I love my 89 Cadillac. Have had it for 16 years now, and given the age I don't know how I have never had any problems with it. It just starts and rides like a dream.
Cadillac actually built and sold 1500 of these STS models in 1988 to favorite customers. They were registered as 1988 models. My mom bought one, and loved it. She had it up until her death in 2020. It was short on leg room, but was fun to drive, and had one of the best interiors of any American made car.
As someone who's always appreciated the more traditional, large Cadillac boats...I have to admit, these 80s smaller FWD cars are starting to grow on me.
Caddy engineer #1: Well, the dash and interior is done. Engineer #2: You forgot the damned radio. #1: Oh, here is this leftover from an '85 Bonneville. Have Slappy cut a hole right about there and shove it in. Done!
Front wheel drive is the best option for all around driving, in all areas of the country. If u want a sports car, this isnt it. But this car wouldn't get stuck in snow🤨
@@E34Benzin no 1911beauty is right. For just plain driving fwd is the best. It’s cheaper to make, cost less in fuel to run and does better in snow and wet weather.
@@1911beauty RWD is OK with limited slip. You'd think with how much cars cost now they'd come standard with it but they're always cheaper out on actual drivers features like that
@@G0ZERIAN you must be smoking the good stuff if you’re still seeing old Acuras on the road. They wouldn’t last for more than a few years. As I said, they’re junk
@@eddienoel2584 hope one day you get to travel away from whatever shit hole you must live in. The 80s and 90s Acuras have the same longevity as the Honda counter parts. Not opinion. Objective fact. You'll get to see that in the real world, people marry outside of their family tree, and that 80s and 90s GM products were shit, and that Honda and Toyota products had the US companies by the balls. Apples to apples here. Same Era Acuras to same era GM products. Hands down, quality, longevity, and reliability went to Honda/Acura.
As a tech in the mid 90s, the biggest problem we saw wasn't the leaky engine, wasn't the electronic controls on the dash.. It was the electronic suspension system. There were 2 versions. 1 was a std touring suspension with traditional frt struts but rear air struts. The other was a performance handling package that had electronic variable struts. When those failed... holy smokes, the cost. On the std 1, the rear struts were prone to leak and once again, holy smokes the cost!
Seville came out in 1976 as you can see it featured in the movie "Car Wash" that came out the same year. It was one of the most elegant designs they ever made, so naturally they followed it up with the hideous humpback '81 monstrosity and this '89 generic box.
People crap all over this, but for me this is what I remember of caddys growing up. I quite like it, and remember riding in my uncle’s and feeling like I was floating on a cloud.
I actually think the styling on this car is quite good, and that's a good stopping distance from 60 even by today's standards. GM may have missed the mark in a few other areas of this Seville, but it was a step in the right direction for Cadillac in my opinion.
While not a bad looking car, the 1986 downsizing wasn't smart. Sales tanked and did marginally better through 1991. The problem is that the car looked too similar to smaller offerings from Oldsmobile, Buick and Pontiac while demanding a price premium. Consumers couldn't accept the concept of a Seville essentially looking like a bloated Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais.
@@texan903 Which is fair do's when ye think about it. GM did the whole component/platform sharing even in the 60s prob further back than that but atleast each marque had its own unique qualities & styling moreso than the 80s. Mind you, back in the 10s & 20s nearly all cars looked broadly similar too although that was more to do with thier early engineering limits but its abit unfair to blame GM for thier 80s cookie cutting strategy, though that was what they were and they were being lazy and even more penny pinching. Real pr9b was too many d8visions under one roof, bit like what happened to us with British Leyland 😃.
The only thing this car did was handle ok...I almost put one in a ditch around a hairpin turn should have been doing 15 20 mph I hit it at 40 and quickly found its limits..I'm glad even at that age I knew to turn back in and I saved it went off the road a little bit leaving behind a nice rut but I didn't flip it or crash so it wasn't a total fail..
Thank you for continuing to find and locate old GM footage. This is much appreciated. The 1992 Seville was much better. GM had a long way to go. This was the beginning of the change that was yet to come.
Sadly the 1986 Seville/Eldorado sales were weak, and didn't much improve through the end of their run in '91. GM jumped the gun thinking gas prices were set to skyrocket, thus causing them to downsize some of their most important cars, which ultimately drove potential customers to luxury imports from Japan, once again working against GM luxury brands. To me, however, these were some of the better looking Seville models.
