Student-built custom '67 Eldorado now for sale
Click on the photo for a high-res gallery of the 67 Eldorado
The Ypsilanti, MI public school district operates a vocational training program called the Regional Career Technical Center (RCTC). RCTC offers a variety of programs including construction trades, culinary arts, automotive mechanics and auto body repair. Each year the high school-aged students in the auto body program embark on a major project to refurbish an old car that has been donated to the program.
This year's project was a 1967 Cadillac Eldorado donated by Christopher Scott Norman. The students had 77 days to finish the car between the time they received it and this year's Detroit Autorama show in March. As many as thirty students led by teacher Bill Burnette had a hand in the project although a core group of seven did the bulk of the work.
Continue reading about the project and the car after the jump.
When they received the car, the team of students set about stripping it down, and removing major interior and mechanical components. They focused on the body work, repairing all the rust and dents, fixing the trim and then painting and polishing the body with a beautiful cherry finish. The seats were reupholstered with assistance from a local body shop. The students didn't do any work on the engine internals but did dress it up with rocker covers and air cleaner that match the body work.
The RCTC team spent many late nights and weekends working to get the car ready for it's public debut. They took the Eldo to the Detroit Autorama at Cobo Hall in March and won third place in the High School Custom category. Now they need to sell the car in order to fund their next project. If you're interested in the picking up an old Eldorado, you can contact Bill Burnette at 734-482-8485.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CadVetteStang 6:40AM (8/21/2009)
I’m interested in finding out what wheels were used on this car. I’m guessing a set of customs made for a 1999 up Jeep Grand Cherokee that have had the center bore opened up a few millimeters. They look like they are probably 18 X 8”.
I’d like to add the information to the custom wheel database I am building for my 67 through 70 Eldorado yahoo group – thanks.
Great job on the car, by the way.
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Bill Hancock 9:12PM (5/24/2007)
Wow...great job..
all my engineering class did this year was build a hovercraft. Which sounds somewhat boring compared to this
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JC 9:58PM (5/24/2007)
This car is a piece of junk. It was displayed right behind our 1954 Chevy Bel Air fire chief car from Washtenaw Comunity College down at AutoRama.
It's a project that our crew could do in a couple weeks.
The paintjob is full of orange peel, and appeared to be de-laminating in spots when I saw the car at 'Rama.
I'm almost scared to see this place's next project. I know it will fall well short of whatever we do over at WCC, just like all the cars from RCTC do.
Jaymez 10:07PM (5/24/2007)
Dude, you forget, these are kids, not experienced bodymen, doing the work. Sounds like you might be upset because it placed better than your car.
I cringe at the memories of some of the cars I worked on in school. They were beyond awful, but, they were each a new learning experience and I got better on each project.
Of course, I haven't done body work in almost ten years and it shows when I hold a can of Krylon.
JC 1:28AM (5/25/2007)
We aren't experienced bodymen at WCC either. We're college students.
And, their car placed lower than our car did. We were in the 'Full Custom Hardtop' class and placed third. Granted, they placed third, but in a class that I feel is nowhere near as tough as ours was. We were competing against million dollar cars, and a bunch of them got beat out by a group of college students, which I think is a hell of an accomplishment.
AJ 7:05PM (5/27/2007)
Ok, once again WCC is a "college" we are dealing with high school kids here. Did you make something as good as this when you were in high school? Jaymez is right, you sound a little upset about the spot they have here on the autoblog versus you own personal "honerable mention". The WCC put out a Dodge Magnum called Purple Rain that still gets national recognition til this very day. Just be happy that 2 schools less than 5 minutes from each other can do great things with cars.
Bob 1:53AM (5/25/2007)
this is a ''my pimp ride'' lol
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cynthia ferguson 7:44AM (5/26/2007)
wowee someone is a crybaby!!! nice job for high school kids why do you want to discourage them if i had the money i would love to buy that eldorado
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Matt 4:13PM (5/29/2007)
I personally worked on this car, and I can tell by his words that the student from WCC is very ignorant. For starters, A car won't show orange peel after its Color-Sanded and Buffed, so you already sound ignorant. And the Clear isn't peeling back, maybe you need to get glasses. You couldn't have done this in two weeks, A professional body shop couldn't have. And if you could do it in three weeks, then explain to me why the "Make a wish foundation" Truck isn't done yet? 3 years, not done. But you could do this in three weeks? What a total moron.
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Prevost 1:21PM (5/29/2007)
Now I'm not the smartest person, but JC from WCC, you're full of shit.. You couldnt finish that shit in a few weeks, you must be retarted or something, I helped work on that car and it was in worse condition than you think..
And on top of that, we're a high school class that had like 60 days to work on it and a very limited budget..There are like 30 kids in the class, and like a third of them actually did any work..
Next time, think before you talk, I know its hard, with the mentality of a 7 year old and all, but just try think things through before yourun your mouth..
Overall, the car is sweet, it was a good project car, I had fun working on it..
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Caddy89 2:40AM (1/06/2008)
What did the student restored Eldorado sell for?
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