Good morning! As you may have heard, Cadillac is joining Formula 1, which is not something I had on my bingo card for this year. Yes, I know GM’s luxury brand has gone racing before, but F1? Really? Well, I guess if an energy drink company can do it, how hard can it be? Anyway, to celebrate, we’re looking at a pair of cheap examples of what Cadillac traditionally does best.
Yesterday was all about Audi, and I confess that I was surprised by the outcome. It was another very close vote, but the modern-art TT grabbed a narrow win. Is the 2.7 twin turbo really that scary? Or was it the salvage title? I heard some rumblings about both.
For me, again, it comes down to what I already have. The S4’s role is already filled by my Chrysler 300, which is just as fast and a lot lower maintenance. The TT is tacky-looking as it sits, but it’s a fun little sports coupe under all that, and I know how to remove a wrap, which, the closer I look at it, the more convinced I am that that’s what it is. And there must be a TT somewhere in a junkyard that can donate a new front bumper and headlights, right?
Now then: Certain automotive marques evoke a certain image in your mind. Say “Jaguar,” and most folks will picture an E-Type or an XJ sedan – at least, up until a few days ago. Now they’re more likely to picture bright clothes and stupid hairdos. Okay, bad example. One thing I can say for certain, however, is that when someone says “Cadillac,” absolutely no one pictures a Cimarron or a Catera, or its LeMans race cars. No, the a priori Cadillac likely to appear in most people’s minds is either a very large sedan, or an Escalade. So we’re going to look at one of each.
1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman – $3,950
Engine/drivetrain: 472 cubic inch overhead valve V8, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Detroit, MI
Odometer reading: 83,000 miles
Operational status: Runs well, but just taken out of storage
There are big Cadillacs, and then there are big Cadillacs. We tend to think of the big-finned ’59 Caddy as the largest there ever was, but this 1974 model actually clocks in at more than eight inches longer, due in part to the new five-mile-per-hour bumper requirements. The big corporate downsizing was still years away, and nobody who could afford a new Caddy gave a damn about the gas crunch.
Good thing, too, because this big car has an equally big engine: a 472 cubic inch version of Cadillac’s cast-iron V8, backed by a smooth and strong Turbo 400 automatic. Fuel economy, as you might expect, is expressed as a single digit. But if you really want something effortless, there is no substitute for a big-ass V8. This one has been in storage for a long time and has only recently been awakened. It runs fine but has a noisy lifter (or something) that needs attention. And, of course, there’s all the other stuff that you need to do to a car that has been slumbering.
This particular Fleetwood (technically I believe the full name is Fleetwood Brougham Sixty Special) features the Talisman package, a super-plush interior with overstuffed cushions covered in velour, front and rear center consoles with fold-out writing desks, and footrests for the rear seat passengers. In a time of plush interiors, this was the grandest of them all. It’s in very good condition, and it looks mighty inviting. Hopefully it doesn’t smell like smoke inside, but for a ’70s Caddy, that’s a big ask.
It’s a good twenty-footer outside, with shiny paint, but there is a little telltale bubbling here and there, most worryingly along the bottom edge of the vinyl top. Why oh why did automakers insist on subjecting damn near every car to those horrible things for so many years? All they do is trap water and make rust.
2005 Cadillac Escalade ESV – $2,999
Engine/drivetrain: 6.0-liter overhead valve V8, four-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Zion, IL
Odometer reading: 190,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Times change, and fashions change with them, and by the 2000s the traditional luxury sedan had been replaced by the luxury SUV, just as more pedestrian family sedans and wagons had been replaced by Explorers and 4Runners and the like. Cadillac still sold plenty of DeVille sedans, but its true flagship was the Escalade, based on GM’s full-size SUV platform. The first Escalade was basically just a GMC Yukon with some fancy clothes, but as time went by, Cadillac’s version became more and more distinct and special.
This second-generation Escalade ESV is based on the GMT800 platform, in its long-wheelbase form, the same as the Chevy Suburban and GMC Yukon XL. But the Escalade has a little something special under the hood: a high-output 6.0 liter LS-based V8, putting 345 horsepower to all four wheels all the time. GMT800s in general have a reputation for racking up the miles; this one has 190,000 miles on its odometer, and is almost certainly good for a great deal more. It’s being sold by a dealer, so we don’t get a lot of information about it, but its reputation precedes it.
It shows a little bit of wear and tear inside, but it’s not bad at all. Being a Cadillac, of course, it is completely loaded with power stuff and convenience gadgets, but again, it’s for sale at a dealer, so there’s no telling how much of it still works. My best advice is to push every button you can get your fingers on during the test drive, just so there are no surprises later.
Unfortunately, this Escalade has lived its life in the Chicago suburbs, and it shows: it has rust-through all along the bottom of both sides. I’ve seen worse; anyone who has lived in the Midwest has, but it’s not great. You can fix it, but it’s a $3,000 Escalade; you’re probably better off just enjoying it as-is until the rust becomes structural.
Cadillac is no longer “The Standard Of The World,” and hasn’t been for some time. But there’s no denying that cheap old Cadillacs make for some really nice used cars – as long as you stick to what the brand is good at. These were both flagships in their day, and they’re still pretty damn nice, except for some rust. So what’ll it be: a Caddy sedan from the end of its glory days, or an SUV from the start of the new era?
