In 1979 Cadillac launched an advanced halo car. The Cadillac Seville boasted the kinds of equipment we take for granted in cars today like self-leveling suspension, digital gauges, and absolutely power everything. The Seville also came with two engines of the future, but hilariously poor implementation of this future tech and a controversial design mars this burned-out halo’s history. We think it’s time to forgive the sins of 1980s General Motors.
Welcome to the first entry in a series we’re calling Automotive Pardons. We’re unapologetically pro-car at the Autopian. We love the icons and we love the stinkers. We love EVs and we love ICE. We just love cars. Every once in a while, we feel as if a car in history wasn’t given a fair shake. Or perhaps enough time has passed that a car’s faults don’t really matter anymore. Regardless, we think some vehicles deserve a pardon for the crimes they’ve been convicted of in the past.
You’ve already seen us pardon some vehicles in the past from the Pontiac Aztek and the Volkswagen New Beetle to the Dodge Caliber and the Chrysler PT Cruiser. We’re finally giving these sorts of stories their own dedicated category.
One of history’s maligned rides is the second-generation Cadillac Seville.
On the surface, this car is easy to hate. It’s a vehicle that’s clearly from the 1980s but has a rear-end design that’s trying its hardest to go back to the 1930s. Then there are the engines. Cadillac saddled these with Oldsmobile’s infamously unreliable diesel engine and then gave you the option for GM’s also infamously unreliable displacement-on-demand engine. But look past this and I think there’s something awesome for the Radwood-era collector.
Imported From Detroit
The Seville is a nameplate that hasn’t been around for two decades, but when it launched in 1976 the vehicle was a big deal. This luxury car was Cadillac’s answer to European imports.
The Seville was also more than just an American import. As Hagerty notes, Cadillac faced peculiar headwinds in the 1970s. The brand, which was known for its large and ostentatious vehicles, watched as some American customers darkened the showrooms of European automakers. While a Cadillac was practically large enough to land a Cessna on, the German imports were comparatively svelte.
As Hagerty continued, this baffled Cadillac. For decades, Americans with money overflowing from their wallets purchased the largest, grandest vehicles. Having a Cadillac — The Standard Of The World — meant you made it. So why were some of Cadillac’s clientele spending their valuable money on smaller, seemingly lesser imports?
Research conducted by Cadillac revealed a new type of luxury customer. Americans were getting fed up with a perceived loss in quality and exclusivity in American cars, plus, these drivers just weren’t really into commanding land yachts anymore. They wanted luxury, but with refinement. They wanted style, but didn’t want to shout about it.
This sent Cadillac looking for a way to compete. Reportedly, one of Cadillac’s early ideas was to beat the Europeans by joining them. Cadillac figured it could possibly take an Opel Diplomat and make that into something for the American market, but the automaker figured out that turning an Opel into a Cadillac would have been impractical.
Thankfully, the General Motors parts bin provided some help. Cadillac found that the X platform would be a decent fit for the mission, but that was the platform used for the Nova, and Cadillac couldn’t just sell a rebadged Nova! Engineers were given broad authority to Cadillac-ify the X platform and they did just that. Cadillac designers stretched the X platform from a 111-inch wheelbase to a 114.3-inch wheelbase and the changes were extensive. The resulting K platform shared some floorpan, front suspension, roof, and rear subframe with the X platform, but the rest was Cadillac.
The original Seville, which was named the LaSalle during its development, launched in 1976. The sedan was a reinvention of Cadillac, one where the most expensive flagship model was actually its smallest car, a reversal of the past. The original Seville was a commercial success with sales that increased every single year throughout its first generation.
But there was one problem the Seville didn’t solve.
The Caddy For Young People
Cadillac enjoyed the success brought on by the first Seville, but research by the automaker brought out bad news. While plenty of people were lining up to buy the Seville, the brand still failed to pull buyers away from the import brands. Cadillac still wanted those young, affluent buyers and figured there had to be some way to lure them away from a Mercedes.
Based on this, you would think Cadillac would try to make a car like a BMW or Mercedes, but the brand went in a completely different direction, one more appealing to older car buyers rather than the youth.
