The Urban Dictionary commonly defines a “Cowboy Cadillac” as a fancier, high-end expensive American-branded pickup truck, 4 doors (crew cab), lots of chrome and sporting a fancy edition name. However, for those of us not necessarily versed in the lingo of today’s urban youth I was able to locate a REAL Cowboy Cadillac a couple of weeks ago in Laramie, Wyoming in the City Hall parking lot as I was securing a permit to improve a property.
Wyoming is the state I associate most with cowboys these days, maybe not in terms of actual numbers of ranches or head of cattle, but certainly in their embrace of the spirit. The image of a rider holding his hat while on a bucking horse is everywhere in the state, not just the license plates and welcome signs, but on buildings, stickers, signs, and many other places. The image on the license plate has been there since 1935 and in fact was the first logo on any license plate in America. Wyoming is also commonly though informally known as “The Cowboy State”, although its official nickname is “The Equality State” as it was the first state to give women the right to vote back in 1869.
In any case, it’s the least populated state in the union and the second-least densely populated compared to overall land area but the tenth-largest in terms of said land area. Wyoming has less than 600,000 total inhabitants and its largest city, Cheyenne, has a population of just over 60,000. Laramie, where this car was found, has about 30,000 inhabitants and is home to the University of Wyoming, whose sports teams are the Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls (Go Pokes!). On a sadder note, Laramie is unfortunately also the place where the tragedy involving Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming native, occurred almost two decades ago.
Rugged beauty abounds, and the roads are generally good, fast, relatively empty and bordered by spectacular scenery. Forever West, indeed…
Upon spotting this Cadillac deVille and noting the license plate, I immediately tagged it as a genuine “Cowboy Cadillac” in my mind. While there are Cadillac dealers in the state, Cadillacs aren’t exactly common so this one stood out.
I can’t place the exact year but it is from between 1997 and 1999 (I’m calling it a ’98), and I believe it is the “d’Elegance” trim level, as that level apparently has chrome and gold trim, which appears to be evident at least on the front fender trim (but I could be mistaken, no doubt someone will correct me if so). The “5” to the left of the bucking horse on the license plate designates the county of registration, in this case Albany County, which encompasses the city of Laramie and its environs (but not Cheyenne, which confusingly is in Laramie County, go figure) so this Cowboy is a local one.
These are my favorite of the near-recent Cadillacs, they still embody the spirit of the size and majesty of the older models but are modern in terms of style and performance. Powered by a 32V Northstar V-8, this put 300hp and 295 ft-lbs of torque to the ground via the front wheels, which is plenty for rapid and smooth progress across the state. I can’t readily think of many more comfortable ways to drive across Wyoming from Nebraska to Utah via I-80 or Colorado to Montana via I-25. Or just around town, for that matter. Giddy-up!
I Remember Reading Some Very Disappointing Consumer Reviews On These About 10 Years Ago.Probably Not Many Left In USA.I Can’t Believe That People Paid 40+K For These 20 Years Ago.
I’d prefer a 4.9 ltr version with integrated rear fender skirts.
I’d be much more confident of being able to put hundreds of thousands of miles on it.
BTW “Cowboy Cadillac” was a nicely trimmed Suburban before you could get a Denali or an Escalade.
For the most part I have embraced the rear fender skirts on my 1995. However it is such a pain in the butt to get it aligned as most shops have those big sensors that are not able to fit and adjust the sensor on those rear wheels due to the skirts.
I have to tell those shops that you raise the vehicle up with the ign on and the car will sense it is not level and will try to level by lowering the rear wheels slightly. Then pull the fuse and shut the car off. Then you can do the alignment.
I don’t think there is a way to tell the difference from 97-99 by the exterior. Looking at the changes inside the car from 97-99, Massage seats are the only new option for 1999. So if you find massage seats in a 97-99 deville then it is a 1999.
I agree this is one of the best near recent Caddies.
I find my 1995 Deville to be a very comfortable driver. I used the car for about a year as a daily driver to work and to me it made a good commuter car. True it was a gas hog but it was comfy and I would rather be riding in comfort to work and in traffic then try to save money on gas driving a miserable shitbox like a Yaris back and forth to work
I do think the 1997 refresh with removing the rear fender skirts made the Deville a much more modern looking car.
