-source |
| LF9 | Engine, diesel, 5.7L V8 | 1983–1985 | the Oldsmobile 350 cu in diesel; Wikipedia's Oldsmobile Diesel engine article prints LF9 and lists the Eldorado, and its Eldorado article prints LF9 in the generation's engine list and calls the diesel an option in all years (one Wikipedia source); shared E-body code, cited from the Buick Riviera: gnttype.org's 1984 Buick VIN table prints LF9 for the Riviera Luxury, sibling corroboration of the code, T3, which does not lift the row; the NICB Cadillac engine tables list a diesel V8 without an RPO code (the VIN letter is not legible in the OCR text) | single-source |
Sources
Factory documents (T1)
No Cadillac factory document for the 1983–1985 Eldorado is in docs/factory-docs/ or docs/heritage-ocr/, and no Chevrolet kit is cited: the brief lists none for the E-body.
Other sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Eldorado — tenth-generation infobox, engine text, convertible and production table (retrieved 2026-11-05 as wikitext, action=raw)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_High_Technology_engine — LT8 and Eldorado applications (retrieved 2026-11-05 as wikitext)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_Diesel_engine — LF9 applications (retrieved 2026-11-05 as wikitext)
- http://www.gnttype.org/general/vin.html — per-year Buick VIN tables with each engine's RPO code, Riviera blocks; T3 sibling source (owner ruling, 2026-11-05), cited only for the shared diesel code; read from the Wayback snapshot http://web.archive.org/web/20250816121631/http://www.gnttype.org/general/vin.html (retrieved 2026-11-05). It has no Cadillac table.
- NICB Passenger Vehicle Identification Manual, GM sections (T4):
docs/reference/nicb/nicb1983-gm.txtp. 28 andnicb1984-gm.txtp. 28, OCR text only (garbled) — Eldorado coupe body 57 and the Cadillac V8 DFI and diesel engine lines;nicb1985-gm.txtp. 29 — car-line name only (Eldorado, EL)