(first posted 5/10/2013) Walking to my mandolin lesson in scenic Long Island City (or as I call it, Where The Taxis Live™), when I see something big and green as I turn the corner…what the hell is THAT??
1975 Coupe DeVille? Sure. We’ve gone over the model evolution before (1975 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham). But there’s something different on this curbside….
It’s a genuine ‘70s Pimpmobile. With true pomp to befit it. Behold the ultra-padded vinyl top! The dual opera windows! You gotta give the builder some credit. This top is in great shape, and for a custom-something from the ’70s, that’s amazing. There’s also no visible rust in any of the usual spots and it is fully tinted, so I’m guessing it was originally from a temperate climate.
“Custom Regent”. Internet searching of this term comes up with only a few things; one of which is an AACA forum post from ’02 describing a 1974 with the same options being parted out; the others tell me that Plymouth had Satellite wagons called either “Custom” OR “Regent”. It looks to resemble the Plymouth’s script, so I’m fathoming a guess that the builder liked the combination of the two names and got himself a few Mopar junkyard badges for his projects.
However, the listing for a “Custom Regent” was for a car somewhere in Florida, and I’m certain that this sort of less-Pimpy pimpery was entirely common down there. Gosh, it could be a dealership special, too – imagine my beloved Aunt Estelle being shown one of these down at her Cadillac dealer in Sarasota? Oy.
Ah, the fake Rolls-Royce grille, the prow seen here from the side. The grille cap is the hallmark of true pimp style. This one appears to be missing its once, I’m sure, utterly (ahem) glorious Winged Ecstasy “Goddess” knock-off. (More like Winged EssexCounty, New Jersey.)
It should look something like this: 
But sadly, all we see is the flaking rust of cut-rate chrome plating surrounding the big ol’ hole.
Getting back to the meat of things…How ironic that this Lincoln-esque touch is the crowning hallmark of the Pimpmobile- which were most often Caddys. And it destroys the actual intended line of the front end as originally designed…which is decidedly anti-Lincoln.
No top chrome on the coffin-nose; just a simple band around the trademark Caddy eggcrate grille. Sigh. A great design. How and why did this awful aftermarket “styling” begin?
To explain, let’s talk about the Pimpmobile phenomenon. Broadly disseminated beginning In approximately 1971, with the release (and subsequent 1973 rerelease) of Gordon Parks, Jr.’s SuperFly, and subsequent movies of the “Blaxploitation” genre, this concept, which I will define as “A car as representative of the true underlying power and worth of an individual stuck in terrible socioeconomic circumstances, as a raised middle finger against the Man, through expression of pure individuality with severe customizations upon said vehicle” took our young nation by storm.
This is never more simply and eloquently expressed than in the final scene of SuperFly, in which Ron O’Neal’s drug-hustling protagonist, Priest (who is trying to leave the world of vice) fells “the Man,” (a corrupt whitebread upper-level NYPD heavy who attempted to con Priest into one last hustle for his own gain, at Priest’s expense). Priest then drives away, a bit angrily, but with a whole lot of dignity and class.
Now, if that isn’t a badass giving a finger to the Man, then I don’t know what is. Trying to get over, indeed.
While this sort of over-the top car customization was certainly present prior to the film’s release, Les Dunham, a Boonton- NJ-based car customizer, must have been surprised when the calls started coming in after the SuperFly release. Apparently the producers rented the movie car (a ’71 Eldo ‘vert) from one of Dunham’s customers after seeing it parked somewhere in New York City. The owner was a pimp named “K.C.” (who actually wound up in a cameo role in the movie). This bit of luck quite literally made Dunham’s career, as it led to Les being contracted by the producers of Live and Let Die to build the “Corvarado” for a “pimp” scene in the movie.
It’s quite a bit of vehicle for any Bond, even Roger Moore. This precursor to the Cadillac XLR is …nothing more than a somewhat massaged Caddy body and parts over a Corvette chassis. In the front shot, it looks like any old slightly-blinged Eldo …but from the back and sides, you can clearly see its roots as a ‘Vette.
