In creating its first front-drive vehicle, the 1967 Fleetwood Eldorado, Cadillac also produced one of the most striking cars in the division’s history.

It’s interesting to reflect that the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado, introduced on September 30, 1966, and the Oldsmobile Toronado, which launched one year earlier, were both based on the General Motors E-body front-drive platform. And both were designed in the GM styling studios under the direction of Bill Mitchell, who ruled his domain with the proverbial iron fist from 1958 through 1977.

Both cars are often cited as among the most beautiful of the Mitchell era at GM. And yet, while they came from the same house, the two cars are strikingly different in their exterior design. It’s well established that Mitchell was never shy about making his opinions and preferences known to all,  but here’s the evidence that he also gave his talented design staff room to run.

1967 Fleetwood Eldorado and Fleetwood Sixty Special

Both the Olds and Cadillac divisions independently experimented with front-wheel drive in the late ’50s, a free-wheeling time for GM engineers, but the Unitized Power Package (UPP) used in the Toronado and  Eldorado originated at GM Research. Here, the Turbo-Hydramatic 425 transmission was was turned around 180 degrees and tucked under the left bank of the longitudinally mounted V8 engine, driven from the torque converter via a specially engineered Morse HY-VO silent chain.

Installed in the  E-body’s hybrid unit/subframe chassis, the UPP formed a relatively compact unit, though you might never guess that from the Eldorado’s impressively long front end. The hood was so large it had to be stamped in two sections and welded together. While the Toronado was powered by a 425 CID Oldsmobile engine, the Eldorado featured a 429 CID Cadillac V8 with 340 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque. Of  course, this was a full decade before the GM corporate engine-sharing policy and the lawsuits and uproar that folllowed

Not simply a Cadillac but wearing Fleetwood badges as well, the Eldorado was  luxuriously fitted out, naturally, with a choice of fine cloth or leather interiors and other finery. With a base price of $6,227, a full 34 percent more than its Olds sibling, the Eldorado was the most expensive two-door coupe in the Cadillac lineup by a considerable margin.

But that was no deterrent to Cadillac buyers, as the crisply styled front-driver met the ambitous first-year sales projection of 15,000-20,000 cars, and then it only continued to climb from there. Over the next few years, the Eldorado firmly established itself as the personal-luxury flagship of the Cadillac division, and the same basic platform and packaging (lengthened in 1971) remained in production through 1978.