Sales were so poor on the Seville, beginning in 1986 that Cadillac should've released the 1992 model in '89, new for '90. As it was, they were two years late, giving imports from Japan a clear advantage.
Can you guys upload the Cadillac DeVille Touring Coupe? This STS is a classic example of how GM half assed everything they did. The STS should have had the 200hp Allante V8 and a much better handling package.
NO they shouldn't have, absolutely opposite - they should've been proud that they were soft luxurious riding cruisers and capitalized on that instead of trying to be something they were never intended to be - a sports car. A lesson they STILL haven't figured out, and unfortunately they're are NO American luxury highway cruisers like the Cadillacs of old.
There never was a DeVille Touring Coupe! A Touring Sedan, yes! Cadillac should not have been mostly FWD! Only the Cimarron was OK to be FWD! That's true even today!!!!
My friend lived with his grandma who had one she bought new, don't know the year but this body style, we were young 16-23 and all beat the crap outta this car and it just never quit running.
Video brings back fond memories. My first car looked like this 6:17. It was purchased used. Same white diamond exterior and beechwood leather interior. Since mine was a 1991 Cadillac Seville STS, it had the following additions: 4.9L engine with 200 @4100RPM and 275lbs @3000RPM 3.33:1 final drive ratio 15.6:1 Rack & pinion ratio Dual-outlet exhausts with monochrome rear bumper fascia and side skirts that line up evenly with front fascia shown 2:04 STS decklid emblem (it didnt included Seville emblem as shown 2:41) Airbag in steering wheel Same wheels. But 16" x 7" and 215/60 tires Full rear seat with standard pull down armrest (not rear bucket seats with center console as shown 5:55) Front bucket seats had lateral bolsters integrated into seat backs. Trunk interior deck lid liner stops at edge of deck lid (not inches away from edges as shown in upper left corner 6:10) Rear deck speakers are covered with trunk interior (they are not visible like shown 6:11) Interior auto dim rear view mirror Options included moonroof, CD player, and gold package emblems. Vehicle came with aftermarket window tint I later added some Vogue WideTrack II tires and 16" Vogue chrome wheels with lockable center caps Rear end started sagging after about a year of ownership. Replaced the air suspension compressor. Replaced all 4 Computer Command Ride shocks and struts with Monroe passive shocks and struts. That resolved that mechanical problem. But "Service CCR system" displayed in DIC for the remainder of ownership. 3 years later, I removed Vogues. Replaced them with factory wheels and tires. Then donated vehicle to Polly Klaas foundation. Next, I bought my dream car at the time, a 1999 Cadillac Seville STS with 300 horses and Northstar. Since then, Ive replaced that car with another Seville STS. Finally, a Lincoln Continental. Sevilles are great vehicles when problem-free. But parts are expensive when they need replacement.
I always thought the Allante was, and still is, a very underrated car. Fortunately, an exceptionally nice one is affordable for most people and most have low miles.
These cars were small, but they had a very substantial feel. The interiors were really sumptuous to be in. Plush seats, deep pile carpet, elegant door chimes and warnings. They reeked of luxury. The dash design is absolutely dreadful though. I'm not talking about the aesthetics, but the ergonomics. Apparently someone who's never driven a car and operated controls designed that dash. What a mess. With that said, I'd still much rather own one of these little FWD Cadillacs from back in the day than a present day Cadillac. They have hard seats. They ride hard. The interiors don't look particularly luxurious or distinctive to me for the money. I'd rather have a current Lincoln Continental over anything Cadillac these days.
In today's money that 89 STS would cost about $73.5k. Today you can get a CTS V-Sport Premium which is more competitive with it's primary competition in every way. I do think both the STS and CTS V-Sport are overpriced for what you get. The MB AMG E-Class, and BMW M550i AWD can both be had for about the same price.
@@palebeachbum I think they artificially inflate MSRP's so that when the inevitable incentives hit, they can still make a decent profit. This is very common in the light truck market as well. Then again, GM has so much in the way of healthcare and retirement liabilities, they probably do need to make a decent profit on everything they sell.
Everyone complaining about the dash design fails to realize that dashboards these days are a billion times worse than anything that was 'annoying' or 'out of reach' back in the day. Theres a button on a touch screen for everything. And it takes up most of your vision. With that in mind, ill happily take a dash like this.
