(Bloomberg) -- Our photo-and-interview series How’d You Get That Car? shares the stories behind classic automobiles from collectors who not only love them but drive them, too. For these passionate owners, vintage cars aren’t just an asset class to be stored in a garage or trotted out at the next concours. Instead, they are meant to roar on the open road. Click here to read more in the series.

Jordan Rondel never meant to become a professional baker. 

Raised in Paris and Auckland, she interned at architecture firms and considered a career in interior design after graduating from the University of Auckland in 2010. But fond memories of cooking with her grandparents as a child in Paris led to recipes shared on her personal blog, which created such a strong demand from friends and associates that she founded the Caker bakery later that year. 

By 2013, Rondel had published her first recipe book. She now counts five in her repertoire, with a line of cake kits and made-to-order cakes for weddings and other events. A move to Los Angeles in 2019 expanded her business to include such Hollywood clients as Miley Cyrus, Lake Bell and Flea, of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame. It also earned her a spot as a judge on The Great Kiwi Bake Off in 2022 and 2023, which required her to travel back and forth between the US and New Zealand.

In between stints back in New Zealand, Rondel needed a car. 

“My dad drove a Porsche Turbo 911 and would drop me off at school in it,” she says. “I had my first driving lesson in a crazy old Porsche.” But for her LA car, she went all-American: a 1983 Cadillac Eldorado. 

General Motors Co.’s two-door luxury boat had a base price of just under $20,000 when it debuted. It came with plush seats, climate control, a V-6 or V-8 engine, and (novel for the time) independent rear suspension. 

Its long hood and short rear deck stand in stark contrast to the more evenly balanced Eldorados of the 1950s, but the overall look of the car has aged well—the model is experiencing a level of interest it hasn’t seen since it was new, according to analysis from Hagerty Inc. Values for concours-worthy examples now hover near $37,000, up from $32,000 in 2023, according to Hagerty. 

For Rondel, it’s all about the Eldorado’s unmistakable style. Read on for our conversation about how she fell in love with a black Cadillac named Winona. We have edited it for length and clarity.

Jordan, how did you get this car? When I first moved to LA five years ago, my partner at the time was a tattoo artist. One day I met this woman at the shop, another tattooist called Tati Compton. She drove a black Cadillac Coupe DeVille.

I remember getting in her car for the first time, and I was just like, this is the sickest, the sickest car. And she is so sick driving it. I felt like she was such a boss. My boyfriend at the time must have seen something in my face or seen my eyes light up, and he must have known that it was the car I wanted. 

A few months later it was Valentine's Day. I was back in New Zealand, and he FaceTimed me and there was a Cadillac sitting in the driveway with a huge pink bow on it.

Oh, wow! What a gesture. At that point were you already planning to come back to LA?I was definitely already planning on coming back. This was gonna be home. And obviously you need a car in LA. 

What about the car was so fascinating to you, especially as a New Zealander? The Eldorado is quite a big piece of American metal. Exactly. I remember getting into Tati’s car for the first time being like, how is she driving this thing? It’s a boat. Plus, it’s the other side of the road for me. I’d driven a couple times in Europe, so I kind of knew, but there seemed like a whole other risk element to it. Imagine parking that thing. 

The first time I got into my car I was super intimidated. I was used to driving this tiny little thing in New Zealand that basically would crumble if you were in a crash. And I got into this thing and I felt incredibly safe because it felt like I was in a tank. At the same time, I wasn’t spatially aware of how big it was, and how long it was, and how heavy and just hot and loud. 

But I very quickly grew to love it. There’s no way I could drive a flimsy car ever again.

Do you remember where you took it for your first drive?Yeah, I went and picked up my sister [Anouk] and we went all the way to Beverly Hills for some meeting we had, something to do with work. It was the middle of summer, and this car is all black, black interior, black exterior. I was like, Damn, this is hot. But also I just loved, loved it. I felt so cool driving it.

What’s the reaction to it when you drive it around LA?It’s interesting. When I’ve got the window rolled down, I usually have my arm out because, again, it’s so hot in there. When I stop at a traffic light, without fail, someone will have something to say. 

Did the car need much mechanical work when you got it? Oh my God, yes. I don’t know the whole story about how my ex got it, but I do know that on the drive back from wherever he got it, it broke down. Turned out it needed a whole new transmission. So he got that rebuilt before I even got inside. 

But then less than a year later the transmission f---ed out again. Luckily it was still under the warranty of the people who had done the work, so I could take it back and get it rebuilt for free. But it was still really acting up, and it kind of has been up until two months ago, when I got it rebuilt for the third time.

It was leaving you stranded? It would always start. Well, not always, because there would be other issues as well. But the transmission in particular would slip out of gear, so I’d be driving and all of a sudden it would be revving incredibly high but going nowhere, smoking. It was a real nightmare. 

How much have you spent on repairs and maintenance?I’ve been meaning to sit down and work that out. Maybe $7,000. Unfortunately, someone crashed into the side of me last year. He was just going way too fast and he ran, so I never [got his info]. That was like $3,000 worth of damage.

But there’s something in me that likes driving a nonperfect car where I’m not worried about a scratch, you know? I kind of like how rugged she is.

This sounds like a dysfunctional relationship, but you're sticking with it out of love.Absolutely. I’ve had electrical problems, many other problems. This last time when the transmission became a problem again, I was like, do I finally get rid of the car? But I just couldn’t do it. I just wasn’t ready. So here we are. 

Does she have a name?Her name’s Winona. Like Winona Ryder. 

Oh, that’s perfect.I drive her every day. [Anouk] and I run the business together. She also drives a very old car, the most impractical car you can imagine, a 1981 Mercury Zephyr. But we make it work.

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