(first posted 12/1/2014) Know the great thing about classic cars? There’s something for everyone. Timeless and sporty? Porsche 911. Classic American luxury? Lincoln Continental. Bizarre and cool? Citroën DS. Classic and go-anywhere? International Scout. Just plain weird? AMC Pacer. But for me, it is the now-extinct floaty, chromey and oh-so-cosseting V8-powered domestic luxury cars from postwar through 2011–with the discontinuation of the Lincoln Town Car. So, while some of you may go agog at a ’76 CJ-5 or BMW 2002, if you are with me at a car show, expect a major pause for something like this 1991 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. And if triple white? Fughettaboutit.
This was the last Coupe de Ville, a classic name in two-door luxury motoring from the Standard of the World since its 1949 debut. While the final downsized C-body CDVs were not exactly the classics of the Forties through the Sixties, they still had Cadillac Style in abundance. Lexus? Feh. You like ’em, good for you, but answer me this? Could you get white Sierra grain leather with red trim? That’s what I thought.
Yes, the 1985 Easy Bake C-bodies were not Cadillac’s finest hour. The 1980-84 Coupe and Sedan de Villes were so graceful, albeit with Self-Destructo™ HT 4100 motivation in the 1982-84 versions. But they still looked good!
Perhaps not so much the 1985. Not only did they look like they got screwed up by the dry cleaners, there was hardly any chrome trim! I can appreciate them now, with all the goofy lozenge-shaped new cars about, but compared to an ’84 CDV and especially the not-too-distant 1976 model, they looked like a practical joke. To be fair to GM, however, they (and everyone else) was expecting ten-buck-a-gallon gas by 1986-88. That it didn’t happen resulted in Mini-Me Caddys like this.
But by 1986, the wider rocker moldings and available Cabriolet roof improved the luxury look, for those who sought it. Still, Lincoln sold a truckload of Town Cars in 1985-86 due to these new FWD Caddys.
A mild stretch for 1987 gave the Coupe de Ville and its four-door sister much-needed length, but it still looked suspiciously like a Volvo 740 with a Florida-favorite “Palm Beach” package. But then, finally, in 1989 a heavy restyle of the 1985 shell made them much more palatable.
Longer flanks, new front and rear styling, an updated interior and other refinements gave the Coupe de Ville a much more imposing look. A steel top was still available, but rarely seen. While I’d prefer the slick top, most folks with the coin went for either the Cabriolet roof (landau with electroluminescent opera lamps and opera windows) or the carriage roof seen on our mint example here.
And while this was no ’76 Coupe de Ville d’Elegance, or even an ’82 model with “Hand Tighten” 4.1L V8, it did still offer all of the usual Cadillac comfort and convenience options, as well as a virtual cornucopia of colors, both inside and out.
In addition to the white leather with red trim seen here, white with navy blue was also available for the nautical-minded. Dark red, navy blue, light yellow (in its last year for ’91), black, tan, dark auburn and light gray were also offered. Such choice!
And Cadillac still offered rear ashtrays for rear passengers. I believe a lighter was also installed under the flip-up cover. Perhaps Carmine can confirm. Also note all the little Cadillac details: chrome trim, woodtone trim, assist strap, and courtesy lamp with mini wreath and crest. I love those things!
I drove several of these in the late ’90s, when they were still common. I loved the interiors on these, and the smell of the leather was so Cadillac. They rode great too. And the glass area! Yeah, you used to be able to see out of your car without seventeen cameras and annoying computer beeps.
And by the way, is this one a pristine example or what? I was at the annual Railroad Days car show in Galesburg, IL this past June, and while walking a couple blocks away from the show to photograph some neat old buildings, I came upon this mint Coupe de Ville. And it was triple white! I immediately locked onto the target.
It was for sale too. Mint example, no 4.1 under the hood, low mileage, excellent color combination. Yeah, the price might not be out of line. But I don’t need a third car! Didn’t stop me from admiring it, however.
While the 1989-90 had a lower, checkerboard-style grill, 1991s received a larger version and a domed hood. Under the hood was an updated version of the 4.5 V8 used since 1988 (itself a major re-do of the 4.1), now upsized to 4.9 liters.
The Coupe de Ville now had a quite healthy 200 horsepower with 275 lb-ft of torque. With standard anti-lock brakes and P205/70R15 Michelins, these cars, while no 911 or Miata (perish the thought!), could get up and go–or get out of the way, as the case may be.