(Image credits: sellers)
Now all I need is a black coat, white shoes, and a black hat.
Nah, all you need is a fine fox in front and three more in the back.
Or I’m gonna steal me a, I gotta have me a…
I wanna RestoMod that Fleetwood so very much! Just ditch the bumperettes and paint matching the roof would look incredible.
Twenty-something years ago I dated a girl with a Fleetwood Brougham like the one above, though a lighter blue with a black vinyl roof. It was comfy, but it was also huge and got like 6mpg in the city (it did much better cruising the highway). If I’m going that big, I’m going GMT800 because I have had enough of them that I diagnose and fix most of the issues in my sleep. The rust on the Escalade doesn’t fill me with joy, but $3000 is nearly “doesn’t run, needs tow” money these days, so I’d just drive it like the comfy beater it is and retire it to the scrapper when it expires.
The Fleetwood is a Cadillac, the Escalade is a Suburban. I’ll take the actual Cadi.
the following year, the Fleetwood would get a 500 cubic inch V8!
I really like the Fleetwood 75, which has a pair of jump seats between the front and back rows.
Too bad the Escalade got rid of the barn doors by then. They were only available on the first-gen Escalade, and there was no ESV then, either 🙁
I voted for the Fleetwood
The Escalade was a strong contender on the virtue of price and proximity … until I saw that rear 3/4 shot. The Talisman may look a little raggedy, but it was the absolute pinnacle of “Cadillac Style” in the mid-70s.
We’ll take the Fleetwood, and a gross of pine tree air fresheners, to go.
As soon as I saw IL, I already knew what the underside of that Escalade looked like without having to read any further (still read it all though); big nope from me. Fleetwood gets my vote.
I’ve always been a sucker for a nice Caddy.
I’ve always been a sucker for a long sedan.
I’ve always been a sucker for a blue car.
I’ve always been a sucker for a plush interior.
I’ve always been a sucker for a 10 body trunk.
Any guesses which way I voted?
Suburbans, Yukons, and ‘Sclades are a dime a dozen, rust-free. This one isn’t worth much.
The Fleetwood is a total baller. The interior needs some work but this is the king shit of any road it’s on.
Plus, true luxury is not sitting on a barstool.
“Why oh why did automakers insist on subjecting damn near every car to those horrible things for so many years?”
To hide the roof weld seam that they were too cheap to sand smooth.
Cheap 800 with the big motor and fancy stuff means a no brainer. Escalade for me!
If that Fleetwood doesn’t smell right, the new owner needs to douse themselves in Old Spice, sit down in the drivers seat and chainsmoke a dozen packs of Parliaments with the air set to recirculate, and then spray the interior down with air freshener to restore the historic quality.
How about a nice 12 splashes of aqua velva?
I was thinking about splashing some BRUT in it, but Aqua Velva will do the trick
Nah, the real players of the 70’s wore Hai Karate!
Bay rum and cigars for me.
Tony Soprano drove a ‘Sclade IIRC but he would have driven a Fleetwood if he was a made man in the 70s. So we definitely have two winners here.
This is a perfect day for the Neither option. The Escalade is a rusty pile of shit. The Fleetwood is savable but will require more work than it is worth. For aesthetics though I’ll take the old mob boss Fleetwood over the ballin’ on a sad budget Escalade.
It’s a “both” day for me.
If the Escalade were an EXT I might have had a tougher time choosing, I love that Fleetwood, those seats look more comfortable than a mattress.
The Fleetwood is just glorious embodiment of consumption and style. Imagine rolling down the interstate at a brisk 70mph and barely a whisper of noise, engine purring at 2500rpm and watching the fuel gauge drop like a rock. Anyone voting for the Escalade needs to ask themselves why.
I have always hated the Asscalade, but they did briefly bring me joy.
In the late-aughts when housing crashed and gas prices jumped, people could not give these things away. In the early aughts everyone was convinced their home was a bottomless well of free equity, and those people immediately spent that equity on Escalades.
They refinanced their $300k house for $500k on an interest-only ARM (no worries, just refinance in 3 years), and spent the windfall on Escalades and plasma screens. Three years later the house is worth $200k, their interest rate is about to jump and principal payments are about to start, one or both has lost their mortgage broker job and gas prices have tripled. The Sopranos are no longer on TV, so the stupid plasmas are worthless.
These things are rolling monuments to financial irresponsibility.
COTD. Anyone who wants the tl;dr version of the Great Recession needs to read this.
The banks were the stand in for the Sopranos as they worked over your finances. Tony’s degenerate gamblers phrase morphs into Stupid people who don’t understand basic economics.
Sure the people who did that might’ve been a little blinded by greed, but most of the blame lies on the banks who let it happen and pushed it on customers.
I’m not talking about people who took some money out for a new roof and a furnace.
I’m talking about the escalade people. People refinancing every year to pull out any new equity.
It’s The Big Short in comment form.
You may as well just remove the Escalade from the voting options now. How could you ever pick that Rolling Bad Credit Score over that Large Car beauty?!