It would have been nice if the controls controls weren't so low and so far away from the driver's eyes, a very poor design on my opinion. But I'm nitpicking here, as I do like these small 80's Cadillacs, especially the Allante. Well, I guess the Allante wasn't small...
@Paul Lunsford uh the last model year of the Seville was 05 only about 100 models were sold that year have loved Cadillacs since I was a young girl my grandmother had a used 79 Coupe Deville
The speedometer stopped reading after 85mph? Yikes lol. I know alot of cars in that era had 85mph speedometers, but I didn't know the digital ones actually stopped at 85mph lol
These first STS' are great looking cars, and in the revised later year/s, with the 4.9 v8, they are pretty great I only wish there were more of them around so I could find and buy a nice, clean one!
I'm 38 and was obsessed with cars since I was a child. I can't remember the last time I saw one of these cars...the car looked like it was falling apart over bumps. Now I understand why.
The upright notchback styling was quite common in the USA back in the 80s, the opposite to the fastback design used by everyone else today. Also FWD v8 wtf gm
@@PrydeWater901 No, it worked out quite well. Those 3 speed transmission they used were bulletproof. They only switched to the side-mounted format because the industry was going in that direction.
This car actually still looks decent by 80s standards. The FWD V8 was a slam dunk, you have to remember that rough running V6s were commonplace for many years and a smooth V8 added alot of value even at only 155hp
@Donald Trump is Ghetto Trash I guarantee this thing ran like shit after 1 year of ownership. For driving enjoyment it was probably okay but nothing special. To me the next generation STS is when Cadillac stepped up their game. I still like the look of that one.
@Donald Trump is Ghetto Trash Well okay, not major issues after one year, but I'll bet it began having minor stuff like electrical problems that Toyotas and Hondas didn't have, for example. Part of the trouble of these luxury cars from back then is that they had way more stuff to go wrong (also the case today, really, but worse then because electronics in general weren't great).
@Donald Trump is Ghetto Trash The Cadillac HT engine (particularly the 4.1 and 4.5L variants weren't known for being exceptionally reliable. This was still Roger Smith's GM at the time.
These Retro Review videos would really benefit from better-quality deinterlacing, such as Yadif or QTGMC. That would get rid of the "jaggies" seen on diagonal lines and provide a much clearer, sharper image.
Their Inspiration was "European Cars that Europe would never make because they would be Garbage".. It's a rare market but GM hit it right on the head!!
I miss these cars from GM. This "little limo" look they had across the board was classy. What I find amazing and amusing is that my current car only has a 2.0 turbo four banger under the hood with 245hp....half the cylinders and less than half the displacement but yet almost 100 more hp and gets 35mpg.
Sales were so poor on the Seville, beginning in 1986 that Cadillac should've released the 1992 model in '89, new for '90. As it was, they were two years late, giving imports from Japan a clear advantage.
How right John was! Cadillac made a huge departure and went with the art and science. The cars got great handling and just look awesome and the fricken ct5 v blackwing! I still want a CTS V wagon!!!
This was finally the car the Seville should've been in 1980, not a total Euro clone but with less Brougham froufrou and more performance-mindedness than other Caddys so as to continue appealing to a different customer than the DeVille and Fleetwood.
@@alexander1485 Infiniti hardly made a dent in Cadillac sales, their (Infiniti) initial advertising campaign was quite weak and they've never really recovered.
I need one of these. Absolutely gorgeous! Love the DeVille Touring Sedan and Eldo Touring Coupe. Would love to have that Cimarron sport coupe hot hatch that looks like a Cavalier z38 with a hood ornament and obviously Cadillac interior.
This was actually a nice nice car, nice size also. The Continental that was out during this time mentioned, that it's cheaper, was a piece of junk and that basically was per my local Lincoln Mercury dealership
Key is the power output is absolutely pathetic and torque not great either. Ive had the Merc 260e they compared it too and in a bigger car with a 2.6L 6cyl its miles faster than this thing too.
I owned two of them, they were awesome. Handled great and was extremely comfortable. Too heavy to be a real performance sedan (5000lb curb weight!) and the rear seat of the STS wasn't composed of two bucket seats as such, so the seatbelt placement was awkward. Other than that I loved it. The white one I had was a 90, so it had a slightly larger displacement. A huge upgrade from the unreliable HT4100 design.