Never forget that, downsized or no, these were still Cadillacs, so a long standard features list was expected. Dual comfort 45/55 split front seats, six-way power driver’s seat, Esteem knit cloth (leather was an option), Delco AM/FM/Cassette with six speakers and five-band graphic equalizer, power antenna, electric rear window defroster, heated power mirrors, cruise control, power door locks, leather-wrapped steering wheel, cornering lamps and 15-inch cast aluminum wheels with whitewall tires were all standard.
That last item threw me a bit–the chintzy wire wheel covers cost MORE than the alloys! However, the lacy-spoke ones on today’s car were a different style from the ones fitted as standard equipment. Here’s what those looked like–though still MUCH better than the wires in my opinion.
The Sedan de Ville remained popular, but by the late ’80s, Coupe de Ville sales were trending downward. The last ones, virtually identical to this one, were built in 1993.
Still, it outlasted its FWD C-body coupe siblings by a healthy margin, as both the Buick Electra/Park Avenue and Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency coupes were last sold in 1987. But in 1991, you could still have your Cadillac Style in two-door Coupe de Ville luxury!
“Mint” is right. I can’t believe how well this has been looked after.
Kudos to the previous owner/s
Yeah, those ashtrays (and lighters in back if they are indeed present) have clearly never been used if the white interior is that pristine.
Well, truth be told, the last “jellybean” Town Car you marked as the end of an era never looked especially “chromey” to me – actually more like plasticky. So, I’d move the end the epoch of Great American Luxury Cars to the demise of the last (D-body) Fleetwood in 1996. Or, maybe it’s just me…
The de Ville ? Well, in coupe form this car looks just plain wrong to me, so I can understand why they didn’t sell well. Good luck to the current owner selling it, though. And yes, the color combo is remarkable indeed.
Yes, the late Town Cars were subjected to vast de-contenting, but it was the last true full-size, body-on-frame, V8, rear-wheel drive American luxury sedan. I stand by my original statement. 🙂
“Esteem knit cloth (leather was an option)” – My great aunt and uncle have both been long-time Cadillac owners (she currently drives an ’05 DeVille, he an ’06 DTS) and they both prefer cloth/velour to leather. I remember them lamenting about how Cadillac only offers leather, when they purchased these cars new.
Very nice Coupe de Ville here. Something about the 2-door body style and its rarity make this car infinitely more desirable to me than a similar vintage Sedan de Ville.
The end of an era. Leaving Cadillac with the Eldorado as their only coupe to soldier on until 2005 (I believe) with coupes only recently returning to their lineup.
Actually 2002 was the end of the road for the Eldorado.
Thanks for the clarification.
The use of the pre-’89 roofline on the coupe version was a bad idea – it would’ve looked better with a little more slope to go along with the elongated overghangs of the updated model – but otherwise I can’t disagree with most of what you say. You certainly couldn’t get a white/red leather interior like that anywhere else.
This generation (and the 1994-1999 version) instantly make me think “Sopranos” every time I see one. Nothing says New Jersey mobster quite like a ’90s DeVille. The perfect setting for one would be behind a secluded industrial park or perhaps under a freeway overpass, just waiting for the inevitable shoot-out.
Very common hoopties here in the inner-cities of Michigan, although the pre-’94 versions are starting to thin out.
Different shows, but case in point:
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_90400-Cadillac-Sedan-DeVille-1989.html
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_95133-Cadillac-Sedan-DeVille-1989.html
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_152775-Cadillac-Sedan-DeVille-1989.html
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_724758-Cadillac-Sedan-DeVille-1991.html
These were used in lots of movies, and they do have a certain organized crime vibe, I remember the grey one driven by Jon Voight in Heat and the other grey Sedan DeVille driven by Chris Penn’s “Nice Guy Eddie” character in Reservoir Dogs.
Buick still did offer a white leather interior on the downsized 86-93 Rivieras too, with either a red or blue dash combination. I think it was probably also available on a few Town Cars, there was some sort of Jack Nicklaus edition Town Car that was dark green with white leather seats.
An interesting CC article could be done regarding the first instance of color contrasting (seats color X, carpet & dash color Y – or something similar) interiors in mainstream American Luxury Cars and when the very last instance was. I’m sure it all started with coach built automobiles but it would be cool to see when it became part of mass production and then when it was fazed out.