I’ll posit that this appearance in the Bond film more than likely took the unfortunate style to the masses, and also, sadly, furthered the actual exploitation of the communities and styles depicted in the so-called “Blaxploitation” films.
Regardless, by 1975, the concept had infiltrated modern ‘cool’ culture to the extent it was found unironically in mainstream funk songs and driven by the god of funk himself, Mr. Isaac Hayes.
One of my favorite song references from this time is “Mr. Cool”, by Rasputin’s Stash – there’s a line about driving a “long white pig,” “Pig” apparently being a ‘70s reference to thirsty Caddys. White on white in white, you dig?
You’ll be pleased to know Les Dunham is running strong, making all things once-dull flash, sparkle and bling, and giving the world the chance to express their pimp-tentions on innocent Cadillac flesh, with hand-made reproductions of his silver-screen success available for the true connoisseur.
But back to our subject at hand. What I find most interesting about our subject car is its distinct lack of flash… It’s quite subtle, at least by seventies standard…no fake Duesy exhaust, no bug-eye lights… But remember my Aunt Estelle down in Sarasoty (that’s how she says it, anyway)? Seems my guess wasn’t too far off.
Researching the grille cap, I came across this tidbit from www.cadillacdatabase.org:
In the mid- to late-seventies it was not uncommon for some major Cadillac dealers like Potamkin in New York or Center City Cadillac in Philadelphia, to dress up basic Cadillac models like the bottom-line Calais (adding some special trim items like a Cabriolet padded roof, a grille cap, script ID badges) and to sell them as custom jobs with such fancy, French-sounding names like Régent, d’Etoile, d’Marchand, etc. Those unfortunate de and d’ prepositions are largely overworked in the pseudo-French practised by many coach-builders in the USA.
Yeesh…the thought of Dr. Joe Kornbluth (“My cousin, the urologist!”) pimpin’ out prostate exams in exchange for easy payments on a vinyl-topped Brougham d’Merde at good ol’ Potamkin boggles the mind. (Potamkin is a NY institution, btw. Their 70s commercials were legendary, but all I could find was this gem from 1983.
Remember, if you didn’t get your car at Potamkin, you probably paid too much!
Of course, someone could also have won this car on Let’s Make a Deal. That actually might make the most sense of all. I mean, you win a car on a game show, it’s not going to be totally up to your specs, right?
And you got a few extra bucks lying around, since all you had to pay were taxes…Might as well give your new ride a makeover. Just go to Wisco:
and ASC:
And build the Caddy of your dreams! Sigh…anyway, the CDVCR’s grille cap seems to match up with the Wisco stuff; I’m guessing these were pretty common items then. Why not, with Caddy crankin’ em out a mile a minute…sub-Standard of the World.
The “Restyling” offered by these fine American companies actually makes a lot of sense in the context with the crap Caddy was putting out, and the ever-present need for people to raise their own flag. If anything, these companies are in the tradition of classic coachbuilders, albeit on asmaller scale of actual hands-on production and design and utilizing mass-produced “glamor” parts. The demand was there, and for the first time, supply met up with it, leading to the glut of semi-customized large barges that still lurk out there, like this one.
Forgetting all the pimpery for a second (though it is certainly seared into my brain), this is also the first time I’ve ever seen a square headlight CDV in the flesh. It’s a helluva car for this Cadillac fan to experience.
Sporting the last real Cadillac engine, the ubiquitous 500 ci v8, under its massive hood, the 1975 sported a no-lead engine and a pitiful 8.25:1 compression ratio, for a mere 210(!) net horsepower (but a still-hearty helping of twist: 380 lb-ft). There are probably massive cats under the car, unless they’ve been bypassed (I couldn’t get underneath to see). 1975 was the first year for US automakers to introduce catalytic converters across the board.
