The Cadillac Allante was the top of the line Cadillac model when it was introduced. Expectedly, it had a lot of good characteristics, like decent acceleration, fine handling and a generous amount of features. But "decent", "fine", and "generous" didn't seem to be the characteristics that vehicle buyers expected from the Cadillac. As a result, the vehicle didn't sell well. So, what happened to the Cadillac Allante? Let's trace it with the vehicle model's history and specifications.
The Cadillac Allante was a 2-door, 2-seater luxury roadster, actually the very first vehicle manufactured by Cadillac for the said market category. The chassis, mechanical and engine parts of the car were all manufactured and assembled in Detroit, then shipped to Italy for the bodywork and interior design, then back to Detroit for the finishing touches. Because of the manufacturing process, the Cadillac Allante have been given interesting names, like "the flying Cadillac from Italy" and "the world's longest assembly line."
The Cadillac Allante was introduced in 1987 and was sold until the 1993 model year. Upon introduction, the Cadillac Allante was equipped with a 4.1-liter V8 engine coupled with a 4-speed automatic transmission. The said engine was soon replaced by a 4.5-liter 200 hp V8 unit that was never replaced until 1993, when the 4.6-liter 295 hp V8 engine became the chief power train component. Like the 4.5-liter engine, much of the Cadillac Allante parts also remained unchanged since introduction until the vehicle model's demise.
The performance of the Cadillac Allante was remarkable; equaling, if not surpassing, the performance of its competitors in the market. The vehicle accelerates and handles well and it has its own share of good features and good looks. So what went wrong with the Cadillac Allante? It's price. The price of the Cadillac Allante was far above the price of its closest competitor. Even the price gap between the Allante and other Cadillac models was wide.
With such a high price, it was only natural for vehicle buyers to expect a lot from the Cadillac Allante. Unfortunately, the vehicle model was not able to satisfy the vehicle buyers' expectations.