The IACRL was front for the five families of New York City.
It was the brainchild of one of the bosses, Joseph Colombo, in response to the arrest of his son on conspiracy charges, and cried victim at the racial profiling of people of Italian descent. In 1970 this cause managed to get a crowd of 5,000 picketing outside the FBI headquarters, and then 100,000 protestors to a gathering at Columbus Circle.
When The Godfather needed permission to film around New York, negotiations had to take place between producer Albert S. Ruddy and Colombo. The sticking point was the use of the word mafia in the script.
An agreement was made; one mention only of the word was to be permitted – used when Jack ‘What’s this thing in my bed?’ Woltz tells Tom Hagen; “I don’t care how many dago guinea wop Mafia greaseball goombahs come out of the woodwork!.”
Another find from my brother in NYC.
Bummer about this Cadillac is that it has a good-looking face and a kickarse rear. It’s just that the profile is grotesquely disproportioned. And that roof nappy is a shocker.
If I was in charge of things, I’d legislate it that all Cadillacs must always have vertical slit-type rear light language.
Always and forever.
In 1971 at another Columbus Circle protest, Joseph Colombo was shot dead. The five families had grown tired of his grandstanding.
Viva Italia!
Or at least viva Little Italy.
I also found this video of an Italian American Cadillac Club meet:
“If I was in charge of things, I’d legislate it that all Cadillacs must always have vertical slit-type rear light language.”
Yup.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjhnhObFkbf/
+1!
Lack of the signature vertical taillights is the main reason I’ve never really warmed up to the original Cadillac Seville.
I’ll have deVille Parmesan.
While I think the ‘convertible’ top is hideous the ‘89-‘93 generation is one of my favorite Sedan de Villes.
Although it broke somewhat with tradition, the 3 sided wrap-around taillights used in ‘69 & ‘77 are also among by favorite de Villes, not so much on the ‘87-‘88 return of that taillight design.
The blue on this CC was sure a popular color choice on these longer wheelbase 1st gen FWDers.
These scene brings back lots of memories of growing up in Philadelphia, where in the heavily Italian and Jewish communities, tons upon tons of Cadillacs exactly like this could be seen. And folks absolutely loved these cars, just as it appears this one is loved (after all, how else could the fake convertible top stay so clean?).
Glad to see the Italian American Cadillac Club is keeping the enthusiasm alive!
It is funny you mention that.
My dad grew up in Upper Darby Pa in a neighborhood like that (Jewish and Italian) and being the good Philly area Jewish folk that they were, my Grandparents always had large cars. They were Buick folks though. I would stay at their home (one of the 40 1940’s townhouses on that street) over the summer and you would have Cadillacs and Buicks parked up and down the street. This was the late 1980’s to early 1990’s so there was a lot of 1970’s luxo barges parked on this street still.
My father is of the ” drive whatever was cheap but comfortable with A/C and cloth seats” type. Would always curse as he never could find parking. My grandparents were not stupid. They would park one car in their garage in the back of their house (these homes had 3 levels(basement/garage, first floor(living room/kitchen) and upstairs (bedrooms) and the other sideways in front of the garage door.
Oh dear, I just bought an ’89 DeVille that looks just like this, except mine has the big chrome pimp- grille to complement this factory “Cabriolet” roof treatment.
It’s in pristine , perfect condition but was virtually unsellable for obvious reasons so I bagged it for $700 CDN. Ironically the only other person who showed interest was an older Italian-Canadian gentleman. He actually bought the car only to have his wife, in in a fit of good taste, force him to return it to the seller.
Despite my willingness to buy such a car the Cabriolet roof truly the worst car accessory. Its expensive and only manages to convert an otherwise attractive steel roof into a giant mobile wart.
I think that Caddy has Eldorado wheels, which I do like, as well as the vertical tail lights, the vinyl roof, no so much.
I share in your dislike of the vinyl roof. It looks to me like somebody stretched six square feet of pig bladder across the top of this car. Those are indeed Eldorado wheels, which were last used in 2002, that car’s final year of production.
Love it! If someone ever recreates these classic NY/NJ ethnic neighborhoods as some kind of exhibit, a Cadillac like this will simply have to be a part of it.
‘You toucha my car, I breaka you face’. Yes, the Caddy THE car of choice for the neighborhood wise guys, wannabees, and others who just just wanted to impress people for no good reason. It was an Italian-American thing for sure. Capiche??
Had one of these in the late 1990s. A ’91 model, finished in a shade of blue a couple of hues darker than this one. Same interior color blue, but mine was cloth, which in frigid Colorado, was quite welcome. One of my best friends said the seats in that car were so nice, it was like getting a hug from the car every time you slid inside. Too bad it was plagued with the usual GM/Cadillac maladies that made ownership expensive and often unpleasant.
In regards to the slang depicted on this car–this type of ignorant vernacular was one of the myriad of reasons why my 100% Italian maternal grandfather (mom’s father) was ashamed of his heritage, and I share that shame, even though I’m only about 70% Italian blood. The rest is Welsh DNA supplied by my father. I’m quite disgusted at the way Hollywood has always depicted Italians–as a collection of piss-ignorant mokes incapable of making a living unless it was illegal, and being violent and only brave in a group of 8 or more wielding baseball bats. My Grandpop worked his way into the position of Project Superintendent at one of the more premier construction companies in the Philly area, and did so with a 7th grade education. He had a temper, yes, but he had a tight rein on it and only displayed it when necessary. One of those times being when some thug tried to break into his row home on Torresdale Avenue. He chased the perp off with a swift fist to the face through the open window as the creep tried to gain entry.
In his early years my Grandpop heard all the usual guff–wop, dago, guinea, goombah, all of that trash. It hurt his spirit to hear these vulgar terms lobbed at him. And here we have whatever fool owns this car proudly displaying this garbage like it’s some joke. It shocks me how many modern Italians actually embrace this ignorance. How the world has changed.