Interestingly, the axle ratio was changed in 1975 on all Cadillacs except limos to increase mileage, which is somewhat laughable…even with a 27.5 gallon tank, what kind of range can a 4-barrel, 8.2 liter monstrosity expect? Luckily, fuel injection was an option…for $688! (I’m sure Cousin Joe would much rather buy himself an extra grille cap, of course. “With the money I’ve saved, darling, I can buy one to class up the family LTD wagon!”)
I’ve seen quite a few surviving Sedan DeVilles and Eldos from this period on the street here in rust-friendly NYC, but not sure why I haven’t seen any CDVs; they were the most produced of any Cad model in 1975, with 110,000 slapped together in Detroit. And damn, I like the styling…a lot. I think the 1975 remodel was really gorgeous and classic, referencing Cadillac’s past and boldly looking forward.
There’s the hint of pontoon at the front, bringing to mind the 1947 Series 60.
And looked at from the side, the slab-side back end with just a hint of skeg screams 1966. I especially like the little flare on the lip of the fender skirt. Sexy.
But lest us get caught up with the Cadillac’s style aspirations of the time, which weren’t all that bad – there’s the execution. Did someone say dissolving urethane bumper fill?
Yup. It’s hard to believe by ‘75 or ‘76 that Caddy hadn’t realized the material was scheisse. Yet they went on using this material til the mid-eighties. I see skeletal remnants of Caddy rear ends all the time in NYC, and they always make me a little sad.
image: motorera.com
I actually like the interior treatment a lot. The shape of the dash is great, and boy, remember when cars actually had more than four A/C vents? This car looks to have been green from the factory (although of course the metalflake exterior paint is not original), judging by the dash pad color. It looks like 1966 in here, with the wood grain flanking the dash and door panels.
The interior is quite comfortable looking, if nasty and dirty.
It is a pimp car, of course, so God only knows what’s gone down on those seats.
Mmmm..three-tone interior? Do you think the door panels are actually a different color than the seats, or just a vinyl that ages much poorer than the admittedly yucky leather?
So here you have it. As the sun (literally) sets on the best Detroit could do in 1975, I say to the driver: I salute you! Let your pimp flag fly…Cadillac style.
Poor car. Poor 1973 Grand Prix in the above ad. I’ve thankfully never seen one of those with one of these nose jobs.
On the GP: My thoughts exactly. Sure, it’s gotta be ’73 or newer, but WHO would DO such a thing?
Fortunately, that Colonnade-based Poncho travesty is one freakish sight I can take in passing. As the owner of both a ’71 and a ’72, seeing such a grille on one of the older models would have been a haunting picture indeed.
Don’t even know where to begin with this one. But lord… that Corvorado, in ‘Live and Let Die’. I’m embarrassed to admit that when I saw that film as a kid, I didn’t even question that that car had probably, actually been built by Detroit at the time. Also: the XLR, that 21st-century Allante, is going to make a great CC in 10 years or so.
Great insight! I enjoyed learning so much! As soon as I started reading I immediately thought of Live and Let Die. What a horrible point in the James Bond franchise. Meanwhile, Pimpmobiles… don’t get me started. Nothing angers me more then people ruining a perfectly good car by “pimping” or “blinging” it out. Although not as extreme as 70’s Pimpmobiles, fake chrome b-pillar inserts, oversized aftermarket rims, and outrageous paint jobs still plague the world.
Live and Let Die is an interesting point in the Bond franchise, it is really really really dated when viewed from today, but it was the first Bond movie that dealt with a real crime, the trafficking of narcotics in this case, instead of “death lasers from space ransom” like many of the other Bond movies. One of the interesting things about Bond movies is that they always have a connection to the time and place that they are in, style, music, automobiles, whatever was new at the time, you most likely would have seen it in a Bond movie first.
Absolutely. Live and Let Die reflected the “blaxsploitation” movie trend at the time. Moonraker took on the Star Wars/Close Encounters of the Third Kind genre in the late 1970s, so the “death lasers from space” was apropos then.
Excellent point. And, of course, whatever product placement deals were in place. My favorite scene in Live and Let Die is the all-Chevrolet-driver-knocked-out-with-a-dart scene on the FDR drive.
I dig this piece !!