It would be interesting, I know that for the 1970’s Cadillac usually did white seats and top 1/2’s of the door panels in white with the carpet, steering wheel, dash and seat belts in a contrasting color, red was usually the overwhelmingly popular choice, but it wasn’t the only color, they could also be green like this Persian Lime Mist 1974 Eldorado convertible.
Well it was available in the Sixties too. I have seen both a ’65 Mustang and ’64 Corvair Monza with white interior and red dash and carpet. I think you could get it even earlier too–maybe on Cadillacs in ’59 and ’60?
Oh yeah, I know, I was mainly concentrating on an easy example, but it varies, some years in the 60’s Cadillac also did a white lower dash and wheel with contrasting dash and carpets.
This yummy 66 Eldorado for example….
I can’t believe I forgot, but my grandmother had a mauve 1959 Catalina convertible with white interior and (I think) black dash and carpet. It was traded in on a new 1965 Thunderbird convertible in navy blue with white interior and blue dash and carpet.
By the way that 1966 Eldo is great!
Are you thinking of Spinnaker? Yuck!
It has been said that to be a luxury car, it has to have four doors.
In a two door version, the rear seat looks like a wonderful place to be, but it’s an awful place to get to. Any time a passenger enters the rear of a luxo coupe, there are two seconds of anything but comfort while they climb over a jumble of door sills, seat backs and seat belts to get to a perch in which they are effectively incarcerated with no way out unless given an avenue by those in the front seat. It’s a fluffy jail cell.
The psychology is beyond me, but somehow attracts me. It’s snob appeal, I guess.
In practical terms, cars in that body style are useful to carry the children or grandchildren of the moderately well heeled, except that while strapping them in, grandma has to lean over the aforementioned obstacle course.
It would almost make more sense to toss out the back seat and replace it with a padded tray for groceries or the Irish setter, accessible through RX7 style half doors on both sides. For true snob appeal, make it a large golf club door on the right side only!
Most of the time you are going to be in it by yourself, and maybe one other person, anyway.
Yeah it’s SmarmForTwo LOL. Just kidding. Cars that some would not have owned new can develop a funk factor as they age that makes them more desirable. I know this forum has an international reach, and it’s entertaining and instructive to listen to the broad spectrum of opinions on a car like this.
The Coupe de Ville was the most popular Caddy in the pre-shoulder belt, true hardtop era. It showed off that year’s lines in the cleanest, least cluttered by vertical shutlines, way possible.
There might also have been some snobbery of the I-won’t-be-mistaken-for-a-chauffeur variety at work, too, but many lesser American cars of the day sold best as two-door hardtops, and nobody ever thought of a Chevelle as a chauffeured car (at least not in the home market).
“It has been said that to be a luxury car, it has to have four doors.”
Who said that? Maybe today, but not in earlier decades. Ironic as it may seem, four door luxury cars were not popular in the 70’s and into the 80’s, as the Coupe deVille used to outsell the sedan almost 3 to 1. Look at most of your luxury cars from the 70’s and 80’s – the majority of them were coupes! By the mid 80’s it seemed as if it was shifting away from luxury coupes. GM even tried with the downsized full-sized cars to have a coupe available and they were poor sellers.
My Dad’s 1990 Coupe deVille was a fantastic car, and with four grandkids, they would love to get in that back seat and go anywhere we took them. It was large enough to accomodate six people comfortably, especially kids. Even adults said that back seat was roomy and comfortable.
I admire its condition and your passion for these. Perhaps its an age thing, but these do absolutely zero for me. It is a 3/5 scale version of a 1960s Cadillac, but with too much plastic. The proportions have always bothered me on these.
These (going back to 1985) are the cars that lost me. Before that, whereas Cadillac might not have been my cup of tea, I could at least understand why somebody might want one. But I could never understand what about these cars was appealing to anyone. Had Cadillac not have enjoyed maybe the most loyal owner base of any American car, they would have struggled to sell 5,000 a year.
My, but this is turning into a bit of a rant. But it remains that Cadillacs like this sold a lot of Town Cars.
I prefer earlier examples and my personal tastes mainly favour large Mercedes, but I totally get the interest in and affection for large American luxury cars. I recently looked at Cadillac and Lincoln websites and could not believe what I saw. Seriously, no large luxury cars except for SUV’s. What does a patriotic American do now for a large luxury car – is a Chrysler 300c, which isn’t really large, the sole option? Perhaps this market segment has now totally defaulted to S Class and 7 series.
