There’s nothing I can add to this…except to show you two more Seville Roadster ads:
Vintage Ad: The Seville Roadster As An Economic Investment
– Posted on October 3, 2021
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Curbside Classics Archives
There’s nothing I can add to this…except to show you two more Seville Roadster ads:
Too even respond to that ad would dignify its presence.
I agree with Axlehop! I remember these stupid things.
I like it better than all those American cars over the past 25 years or so with aftermarket fake, simulated convertible tops, usually driven by old men wearing white shoes and belts and too much jewelry. Maybe that’s what they drove after the Seville Roadster wore out…
Well, you know what Barnum said…
My thoughts exactly!
The copying of the ad is implying a non-native speaker.
This is better than the hacked Seville with the freaky-long hood and fake side mounts, but that ain’t saying much.
I don’t think that’s necessarily true. A lot of native-born Americans I’ve encountered, and not just recently, write like this, especially the Random use of Capitalized words. Nothing Exotic or foreign about it, unfortunately. In fact, though one could argue with that the statement that owning one of these is “a thing of power, beauty” etc, they are careful not to attribute that description to the car itself, merely to ownership of it. And for what it’s worth, ad copy aside, I kinda like the 1960’s SueprStock drag racer proportions.
AFAIK, in German all nouns are capitalized. I had 2nd generation and even 3rd gen German immigrant relatives who would capitalize common nouns when writing in English.
I’ve long suspected that’s where a certain recent former president got it from.
So, without looking it up, these have to be worth something like $450k now? Drat, one more great investment I missed by failing to take advantage when the opportunity presented itself.
Don’t feel bad. I didn’t invest at the time either. My bicentennial coins should have been spent in 1976. They didn’t pan out either.
Totaling a Caddy would be a better investment. The result would be just as esthetically satisfying as this THING. It would get infinite fuel economy. Best of all, you’d receive a real return from the insurance company, if you were still alive to receive it.
A recent sale of a low-mileage one, asking $13K–no idea what actual selling price was: https://www.streetsideclassics.com/vehicles/1689-atl/1979-cadillac-seville-milan-roadster
“It was first offered at $27,000, and now it is nearly impossible to find one for $60,000.” However, you can find one for $10,000 easily. Probably even cheaper.
But how much of its original price would a stock Seville now retain (disregarding the inflation of the dollar which would affect both equally)? It could be argued that the Seville Roadster turned out to be a less-depreciating asset, if not really a good investment.
But why did its creator cheapen it with a badge from a lower-echelon vehicle (LeMans)?
An interesting question would be: “Has there ever been a customized version of a car that held its value better than the stock version?”
Unless it’s a single example with the provenance of celebrity ownership, or a tie-in to a significant historic event, I think I know the answer.
That’s a very good question. Maybe a Bitter SC? I haven’t researched prices, but they always seemed like one of the better-regarded custom productions.
Good example, although didn’t the Bitter have Opel’s support, and was assembled by a respected coachbuilder (Baur)?
As I commented below (which hopefully will show up soon), I probably should have limited this question to customs that were built without the support of the original manufacturer.
Depends on what you mean by customized. Before GM took over the Fleetwood body company it provided custom bodies for a number of higher end cars in the 1920’s. These are highly regarded today.
Good point, and perhaps I was unclear. I’m not talking about the pre-WWII era where bespoke bodies were the norm for ultra-luxury marques, and the practice was sanctioned by the manufacturer (who also sold bare chassis to facilitate the practice).
I’m referring to instances where a fully completed car is purchased by the customizer, and modified outside of and without the support of the manufacturer.
Maybe I need to refine the question, and limit it to customized cars of the post-WWII era.
I think a good example of what you are thinking of are the so called “chopped” cars. Not everyones idea of collectable.
I think in the short run vehicles depreciate. In the long run the question is whether it becomes collectable.
I like to watch the Antiques Roadshow where they go back and revalue stuff that the appraised 20 or so years ago. Some things go up and some go down.
I don’t know much about the customized car market, but the chopped look is probably the biggest market.
Interesting question indeed. How about the Jaguar XKSS? Although that was more the result of the fire at Browns Lane that stopped any more being made. And there might be some homologation specials?