Reportedly, legendary auto designer Bill Mitchell was getting close to retirement and he wanted to go out with a bang. As luck would have it, General Motors was working on the second generation of the Seville, so that’s where Mitchell would make his mark. There was just one problem as Mitchell had a bit of a different outlook than other designers of the time. Mitchell loved the beauty of pre-World War II cars and wanted to apply classical design to new cars whenever possible.
Mitchell’s influence can be seen in the gorgeous “boattail” Buick Riviera and all of GM’s A-body vehicles of 1973.
Mitchell would find an ally with Wayne Kady. Like Mitchell, Kady loved applying the design philosophies of old to modern vehicles. In an interview with Hagerty, Kady indicated that in the early to mid-1960s, he began focusing a lot of his design efforts on making vehicles with distinctive rear ends. Sure, Harley Earl thought a car’s face was its most important part, but Kady felt that the rear end deserved just as much attention, too.
One of the sketches Kady penned was the 1967 Cadillac V16 concept. This vehicle was a coupe that was a nod to the 1930s while also having a comically long hood. It’s one of those cars you might expect an oil baron to own. Sadly, that design did not go into a production car back then, but Kady did lead the design for the 1971 Cadillac Eldorado.
Still, Kady never gave up championing his rear-end design. Kady really wanted to see the “bustleback” treatment applied to a coupe and pitched it for the 1979 Eldorado. However, Cadillac General Manager Ed Kennard wasn’t having it. Mitchell loved the bustleback and managed to convince brass that it could be used for the Seville. The distinctive coupe styled by Kady gained two more doors and the green light was given.
As Kady says in the interview with Hagerty, the new Seville was initially a hit out of the park, from Hagerty:
I was invited to the dealer announcement in Long Beach. When they announced that car, they had it on the stage and when they pulled the curtains back, the car started to revolve on a turntable and was partially concealed with fog. Then the lights gradually came on, like the sun coming up. As the fog cleared, you could see the car. It got a standing ovation. I’ve been to a lot of these dealer announcements, and this was by far the most applause for a new car that I’d ever seen.
The new Seville wasn’t just a striking design piece, but also an advanced piece of tech on wheels. Front-wheel-drive was pitched as a possible innovation for the first Seville, but that didn’t happen. That finally came true in the second generation thanks to the vehicle riding on a modified K platform, itself a derivative of the E platform used for the Cadillac Eldorado, Buick Riviera, and Oldsmobile Toronado.
The E-body was an advanced piece of engineering for its day. It sported four-wheel independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, anti-roll bars front and rear, and even electronic suspension leveling. The platform also boasted quick over-boosted recirculating ball steering and it was even lighter than the outgoing platform despite not much of a change in size.
Perhaps the quirkiest part about the platform under the second-generation Seville was the fact that the standard engine was a diesel V8, but we’ll get to that later.
The interior continued more technological advancement. I’ll hand the microphone to Car and Driver for a moment:
As before, the Seville is nothing if not a gimmick car. It has, for your pleasure and detachment from reality, a headlight sentinel with automatic dimming and shutoff; intermittent windshield wipers; a cruise control almost the match of Mercedes’s; power windows, power mirrors, and power locks; an ambient-temperature gauge on the driver’s outside mirror; an anti-theft security system that flashes the lights, sounds the horn, and disables the engine; light-up information centers, left and right, with various words of warning; a three-light, fender-mounted monitoring system for headlights, brights, and turn signals; tiny red taillight telltales that show in the rear-view mirror; cornering lights that activate with the turn signals; a glide-out ashtray nearly big enough to serve a TV dinner on; an electric trunk release; and infinitely more. Drive the Seville a hundred thousand miles and we’ll bet you still won’t know all its tricks. Why, the console alone is a work of genius, albeit a sizably chunky one. It has a map-and-litter pocket on its front and two storage spaces within. The back one is smallish, intended for whatever you like. The front one, on the other hand, is ribbed to organize a row of eight-track tapes (or presumably cassettes if you order that sound system), and also provides a miniature clipboard for a notepad, a clip for the writing utensil of your choice, and a light to scribble by. What next?
How about the glowing, all-encompassing sound of a digital electronic AM/FM/CB/eight-track stereo with scanning functions, an integral digital clock, and the ability to monitor CB receptions while you’re listening to the regular part of the radio? Perhaps you’II find the superlative automatic electronic climate control to your body’s liking. Red and blue buttons raise and lower the Seville’s cabin temperature one degree for each push of a button. Once set, the system functions without notice or adjustment, providing a continuous flow of air, your choice of blast or balm, neither dry nor humid.