Looking at a 1936 Cadillac full line brochure on Oldcarbrochures I was really impressed by the care, attention to detail, innovation, good design and craftsmanship that was offer – indeed it really was standard of the World stuff. I appreciate that times have changed, but it appears none often this glorious past is invested in current “premium” American sedans and that the brougham era really was the end of the line.
Your question about patriotic Americans wanting a large luxury car is a good one. While I am not in a position to have to worry about that yet, I will speculate some have used this formerly unorthodox option. You can everything but a heated butt wiper in one.
Ford F-150 Platinum
Have you looked at an XTS or an MKS? They are pretty big, not as much on the outside, overall length will never return to the 1970’s numbers, so lets forget that, but their insides are pretty comfy.
Take a look at the new CTS and XTS, there are some very nice interior details in the car, fantastic materials. I can see where they have brought back some of the care and attention to interior details that some of the older cars have.
The XTS is nice on the outside, like a bobsled or a gun turret on the inside. Makes you feel trapped, and you just cannot move your right leg to the right at all. Yuck.
The MKS on the other hand isn’t too bad. Not a bench seat, but still more room to move your right leg.
Agree, rode in a car service XTS here in town recently. Maybe the Lincoln will be better. Drove a 300. Reminded me of an 80s M Body in size. None of them “big”.
Sure, overall length will never return to 70s dimensions but I’ve yet to hear why it can’t return to 90s/2000s Fleetwood/Town Car dimensions. (Other than some version of “well, it won’t, so shuddup”). Speaking from experience such cars do fit into modern parking spaces, even in Manhattan it’s not some horrible experience parking my Electra. I do it at least once a week. Did the rest of the country turn into Manhattan or do you all still have acres of parking lots? That’s what I thought. But we keep on with these stubby little “big” cars like the XTS and 300.
You can park a funeral limo DTS in a regular parking space with hardly any overhang. Really.
I enjoyed the XTS I drove, and didn’t have any problems with an intruding console or claustrophobia. If the MKS has even more room, I might have to try one of those too.
I’m already halfway convinced to get a FWD Lincoln when I finally decide to retire the Volvo.
My review: http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/new-cars/future-curbside-classic-2014-cadillac-xts-how-to-say-fleetwood-in-the-21st-century/
I suppose it depends on how you drive. For me, I like to lean the seat back, put my right arm on the arm rest and sprawl my right leg out into where the ashtray/middle seat is in a bench seat car. I’ve driven plenty of cars with consoles that sit quite a bit lower so I can still move my leg so they aren’t terrible but with an XTS or a LaCrosse, no can do. So, no will buy.
Try an MKS out, I think you might like it.
Contrarian as usual, I’m one of those who really likes the first FWD Cadillacs. At this point, they finally dropped the last vestiges of over-porky, senior citizen, bulgemobiles and turned into an attractive car. Of course, this alienated all those seniors who bought their cars by the pound, considered “handling” synonymous with “ease of parking”, and “class” to be shown by vinyl roofs, fake wire wheels, and bordello interiors.
I love the spare, straight lines of the ’85’s, especially in the four door version, and regret Cadillac’s backpedaling to hang all those 70’s styling cues on the cars to get them to sell again. Unfortunately, the ’85’s came about six years too late – by the time they came out, the non-snowbird crowd had moved to German engineering and left Cadillac far behind. Which meant Cadillac had to “brougham to survive”.
I actually really like those early ones too. Stay tuned…
I don’t dislike the smaller 1985-1988 ones either, and they didn’t even sell badly, sales for the DeVille actually increased in 1985, contrary to what happened in 1986 with the E-cars, but to me, the 1989 was really improved, yes this could be loaded up with all the bric-a-brac that the older buyers liked, but so could the smaller 85 cars, I’ve seen tons of them with landaus and fake rag tops, not to mention continental kits and fake rolls grilles too. The length that they added made the car look less like a plucked chicken.
To me, they went a tad too small with the 85’s and this generation corrected that. I don’t know where you assume that somehow these later ones handle worse than the 1985 versions, they drive about the same, actually better in the latter cars with the larger wheels and the bigger displacement engines.
