To find one of these on the Streets of St. Petersburg Florida is not exactly surprising; there were a lot of older folks driving Cadillacs in the 1970’s. And the ’80s. And the ’90s. And the ’00s. And there’s still some of them piloting Cadillacs around. But finding a ’77 in this condition on the street, and a d’Elegance no less, is a bit more so. And its precious Medici Cloth interior is in just as good of condition as the outside.
I have seen this car around my neighborhood from time to time but never had a chance to get a good photo until recently. It is a very nice example of a 1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille with the d’Elegance Package. Meaning a very well-padded interior
Here they are, seats upholstered in genuine Medici cloth. Hand made for the Medicis in Florence, Italy in the 15th century, it was preserved in sealed catacombs until Cadillac heard about it in the early ’70s and bought it all (a full shipload) to use in their cars. That is, until it ran out. And it did, eventually. Good luck getting Medici cloth in a new Cadillac. I hear some folks are buying (or stealing) these cars just for the cloth alone, and having their new Cadillac upholstered with it.
It’s easy to see why. Much nicer than that semi-fake leather everyone is forced to use, now that Medici cloth is no longer available.
Subtropical Florida is not kind to vintage Automobiles. The mostly warm sunny weather finds most cars left outside in the driveway or parked on the street. Contrary to popular belief, Florida is not all beaches and palm trees. Most of Florida away from the coasts has a lot of trees, oak trees (Scrub Oak, Silver Oak and Live Oak), Melaleuca trees (A close cousin of the Eucalyptus tree), pine Trees, mulberry trees, Banyan Trees and whatever trees a non native transplant to Florida wanted to plant in his yard to remind them of home.
The thing about trees is that they shed a lot of leaves. Florida oaks have smaller single leaves as compared to the three-prong leaf of the northern oak trees. These little leaves fall all over the car and then get into the doors the vents and all the seams of the car and then combine with all the dirt, dust and pollen (there is a lot of pollen in Florida) and clog the drains. And the leaves take a long time to rot. They seem to petrif.
Then the rain comes and sits in all the places that it should not and the cars begin to rust. You know when you hear it said that a car is a California car, that generally means the car is rust free and still has good original paint and interior. A Florida car is the opposite: rusty, paint faded and rotten interior.
Why? Because it is so hot here in the summer time people leave the car windows open so the inside is not like a 800 degree pizza oven when they get in it to go some where. But they forget to close them when the rain comes. We get a lot of rain in Florida. We get more rain in a day than California gets in most years. Not a small drizzle or mist but a deluge dumping 1/2 or 1 inch of rain into the interior. These showers last minutes but the damage is done.
Then the widows get closed and the car sits in the sun steam-roasting the interior. The other thing that happens during the deluges is that so much rain comes down so fast it does not have time drain away. Streets flood and people drive through getting water up to the side of the door. Not enough to stall out but enough to get water in to parts of the car that isn’t waterproof. But I digress. I just want to explain why it is rare to see an 40 year old car with the original paint, chrome and interior in such good shape on the streets of Florida.
I still find it odd that for a brief period of time in the 70’s and early 80’s that fabric displaced leather as the top rung interior in many cars. Of course this was also the same timeframe that gave rise to the trend of covering the leather seats in your BMW or Mercedes with sheepskin seat covers. I guess people just didn’t like leather.
Prewar, closed American cars *always* had cloth upholstery; leather was for open models and the “cab” of a formal divided limo. It wasn’t until the postwar advent of vinyls, hardtops (originally “hardtop convertibles”) and exposure to foreign, mainly British, cars that cloth started falling out of favor for a while. For whatever reason, it’s really fallen out of favor more recently with the only acceptable alternatives seem to be vinyl, leather so heavily coated as to practically be vinyl with a leather substrate, or ultracheap dollar-store-backpack cloth, all in any color you want so long as it’s black.
To add to nlpnt’s comment: Historically, leather as used for open cars, as it had been in open buggies and wagons, because of its resistance to the elements. But leather was always seen as rather crude and declasse for that reason, and as soon as closed bodies became available, cloth was the seat covering of choice, especially so in luxury cars. But cloth was used across the board, except for convertibles, roadsters and station wagons, where its toughness was an obvious advantage.
Americans started the “leather as premium seat covering” fad in the 50s probably because it was used in a lot of English sports cars and Jaguars and other European sports cars, which were the hot thing here at the time, all pretty much used leather because of what they were (sporty/open cars).