My Dad had an '87 Seville with the GOD AWFUL 4100, I still remember how slow that car was. The engine blew but he got a new one for free. Then he bought a '90 with this 4.5 that had the power jump to 180hp (not the 155hp one here). That thing would roast the tires all day long, it was a RIDICULOUS difference in power for the same car.
@@TeeroyHammermill that 4100 was a dog. 130hp. My Dad's 4100 blew, too. That car was painfully slow, hate to tell ya. The 1990 Seville 4.5 he replaced it with it was CRAZY the difference. I still remember riding in it for the first time.....wow.
Drive a CTS-V after an M5 or a ATS-V after an M3 and tell me what the better handling car is. I own an M2 Competition by the way, so not Cadillac fanboying at all but judged just on handling and the newer Cadillac’s are superior to comparable BMW’s
jameswillard1 Don’t get me wrong, I like Cadillac, it’s just that for the last 30 years or so they’ve been playing catch up with Germany and Japan. Even if that is the case, I would much rather buy an M3 than an ATS-V, which is getting discontinued anyways
A lot of reviewers preferred the handling on Cadillac CTS’s and ATS’s over German competitors. When Motor Trend tested the C63 M3 and ATS-V, the Cadillac beat the M3
I was a serial BMW owner but I bought a CTS-V wagon because I needed the room for my 3 German Shepherds. Had more fun and less trouble with that car than any BMW. Other than tires and brakes it was almost trouble free for 159 K miles.
30 years later, Cadillac has gotten somewhat close. This a Grand Am 4 door with embellishments and a 8 slug mill. It was kind of cool back then until I saw the Audi V8.
It wouldnt take a lot to make one of these an amazing driving car. All it needs is uprated suspension, brakes and bushings. MAYBE a strut tower bar front and rear.
Saw one of these on Marketplace... had to come look it up. It has under 60k miles and they are asking $7500. Was curious what MotorWeek had to say about it. It does remind me of a 1989 Olds Delta 88 I owned in 2002, was a work-car and ran very nice.
Aha. Idiot auto journalists have been brainwashing the general public with a mindset that euro = good Ironically outperforming the germans in every way the journalists wanted only made things worse for cadillac
@@user-yj9hq8sq5y I'm with you. I'd much rather have a Cadillac or a Lincoln of this vintage over anything Euro or Japanese, especially the 1992 Seville and Eldorado. It's a sad shame that the traditional American luxury sedan aka American land yachts, aka the Sofa on Wheels were killed off because of stupid fools who wanted their Fleetwoods to be as agile and tighthandling, and as stiff riding and uncomfortable as a 3 series or Acura Legend.
Cadillac really tried hard, but didn't exactly hit out out of the park with this one. The only Cadillac I'd really want to have is the old school Fleetwood Brougham / d'Elegance. If it came down to the STS and the Mercedes 260E, I'd take the 260E. Back then, Mercedes still made a good solid, over-engineered car that just looked more classy.
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I love my 89 Cadillac. Have had it for 16 years now, and given the age I don't know how I have never had any problems with it. It just starts and rides like a dream.
Even G.M. does a LITTLE right!
You still have it?
Is it still running?
You clearly got a lemon. GM doesn't make cars that last half the time you've had yours.
Cadillac STS 1989, i love this car. Aithentic Cadillac Style
By modern day standards to have a 155 HP 4,5L V8 is like having a gigantic smartphone without data plan
Or with a 4GB RAM!
Cadillac actually built and sold 1500 of these STS models in 1988 to favorite customers. They were registered as 1988 models. My mom bought one, and loved it. She had it up until her death in 2020. It was short on leg room, but was fun to drive, and had one of the best interiors of any American made car.
As someone who's always appreciated the more traditional, large Cadillac boats...I have to admit, these 80s smaller FWD cars are starting to grow on me.
Yes, it is growing on me too like a wart on my nose.. : ))
These are among the worst vehicles ever build by GM.
You're 30 years late.
I will take a mid 70s Seville over this any day......
@@fastdude2002 You wouldn't if you drive one with the venerable 4.9! This was a quick nice riding, handling car.
that dashboard makes farm equipment's interior look sleek
But not pick ups or jeeps
Caddy engineer #1: Well, the dash and interior is done. Engineer #2: You forgot the damned radio. #1: Oh, here is this leftover from an '85 Bonneville. Have Slappy cut a hole right about there and shove it in. Done!