“…WISCO – The Most Highly Respected Auto and Coach Custom Restyling Organization in America Today.”
Um, okay. I’d like to see where the bar is set for that particular accolade.
But then again, maybe not…
It’s right below your knee.
Assuming you’re not a midget.
Wow, I clicked the post and just expected a few pics and comments about that old “custom” Caddy. I didn’t expect a full blown shebang! I’ll have to devour this one later this evening. But all I can say now is that this immediately brought back a memory of going to a Rangers game with my family, around the age of 8, in the early ’70s. I saw quite a few pimpmobiles and, well, hookers, and I have never forgotten it.
Where is Snoop Dog, or whatever he calls himself these days, when you need him for the Starsky and Hutch sequel car photos using any of the above…
Maybe the title of this article should have been, “When Brougham Goes Bad”. At least today there’s the Escalade and 300.
You know it’s hard out here for a pimp.
Better than the late ’80s when they were using Dodge Diplomat taxis, to set their ladies up on the street corner next to the karate dojo. Or trying to.
“When Brougham Goes Bad”…love it!!
Bad to the Brougham
It was a sign of the times – it was the 1970s. So I look at it as a reflection of what was then, like bell bottoms, double-knit, paisley, and orange carpet in homes. Taste is always personal, I certainly do not fault any company for selling products that people bought – often in large quantity. Its not like it didn’t happen before this decade or since, today most of the body junk goes on Japanese cars, lip kits, spoilers and the like…
WISCO was a division of American Sunroof (ASC) that is now called American Specialty Cars. Them and Webasto were the two main purveyors of major restyling products. My 81 Imperial has a factory installed sunroof that was supplied by ASC with a Webasto drive motor.
I know about Long Island City, my brother used to live there near the 39th Ave train station there was a rather large parking lot for taxi cabs probably held easily 150-200+ cars.
I don’t think the filler panel on the driver’s side disintegrated, but rather, it was hit at some point.
Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) drove a similarly green Coupe deVille in Boogie Nights.
Jeez, this is an impressive piece of writing (and research) – very nicely done, sir!
Considering that Long Island City was not all that long ago known as being “The Place Where the Prostitutes Live”, I would bet this car is likely the real deal.
Ha ! I was just in LIC on my weekend jaunt in NYC. I saw several storage yards of Crown Vic cabs, must have been hundreds, and some skeletal Caddy pimpmobiles.
A friend suggested a new hotel in this admittedly sketchy area to us, saying that it was getting better and was actually pretty safe now.
So no, didn’t see any ladies there, although of the several subway stations close to the hotel we got a very bad vibe in the Queensbridge station…
Yeah. Most of the area is actually quite genteel, but Queensbridge Station is bad news. My fiancée, my housemate and I came out from the station one night recently to an 18 year old kid having gotten murdered, shot dead, right on the street where we’d crossed not ten minutes earlier. We don’t walk there anymore.
Where the extreme treatment drives home the disgust that are broughams. I actually find these funny.
Excellent piece. As a kid in that era, I saw these in movies and on TV, but never in person. The background on the suppliers of those products is very interesting. “Substandard of the World” – you win an award.
Carmine and I have gone back and forth on the relative (de)merits of interiors of Cads and Lincolns of those days. One look at the door panels in this car and I rest my case! Those things were cracked like that when the car was 3 years old, I will guarantee. How the upper part survived without cracking is a mystery. These are probably the nicest original door panels on a BloatCad in the entire world! These cars make me join Syke – this is one of these Cadillacs being put to its best and highest use!
Wasn’t the 472 still the standard engine in these? I was thinking that the 500 was optional, at least in DeVilles. Also, I have to add that Chrysler was the lone holdout for 1975 catalytic converters. They avoided the cats by fine-tuning the carbs and ignitions for maximum stumbling and stalling instead. I think they had the cats by 76, though.
The 500 became the standard motor in all Cadillacs except the Seville in 1975. before that the 472 was in the standard Cadillacs 1968-1974 and the 500 was the “Eldorado” engine from 1970-1974.