Contrary to popular assumption, German premium cars did not use leather much, except for the ones they exported to the US. Mercedes and BMWs and big Citroens, etc.. all used fine-cut velours and such for the European markets, well into the 80s and even the the 90s. Leather was available, but just not very common on sedans.
In Japan, leather has always been seen as crude and utilitarian, and cloth ruled there in all of the nicer cars (even taxis) until quite recently, but fine cloth is still held in high regard.
As I said, the leather fad seemed to start in the US, because of it being standard on some top-end sporty import cars, like Jags and Mercedes SLs. So folks wanted it in their sedans too. And so it went…
I can assure you the Queen would never set her tush down on a leather seat, except when she was hunting or such. All the top end RR and other British limos had fine wool cloth.
With the rise of veganism, I wouldn’t be surprised to see leather become less popular over time. Leather is a fad, and unfortunately, modern processed leather is not nearly as nice as it once was too.
You mention Japan…
A few years ago I saw a documentary on Japan that went into the Japanese attitudes surrounding immigration and the desire of the Japanese people to maintain racial purity (an attitude not exclusive to Japan). In Japan, at least when the documentary was filmed, the citizens looked upon people who performed certain jobs and/or worked at certain occupations with disdain or even repugnance. Perhaps the folks who were considered as being…the most disgusting or dirty were folks who worked with leather. A garbage collector had a better reputation than a leather tanner. Leather workers were confined to the worst parts of the cities, and having a family member marry into a family that was in the tanning business was considered to be a disgrace to your family.
I wonder if that had any connection with how leather was used in Japanese (luxury) cars?
I very strongly suspect so.
And I’m guessing leather hasn’t made much inroads in India either. 🙂
I lived in Japan for about a decade and I still visit for a few weeks every year, and I think trying to link a preference for cloth car seats over leather to the Burakumin under-caste (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin) is a bridge too far. There’s no aversion to leather in general; plenty of nice shoes, purses, wallets, and other leather goods, and I’ve never had anyone in more than 25 years ever say anything about disliking leather or its smell or feel. The Burakumin are not a visibly distinct group, and discrimination against them probably only survives because each Japanese person has an official family history (Koseki Tohon) going back to 1872, and every mother studies them before her child marries – sort of like googling someone’s Facebook and criminal record today,
I would suggest a less sociological and more pragmatic answer. First, Japan is a very rainy and humid country including a month-long rainy season (Tsuyu) running somewhere from May to July depending on the year and part of the country. Until recently, most Japanese cars did not have air conditioning, and leather seats make for a fairly miserable experience.
Secondarily, until recent years, a car was an expensive luxury in Japan, but one that you would probably only keep for four years because of the Shaken (safety inspection program): “As vehicles get older, maintaining them to the required standards can become expensive. Most Japanese do not get involved in mechanical repairs, and as a result, mechanics can charge high prices.Vehicles which cannot pass inspection are not permitted on public roads. Unwanted vehicles must be exported or destroyed and recycled. Many Japanese used vehicles are exported once it is no longer cost-effective to keep them in service in Japan. Wikipedia. Thus leather is an uncomfortable expense without an advantage because longevity is not a consideration.
I also suspect that leather upholstery is a bit plain looking for Japanese tastes. Even where cost, comfort, or longevity are not a consideration, cloth is preferred. Not too long ago, I saw a Toyota Crown V12 -a very expensive car- in the Ginza and it had the most beautiful tapestry quality brocade material seats imaginable in it; more expensive than the finest leather I suspect, and perhaps even more expensive than Cadillac’s secret-stash ‘genuine Medici cloth’ 😉 ?
Toyota Century V-12 …
The most enduring and premium part of leather is that it often manages to hold that “new car smell” for decades. I put a set of original factory leather seats from 1993 in my Cougar a few years back and it’s unreal how now opening the door I still get that fresh leather waft from them, compared to the original cloth/vinyl seats started to accumulate that musty old car scent.
When I think of premium leather in terms of region, I don’t think of England or Japan or Germany (the latter I associate with apocalypse-proof vinyl), Italian leather is what comes to my mind first and foremost, there seems to be a much more consistent use of it in premium cars like Ferrari or Maserati exclusively.
I remember as a kid driving in a black late 60s Mercedes 300 SEL (W108) with white leather seats.
The colour had faded to geyish kind of look and the leather showed lots of wear and cracks.
But the most horrible part was it´s smell – totally “fishy”.