And, oh, we can’t forget the seats. Ours were done up in gray leather, leather being the equipment on all Elegantes, and embossed with a large Cadillac crest in the center of each backrest. These are the most power-adjustable production-car seats in the world. Their controls send them forward, backward, upward, and downward, and tilt the lower seat itself. Cadillac has also powered the backrest rake adjustment and incorporated tilt and in-out steering wheel positioning.
If you didn’t get it from Car and Driver‘s review, Cadillac loaded the Seville down with all sorts of tech. Remember that we’re talking about a car from 1980 here and Car and Driver is listing out features we take for granted today, over four decades later.
The Seville Quickly Falls Apart
Most retrospectives note that the initial response to the Seville was strong. Sure, the design was polarizing, but the car was anything but boring. And that bustleback design was such a stunner that other brands started coming out with their own takes on the same.
Unfortunately, cracks started to show early on. Just above, I snipped a quote out of Car and Driver‘s review of the 1980 Seville, a first model year for the second generation. Well, the car showed its ugly side back then. The first signs of trouble came from the 5.7-liter Oldsmobile diesel V8:
Cadillac’s glow plugs prepare the engine very quickly for starting, even in cold weather taking no more than five seconds to get the job done. The engine’s dieselness seems unobtrusive until the need for fuel or more than marginal performance arises. Its lack of pop is a painful shortcoming in busy traffic. This is the only car we’ve been able to full-throttle around our favorite ramp. Hitchcock could do a film about passing on two-lanes. The motor likes part throttle better than full, feeling less strained and tending to sag less noticeably as you first toe into the throttle. The faultless cruise control is a savior for the muscles of your right leg, which battle a strong throttle-return spring.
That sounds rough enough, but then that late 1970s and early 1980s quality reared its ugly head, from Car and Driver:
The biggest drawback besides the lack of power is constant and wearing wind noise around the A-pillar at speeds over 55 mph, a realm Cadillac seems to have ignored. A steady moan of effort intrudes at 75 to 80 mph, proving this more a town car than dedicated cross-country artiste. At lesser velocities the Seville is a mindless cruiser, almost hallucinogenic in its ability to just driffffift aloonnng. It is sleep-inducing. Its steering is very light, has adequate feel and decent response, but our car had a wander problem with which a momentary daydream could probably be combined to produce an expensive side trip.
Lewin has already written an excellent explainer on why the Olds diesel V8 was such a problem child, aside from its meager 105 HP output:
Oldsmobile engineers decided to start with what they knew, and based their work on the existing Oldsmobile 350 cubic-inch V8. It was this decision that played a role in the failures to come. That’s because a diesel engine typically runs at a far higher compression ratio than a typical gasoline engine. A gas engine might run at somewhere between 8:1 and 12:1, while diesels typically run from 14:1 to 22:1. This is mostly because gas engines are desperately trying to avoid compression ignition of the fuel, while diesel engines rely on that same effect.
The engine’s designers took this into account to some degree, designing a reinforced block for the diesel application. Other changes included hardened camshafts, larger main bearings, and tougher, thicker connecting rods and piston pins.
For all that the engineers did, they didn’t go far enough. The diesel engine’s heads used the same head bolts and 10-bolt pattern as the gas engine. This decision was made to allow the diesel engine and gasoline engine to share some of the same tooling. However, it meant that the head bolts were extremely overstressed in the diesel application. They were more than capable of handling the cylinder pressures of a gasoline engine, but they couldn’t take the additional strain of the high-compression Oldsmobile diesel design, which ran at a lofty 22.5:1. The design really needed more head bolts, and likely stronger ones too, but budget concerns won the day.
Unfortunately, engineers knew the engine wasn’t ready for primetime, but GM desperately needed to meet fuel economy standards. The engines were shipped out and in the field, they experienced stretched head bolts, corrosion, blown head gaskets, stretched timing chains, failed injectors, failed injection pumps, and so much more.
The Oldsmobile V8 diesel was so unreliable that it couldn’t even be certified for sale in California. You’d think the reason would be because the engine wasn’t that efficient. It was actually pretty thrifty, scoring 21 mpg in the Seville and 28 mpg in a pickup truck. So, that wasn’t the problem. California couldn’t even complete its testing because the Oldsmobile diesel V8s on hand didn’t run long enough.