I strongly suspect that the mismatched door panels were swapped in from a parts car at some point/
I can dig it! The car is far outshone by the article, just as the movie “Superfly” is in no way worthy of Curtis Mayfield’s brilliant soundtrack album.
Well said on both counts!!!
Wonderful! What a survivor, and a fitting write-up. And welcome to the CC Contributor’s Circle; quite the debut!
Excellent article. I learned more about pimpmobiles in the last 1/4 hour than I’d ever known in my whole life.
The quandry for the pimpmobile owner is this: do you sell it (or *gasp*! trade) when it’s no longer reliable? Or do you keep it and sink more money into it because it’s unique?
Thiese cars are a study in sunk cost psychology.
Good question. My guess would be repossessed by the used car lot from which it was purchased (unlikely it was bought new and converted), where it would eventually be resold to an even less savory character, finally winding up at a police auction or junkyard.
WISCO……. always wondered where those damn chrome grille shell covers came from. The fake wire wheels (they were called “basket” wheels back in the day) rusted badly. My guess is thats why they took the baskets off of this car. I bet either the guy who bought this car new either ended up in prison or an elderly couple with an interesting sense of taste owned it for a long period of time. Great bit of writing there! Thank You.
The wire-wheels were made by the Tru-Spoke company of Dayton, Ohio. Along with the double/gold whitewall Vogue tires, they were known as ‘Trues and Vogues’. A popular car to put them on was a garishly painted Buick Electra 225, known as a ‘Deuce and Quarter’.
So, back in the day, you were really stylin’ in a Deuce and Quarter with Trues and Vogues…
Freddy B made a song out of Trues And Vogues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKuoLi8Lg9U&feature=youtube_gdata_player
A tastefully done car for the player that has everything.
Decorating your car in the 1970s was not the exclusive purview of the urban crowd or wise guys but reached well into the middle class as well. My 81 Imperial was purchased in inland California new by a professional man in his early 50s at the time and had AP wheels installed plus wide whites and was factory equipped with CB, sunroof, and dark red metallic paint. Some of the more extreme stuff found homes with those more willing to be extreme but it certainly was not a complete stereotype. Vogue Tyre displays are still found in some older established Cadillac dealerships although that is diminishing due to changing tire specifications and it is widely believed that Vogues are of lesser quality today than in the past.
Aside from the usual luxo-barge vehicles, another vehicle that I see these wheels minus their baskets are Datsun Z cars.
My two most recent, favorite ‘pimpmobiles’ are the white Cadillacs used by Kramer in an episode of ‘Seinfeld’ and Hank’s father’s car in an episode of ‘King of the Hill’:
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but I think the green Cadillac you found is actually a 1976 model. It has the trim around the cornering lamp/turn signal plastic. This was a 1976 styling cue; the 75’s were plain in this area.
I would agree. Those look like 1976 front wraparound lights.
Nonetheless: Nicely done, Sir Birnbaum.
Honestly my favorite “pimp” styling touches are fake spare tire humps, continental kits, silly hood ornaments (like flying swans), curb feelers, opera lights, and chrome rocker panel protectors. Keep your padded roofs, too much maintenance.
As for our featured car? “Can you dig it?”
I can dig it.
I liked the oversized mud-flaps with your zodiac sign scrolled on them.
That Corovado may be awful but it’s also fascinating. I can’t seem to look away.
“When Brougham Goes Bad…” You guys crack me up, that was good. Wow, I never knew pimpmobility was so involved. To quote W.C. Fields in The Bank Dick, “the resale value of this car is going to be nil,” except maybe to another pimp. A really fun writeup.
Great writeup awful car though that brougham bling sure doesnt last and since nobody can be bothered keeping it nice it really doesnt say luxury to me.
At least here in Detroit there were a bunch of Continentals and Marks “treated” to to these packages in the 70s. In honor of Ford’s habit at the time of packaging options in Decor Groups, my first supervisor named this the Inner City Decor Group.