Most MB & BMW use vinyl not leather, even now in 2021. Personally I hate leather seats. I wish they still made cars with the velour seats, as they did in the 1970’s. I think velour is much richer looking. Leather is slippery, it always cracks, it’s hot in summer, cold in winter. The only cars I liked with leather were the 1974-1978 Imperial/Chrysler New Yorkers and the 1976 Caddy Fleetwood Brougham D’Elegance. And even with them I liked the velour better.
I detest leather in cars and would much rather have this cloth. I also miss these deep-tufted seat designs. Most car seats today are hard as a rock, not a “luxury” feel IMO.
I liked the tail lights of the ’77 Caddys best of all.
Agree with Frank Bray!
“Luxury” today is all about performance and gadgets.
Yeah, performance is such a bad thing!
It’s not in a performance car. A crashy suspension and hard seats in a luxury car though? No thanks. Not that I’d want to go back to the days of the subject land yacht. But there’s some middle ground there.
I often wonder where people drive that makes today’s version of luxury appealing. Surely not my frost heaved roads here in the Midwest. Mostly about the image, I suspect.
My introduction to leather was in Dad’s 1979 Sedan DeVille – his first Cadillac. He had a ’77 Electra 225 Limited with a really red nice velour interior. Cool in Summer, comfy in Winter, soft on the skin and no real odor. After that car ate 3 driveshafts in 40k miles (2nd unreliable Buick ? in a row), he traded it for the Caddy. That Caddy had awful seats. I’ve never seen the like of them before or since. The backrest had a thick, softly padded collar shaped like an inverted U, reaching down to my shoulder blades. Forced my shoulders to hunch forward. Don’t know how Dad put up with it with his bad back. And oh, yes, they were leather. Cold and slippery in Winter, hot and sticky like vinyl in Summer, and stinky enough for the first year to make me nauseous. A really bad introduction to leather and to the Cadillac brand. I much preferred the cloth seats I tried later in a ’77 Coupe DeVille and a ’70 Fleetwood. I’ve avoided leather seating when possible ever since, though I will admit that the tufted “Fine Corinthian Leather” in a friend’s ’75 Cordoba was pleasant enough.
Frank Bray…. I wouldn’t mind good cloth seats…. but this dreadfully-awful VELOUR so common today.. is from the pit of hell… and I despise it!
Wonderful writing. I’ve always wondered why carmakers paid so little attention to leaves. The solutions are simple, and in fact the solutions were used BEFORE the upward-facing vents that hold rotting leaves. Chrysler had a forward-facing cowl vent (with screen) that could be opened and closed. Nash had a forward-facing louver. Studie had side vents.
With an upward louver, the obvious solution is a screen glued or fastened on the underside. Or just a rigid plastic screen instead of a louver.
A “Florida Car” is still desirable in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic/Midwest, because at least the rust isn’t underneath.
Looks to be in excellent shape. This was the first year of the GM downsizing for which I think they did an excellent job.
Must have been kept in a garage or carport and out of the FL sun which can ravage any surface (paint, vinyl, leather, even Medici cloth).
Its a keeper if the price is right:-)
About the last year for a Cadillac that I would consider owning.
Driving around in Winfield, KS (70 miles north of Wichita) with ‘vegetation’ on your window can get you pulled over, yanked out of your car, handcuffed, and searched:
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article211389039.html
Man, I spend every morning cleaning the leaves out of the gutter of my car’s air vent below the window. Same with the rear. Leaves collect in the gutter surrounding the aperture of the boot (trunk). Then, this is followed by ants that make nests in the door frames and sill covers, and rats that nest under the bonnet and store food in hard to reach areas in the engine and drive train. Ten years of this abuse have left my car looking like a trainwreck; so I live with it and just spend money on the oily bits to keep it running. One day though………
To echo Polistra, you are a great writer. And this car is gorgeous.
I also used to live in the Tampa Bay area, and three quarters of the year, I’d be sweating within five minutes of leaving for work in my car. I would much rather be seated on this beautiful Medici cloth than on leather / pleather / vinyl.
The ’77 CDV is such a nice, well-balanced design – even in 2018, and this color makes me happy, like that yellow cake from Betty Crocker.
I love your description of this color! Delicious!
The lighter shades were always popular in NOLA when I was growing up, and there were plenty of these “yellow cakes” running around back in the day. I miss them too, in our current, utterly boring “5-color” (black/white/gray/dark red/dark blue) vehicle world we could use some “tasty” shades again.