@@bruschmidt9943 LEDs suck.
@@bruschmidt9943 name another brand equivalent to chevy that doesnt use a mix of incandescent and led lights.
you were a sperm swimming in the void when the 1989 Cadillac STS was being driven by pimps n G's
1989 Cadillac STS, the official car of “hi sweetheart, how much for a blow?”
The 1979 was the official car of "how much for SOME blow?"
TornadoTJ either one sounds great to me
@@phantom0456 and a half buttoned shirt
I literally laughed out loud, good job bro
Fitting, then, that STS sounds more like a disease than a car.
This is when GM was obsessed with FWD
Front wheel drive is the best option for all around driving, in all areas of the country. If u want a sports car, this isnt it. But this car wouldn't get stuck in snow🤨
@@1911beauty No, it isn't. FWD suits better a big luxury sedan.
@@E34Benzin no 1911beauty is right. For just plain driving fwd is the best. It’s cheaper to make, cost less in fuel to run and does better in snow and wet weather.
And Chrysler and Ford were NOT?
@@1911beauty
RWD is OK with limited slip. You'd think with how much cars cost now they'd come standard with it but they're always cheaper out on actual drivers features like that
This is the STS time forgot. 1993 model was what got them on the market watch.
Love the design of these mid to late 80s GM cars.
Always loved the exterior look of this car especially in white
4.5L V8 that **almost** can run with an Acura Legend? Keep in mind in that year, the Legend was a 2.7L 161 hp V6
Acura is junk
@@eddienoel2584 lol...yet still on the road while typical 80s GM trash rusted to dust by the year 2000.
@@G0ZERIAN you must be smoking the good stuff if you’re still seeing old Acuras on the road. They wouldn’t last for more than a few years. As I said, they’re junk
@@eddienoel2584 hope one day you get to travel away from whatever shit hole you must live in. The 80s and 90s Acuras have the same longevity as the Honda counter parts. Not opinion. Objective fact. You'll get to see that in the real world, people marry outside of their family tree, and that 80s and 90s GM products were shit, and that Honda and Toyota products had the US companies by the balls. Apples to apples here. Same Era Acuras to same era GM products. Hands down, quality, longevity, and reliability went to Honda/Acura.
@@eddienoel2584 and I paraphrased something right out of the video. I didn't make that up. John said it himself in the video.
As a tech in the mid 90s, the biggest problem we saw wasn't the leaky engine, wasn't the electronic controls on the dash.. It was the electronic suspension system. There were 2 versions. 1 was a std touring suspension with traditional frt struts but rear air struts. The other was a performance handling package that had electronic variable struts. When those failed... holy smokes, the cost. On the std 1, the rear struts were prone to leak and once again, holy smokes the cost!
Wow, Lexus had a 255hp 4.0L V8 and Cadillac had a 155hp 4.5L V8
Love these old videos, shows how far we have come.
I think the buick v6 had more power.
And in 1977, a 180hp 7.0L, 425ci big block. Nowadays, 7 liters can get you at least 650 horses.
In 2023 Honda gets 329 hp out of a 4 banger 😂
What European machine did they get their “inspiration” from. A refrigerator?
Bosch refrigerator? 😂
LOL
It sorta looks like Volvo from far...
Exactly lol
"European" LOL. Every 67 year old Greasrball around Atlantic City and Philly had one of these in his garage.
The interior designer only had a t-square
They all did then.
The interior of these cars was dated as soon as it came out. The rest of the car looks decent though by 80s standards
Never drop acid and get in one of these as you will never find your way out of the squares.
Or no skills at all
Lol they misplaced their French curve
I'll take That first 78 seville they showed instead
Without looking it up I believe the Nova based, Oldsmobile powered Seville came out in 1976.
Seville came out in 1976 as you can see it featured in the movie "Car Wash" that came out the same year. It was one of the most elegant designs they ever made, so naturally they followed it up with the hideous humpback '81 monstrosity and this '89 generic box.
It’s such a big difference literally lol. Idk how they went from such a big Seville to this smaller version of it.
@@kingjay239 easy...everything went smaller then. Case in point, look the Monte Carlo from 1977 to 1978😉
GM merely put a new body on a Nova chassis. No one could use the corporate parts bin better than vintage GM.
This is one of my favorite Cadillac body styles wish I could get my hands on one.