This is a better looking car, it doesn’t have that “toy-like” look that the earlier cars have.
Yeah, the ’89s were much more Cadillac-like, and I thought it was a big improvement, but the ’85-’88s have grown on me over the years. They do have a clean style to them, although a little on the short side. My grandma got in a minor fender-bender with her Continental in ’90, and she got a Garnet ’90 SDV with light gray leather as a loaner while it was being fixed. It made a BIG impression on ten-year-old me!
“Both the Buick Electra/Park Avenue and Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency coupes were last sold in 1987.”
Really? I remember liking my uncle’s new Park Avenue 2-door in early ’88. I guess that could have been a leftover.
Yup the Buick Electra coupe was killed off in 1986 and the last Buick Park Avenue coupe was killed off in 1987(I never even knew they offered a coupe Park Avenue) and 1987 was also the last year for the Oldsmobile 98 coupe.
However the Buick Lesabre and Oldsmoble 88 were offered as a coupe until 1991
Here’s a photo of a 1987 Buick Park Avenue coupe for you!
Part of the issue there may have been the very formal, almost 90 degree upright rooflines on the Electra/PA and Ninety Eight coupes. It (at least to me) didn’t look right with the sloping lines of the rest of the car. Worked ok on the sedans, not so much on the coupes. The “fast” C-pillar and nearly triangular rear quarter windows of the LeSabre/88, on the other hand, worked a lot better and resulted in quite an attractive coupe, albeit one with less rear headroom.
A pristine, darn-near-perfect example of a not-so-durable car!
BUT
These front wheel drive shirnkmobiles do NOT whisper “American Luxury Car” to me. I never understood the advantage(s). The FWD models drove just as numb and clumsy as the car they replaced.
A Lincoln Town Car DOES whisper “American Luxury Car” in my ear.
Actually by this vintage the 4.9 V8 is very durable.
I think that the main thing that robs these cars of the luxury car look is the way the front wheels are tucked back next to the door. Obviously it’s the way your typical front-wheel-drive car is set up, and they did the best they could with that format, but the difference in wheelbase between this car and a Town Car catches one’s eye instantly.
My former neighbor was selling one of these 2 years ago. It was a 1991 silver blue coupe with the 4.9 and 108K miles. The low end torque of that engine was quite amazing and this car felt like a slingshot up to about 60 MPH. The difference in performance between the 82-84 4100 coupe and the 91-93 was nothing short of mind blowing.
I Like this car. A lot. The main reason is because it is a coupe. I don’t like 4 door cars at all. It has a carriage roof, and whitewall tires. This is a personal luxury car, and there is a lot of ’70s in it’s styling. The only place I can see for improvement would be to ditch the carriage roof for a half padded vinyl top in the rear, with an opera window.. The interior is nice as well, beautiful compared to the gray/black interiors of most modern transportation appliances.
Agreed. The interior colors really pop, especially compared to the gray/black/camel colored ones right now. Plus, it looks wonderfully comfortable for turnpike cruises.
I would prefer the slick top, too. This roof looks like something that would be slapped on by a “Cadillacs-only” used car huckster on a tawdry, declining commercial strip outside Philadelphia. Maybe their customers had become Cadillac’s target market by the mid-1980s?
But this car’s CONDITION! Wow! I hope the seller got what the condition deserves.
The carriage roof was factory though. So was a coach roof with electroluminescent opera light, and the slick top. Slick tops were pretty uncommon on the 1989-93 Coupe de Villes.
These do have ashtrays and lighters in the rear armrests as far as I recall, usually these trip white DeVille coupes were ala-carte, but they also packaged the triple white package, gold emblem and the fake convertible top, in something they used to call a “Spring Edition” along with white painted door handles instead of the chrome ones(sporty!), body colored rockers and different alloy wheels.
Lest we forget, there was an even more pimped out Fleetwood Coupe version of this car available at the same time too.
And in that one they put real wood. I thought the extended wheelbase model was very cool. Pity they couldn’t have put the same wood into the (Fleetwood) Brougham, too, to keep it in the family.
Rare as hen’s teeth these days, but I love these Fleetwood coupes. These had to have been one of the last applications of fender skirts as well (I know the ’93 to ’96 Brougham had them also, albeit really small ones).
Wow! Just across the river from your find there’s a nearly identical version of this car.
It’s a one owner car with Blue Leather interior.