And Amen!! 🙂
I live in north Florida but rarely see an older person driving an older Cadillac. There is an older gentleman in this area who drives a 66 Ford Custom and that is it. Unfortunately, most older cars in this area have been “donked” or scrapped.
Similar in Sun City AZ area. Was expecting more ‘antiques’, but most well off seniors have late model cars.
15-20 years ago was Buicks and Grand Marquis. Nowadays, it’s Santa Fe’s, RAV4’s, Escapes and CR-V’s. Most common non SUV is Camry. Different generation.
Nice car but I prefer the 1978-79 tail lights over the 1977’s, this was IMO the last great generation of the Cadillac’s, gotta love the soft cloth interior’s on these cars (wish they can make interiors like that again on today’s cars).
I had understood that Cadillac had a lead on a second stash of Medici cloth but the shady middleman got caught up in a scandal about cultural artifacts and that was that.
I half agree with Joe Dennis. I love Betty Crocker yellow cake, but you can have this color on a car. And if I’m doing a late 70s lux coupe, it’s gotta be a Lincoln. Go big or go home.
I learned the hard way the truth about “Florida cars”. Here in the rust belt there is a casual assemption that any car in any part of the south is near impervious to rust due to the short/lack of winter season, and many people will sell cars around here proudly proclaiming the state of origin, and Florida being the hottest and least wintery presumes the cream of the crop, right?
…That’s what my buddy and I thought about his gorgeous black Thunderbird SC rolling chassis, which was to be an expedient recipient for the freshly rebuilt and warmed over 3.8 he didn’t want to install back into the crusty Illinois car it came from. Upon doing the usual general maintenance stuff and prep work for things like the clutch pedal install(it was an auto car originally), suddenly we were finding soft spots and holes in the floor and boxed structural points all over the place. This car was almost as Swiss cheese as a typical northern car, the only difference was there was zero traces of road salt to be found, just lots of the aeformentioned tree debris. We started working on that car 5 or more years ago, and it is still in limbo awaiting metal work.
So great to see this car! These Cadillacs hit my sweet spot–as a car-crazy 10-year-old when they came out, I was mesmerized: “downsized” but still a Cadillac. The d’Elegance interior is certainly overstuffed in its Medici glory–it almost looks like the seats from a jumbo ’76 d’Elegance were stuffed inside the ’77.
Also appreciate your points about the Florida climate being harsh on cars. South Louisiana where I grew up is similar in many ways–hot, humid, sunny/rainy and back again, with tons of pollen, leaves and even mold descending on cars. Unlike northern cars eaten away from the bottom by road salt, South Louisiana cars rot from the top down, especially around vinyl roofs and trim that traps the moisture and dirt. Glad to see that this Coupe DeVille has avoided that fate!
SurfinSafari, you gave us much to ponder about the Medici and their cloth.
Ah, those clever Florentine Medici! Imagine how truly advanced alchemy (sic) was in Florence and in surrounding Tuscan Hill Towns, like San Gimigniano, to have developed polyester fabrics centuries in advance of John D. Rockefellers’ trans-Atlantic initiation of the “modern era oil age”. in the late 19th century.
Did the alchemists of the the Medici use middle eastern or Persian oil transported in Venetian Naval freight Galleys to Florence/Tuscany in amphora or barrels for the purpose of conversion to the Medici’s polyester velours? Can you imagine the busy artisans working on the banks of the Arno River gleefully producing reams of polyester for the Medici’s weaving looms? Additionally imagine clever artisans working near the medieval Ponte Vecchio bridge blending the Medici’s polyester velours with fine Florentine leathers. Truly a Renaissance miracle merely awaiting rediscovery by GM.
How did the chemists of DuPont rediscover the secrets of the Medici’s Alchemists to supply GM’s needs in the mid-late 20th century? No doubt another mystery awaiting to be solved!
Incidentally woolen “Broadcloth”, Bedford Cord, patterned wool, and plain wool broad cloth were the preferred interior covering of the higher end classic era cars,and earlier, not leather because of the preferable textures and greater range of color palettes of fabrics. In forward open cockpit Town Cars, etc, more weather proof leather was likely and more commonly used for the chauffeur, Broadcloth, or the like, was typically used in the enclosed interior.
Because many fashion trends are “driven” by women who are more typically attuned to textures and colors than men, I wouldn’t be surprised by a return to quality fabric automotive interiors in the future. We shall see what awaits us.