*We're getting closer.. come on with that treasure trove of 90's GM gold you guys are sitting on.*
If they didn't rust away before the testing was over. **shrug**
This piece of Shit?
@@thomasdouglas2006 They are an icon... Ahead of their time
@@G0ZERIAN Sounds like a Northern problem.
@@kensmechanicalaffair I'm in southwest, and they still rust away to nothing like Thanos snapped them out of existence 🤷🏻♂️....
These late 80s “mini” Caddies are to this day great looking cars.
Gone was the “boats”
I'd take a Cadillac from the 1950's or 60's anyway over anything Cadillac made in the 80's.
except the side profile...too reminiscent of a Saturn....the rear roofline and rear door sculpt flowing into the rear quarter is painful to look at.
People crap all over this, but for me this is what I remember of caddys growing up. I quite like it, and remember riding in my uncle’s and feeling like I was floating on a cloud.
DDM7406 my uncle had one of these too. Blue with blue leather interior
My 1973 Eldo Convertible had more of the cloud feeling than the STS cars.
My dad had a white ‘86 SeVille and used to drive me to school with it in the early 2000’s.
Actually, it wasn't a bad-looking car. The upright backlight was distinctive, practical and gave the car a kind of "formal" look.
my God, what a waste of displacement 🤣. love these retro reviews guys, good job on bringing them back
Those ‘80s GM dashboards...aye yi yi.
🤣🤣🤣
I actually think the styling on this car is quite good, and that's a good stopping distance from 60 even by today's standards. GM may have missed the mark in a few other areas of this Seville, but it was a step in the right direction for Cadillac in my opinion.
🤣
While not a bad looking car, the 1986 downsizing wasn't smart. Sales tanked and did marginally better through 1991. The problem is that the car looked too similar to smaller offerings from Oldsmobile, Buick and Pontiac while demanding a price premium. Consumers couldn't accept the concept of a Seville essentially looking like a bloated Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais.
@@texan903 Which is fair do's when ye think about it.
GM did the whole component/platform sharing even in the 60s prob further back than that but atleast each marque had its own unique qualities & styling moreso than the 80s.
Mind you, back in the 10s & 20s nearly all cars looked broadly similar too although that was more to do with thier early engineering limits but its abit unfair to blame GM for thier 80s cookie cutting strategy, though that was what they were and they were being lazy and even more penny pinching.
Real pr9b was too many d8visions under one roof, bit like what happened to us with British Leyland 😃.
I've always loved these!!
"Seats are great until you take a corner too fast " haha 😄
The only thing this car did was handle ok...I almost put one in a ditch around a hairpin turn should have been doing 15 20 mph I hit it at 40 and quickly found its limits..I'm glad even at that age I knew to turn back in and I saved it went off the road a little bit leaving behind a nice rut but I didn't flip it or crash so it wasn't a total fail..
Thank you Motor Week!
Thank you for continuing to find and locate old GM footage. This is much appreciated. The 1992 Seville was much better. GM had a long way to go. This was the beginning of the change that was yet to come.
Sadly the 1986 Seville/Eldorado sales were weak, and didn't much improve through the end of their run in '91. GM jumped the gun thinking gas prices were set to skyrocket, thus causing them to downsize some of their most important cars, which ultimately drove potential customers to luxury imports from Japan, once again working against GM luxury brands. To me, however, these were some of the better looking Seville models.
Sales were so poor on the Seville, beginning in 1986 that Cadillac should've released the 1992 model in '89, new for '90. As it was, they were two years late, giving imports from Japan a clear advantage.
Can you guys upload the Cadillac DeVille Touring Coupe?
This STS is a classic example of how GM half assed everything they did. The STS should have had the 200hp Allante V8 and a much better handling package.
That whole lineup is an example of how GM half-assed everything. No Cadillac should've ever been FWD.
Better handling package? RWD.
@@BilliamCurt Personally would accept awd at the very least. The fact that they are fwd already ruined their long term value.
@@BilliamCurt Go back to the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado and tell them your opinion on FWD...
NO they shouldn't have, absolutely opposite - they should've been proud that they were soft luxurious riding cruisers and capitalized on that instead of trying to be something they were never intended to be - a sports car. A lesson they STILL haven't figured out, and unfortunately they're are NO American luxury highway cruisers like the Cadillacs of old.