I submit El Morocco as an example of when the retouched version may have eclipsed the original canvas in value. lol
Good call.
Off the top of my head I would say some examples include Singer, Yenko, and for the most part period modified and upgraded Hakosuka and Kenmeri Skylines sell for more than unmodified versions.
Modern Jeep and other bro-dozers with lifts and winches seem to sell for more than stock versions of the same vehicle. Dealer installed stuff like that might be considered one-offs, though there are thousands of them and they are all essentially the same.
I’m pretty sure a 1957 Coachbuilt Rometch VW Beetle convertible would hold it’s value better than stock.
So much potential scamminess here. In the ads they compare it to a Clenet, and then claim a link (somehow) between this car and the Mercedes 450 SL and a Rolls-Royce Corniche. What’s the linkage? That they’re all automobiles?
I like the fact that this will become an appreciating asset that is also an exotic sports car (once it leaves their factory) AND it’s also “fuel economic” (sic). I can’t imagine it getting any better…
But wait, there’s more! My favorite claim in the ad is that owning the Seville Roadster will provide “infinite satisfaction”. Now that’s something you don’t hear everyday!
Will leasing it provide some kind of satisfaction? How about if I rent it for a week?
That cocaine is a powerful drug…
And making it smaller also apparently makes it safer, and reinforcing the quarter panels “approximates” the original structural integrity. Toss in the promise that it will be worth more in the future and we have one of the biggest examples of advertising lies I have ever seen. A proper ad that was truthful would say “If you buy this, for a couple years people might think you are rich. You may meet more women, if you want to meet gold diggers. And it will get you more attention than similar current luxury cars. Either don’t drive it much or get rid of it in a few years cause it’s going to wiggle in a bit. But here it is, if you want it.”
The top is awkward does it really need the old Chrysler toilet seat on the back, what youre really hoping for as an investment is someone in the future with zero taste to take it off your hands
Quick, fill the trunk with Beany Babies and Tulip Bulbs!!
Anyone else notice the “LeMans” badge below the Seville script on the front fender? What’s up with that?
Identity crisis.
They shorten it too much, and made work for themselves frame cutting, I’m not saying this would be great, but hear me out. The Seville owes much to the Nova, which shares a lot with the Camaro. By the 76 Seville debut, there were probably early third gen F bodies getting junked. Cut the Cadillac body to the length to fit the Camaro length, and use any parts from both cars to give the result long, coupe like doors. That’d have looked better than the stubby body with long overhangs they ended up with.
A concept covered here previously:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-readers-ride-the-noville-coupe-and-who-still-thinks-the-seville-wasnt-just-a-tarted-up-nova/
There were so many shops sawing and pawing at the poor SeVille. uhg
Along with saw blades, a good operator could’ve sold one shop’s “cut-offs” to another shop as ready-made extensions. lol
What a situation, to be saddled with a surplus of money and a shortage of good taste! Luckily for me, my lack of good taste is easily exceeded by my lack of money. It kind of keeps things in a good balance. This car is an abomination. Making the Seville into a four passenger convertible would have required superior craftsmanship and design, not just cutting in half behind the front doors. The San Remo was a much better effort.
+1
This might have been worth spending the money.
+1 Yes, the Seville San Remo convertibles continue to be in demand and command significant prices. It was the correct method to coach-build a Seville convertible.
The proportions are perfect. These look entirely as if Cadillac had produced it.
If I had the money I would. Have seen one, and it was top notch.
They also had an… interesting coupe, too:
https://youtu.be/3hU5bWRx1x0
If cryptocurrency was a car.
What, no sidemounts?
A depreciated circa-1970 muscle car, would, of course be a much better long-term investment.
This came up with the factory ’76 Eldo “Last Convertibles”; fragmentation of the auto market had not yet gone through a full (human) generation yet, so there were some crossed signals of people who thought the modern equivalents of the cars people then in their career peak/empty nest years wanted when they were kids becoming the most desirable classic cars when it was the cars that the people who are kids *now* will want when *they* reach peak disposable income that will do that.
What about stretching the Seville instead of shortening it? I cannot find a picture of a 1st generation Seville limo but I have seen one.