The “convertible-look” roof idea never looked good on any Cadillac, imo. Lincoln did it best in the late seventies and early eighties with the Mark V/VI and the Lincoln Town Car.
Even though I was interested in the BMW line during the late eighties, I still drooled over these:
1985 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series: (wallpaper)
I wonder then how much influence DeLarossa had on the J/Y then because the Imperial was done by Steven Bollinger and the basic shape of the Imperial was done by 1977. Since the Imperial/Cordoba/Mirada share the same DNA, the design had to start from somewhere.
Delarossa retired from Ford in 1979, shortly after Iacocca was fired. He took over as head of design at Chrysler the following year. He says that the guy he replaced (Richard Macadam) was a guy whose best skill seemed to be cribbing ideas from other places. So, I think you are right that the 1980 Cordoba was all done by the time Delarossa got there. However, it is plain that his Mark V was the inspiration for the 1980 Cordoba.
Since product development slowed to a crawl in those cash-starved days of the late 70s probably only a limited amount of styling work was done then, and most of it was probably tossed by Iacocca.
The Omni/Horizons were mostly done in Europe, I have no idea who was primarily responsible for the Rs. As we know a lot was just mixed and matched in those years.
I am not surprised Iacocca brought over DeLarossa, he was a Bourdinat protege of the Brougham mold, Iacocca liked to Broughamify all the K cars so there was your enabler.
I do like the Mark V almost had the opportunity to buy one in 2002 but bought a 76 Seville instead. Same seller had both.
That Town Car with the fake convertible top is identical to the Town Car Gambino Boss Paul Castellano was whacked in outside of Sparks Steakhouse Christmas 1985.
It can be hard to make a convertible like top work on a late model car simply because of the roundness of today’s cars. The Linden built Cadillac Eldorado and Seville did a good job at it. Considering the carriage roof option came when Buick was offering real convertibles was probably not lost on prospective buyers who likely made inquiries as to why Cadillac did not offer a convertible of their own. (which they of course eventually did).
The Cadillac in the featured article probably does not, based on what I have seen, but most of the traditional carriage roofs were applied with a fiberglass shell that had the canvas attached to it. That gave it support as well as the ‘wavy’ look.
4 doors are obviously the hardest to do to look good and not tacky but the mid 80s Town Car probably pulls it off best.
Tammy Faye Bakker had a white Seville with navy canvas roof. Jim Bakker usually drove a navy Fifth Avenue. The complex had a FWD Series 75 limo until money got tight and it was sold off. The holy rollers kept it in the family.
I have never seen one in a light shade usually a darker shade to contrast a lighter body color. My Eldorado, with conventional vinyl roof, is three tone between it, the body, and the interior. Don’t see too many three tone cars. Throw in a dual shade paint and you could have a color palette going.
Tammy Faye Baker and slantback Seville, it seems so appropriate, a relative had a yellow one with a white canvas roof and white leather interior, another friends of my parents had an Elegante which was 2 tone brown, with a brown canvas top, WOW, with a moonroof, he was is real estate, his other car was a Jag XJ6.
I have been toying with starting a photo collection of carriage-roofed cars I find in Indianapolis, which are all over the place around here. There are a lot of them here, most recently seen on a new Buick Lacrosse. Not a good look. I missed the chance to shoot a Mercury Montego (?) (Ford Five Hundred clone) where they blanked out the quarter windows with a carriage roof. Actually not as bad as you would think.
Why? Can anyone explain a guy from the other side? Vinyl roofs were here in 60s-70s, but only on cars by detroit-reigned companies. Also it was just a thin layer of vinyl, no padding underneath, no flamboyant mimicry of a convertible top, so why such crazy stuff happened in the States?
for eample: almost all of those used to have vinyl tops, but the bald ones look better IMO
Local habits. US always been more overstated in their presentations. Then again, given the preponderance of manuals in Europe, I don’t know why anyone would want a manual in a dense urban area. The constant double clutching in traffic would wear me out.
I really like the DTS. Not as dainty as the big Sevilles but more svelte than the big Fleetwoods. Like so many cars they are much cooler now than when they were new.
I prefer the “low” headlamps on the feature car over the stacked ones that came later. Those looked good on the CTS and STS but sort of forced on the DTS.
The new XTS looks like an anteater to me. I love the current CTS but hated the previous one.
The STS hit a kind of sweet spot for me but I hear really bad things about the Northstar engines in those. Hope to see a CC on the STS soon.
I never “got” the front end styling on these DeVilles, I wasnt sure if they were trying to ape Mercedes or what? It has grown on me since, at I think its better on the DTS with the body colored grile and the wreath and crest in the grille, though I like the stand up hood ornament a little more. Many of these were the “last Cadillac” for older folks, so there are pretty clean ones out there with low miles.
A new roof and an oriental rug to replace the carpet.
The “convertible-look” roof idea never looked good on any Cadillac, imo. Lincoln did it best in the late seventies and early eighties with the Mark V/VI and the Lincoln Town Car.
Even though I was interested in the BMW line during the late eighties, I still drooled over these:
1985 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series: (wallpaper)
1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V Bill Blass Edition: (wallpaper)
I was quite surprised to see one of those in a parking lot the other day, but I didn’t have time to stop and take pictures.
Or this:
Those Cordobas look good.
Like the Lincoln Mark V, they were styled by Don Delarossa who left Ford and moved to Chrysler in the late 70s.
I wonder then how much influence DeLarossa had on the J/Y then because the Imperial was done by Steven Bollinger and the basic shape of the Imperial was done by 1977. Since the Imperial/Cordoba/Mirada share the same DNA, the design had to start from somewhere.