About four years ago I actually drove three hours out of town to look at a lime-green ’74 Eldorado convertible on Craigslist for the tempting price of only $700. More intriguing still, this Eldo had been gussied-up with the pimptastic grille cap, white padded spare-tire hump, and some sort of side-pipes, by no less a personage than Boonton, NJ’s favorite son, Les Dunham, of Dunham Coach, who, as others have mentioned, did the cars for Superfly and Live and Let Die. Well, according to the seller, anyhow.
I knew that, for that price, the vehicle was going to be in really bad shape. I’d also seen some pretty uninspiring photos in the CL listing. But this thing was a pathetic heap beyond rehabilitation. I knew I wouldn’t buy it before I got within 30 paces of it. Literally falling to bits. Literally coming apart at the seams. Retreating into the farmer’s field in which it had been sitting for God-only-knows how long. I’ve seen a lot of rust in my time, but this thing had rust holes big enough to put your fist through on the topside of the hood. I thought to myself, Where have they been keeping this thing, in a salt mine? As for the quarter-panels and rockers, they were mostly a memory. Well, except for the ridiculous silver sidepipes — which weren’t just pipes but were incorporated into something resembling running-boards. The pimpy extras — faux-RR grille cap, oversized headlamps incongruously marked with the M-B three-pointed star, extra bumper-guards, etc — were mostly no longer on the car, but were heaped inside the oily, smelly, mouldering wreckage of the white-with-lime-accents interior.
As for the kustom work having been done by Dunham, well, the seller didn’t seem able to provide any evidence that it was. And from my research, Dunham’s Caddies all had his winged logo on the door mirrors; this one did not. That’s not conclusive, of course, but it pointed to this car probably having been done by some outfit of lesser renown than Boonton’s best. (FUN FACT: Boonton, NJ, is the only place named Boonton in the world.)
Also suspicious was the fact that this was a convertible at all. Other than the one in Seinfeld, I’ve only ever seen the Superfly treatment given to one other convertible; a bronze-colored one found on the ‘Net. Generally speaking, the kind of guys who drive pimpmobiles — such men are called “pimps”, or so I’ve heard tell — tend to lead dangerous lives. Such men invariably have enemies. And a man with enemies usually prefer the safety of an enclosed carriage, as it’s harder to shoot through steel than canvas. The extra-padded vinyl roofs of the pimpmobile can probably be attributed to the clinically-proven fact that several inches of bulging, chemical-based padding is superb bullet-repellent, and can stop a speeding slug before it even gets to the steel below. If you need personal security in your vehicle, “Deep Broughamization” of its roof is the next best thing to armor plating, and for a lot less $$$.
Although overall a disaster area, this rotting carcass of an automobile that wasn’t much good in the first place (8.2 litres and your speedo is limited to a lousy 100mph?) nevertheless still had a couple of good bits. But the seller was determined not to part it out: he just wanted it gone, and I don’t blame him. For $700 (or likely less) I could have pulled the colossal 500-cube engine to sell to a stock-car racer; put the pimpalicious Dunham (?) gimcracks on Ebay, and then just sent the engine-less husk to the crusher for whatever 4500 lbs worth of scrap steel brings these days, and come out well ahead of the game. But first I’d have to haul this husk home, house it someplace the neighbors wouldn’t see it (I calculated it would just fit in my garage, but only if there was NOTHING else in there), and go through the various hassles of motor-removing and junkyard-phoning. Somebody could probably make a few bucks “rendering” that thing (like Hormel “renders” pigs), but it wasn’t gonna be me.
One final point: there was a second market for this particular approach to, er, automotive personalization besides pimps and drug dealers. The overwrought, chrome-dripping, too-much-is-never-enough esthetic was also shared by some of the more “Rhinestone Cowboy” type of Country-and-Western singers. If you’ve ever seen the big ’60s convertibles the gaudy Hollywood clothing designer “Nudie” did for some famous honky-tonkers, you’ll notice they weren’t that much different from what Dunham was doing for the nouveaux-riches of the Northeastern ghettos. Elvis himself had a Dunhamized Sedan deVille — unusual, as this brand of stylistic excess was almost always inflicted on two-doors, not four-doors.