These Caddys were typically off my radar in the past but I’ve really warmed up to the remaining exples.
I think I have pictures of that one too! White with navy roof and navy leather. Same wheels as this one too. It’s a ’93. Saw it at North Park last year.
Was this the mystery vehicle picture? Because if so, I got another one right! Oh yeah :D. Got one a while back and didn’t see the winner listed either… Sorry just tooting my own (four-note) horn. Maybe the winner is listed elsewhere…generally don’t have time to read articles here (unless they’re Brougham!).
Usually the previous winner is announced with the next Clue. And yes you got it. 🙂
I don’t know if I will ever come around to liking this design in either its original 1985 or stretched form. No matter what the year the car lacked “lines”. From the comments though it sounds like the ride quality is truly remarkable. I’d love to have a ride in one.
I was not that impressed with a ride in its successor, a ’95 in the ’94-’99 generation. The shorter wheelbase and construction seemed to produce a ride that was floaty but not comfortable. The longer wheelbase RWD models floated but seemed like they balanced the wobblies out better.
The only CDV of this generation I’ve photographed, very similar, but a different grille, so what year is this?
1989-1990 judging from the small egg crate grille, the 1991 and up versions got the newer Voyage style grille.
I’ll gladly choose the quiet, conservative good taste off white/crème leather interior of my Lincoln Town Car over the gaudy, tacky, flashy bright white interior of this article’s car any and every day.
A true luxury car should exude class and discernment; it shouldn’t scream “Look at ME-ME-MEEEEE!”
This car was from a different time. Your Lincoln is what…10 years newer? They probably only used that one-tone interior to save money (wouldn’t you like some distinction from the Grand Marquis?! [That’s what Cadillac offered here!]).
I find this interior simply gorgeous, and I don’t care for colored interiors…but this maroon looks very elegant with the white. Looks like a home-run to me.
I owned two DeVilles in the 90s…the interior is full of hard angles and straight edges everywhere; I never found it gaudy, tacky, or flashy at all.
I didn’t want to be the first but, yeah, to me a luxury car should look at least somewhat noticeably different that a police car or a taxi.
If someone cannot see the difference between the interior of a police car/taxi’s interior and an enduring American luxury car’s interior then they must have been permanently blinded by the glare of a bright, white tacky interior of a early 1990’s Caddy.
🙂
To me, the difference is quite pronounced. While it would have been better if Lincoln put some really distinctive guages and dash buttons (and not the ones that looked too much like the Taurus/Crown Vic playskool plastic ones), the difference is still obvious from a police cruiser Crown Vic. The feel, the smell-its obvious.
Every single Sedan DeVille from 1957-1992 or so screamed “look at me”. I would argue this one did so the least because it was little. Cadillacs were not about understated luxury. If you wanted to be understated you bought a big, black Electra or Olds 98. Not a Cadillac. They were designed to be the ultimate one-up-mobile and these interiors were one of the last traces of that attitude.
Its nice other than that slab of red plastic behind the windscreen, cheaping out on the dashboard ruins the luxury effect and cellar dweller column shift, yeah nice try.
You’d rather have a white dash pad?
Nothing wrong with column shift either. If you wanted a console there was the Eldorado or Seville. This was the traditional six passenger model, thus no console.
The interior and exterior coloring is identical to my ’87 Brougham, I loved that white and red combination. I always liked “Cotillion White” as a color name.
I understand the $8/gallon gas rationale behind DESIGNING these but once it was obvious there would be no fuel crisis, never really grasped why someone would buy one, with the Brougham and Town Car still available. They really retained all the aspects of the older cars without the impressive size. Even as a 6-7 year old I realized these were smaller than the Grand Marquis my grandfather drove and they just didn’t say “Cadillac” in the way the Brougham did. I understood “Cadillac” to mean, I am winning life (and usually also: I am older and rich), so I drive a Cadillac and my car is bigger than everyone else’s. Within that framework of understanding, these just didn’t seem to make sense to little me, and still don’t, since they could not really be dubbed competitors to the German sports sedans, with their vinyl roofs, whitewalls, and other baroque trim. I was always surprised that after ’85-’86 GM didn’t throw in the towel and just go back to RWD. That said, I certainly remember seeing a lot of them and they did sell quite well, proving that there is no accounting for taste (either the public’s or yours truly’s!). I do remember our foreign language teacher in middle school had an ’89-’93 Sedan. A heavyset, older man, he was able to get in and out seemingly without difficulty, so they must have still preserved some roominess. 3 across seating seems dicey though. Eventually, I suppose everyone got used to the smaller cars and accepted them as Cadillacs. I never could.