Here is my 1995 Deville. In the background is my 1998 Firebird(also a miserable car and one I am glad I got rid of)
I worked with a guy who bought one of these slightly used and ran it up to 180,000 miles, mostly trouble free. He sold it and I know that the next owner got it to over 200,000 miles. After that I lost track of it. As to license plate logo’s, Massachusetts had a sorry looking codfish on their plates in 1928-29 to honor their fishing fleet. 1928 was a very poor year for the fishing industry. Many superstitious fishermen blamed the new plates which showed the sick looking fish swimming away from the state abbreviation of Mass. on the bottom of the plate. The same thing was happening in the ocean. The fish were swimming away from Mass. The plate was changed for 1929 featuring the fish swimming towards Mass. hoping to reverse the jinx of the 1928 plate. For 1930 the fish was gone forever from the plate. Please pass the tarter sauce!
Jim, I’m sensing a palpable degree of longing as you talk about this Cadillac. Embrace your inner comfort seeker and go for it.
Seeing a shot of the back of a DeVille like the first picture just makes me think “Better Call Saul”, even though this car is the wrong color.
Just saw one of these about a week ago, it must have been a former Mary Kay car as it was painted that “special” shade of pink that Mary Kay used until recently.
Like another commentor, I prefer these with fender skirts. I don’t know why, but with the full wheel openings these look like an old man’s car while the skirts seem to somehow make them look like a much younger person would drive them.
If we are talking about my own money, anything with a Northstar V8 is just too much of a hot potato once it gets to be a certain age. But if we are talking about your money, what the heck are you waiting for – buy the thing! 🙂
Here in Illinois we now have Creepy Lincoln staring at you off the side of the plate…
Hahahaha! Creepy Lincoln is priceless… Peeking around the corner at you.
Yup. I hate the Illinois plate. I always think of the line, a Lincoln divided cannot stand. Creepy looking.
You can tell which of the state’s 23 counties a car is registered in by the first digit(s) on the plate. 5 is Albany County and Laramie is the county seat. Numbers following the first digit (59) indicate the order that the plates were originally issued, probably back in the 1920s or 30s. These are highly prized and fought over, since they indicate the true pioneers of the state. Any other states have this numbering scheme?
Indiana used to begin each plate with a 1 or 2 digit number that represented one of our 92 counties. Allen County where I grew up (Fort Wayne) was 2. Counties with large populations ran out of numbers and started using numbers 93-99 as the prefix. They dropped that system a number of years ago, probably because there were getting to be too many plates without going to a 3 digit prefix. The new system also allows the physical plate to be distributed more efficiently now there is not a need to assign them by county.
Jim, thanks for the history of the state! I hope that other writers will do the same 🙂
I always learn something new when I visit CC!
My great uncle had a ’91 Fleetwood with 4.9L when I moved to Canada, followed by a ’98 DHS. After having too many problems, he moved onto Genesis. Followed by Sonata Hybrid that he still drives. He will be 91 this Summer.
+1 – Jim, I really enjoyed the history and “picture” of Wyoming you painted. I hope this one is a genuine Cowboy’s Cadillac. These are / were nice-looking cars, and this one appeared to be in great shape.
The letter “A” following the county number indicates that this plate is a “University of Wyoming” one – for which the owner pays extra.
The first series UW plate did not use the “A”. That plate reversed the colors. Now it is brown on yellow; those first ones were yellow on brown.
The problem came up when Wyoming drivers were getting unpaid toll bills from various Colorado toll roads. Wyoming did not think it through. In the previous license plate regime there were two cars with Wyoming plate # 5 – 59. One was the regular issue plate; the second was the UW plate. Regular issue plate cars were getting bills for UW plate cars because Wyoming did not have the foresight to see the problem with two automobiles having the exact Wyoming plate number. To make it even more stupid a truck would also have 5 – 59. So two identical design plates with 5 – 59 and a third plate in a different color scheme but still 5 – 59.
On this new series of plates WYDOT somehow woke up and the regular plate is now 5 – 59; the UW plate is 5A – 59 and the truck plate is now 5T – 59.
The horse is called “Steamboat”; nobody knows the name of the rider.
Thanks for this bit of background about the Alumni Plate “A” — I had wondered about that.
But I’m curious: For Wyoming counties with two-digit county codes (as opposed to Albany County’s “5” for instance) how do the two digits plus the “A” or “T” fit to the left of the horse silhouette?
Eric:
For example for county 21 (Weston):
A standard plate for a passenger car could be 21 – 59.
A standard plate for a truck could be 21T – 59.
A University of Wyoming plate (on a car or a truck) could be 21A – 59.
Before WYDOT figured out the confusion it was causing for other states and for Wyoming license plate holders, all three types of registration would have simply used 21 – 59.
There are very few special plates in Wyoming. However there are also special plates for retired military; for example an Air Force veteran could get a plate which would include the letters “AF”.
“The horse is called “Steamboat”; nobody knows the name of the rider.”
The rider is probably that bronco-busting, steer-roping girl we’ve read about.