Kady mentions another problem. The 1980 Cadillac Seville had a sticker price $4,000 more expensive than the first generation. That meant you were paying more for a car that might not have survived a week of commuting before the engine fell apart.
But don’t worry. If the Oldsmobile diesel V8 wasn’t your jam, you could still get the Cadillac V8-6-4 engine and still save some money at the pump, right?
The 145 HP Cadillac L62 V8 was standard equipment across the Cadillac line and an optional no-cost replacement for the Olds diesel in the Seville. This 368-cubic-inch V8 used computer-controlled solenoids to disable the rocker arms of two or four cylinders. The idea was that your V8 would become a V6 or a V4 depending on load, saving you money by upping fuel economy during mild cruising conditions.
The guts of the V8-6-4 included a microprocessor and a bunch of sensors monitoring vitals including coolant temperature, engine speed, intake manifold pressure, and more. Once the computer determined that engine load was low enough, the solenoids would lock the rocker arms, shutting down the cylinders. Compressed air in the cylinders was supposed to eliminate any feeling of misfiring. GM said the computer was so advanced that it ran 300,000 calculations per second.
Whether that was true or not ended up being irrelevant because in the real world, the computer just never kept up with demands. The engine constantly hunted between V8, V6, and V4 modes. The result was that the engine responded horrifyingly slow to pedal inputs and the constant shifting between modes transmitted roughness to the cabin of the vehicle.
Cadillac was quick to try to fix things with 13 software updates an extended warranty, but the damage was done. Those who still had their V8-6-4s often just disabled the system and used their cars like normal V8s, leaving behind the 15 percent fuel economy advantage. The V8-6-4 was also tossed out of the Cadillac lineup after just a year, leaving behind a smaller HT 4100 V8.
The problems with the Seville showed in sales. The 1980 model year saw 39,344 examples sold before sales fell to 28,631 in 1981 and 19,998 in 1982. The second-generation Seville bowed out after 1985 when it sold 39,755 that year. The second-generation Seville at its best still sold less than almost all years of the first-generation model. Even worse, Cadillac still failed its mission to get younger buyers out of their fancy BMWs.
Worth A Look Today
While the second-generation Seville could be piled into the long list of General Motors failures, we think it’s worth a second look today.
As I noted before, a lot of the luxuries found in the second-generation Seville are bits of equipment you’ll find in the cars of today. General Motors didn’t give up on displacement on demand, either, and you’ll find it in modern GM products as Active Fuel Management or Dynamic Fuel Management. The modern systems work better, but they have their own problems, too. In a way, the Seville was perhaps too far ahead of its time with ideas that were great, but didn’t quite work out at the time.
Going back to the Seville, sure, the quality wasn’t quite there, but contemporary reviews did seem to agree that the Seville was about as comfortable as you’d expect from a Cadillac. Today, many enthusiasts are looking for rides that are a bit different and many are looking to the 1980s to get their fix. The good thing about the passage of time is that many survivors have long had their kinks worked out. If you happen upon a V8-6-4 car today, you’ll either have your mind blown that the system still works or know that a previous owner already killed the variable displacement system.
If you find a working Oldsmobile V8 diesel, that alone is just pretty awesome. Sure, GM’s diesel V8 bungling almost singlehandedly killed diesel passenger cars for decades, but nowadays seeing one of these engines alive would be something novel.
These cars are also pretty cheap. It’s not hard to find one in decent shape for $10,000 or less, which is more than you can say about many ’80s and ’90s collector cars today. I’m not saying you should go out and buy one of these as a daily driver, but if you’re looking for an ’80s classic that’s a little different, maybe it’s time to consider a Seville.
(Images: GM, unless otherwise noted.)
Dad had several Cadillacs when I was growing up. Out of all of them, I think he was most impressed by the technology of the Seville, and he did appreciate the bustle back styling. His was a 1980 model with the gas engine, which was a 368; the 8-6-4 hack wasn’t introduced until the following year. He sold it in the mid 90’s with about 150k on the odometer. It needed a radiator at some point, several power antennas (which were nearly $300 at the dealership in the 80’s because the car was equipped with AM/FM/CB), and probably a water pump and alternator, but no major engine issues.