I’ve never actually ridden in one of these that I can recall and always wondered how it handled and rode compared to the Brougham. I have driven a ’95 SDV in the subsequent bodystyle with the 4.9L V8. I found it to have decent acceleration but did not feel as torquey as the 307 or other V8s (because, well, it wasn’t). But the ride seemed like a letdown…it seemed to be designed to float like the bigger cars, but didn’t do so in a smooth way; where the undulations were spread out over the wheelbase in Broughams, these smaller cars seemed to pitch and yaw and just didn’t feel as solid. Land yacht naysayers always claim the big RWD cars make them “sea sick” but it was the smaller FWD ’95 that made me want to reach for the air sickness bag. It just didn’t spread out the float as well.
Well there still was CAFE kicking in with 27mpg requirements for 1984 and GM pledged that it would not produce any cars that would be subject to the gas guzzler tax, part of their rational was that if they did thumb their nose at CAFE and the gg tax, the government would just double down with more intervention, which they didn’t want, also remember that CAFE was supposed to increase before it was frozen by President Regan.
The traditional full size segment was still in decline by the time these cars were pretty much done, only enjoying a slight rebound by 1983-1984 or so. The DeVille actually sold better from 1985 and up.
Orrin,
Your Brougham was the same color combination as this Coupe de Ville? Wow! I never would have let it go in those colors. Maybe you have some pictures of it you could share sometime?
Will do. At the time I was moving to NYC and it just didn’t make sense. It was only later, when my next job took advantage of my other law licenses and increased my salary, that having a car in the city became not only a reasonable but necessary thing. Of course, I immediately regretted not having kept it when I needed a car again. The Electra has actually been a lot more reliable…I won’t launch into my oft-repeated anti-EQjet screed!
This is the best I can find on short notice. Inside:
And outside. Cotillion white with red dash, accents, and carpet. In retrospect I think the white exterior was too much. If I had it again, I’d like a darker exterior. But it was an identical combo to the one in the post, for sure.
Very sharp! I actually really like the triple white, but an exterior in Autumn Maple Firemist with this interior would have been beautiful.
I remember your comments on the EQuadra Jet. Just never realized it was such a stunning color combination! For some reason I pictured it in dark gray with matching top and Antique Light Gray leather. I have no idea why.
This car does lack the beautiful lines of the ’73-’77 Grand Prix that I love so much (my favorite color for that car was triple white as well, with a burgundy interior coming in a close second) but it has the right formula. It does not look like a taxicab or a limo, like the 4 door Cadillacs. It is definite a personal car, and it has style, like the roof and whitewall tires. I would have no problem owning one of these, IF I could find one in that condition. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one in that condition. In our throwaway culture, most cars are pretty well trashed by the time they get that old. And that is sad indeed.
Lets also remember that these cars were being designed as far back as 1980/81 and were supposed to be introduced in 1984. As Carmine stated the Cafe regs during the early 80’s were moving up to 27 MPG by 1984 so these downsized C-body cars were hopefully going to keep the guzzler tax at bay. By 1985 the 22.5 rating was never exceeded and the oil crisis never came so big cars and lower fuel mileage were not an issue. Chevy and Cadillac kept the Caprice and RWD Brougham going well into the 90’s but BOP already had there downsized program into place and were basically stuck with what they had until refreshes and longer bodies could be applied. The 1988 Cadillac Eldo and Deville/Fleetwood were the first attempts to lengthen these cars and make them look more substantial but the real change wouldn’t come until the 1989 redux of the Deville/Fleetwood cars such as our 1991 specimen above.
The “Lincoln vs. Cadillac” debate aside, I found this article most entertaining and informative.
Several times I bave stumbled across a well maintained, original car for sale and experienced pangs of automotive lust…..only to ask myself “WHAT would I do with this car? I don’t at all need it…..”
