I ran into this car on my way back from the lake yesterday, the same night I had to finish my Seville story and after not seeing a Seville of this vintage for months and months anywhere around here. We’ll use it as a coda to our epic Battle of Seville.
I’m going to let the pictures do most of the talking on this one, because with this car, they talk LOUDLY.
It’s actually a pretty cool emblem, or it would be if the plating hadn’t dissolved.
This monster appears to have had a life like many nice but not truly special old cars; it was probably babied for many years until someone got it much more recently that didn’t really take care of it. Notice the lack of body damage and the intact bumper filler panels.
I didn’t bother to try to figure out what year this car is, but suffice to say it most likely to have a 4.1 with wiped cam lobes and low oil pressure.
At least the hubcaps match, or are these real wheels? I didn’t bother to notice.
The vinyl on this top was that VERY soft, thin kind, and never stood a chance.
Here’s to blind ambition!
To think, that car used to look like this. Why didn’t they just leave it stock?
Scenario: Bucking the best intentions of the United States Polo Association™, Tad went rogue, wielding his Malaise Mallet in anger at all those who refused to Neo-Classicize their once-sharp vehicles. It was later discovered that he was heir to the Zimmer fortune.
All out is the only way you go.
http://youtu.be/KC9hqFpQmYI
Why did that couple park right there on the grass like that?
The guy on the horse is saying “Hey, you can’t park here!”
At least no lengthening of the drive shaft was required.
The only thing uglier IMHO is the Corvorado
http://www.strangecosmos.com/images/content/170744.jpg
THANK YOU for not posting that thing as a thumbnail!
Gosh women and children might be present… It is truely frightening that someone created that monstrosity and then decided that it was suitable for public consumption. As a Supreme Court Justice once famously said about obscene material: “I know it when I see it.”
Somewhere, Rudy Ray Moore just shed a tear.
I suspect you have revealed at least some of the inspiration for the Powell Motors Homer…. http://onscreencars.com/tv/the-homer-the-car-built-for-homer/
The the use of a lion rampant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Standard_of_Scotland) on the emblems likely means the owner (or the customizer) was a Scotsman, or at least had Scottish heritage.
Wow, someone actually paid good money to stretch not the passenger compartment, but the front clip, so they could fit those spare wheels, or fake spare wheels, as the case may be.
On the other hand, looks like there’s enough space under the hood for that spare Merlin V-12 that one surely has just laying around.
I’ve seen an early one which is similar but shortened to be a two door. This one is a 1978 Cadillac Seville Opera. Just needs a set of bull horns on the hood.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveseven/4799257759/
How about this for a 2-door conversion. So sad.
http://www.hymanltd.com/search/details.asp?stockno=4584&recordCount=32
To think that one of the world’s loveliest cars gave its life to create something so unlovely.
I saw one of these go by on the street in front of my apartment only a week ago.
I’m sorry, but I just love this – in a campy kind of way. Just think: somebody actually sat down and thought “let’s take a new Seville, stretch it and do a modern treatment of the classic dual sidemounts!” Classy, oh yeah. What is interesting, is that all of the Cadillac emblems came off.
If you are going to do a bad classic take on a modern car, make it the best (worst?) you can do. What a fabulous find!
The interesting thing is that I don’t believe they actually stretched the front fenders, because that would take time and money to do. I believe the sidemounts hide the fact that the fenders were simply cut (now with a gap in the middle) and you see original fender on either side of the sidemount.
One other thing to consider is that on most of these “Opera” coach cars, the engine is still back against the firewall and the grille and core support are 5 feet away with a big fan shroud reaching rearward toward the engine, but on this Seville, the engine is probably still way up front and the huge, useless gap is between the engine and the firewall!
I made myself curious and went Googling…proved my idea about the engine’s lack of setback, but may have disproved my fender hypothesis. It’s even a V-8-6-4!
Wow…I wonder if that change in weight distribution had a negative effect on the car’s handling…such as it was.
That’s a great engine if you simply disconnect the microprocessor. Just becomes your standard Caddy big block bulletproof engine.
It would be much harder to reconfigure the drivetrain. I have a photo somewhere of a comic-book style 4 axle Cadillac limo complete with spa bath… It had an additional axle mounted ahead of the ‘real’ or driving axle – the extra space was used to stow a large bbq!
That is so disappointing. All that space between engine and firewall, and they just filled it with really, really long hoses. What a waste – why, there’s enough room for a nice fishtank to be mounted there; or perhaps some additional spare wheels. They could have also afixed a nice subtle continental kit to the rear bumper, as well as a trunklid-mounted spare, just in case the rest were all flat. I mourn such lost opportunities…
On a serious note, my 1936 Dodge had twin side-mounts, and this reminds me of that. It’s way better than those ghastly faux-30s cars based on Mustangs etc; not to mention the nightmare-inducing ‘styling’ (I use the term loosely) of any Stutz you care to name. So, in conclusion, I love the Seville, and like this take on it quite a bit too!
Great gloss on that turd
The gloss seals in the stench and keeps the flies away!
It is unfortunate that the North American buying public did not have the fashion sense to take to this beauty.
I’d roll it because I have discerning taste that others lack.
I think it’s a pretty neat looking ride. Not a fan of the white on white, but if the body were a dark blue or dark green with a white top I think it’d look really classy.
I’d drive it, but only when my purple Stutz in the shop.
Apart from the prewar cars, it could draw inspiration from the Bristols that mount their spare in a compartment behind the front wheel – there is no outward indication of such however
I believe this is what they are talking about when you hear the comment about putting lipstick on a pig. No offense to any other readers but, it’s still a pig.
Actually, calling all of that lipstick is somewhat kind. What it really is, is bad plastic surgery on a pig.
I’m sorry, but that is one nasty looking Seville…
Lovin’ that bent-paperclip gryphon ornament.
Also the fact that they not only left the engine in the forward (nose-heavy) half of the stretched hood, but also couldn’t bother to put real spares in the resulting empty space!
Anyone notice the C-pillar chopped up? why?
I wish I still had the ORIGINAL hood Ornament !
Mine was stolen , some PUNK probably had a necklace for
a week then ditched it !
Anybody know the owner of the white Seville ?
My uncle used to make these in the late 70s to mid 80s in Southern Cal. He did a several Cadillacs but many more Lincolns.
Thats cool your uncle used to work there!
Mine was built in Pompano Beach, FL
Does he have any spare hood ornaments laying around ?