I almost never buy Hot Wheels anymore, but when they made a Bustleback Seville recently, I bought that one. Cars with funky weird designs like this fascinate me.
That Oldsmobile diesel V8 is actually sought-after among Oldsmobile guys nowadays because you can retrofit it with regular Olds 350 and 400 V8 parts to run on gas again… but with a reinforced block and heavy-duty internals that can handle A LOT more power than a regular 350.
So, GM made an absolute dumpster fire of a diesel, but accidentally made a brilliant gasoline tuning platform that can make a ton of power with minor modifications. Plus, since it’s already set up for high compression, it’s better configured than most 80s engines for E85.
So yeah I’d buy a Seville if it was cheap, especially if I could convert the diesel engine to run on E85 and make silly power. Weirdest tuner car ever, how could it not be fun?
Hot wheels made two series so far of this Seville. First release, tu-tone brown and gold. 2nd release, two tone dark and light blue. Both series have a sunroof and faux reddish interior. When I find a Matchbox or Hot Wheel I love, I always buy 2. One to take out of the blister pack (which I do save) and play with on my desk, and one virgin one to keep for retirement. Laugh if you will, I’ve made over 40k the last several years with my virgin hot wheels/matchbox collections. And to think my family wonders why I’m still a single old man……..
The Seville casting is actually one from ‘back in the day’ that Hot Wheels pulled out of retirement. It holds up remarkably well in the modern HW lineup but you can tell from the lack of details on the base and somewhat large size that it’s quite an old casting indeed.
It’s interesting that there’s no mention of the interior (non-existent) durability of any 1980s GM products in this “forgiveness” campaign. I guarantee that half the gizmos stopped working in less than 24 months, the “chrome” shiny of any touched surface had been reduced to the black plastic underneath as well, the thing rattled like a baby’s toy, and the tops of the interior door handle/rests were loose or off. My dad would get a new GM 4 door sedan every two years from his company during this era, and every two years later, the interior trim looked like those Samsonite gorillas had been at it. Just utter shit products GM put out. (He was lucky enough to get one of the 8 cylinder diesels one time. Didn’t last a full year before he rid of that shitbox. Slower than the Rabbit I had at the time.)
The more interesting story here is the missed opportunity for GM to have positioned Cadillac as a real competitor to the Germans, instead of letting a designer whose mode of thought was “You know what the kids like? The 1930s!” and a bunch of cost accountants run the show. Instead, Cadillac would wait 30 more years to try to get at BMW and then still drop the ball.
Born 88 .. every time I saw one of these on the road as a child it scared me like ze devil
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Well you’ve reminded me how much I like the first gen Seville and how fun it would be to build a “sports sedan” version, but while I appreciate the effort the second gen is still thoroughly meh for me.
My mom had a ’78 first-gen. I drove it a few times when I first got my license. That was a really fun car, that design looks sharp even still today. Wish she still had it. Toward the end the fuel injection was giving us persistent little issues but it was still cool.
I had to sign in to make a comment on this thing. In my opinion this is the vehicle that mortally wounded Cadillac. I was down in Texas where people were making a lot of money in the oil business in the ’70s and they liked to buy new Cadillacs. The first gen Seville was a home run despite its humble origins. It was sharp, decently well built, and successfully fought off to some extent the Europeans makes that were making inroads. Cadillac was riding high at the end of the ’70s. The downsized big Cadillac sedans were a hit, the redesigned ’79 Eldorado was a hit and the Seville was selling like hotcakes. There were many people trading Cadillacs every six months just to have a new one. It was a weird and interesting time.
Then this thing. Everybody talks about the bustle back, but there’s something wrong with the front, too. It doesn’t go with the rear end because GM made them use the Eldorado hood so they wouldn’t have to spend the money on a new stamper. It’s an Eldorado from the steering wheel forward with something else welded onto the it. Keep in mind they had been minting money at Cadillac, but GM still had to be the world’s stingiest grandpa. It looked like a George Barris creation and after a surge of gotta have the newest Caddy adopters, sales plummeted.
It rattled. Things fell off. It was slower than a horse. The V8-6-4 engines failed. The diesel engines failed. Then the 4.1 which couldn’t get out of its own way and many reliability problems. This car was a mistake.
it was total garbage. the Aztec is perfection in comparison.
The big front and weird little butt always reminded me of the Tom and Jerry cartoon dog.
