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Junkyard Gem: 1979 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz

The Cadillac Eldorado lost a foot of wheelbase and 1,200 pounds when GM's luxury front-drive platform got downsized for 1979, which turned out to be prescient timing considering the massive spike in oil prices in the wake of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The General kept the pricey Biarritz option package from the previous generation, adding a stainless-steel roof in the process. Here's one of those cars, found in a chilly Denver boneyard last month. The stainless-steel roof panel, inspired by the one used on the 1957 Eldorado Brougham, identifies a 1979-1985 Eldorado as a genuine Biarritz. This generation of Eldorado Biarritz achieved its greatest renown as the car bomb that detonates when pink-suited Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro) cranks the starter in the 1995 film Casino. Naturally, a 24 Hours of Lemons team obtained one of these cars and raced it while the pit crew wore pastel suits and sipped from Tangiers Casino highball glasses. The MSRP on the base '79 Eldorado was $14,240 and the Biarritz package with leather seats tacked on an additional $2,600. That's $64,495 in 2021 dollars, at a time when plenty of car loans had interest rates approaching 20%. The '79 Seville's base price was higher ($15,646), despite being based on the lowly Chevy Nova, but that difference was erased by the cost of the Biarritz package. The Fleetwood limos were the only pricier Cadillacs that year. Yes, you had to be a true high-roller to purchase a '79 Biarritz. Of course, a new Mercedes-Benz 450SLC cost a terrifying $32,858 (about $125,850 today) that year, but the $13,067 Lincoln Mark V (the price went up substantially if you got one of the editions designed by Bill Blass, Givenchy, or Emilio Pucci) was close competition for the Biarritz. The 1979 Eldorado had something the Lincoln didn't, however: electronic fuel injection. Yes, a 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) Oldsmobile V8 engine with a pretty-modern-for-1979 throttle-body fuel-injection system sent 170 horses to the front wheels via GM's impressive Unitized Power Package longitudinal-engine front-wheel-drive system. Look at all those futuristic devices in that faux-wood dash! That stereo cassette deck added $225 ($860 today) to the price. Cruise control cost $137, the rear defogger added $101, and… well, you get the idea. This Cad is a bit tattered and has some rust spots here and there, but wouldn't have been an overwhelmingly difficult restoration.

You want screens? The 2021 Cadillac Escalade infotainment system gives you screens

The 2021 Cadillac Escalade’s infotainment system shocked and awed when it debuted, but now weÂ’ve finally had a chance to live with both it and the giant SUV that surrounds it for a week. Sliding behind the triple OLED screens is like stepping into the tech-forward future Cadillac promised us. The 6.2-liter push-rod V8 under the hood says otherwise, but the interior technology has already arrived. There are three screens in total: a 16.9-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system, a 14.2-inch instrument cluster and a 7.2-inch touchscreen to the left of the cluster. All three are OLED displays, and just as you might expect, they are gorgeous to take in. None of the high-tech German luxury vehicles have screens this pretty. The Escalade's donÂ’t just look great, though. All three screens are quick to react and pop through functions/menus without a hitch. The only slop or delay in the whole system is when you go to turn the cluster's augmented reality (AR) camera on  — you wait one potato, two potato, and then the feed pops up. ItÂ’s a new take on GMÂ’s infotainment system as a whole. YouÂ’ll still be swiping side-to-side through an iPad-esque display of apps, but the UI is totally rethought and appears fresh. Icons are big and easy to press. Nothing is hidden off-screen at any point. It just makes good sense. 2021 Cadillac Escalade infotainment View 17 Photos Cadillac has found a way to better utilize its redundant scroll wheel, too. Though it's the same wheel as is on other models, this time the whole display changes to match the wheelÂ’s action when you use it. For example, the home screen turns into a revolving circle of apps that you twist through as soon as you twist the dial. It may take some getting used to, but the option between two different interfaces that both function well is a positive. Redundant combos of touchscreen and control wheel are common, but no one offers something like this.  Keeping a few physical buttons and an actual volume knob around to control the infotainment system is another thoughtful touch — same goes for the climate controls, which entirely consist of physical buttons. Despite the central instrument panel screenÂ’s prodigious size, you wonÂ’t actually find a whole lot buried in there. All of the trip settings and general car settings have been moved into the infotainment system itself.

Hertz and GM team up to put 175,000 rental EVs on the road

Hertz and General Motors have announced a significant partnership that will send up to 175,000 electric vehicles into rental fleets across the country. The deal will unfold over the next five years and include vehicles from all GM brands.   The partnership will run through 2027. Hertz estimates that the electric fleet can save as many as 8 billion gasoline-powered miles, removing 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions from the air. Hertz says it will invest in becoming the largest renter of EVs in North America and notes that it already has tens of thousands available at 500 locations in 38 states. By the end of 2024, it plans to electrify a quarter of its fleet. Electric rental cars are a great way for travelers wanting to avoid gas, and they make excellent urban commuter cars. Hertz will also likely save a few dollars by avoiding oil changes and other routine maintenance that gas engines need. However, a hidden societal benefit of this deal may come when Hertz’s EV rental customers begin shopping for new cars. Many people are skeptical of EVs for various reasons, including range, charging, ease of operation, and cost. Giving people a low-risk introduction to EVs and the ability to test-drive one without a pressuring salesperson could drive more people to electrics. At the same time, there's also the risk that renters wanting to take their Hertz-GM EV on a road trip into sparsely populated areas may return with charging and range-related horror stories. Hertz currently doesnÂ’t ask what youÂ’re planning to do with your rental, but it does offer a chat service for questions, and range information is presented clearly on each vehicle. Related video: 2023 Cadillac Lyriq walkaround