I just love that 1975 was a time when one could buy a green Cadillac Coupe battleship and think “You know this thing’s styling really needs to be pumped up a notch.”
… and you could have a bar installed behind your front seats apparently.
“It is a pimp car, of course, so God only knows what’s gone down on those seats.”
Love the style of the article and history lesson, nice job!
I think what started the whole thing was Lee Iacocca slapping the Rolls grille on the Mark III. Then you started seeing it on VW Beetles. Then the SuperFly style grille surrounds. The funniest thing was when Cadillac said F*** It and just went with the flow on the ’77 Seville.
The Seville is so much cleaner looking without that chrome mustache over the grille, like the 1976’s, but dealers were slapping them on cars like they were going out of style, so Cadillac abided…..
Wow! I’m stunned by all this great feedback – Thank you EVERYONE for your incredibly kind words!!! Good on that ’76 catch, btw… I’m truly honored to be among all of the fine writers on this site and look forward to adding my voice further!
Mr. Birnbaum, as the copy editor at CC I must say that your debut here has made me feel utterly superfluous. It’s an excellent read from top to bottom, and I join my fellow readers in welcoming you to what I hope will be a long contributorship.
Isn’t that a 1976? I thought that was the only year that got rectangular headlamps.
Rectangular headlamps began in 1975 on all Cadillacs, Buick Electras and Rivieras, and Oldsmobile Ninety EIghts. And yes, the green Cadillac at the top of the page is a ’76.
Potemkin Cadillacs from Potamkin Cadillac ! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village. This article is why I keep coming back to CC.
Potemkin-isn`t that a Russian battleship that had a famous mutiny aboard her in 1905 when the sailors refused to eat maggot contaminated meat?
Modern day pimp cars in Houston (H-Town)
ROLLIN ON SWANGERS:
Two automotive add-ons that don’t get much love around CC: Continental kits and toilet-seat trunklid humps. At 0:53 in this video is a ’90s Sedan de Ville that has BOTH.
Also: Am I the only one who thinks “swangers” resemble the spiked wheels from the Roman chariots in Ben Hur?
The optional Ben Hur wheel covers is the FIRST thing I thought of upon viewing this video.
Those ridiculous foot long chrome lug nuts on some tricked out commercial trucks make me think of that Charlton Heston movie as well.
I always make a mental note to pass one of these trucks quickly, lest he change lanes into me and open my car up like a can opener. ;o)
Welcome to the CC Contributariat JeremiahMusic.
What a awful issue in the James Bond franchise. Meanwhile, Pimp mobiles… don’t get me started. One of the intriguing things about Bond videos is that they habitually have a connection to the time and location that they are in. Nice post.
I like it in a campy way
This is the first curbside classic post where I’ve actually seen the exact car “in the flesh”…also driving around LIC. It is seemingly outside all the time, same few blocks.
My own CC (’77 Electra 225) is temporarily living in a lot nearby, although on weekends it sometimes shares the street in front of my apartment in Manhattan with an ’87 Caprice in grey.
Methinks perhaps a double-B-body photo shoot should be arranged on the dirty city streets? I have a feeling I’ve seen your cars around…
Good idea, but to clarify, I don’t own the grey Caprice. The guy just happens to park it on my street; I’m not even sure if he lives on my street. I’m sure you have seen me around, I live just across the river in the city from LIC, so I drive back and forth across the Queensborough when getting and returning my car to and from the lot. Mine is that custard yellow color, but I’m planning to paint it a dark green soon.
Great comments………..the 500 Cadillac engine is a good/great alternative power plant for a lot of applications………….great for towing……….good on fuel…….. great torque……….change out the rockers,timing chain&gears,Valve springs use some aftermarket rods which the price have come way down…………and you can beat the crap of it………For drag racing…………..oh I like the old Ghetto ads…………..West Coast Hood……….
Presumably the Corvarado is paying homage in Live & Let Die to the Studillac referenced by Ian Fleming in the original Bond novels of the 1950s.