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Soooo do you like big front ends and weird little butts in your transportation Harvey? Getting mixed messages here big boy. LOL, love Tom and Jerry, watching it on metv as I type this messing with you
My favorite car (at least today) is an R107 with a honking hood accommodating a 5.6L engine with a tiny trunk for golf clubs, so…
I am exactly of the age to have this car be impressionable on my young soul, but I was a Mercedes kid (my Opa had one) or a fan of weird crappy cheap cars (my other Opa had a Fiat). That said, what stands out to me now is how very different cars could look back in the day. At a time when nobody cared about aerodynamics, they actually chose different designs. I always kinda liked the two tone bustleback style. If they made this in electric, I’d be interested, but the aerodynamics still suck.
Get a later one with the Olds 307. You won’t regret it like you would any of the other three engines.
One of these with a 6 liter LT and 10 speed auto would be a nice retro package.
You can’t put that transmission in this car. Only the Unitized Power Package Turbo 425 will work.
I was thinking the first gen with the Nova-based chassis.
Oh, yeah, that would work great! Connor MacLeod had one of those in Highlander, parked it in his living room like Dan Tana.
Mercedes, I applaud all of the research and background info you include in your well written articles. Whether it be car, bus, RV, motorcycle, train, what have you, Mercedes is gonna give us the inside scoop, history, and any pictures/stories relating to back it up. I was alive when these came out. They had 3 strikes against them out of the gate, first, the controversial styling, second the economy and high interest rates at that time, and thirdly the diesel motor. I still like them though. I think perhaps they had one of the steepest windshield rakes ever put on a 4 door car in that era.
No, there was a noticible drop from a 1970 Model Year Car, to 1980
The Malaise was real.
It certainly was! “Perceived” in this case is definitely similar to “observed” and I point to any late ’70s car review as evidence. 🙂
the V8-6-4 computer could be disabled by simply disconnecting one wire from the transmission, as it would only disable pairs when the transmission is in overdrive. IF you were so inclined, you could re-enable the variable displacement or switch it on and off.
I’m tempted to say the ’81 Imperial is my favourite of the bustlebacks, although the Continental has a bit more hot rod potential (mind you, between the LA V8 and the modern Hemis apparently being very compatible with anything that ran an LA V8, the Imperial has potential too).
Still, an uncle by marriage had one of these Sevilles for a bit in the early 90’s, and it was at least clearly more special than my parents’ Sonata.
That diesel just seems like a classic late ’70’s GM clusterfuck. You can just hear some engineer pleading for more and stronger head bolts and someone further up the line telling them how many tens of dollars that would add to each car, so the answer was “No”. And the result was an engine that wouldn’t run long enough to get certified in California before failing? I really hope someone got fired for that.
Promoted, more likely.
Considering they later engineered the DOHC petrol Northstar with shitty head bolts that stretched and pulled out of the block, I think not. J Hyman’s theory is much more likely.
Yes. They fired the engineer.
One of my coworkers used to have one of these. One of my other co-workers used to ask him “did you back into a dumpster?” way too often.
My dad had the black and grey version. He really enjoyed that car.
The interiors WERE super comfortable, and they were flashy in that traditional Cadillac way, but compared with the fundamentally similar (and far more handsome) ’79 Eldorado, the Seville looked like it had been backed into a loading dock.
Mercedes, my favorite part of that C/D Seville test was David E.’s one-sentence Counterpoint, which I committed to memory: “If the Seville was the answer, I obviously misunderstood the question.”
These were everywhere on early/mid-80s tv. And they could be used to signal both regular rich people AND the villainous sort. I recall them popping up a lot on Knight Rider.
And Wiseguy.
Good god yes! I recently found that Tubi has it, so I predict some binging, once I finish rewatching Spenser for Hire (has there ever been a better tv use of the Fox Body Mustang??)
Ooo pre-Sisko Brooks was a badass
Brooks was always a badass, except when the studio didn’t want two bald men leading the franchise so he had to wait until TNG ended to get “the look”.
reportedly this was because they didn’t want a “street looking black man” it took them years to get the studio to agree to the goatee and baldhead.
Check out the Wiseguy where Roger Lococo uses his 70s T-bird with machine guns on it. Plus Vinnie’s very original… Cuda? Or was it a Challenger?