Craig, you got me thinking. There is an excellent interview that Delarossa gave to Collectible Automobile magazine. that can be found here: http://www.lincolnmarkv.com/LincolnMarkV/The_Stylists/Pages/Don_De_La_Rossa_Interview.html
Delarossa retired from Ford in 1979, shortly after Iacocca was fired. He took over as head of design at Chrysler the following year. He says that the guy he replaced (Richard Macadam) was a guy whose best skill seemed to be cribbing ideas from other places. So, I think you are right that the 1980 Cordoba was all done by the time Delarossa got there. However, it is plain that his Mark V was the inspiration for the 1980 Cordoba.
I know Engel left after the 74s were done.
Bollinger was involved with most of the big coupes:
http://moparmax.com/features/2007/ii_4-bollinger-1.html
Since product development slowed to a crawl in those cash-starved days of the late 70s probably only a limited amount of styling work was done then, and most of it was probably tossed by Iacocca.
The Omni/Horizons were mostly done in Europe, I have no idea who was primarily responsible for the Rs. As we know a lot was just mixed and matched in those years.
I am not surprised Iacocca brought over DeLarossa, he was a Bourdinat protege of the Brougham mold, Iacocca liked to Broughamify all the K cars so there was your enabler.
I do like the Mark V almost had the opportunity to buy one in 2002 but bought a 76 Seville instead. Same seller had both.
That Town Car with the fake convertible top is identical to the Town Car Gambino Boss Paul Castellano was whacked in outside of Sparks Steakhouse Christmas 1985.
A guy in Brewster, NY claims to own the said Lincoln.
How Italians sell cars in the NY area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbQWO22pprk
Sadly, maybe because it was NYC, that Sparks experienced and uptick in business. They are still located on the same spot on E 46th St.
I wonder if its the real car or not. That black and white photo of the crime scene captures the mood of the scene very well.
And such a long way from Florida, too!
That looks as out-of-place as wire wheels on a Chrysler 300 letter car.
What no fake Rolls grille?
For shame.
It can be hard to make a convertible like top work on a late model car simply because of the roundness of today’s cars. The Linden built Cadillac Eldorado and Seville did a good job at it. Considering the carriage roof option came when Buick was offering real convertibles was probably not lost on prospective buyers who likely made inquiries as to why Cadillac did not offer a convertible of their own. (which they of course eventually did).
The Cadillac in the featured article probably does not, based on what I have seen, but most of the traditional carriage roofs were applied with a fiberglass shell that had the canvas attached to it. That gave it support as well as the ‘wavy’ look.
4 doors are obviously the hardest to do to look good and not tacky but the mid 80s Town Car probably pulls it off best.
Sevilles with the fake ragtop were really popular down here in the 80’s, especially in that yellowish creamy chamois color too.
Tammy Faye Bakker had a white Seville with navy canvas roof. Jim Bakker usually drove a navy Fifth Avenue. The complex had a FWD Series 75 limo until money got tight and it was sold off. The holy rollers kept it in the family.
I have never seen one in a light shade usually a darker shade to contrast a lighter body color. My Eldorado, with conventional vinyl roof, is three tone between it, the body, and the interior. Don’t see too many three tone cars. Throw in a dual shade paint and you could have a color palette going.
Tammy Faye Baker and slantback Seville, it seems so appropriate, a relative had a yellow one with a white canvas roof and white leather interior, another friends of my parents had an Elegante which was 2 tone brown, with a brown canvas top, WOW, with a moonroof, he was is real estate, his other car was a Jag XJ6.
She later drove an Accord. A bit more befitting of a servant. Bless her soul. 🙂
I have been toying with starting a photo collection of carriage-roofed cars I find in Indianapolis, which are all over the place around here. There are a lot of them here, most recently seen on a new Buick Lacrosse. Not a good look. I missed the chance to shoot a Mercury Montego (?) (Ford Five Hundred clone) where they blanked out the quarter windows with a carriage roof. Actually not as bad as you would think.
Why? Can anyone explain a guy from the other side? Vinyl roofs were here in 60s-70s, but only on cars by detroit-reigned companies. Also it was just a thin layer of vinyl, no padding underneath, no flamboyant mimicry of a convertible top, so why such crazy stuff happened in the States?
for eample: almost all of those used to have vinyl tops, but the bald ones look better IMO
Local habits. US always been more overstated in their presentations. Then again, given the preponderance of manuals in Europe, I don’t know why anyone would want a manual in a dense urban area. The constant double clutching in traffic would wear me out.
Fuggly, both the top and wheels. Put it back to factory and it would look 100% better.
That’s just my opinion though.
I really like the DTS. Not as dainty as the big Sevilles but more svelte than the big Fleetwoods. Like so many cars they are much cooler now than when they were new.
I prefer the “low” headlamps on the feature car over the stacked ones that came later. Those looked good on the CTS and STS but sort of forced on the DTS.
The new XTS looks like an anteater to me. I love the current CTS but hated the previous one.
The STS hit a kind of sweet spot for me but I hear really bad things about the Northstar engines in those. Hope to see a CC on the STS soon.
I never “got” the front end styling on these DeVilles, I wasnt sure if they were trying to ape Mercedes or what? It has grown on me since, at I think its better on the DTS with the body colored grile and the wreath and crest in the grille, though I like the stand up hood ornament a little more. Many of these were the “last Cadillac” for older folks, so there are pretty clean ones out there with low miles.
Don’t forget the canvas-roofed Lincoln MKS I spotted last year: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake-i-guess-the-mks-really-is-the-town-car-replacement/