You can read all about it here: http://flemingsbond.com/studillac/
Wrong year. This is a 76 not a 75. The cornering lights are the tell.
I can’t explain it but, um, I kind of like the Corvarado, especially from the rear.
What is happening to me!!?!?
I would’ve called this ‘Revolting Rides’ but ‘Broughams Gone Bad’ is pretty good.
I’ll never be able to un-see that Corvarado!
Maybe I can still find that ‘Regent d’Etoilet’ package for my 240D.
Or perhaps I can at least get a set of ‘Trus & Vogues’ and some chrome ‘frog-eyes’.
And of course that tacky Mercedes grill needs to be swapped for a ‘Rolls’!
Actually, there’s already a pair of ‘custom’ W123 ‘Benzes’ in my ‘Hood’.
One’s a bright metallic-blue 240D with full ground effects – body-color nose-job, trunk spoiler and fiberglass bumpers/air-dams. I’ll bet that’s a fast car!
The other one’s a bit less radical – a beige 300D with just the front-mounted ‘off-road’ decor package – A big chrome tube brush bar and a set of giant KC lights!
Wish I had a way of posting pictures!
Happy Motoring, Mark
My dad had a 76 CdV. White with black half top. Black veluor with white pinstripe interior. Turbine aluminum afgtermarke wheels. He was shocked when it took $40 to fill it up in the mid 90s. I loved it and asked him to let me buy when he sold, but he didn’t. Dammit. So pimpy even in stock form.
Does anyone know why the wire-wheel ‘baskets’ are always missing? I figure either the mechanism by which they were attached simply wasn’t very good and they would fall off, or because of the cheap chrome, they quickly rusted and the owners took them off.
Either way, you rarely see the baskets or, if you do, like I said, they are badly rusted.
Cheap Taiwan chrome. I remember occasionally buying one of those cheap chrome tailpipe tips from someplace like Wal-Mart, and the chrome would be brown in about 6 months!
At least the cheap Chinese stainless ones they sell now don’t rust.
Happy Motoring, Mark
We don’t see much of Mya here lately, but as a transplanted Jersey Boy I always love the regional references in these posts.
That generation of DeVille, along with the downsized ones that immediately followed them were HUGE sellers in the NY Metro area when they were new (and if you really wanted to show your regional pride, your Caddy would have a dealer badge from Potamkin, Brogan or Royal Cadillac riveted to the back end). I often miss the almost infinite range of colors and trim options seen on the roads in those days, but in retrospect there is very often such a phenomenon as Too Much of a Good Thing.
Really, IMO the epitome of this style was the limited production revived Stutz cars, owned by people like Barry White, among others.
I do have 1978 Coupe Deville bronze exterior brown leather interior. All original 17K miles. Bought in June of 2015 asking price was 16K I got it for 15K. Beautiful machine from the past. Drives like new I just did oil change filter and new battery! Here is the photo
In the first picture, laying on the ground appears to be a color coordinated used condom.
Is this old pimpmobile still open for business?
you can say what you want about the pimp’s of Times Square in the 60’s and 70’s but they did make a statement, their cars, clothes, style of living is as much a part of American history as Plymouth Rock or Edison. the flamboyant cars paraded around the Times Square area night and day in the late 60’s and early 70’s i thought they were cool as hell. I have a 1969 Deville convertible I pimped out back in the day I go to car shows my car gets the biggest crowds.if they like or dislike everyone looks. I miss the old Times square, the litter, decay, prostitutes and their Mack’s gave the area a unique and rare style all it’s own. Bill Bohaboy Las Vegas.
What it is, brougham? 🙂
Love me some Dunham “coachwork”, especially in the cleaner pre-’73 cars.
Issac Hayse, blaxploitation films, and Stutz Bearcats are all close to my heart.
Jeremia, if you haven’t seen it already, I’ll bet you’d be a fan of the cartoon black superbad-hero, Black Dynamite.
They also did a movie. A must see. Too dang funny!