If ever there was an older car I’d love to retrofit with a modern electric drive system, this is it. I have always been a closet fan of that lill’ bustle back rear end, and just the thought of tooling about in one of those those beast silently (well, I guess except for the wind noise that I never knew was a problem), and then just stomping on the pedal to pull that thing a couple of lengths ahead on the freeway like a shark bursting forth in the dark ocean depths, just sets me aquiver.
It’s going to be interesting to see what develops when the current automotive design trends circle around again to the brutalist flat front ends like the old Cadillacs.
The HT4100 was also a crap engine. Cadillac would have done well to just offer the 368 with EFI and take their lumps on CAFE. I didn’t like the looks myself but I knew people who did, Cadillac really shot themselves in the foot in the 80s between the nice car shame about the engine Seville and the botched FWD Deville. My great uncle threw up his hands and bought a loaded Caprice to replace his Cadillac, partially out of thrift and partially because the new Cadillacs were crap.
GM didn’t want the gas guzzler tax imposed on ANY passenger cars so it had to do everything to avoid it.
Mercedes-Benz had no choice but to eliminate the 280 E, 280 CE, and 280 SE from its 1980 US model range, leaving 380 SEL and 380 SL as sole petrol models. All of the W123 were exclusively diesel (240 D, 300 D, 300 CD, and 300 TD). Otherwise, the gas guzzler tax would have hurt the US sales greatly for Mercedes-Benz. That is until the economy recovered in 1983 and boomed throughout the 1980s, allowing Mercedes-Benz to add 500 SEL and 500 SEC in 1984 (both had gas guzzler tax tacked onto the price tags)
That does explain the diesel heavy lineup of the early 80s, my uncle actually had a 300 CD for a while, which seemed a very odd car. It also explains some of GM’s early 80s decisions.
These things are so grotesquely ugly in appearance and layout, that if I were to build up a goth ride, these would be toward the top of my list of candidates.
Modern cars might be ugly, but they aren’t ugly in the ways that make ugly appealing, as this thing is.
Black, with silver bumpers and silver rims, red interior, added opera lamps and gargoyles on that shit, would be totally awesome. Especially if it was the Seville Opera Elegante.
Back in like ’95/’96, a friend bought one of these (I think it was an ’82) in nearly flawless shape for $600. It looked nearly identical to the one in the top shot. The seats were super comfy, far more so than my couch at home, but the remainder of the car was absolute garbage. He got lucky that his had the 4.1L V8, though that is only relative to the other engine options like the Olds diesel and V8-6-4, but the thing was a dog that never ran right despite constant carb tuning. The exterior was also hideous, and we made fun of the bustle-back constantly because it is simply an unattractive design (to put it nicely). As much as I would like to be generous and say the car had some redeeming features, the comfy seats are all the credit I can provide and the poor reputation these have today is well justified and fully earned.
The bustle-back is simultaneously too big in the rear end and too small… nice going, GM.
It would be an embarrassment to drive one of those. Some will disagree, but Cadillacs have never done anything for me – anything good, I mean to say.
The “bustleback” on the Seville was preceded by the painfully similar “aeroback” Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon coupe and sedan in 1978-79. That the design was not well received in the Olds should have been a warning to Cadillac, but I guess at that point they were already too far down the rabbit hole to do anything about it.
The bustleback is as different from the aerobacks as any two fastback cars could be.
It’s close enough that the reaction to one should have been a warning about the other.
I recall vividly the first magazine ad of the new 2nd Gen Seville – a mini-brochure embedded within whatever magazine Mother subscribed to at the time:
The cover was a head-on shot of the car.
This sure looks appealing – so turn the page…
…then we get the rear-three quarter shot.
Ugh – WTF is that?
What was even more shocking was people with money actually bought these things.
And that Lincoln came out with it’s own very awkward version a couple years later, which was then followed by the Imperial the following year.
It was surely a very good time to be a Mercedes-Benz dealer.
The bustle back Seville copied the rear end of a 33 ? Rolls Royce by Hooper. Later the last real Chrysler Imperial copied that design too. Looked kind of weird back in the day, now has aged to where it looks cool? Ok, how about different! Had a ride in the 76 Seville. Built on the Chevy Nova chassis…had no front leg room. On the passenger side my knees were up against the dash. A mixed bag for sure. But you’d have the only one at the car show!