This is a very well preserved example of the defining car of my young adult life. If any of my cars could be considered to be my only COAL, my ’77 Coupe de Ville would be it. Naples yellow exterior with matching yellow leather interior. The car was only three years old when I bought it in 1980 and it was like brand new. I preferred the plainer leather to the overstuffed de Elegance interiors. These special (not base) type cloth interiors were considered to be more upscale than leather. I was not a fan of the bordello style though. Pre War Cadiilacs and other luxury makes usually featured a simple pattern, woolen broadcloth upholstery which more comfortable in the Summer heat, especially without a/c. It was also more comfortable in the Winter. Here’s a picture of what a high end interior would look like. Cadillac offered these in the 75 series up into the early 70’s.
My ’96 Mustang GT has the optional tweed cloth Recaro style, sports seats, (not the base cloth) and I find they are long wearing, grippy, and cooler.
Here’s an actual picture of my CdV. If I ever got a car to relive the best years of my life, it would have to be this one! I recently posted an entry in April, about this car on my blogsite, Better Beaters.
I love Classic Cadillac’s. I have 78 Coupe Deville bronze exterior color with brown leather interior ALL original 17K miles with documentation and manuals a real beauty! And No it’s Not for sale!
I also like some modern Cadillac’s I recently bought 2013 Escalade EXT Premium package black on black with 34K original miles they No longer make EXT versions been told could be future collectable!
How can any 1970s and 1980s-era Cadillac fan NOT love the d’Elegance option?
Although they might not have offered the back and thigh support of today’s sports seats, there’s nothing like sinking deeply into the plushness of an easy chair-like car seat as you float down the road.
I remember being with my mother at a Cadillac dealership in 1979 and sitting in the back seat of a new Fleetwood Brougham d’Elegance sedan on the showroom floor. Sinking into the deep velour seating, you could easily fall asleep.
I remember the sticker, too. $16,000. Imagine, $16,000 for a brand new Fleetwood Brougham d”Elegance!!
Funny write-up ! 😉
This to me is the epitome of a rolling living room !
To me leather has always been a better smelling vinyl. These days, it usually is vinyl.
These ’77-’79 (and ’80-81, kind of) models are the one “modern” HEI equipped big RWD Caddy I haven’t driven. I owned an ’87 Brougham (classic but grossly underpowered) and ’93 Fleetwood Brougham (modern and efficient, but ungainly outside and cheap inside), and test drove a ’76 Coupe DeVille (the smoothest, most effortless V8 I’ve ever piloted). I’ve always wondered what the 425 version of that same V8 would be like, still with minimal emissions doodads, on the smaller body. Especially as I owned a 350 powered Electra 225 from the same year. Not sure I’d want to own one (I can’t resist the idea of the ’75 or ’76 if I had to choose) but would really like to drive one that has been kept up.
I drove a 77 Fleetwood sedan semi-regularly for awhili in 1978-79. I remember it having a very nice power to weight ratio. The car was quicker off the line than the 76 Fleetwood I got to drive (less often) and was also quicker than my father’s 78 Town Coupe with the 460. I watched another guy do a burnout in it (on a sealed asphalt parking lot, which is less impressive, I know.) If I were ever to look at another Cadillac on that body, I would lean towards the 77-79. I prefer the looks of the 80+ but that 425 could make up for a lot of stylistic deficiencies.
What a coincidence, the front plate has the exact word I said when I saw this car! Love the malaise-era magnificence, though.
With you all the way on wool cloth, Paul. Still have a Recaro from the late 70s that I had made into a home-office chair.
Beautiful car…I wasn’t aware that the d’Elegance package was available on lowly DeVilles, I thought that was reserved for Fleetwoods.
A friend’s grandmother drove a CDV in a similar color, with the most garish plaid seats EVER. She picked us up from swim team practice one day, and apparently a wet towel got jammed under the front seat…you can imagine what that started smelling like after a couple of days!
When did dealerships stop pushing that color-keyed adhesive vinyl bodyside moulding? That, along with door edge guards, were the only dealer installed items my dad would spring for when he bought a car.
With so much interest, and thus ‘demand’, for COUPEs, I’m trying to figure out why Coupe deVille prices are not TWICE Sedan deVille prices.
I really do not understand the phenomenon. Why do people willingly put up with coupe doors that are three miles long… and weigh as much as a Subaru?
Quien sabe.