Dad’s last car before he passed was a Medium Sapphire Blue 1990 Coupe DeVIlle Spring Edition. We walked into the showroom and there it was. Mom wanted a sedan but Dad wouldn’t hear it. It had the matching top and leather interior. I remember the salesman telling Dad that it was usually an Eldorado color and that it was a special model with the perforated leather interior and Eldorado alloy wheels. It was loaded to the max, too. Apparently it was special ordered by a gentleman for his wife but they split up – so the man cancelled and it was available. Dad despised the gold trim on it so he had the dealership change it all to chrome – which looked so much better. The only option that car didn’t have was the Theft Deterrent Alarm system. It had everything else you could imagine, even the rare heated front windshield that I never saw another DeVille with. (And I checked them all, trust me!)
Dad often got comments on how comfortable that car was and how great it rode, which it did. I drove that car many times and always enjoyed the power it had and the great visibility looking outward – the back had a terrible blind spot due to the carriage top but it was acceptable for a large 2-door luxury car. The fit and finish was excellent and it never gave Dad a single problem in 60,000 miles that he was able to drive. After he passed in 1993, Mom drove it for another five years and 20,000 more miles, still no problems in sight. Then one day she smelled gasoline, and it ended up having a bad fuel injector. It was about $500.00 to fix and she decided it may be time to get something newer.
I cannot count how many times I had my nieces and nephews piled into the back seat, going to the zoo or a state fair. That Cadillac was loved by the entire family. It was excellent on gas, especially on the highway, often getting in the upper 20’s. The dash layout was great, too. It had a rich look to it and was very functional. The only thing I didn’t like on that car was the huge hideous steering wheel due to the airbag. I wish I had kept that car, now that I look back and think Mom didn’t get that much for it when she sold it. To think next year will be the 25th anniversary that we took our new Caddy home is mind boggling. I remember it like it was yesterday. And Dad’s face was gleaming with pride behind the wheel of his new Coupe DeVille.
I have warmed up to a lot of cars I disliked in their day, but still don’t like the post 85 GM fullsizes… what they’ve always said to me is “you want a big car? well we’ve decided you need something small with front drive….it’s better for you, trust us.”
“Though of course if you do want a full size car we still offer a 2 and 4 door Caprice and the Fleetwood Brougham oh and we still offer 4 full size wagons to choose from, but go ahead and continue to hate us!”
I don’t get people, they seem to think that there were lines around the block for BOF RWD cars or something and GM just decided to downsized them to fuck their customers.
Well, they did sell 157,000 1984 Cadillac RWD models, so I’d say that while lines were not forming around the block, they weren’t collecting dust on the showroom floor, either. 107K 4 doors and 50K two doors is nothing to sneeze at.
My reaction is more that they were a really disappointing effort. For either the initial poster or me, for slightly different reasons, they lost the past while in the same breath missing the mark with the present. You kind of have to pick one and they picked neither. They manage to both lack the presence of the prior models (the “old” concept of Cadillac), while lacking the contemporary design cues of then-ascendant foreign luxury models (what is supposed to be the “new” Cadillac). So, they are second-rate compared to the Town Car in the old way of thinking, and second-rate compared to BMW and Mercedes in the new way…regardless of which you prefer.
So while not intending to, I think GM DID fuck their customers with these. They were lucky to have the level of brand loyalty that many of them said “let’s just go with it” and went along, were getting older and maybe couldn’t handle as big of a car, or bought the Brougham if they were dissatisfied, but Lincoln still laughed all the way to the bank.
Amazing how they kept the white leather so pristine! Everyone said she was crazy in 1973 when my mom picked a red SDV with white leather (and red trim) with two kids. Needless to say, I remember that by 1977, the white was not quite as white, and the next one had black leather.
I was no fan of the ’85 C cars, but I thought the changes in ’89 were great improvements. But I’m surprised (maybe I missed it?) that there’s been no mention that the SDV had a 3 inch longer wheelbase than the CDV, which I think made a huge difference in the looks and proportions. The sedans looked so much better than the ’88s. When did they reintroduce the fender skirts on the Fleetwood and Sixty Special? As retro looking as they were, I really liked them.
The fender skirts came back in 1989, the DeVille and the Fleetwood used the same quarter, if you look closely, the lip on the open rear wheel well on the DeVille is removable, so you can turn a DeVille into a Fleetwood and a Fleetwood into a DeVille and back again depending on your tastes.
Carmine, could you get the fender skirts as a factory option on a DeVille? I often saw DeVilles, usually sedans, that had the skirts but figured they were a dealer installed accessory.
Appears to be listed as a “Find of the Day” at 15+ K