Offered from The Alps to Goodwood Collection
1987 Cadillac Allanté Convertible
Coachwork by Pininfarina
Chassis no. 1G6 VR3 171 H41 005 30

If you think the Cadillac Allanté looks like the product of a European manufacturer you'd be more than half right, for the body and interior were styled and produced by Pininfarina in Italy. Indeed, at the time of its launch Sergio Pininfarina remarked that working with Cadillac had been "the realisation of a lifelong dream", although this was not the first occasion on which the two companies had collaborated. Introduced in 1987, the Allanté was a luxury two-door convertible. Bodies were built at Pininfarina's factory in Turin and then shipped to General Motors' Hamtramck assembly plant in Detroit where the drive train and running gear were installed. Specially modified Boeing 747s took 56 bodies at a time.

Of front-wheel drive configuration, the Allanté was powered by a tuned version of the 4.1-litre fuel-injected V8 engine as found in other Cadillacs, while the suspension was independent all round by MacPherson struts. Bosch anti-lock brakes were standard, and all Allanté models featured a fully electronic instrument and control panel. The leather trimmed interior featured Recaro 'memory' seats and came in a choice of two colours: Burgundy or natural saddle. Other standard features included a removable aluminium hardtop and a Delco Remy/Bose Symphony sound system. The Allanté's aerodynamic wedge-shaped body had a commendably low drag coefficient of only 0.34, and Cadillac General Manager John Grettenberger claimed that "owners will find that even with the top down they will be able to carry on a conversation in normal tones". With a base price of $54,700, the Allanté was the most expensive model in the Cadillac range by a considerable margin. Production ended in July 1993 after 21,430 had been built: a mere drop in the ocean by Cadillac's standards.

This example of an exclusive Cadillac model rarely seen in Europe was delivered new to Geneva, Switzerland. Possessed by a feeling of nostalgia, the current vendor bought the car in 2017 from the original owner, having owned and enjoyed driving an Allanté while he was working in the USA. Registered in Switzerland, the car has covered fewer than 12,000 kilometres from new and is presented in commensurately excellent condition.

Should the vehicle remain in the UK, local import taxes of 5% will be added to the hammer price.