Ron,
I sold one a few years ago, it was a black 85 with black top and red interior.
The 84 and 85 Biarritz convertibles were "factory" convertibles, sold through dealers, converted by ASC.
Anything you find in an earlier car will probably be a Hess and Eisendardt conversion. Many of them were not built as Biarritz models, but the base Eldorado.
The easiest way to tell is the pleated diamond pattern on the seats, and the wide Biarritz chrome beltline that runs from the fronts of the fenders, across the top of the doors, and around the convertible top opening.
If you are not familiar with the HT4100 engines in these cars, you should get acquainted with the HT4100 message board that can be found at
www.ht4100.comI am attaching a couple of photos of the one I had, and there are always some on ebay. You will see lots of red ones, white ones, and blue ones, but not too many black cars.
I have owned 3 of these over the years, and I would say if you could find a 79 or 80 that was a conversion, you would be able to stay clear of the HT4100 issues. The 81 cars had the V8-6-4 engine, which from what I have read is not a bad motor, and the variable electronics can be disabled if not working correctly.
Good luck, these are great looking cars, but you need to find a NICE low mileage car, or else you will be doing a lot of work on it.
Brian