I was Never interested in these models. my pride & joy is 78 Coupe DeVille!
Nice cars for the day. I’ll go out on a limb here and say I wasn’t thrilled with the styling of the ’95-’96. Didn’t think the fender skirts did that bodystyle any favors. That said, I much preferred the later DTS in the big Caddies. Modern, yet elegant.
Jim: and in Wyoming “Giddy-up” is not in common usage.
But “Cowboy-up” is a frequently used phrase and well understood.
Ha, well, I don’t go around saying “giddy-up”… 🙂
Gotta go with those who prefer the fender skirts aesthetically. Even more than the 90s Fleetwoods, these De Villes seemed to me the last Cadillacs that felt stylistically descended from the Cadillacs of my youth. But I’m an extremist, being disappointed when the fender skirts disappeared in 77.
This is how this car would look in Texas:
Here’s a classy cowboy Cadillac:
Please correct me if I’m wrong but was a Cowboy Cadillac not traditionally a tricked out to the nines pickup?
I know I’ve heard the term Texas Cadillac in reference to a Chevy suburban.
Yes, I explained that in the first sentence of the post 🙂 This whole post is more of a play on that phrase given that A) It’s a Cadillac and B) It’s in Wyoming, land of the Cowboy.
Wow, I always knew Wyoming was the least-populated state in the country, but when you put those population and area figures out like that it really makes my jaw drop. That truly is not many people for such a large area.
For comparison, the entire state of Wyoming has fewer inhabitants than the city of Boston. Even Massachusetts’ second-largest “city”, Worcester, has more than double the population of Cheyenne. Even rural areas here in Massachusetts are more densely populated. I guess it reminds me of areas of northern Maine where one literally needs to drive several hours to find an actual town.
As for the car, obviously these DeVilles were quite popular in their day, but two specific ones stand out in my memory. The first was the green D’Elegance model just like this owned by my great uncle Joe. By the 1990s, he had officially become a Cadillac man, having previously been an Oldsmobile man most of the 1970s and 1980s. He would own Cadillacs for the rest of his life until his passing in 2017.
The second belonged to my elderly neighbors growing up, Eugene “Dusty” and Eleanor Przybyszewski. Theirs was a 1999 DeVille, the same color of the featured car, bought rather unintentionally. They previously drove a 1980s era Town Car, which Dusty took and traded in for a 1999 Buick Park Avenue. As soon as he brought it home, Eleanor hated it, citing poor visibility as a primary reason. Only a few weeks later it was traded in for the DeVille, which they kept until their passings in the mid-00s and early 2010s.
Wyoming is a very dry climate, near desert, depending on whether the rainfall is above or below average for the year (or last few years). So water is not available in large quantities for a large population. Rainfall is almost never average.
Whoops!
Thx Jim. I guess when one is busy staring at the pictures one should still pay FULL attention to what one is reading.
The car pictured is not a D’Elegance, as it would say so on the rear fenders. They also have gold trim, gold hood ornament and different wheels from the regular DeVille. I had a ’99 D’Elegance this same color, a gold ’97 D’Elegance and a white ’99 Concours. If there is any way to tell the year of the ’97-’99 cars at a glance, I don’t know what it is!
Of the three, I loved my ’99 the same color as pictured, the best of the three. It had 90K on it when I bought it, I drove it for 3 years and put 23K on it. Only trouble I ever had with it was the alternator quit and had to replace it. I traded it in on an ’03 DeVille about 4 years ago. My son totaled the Concours and the ’97 met an interesting fate. I bought the car with 180K on it in 2007 for $1700 and drove it for nearly 4 years with absolutely NO trouble whatsoever. It had 207 K on it when I sold it to an old girlfriend for $1500. She drove it nearly two years and put about 15K on it. One day she was driving down the freeway and the car died. She shifted it into neutral, restarted it and fire and smoke shot out from under the hood. She steered it to the shoulder and the poor car burned on the side of the freeway.
I liked my ’90s Devilles, but my heart really belongs to the ’70s cars. I have owned around 130 (no exaggeration) different Cadillacs since 1979. I just adore these damned cars!
Here is a photo of the scarce 1999 Fleetwood Limited. Superior built these in 1997-99 and they were sold at Cadillac dealerships.
That car displays everything Cadillac did wrong for 20+ years. Wrong wheel drive, the awful Northstar engine, cranky tacked-on techno-gizmos, problematic air suspension, awkward styling, and looking like the wanna-be Fleetwood it was. This car was the best advertisement possible for a Lincoln Town Car.
Without religious tire rotations, the combination of the big engine and the car carrying so much weight up front could chew up front tires in 15,000 miles.