There never was a DeVille Touring Coupe! A Touring Sedan, yes! Cadillac should not have been mostly FWD! Only the Cimarron was OK to be FWD! That's true even today!!!!
My friend lived with his grandma who had one she bought new, don't know the year but this body style, we were young 16-23 and all beat the crap outta this car and it just never quit running.
Video brings back fond memories. My first car looked like this 6:17. It was purchased used. Same white diamond exterior and beechwood leather interior. Since mine was a 1991 Cadillac Seville STS, it had the following additions:
4.9L engine with 200 @4100RPM and 275lbs @3000RPM
3.33:1 final drive ratio
15.6:1 Rack & pinion ratio
Dual-outlet exhausts with monochrome rear bumper fascia and side skirts that line up evenly with front fascia shown 2:04
STS decklid emblem (it didnt included Seville emblem as shown 2:41)
Airbag in steering wheel
Same wheels. But 16" x 7" and 215/60 tires
Full rear seat with standard pull down armrest (not rear bucket seats with center console as shown 5:55)
Front bucket seats had lateral bolsters integrated into seat backs.
Trunk interior deck lid liner stops at edge of deck lid (not inches away from edges as shown in upper left corner 6:10)
Rear deck speakers are covered with trunk interior (they are not visible like shown 6:11)
Interior auto dim rear view mirror
Options included moonroof, CD player, and gold package emblems.
Vehicle came with aftermarket window tint
I later added some Vogue WideTrack II tires and 16" Vogue chrome wheels with lockable center caps
Rear end started sagging after about a year of ownership. Replaced the air suspension compressor. Replaced all 4 Computer Command Ride shocks and struts with Monroe passive shocks and struts. That resolved that mechanical problem. But "Service CCR system" displayed in DIC for the remainder of ownership.
3 years later, I removed Vogues. Replaced them with factory wheels and tires. Then donated vehicle to Polly Klaas foundation.
Next, I bought my dream car at the time, a 1999 Cadillac Seville STS with 300 horses and Northstar. Since then, Ive replaced that car with another Seville STS. Finally, a Lincoln Continental.
Sevilles are great vehicles when problem-free. But parts are expensive when they need replacement.
I must say, I like the look of this Cadillac
I actually like the design of the white one, the boxiness looks aggressive & the low chin splitter is super cool
Geechh! I lost count how many times he mention the mame sts! Now i got the sts on my head all day!👋🤣👍thank's John Davies!
Better than STDs
I always thought the Allante was, and still is, a very underrated car. Fortunately, an exceptionally nice one is affordable for most people and most have low miles.
These cars were small, but they had a very substantial feel. The interiors were really sumptuous to be in. Plush seats, deep pile carpet, elegant door chimes and warnings. They reeked of luxury. The dash design is absolutely dreadful though. I'm not talking about the aesthetics, but the ergonomics. Apparently someone who's never driven a car and operated controls designed that dash. What a mess. With that said, I'd still much rather own one of these little FWD Cadillacs from back in the day than a present day Cadillac. They have hard seats. They ride hard. The interiors don't look particularly luxurious or distinctive to me for the money. I'd rather have a current Lincoln Continental over anything Cadillac these days.
In today's money that 89 STS would cost about $73.5k. Today you can get a CTS V-Sport Premium which is more competitive with it's primary competition in every way. I do think both the STS and CTS V-Sport are overpriced for what you get. The MB AMG E-Class, and BMW M550i AWD can both be had for about the same price.
@@FoDaddy When I was car shopping back in 2018, I noticed the MSRPs on GMs seemed ridiculously high compared to others.
@@palebeachbum I think they artificially inflate MSRP's so that when the inevitable incentives hit, they can still make a decent profit. This is very common in the light truck market as well. Then again, GM has so much in the way of healthcare and retirement liabilities, they probably do need to make a decent profit on everything they sell.
"These cars were small..." That thing is 5,20m long!! The same length as a long wheelbase Mercedes S Class W140.
Americans 😎
@@E34Benzin the 89 STS was significantly smaller than any Cadillac before it. You should look up the dimensions of the 85 Fleetwood Brougham.
Everyone complaining about the dash design fails to realize that dashboards these days are a billion times worse than anything that was 'annoying' or 'out of reach' back in the day. Theres a button on a touch screen for everything. And it takes up most of your vision. With that in mind, ill happily take a dash like this.
It would have been nice if the controls controls weren't so low and so far away from the driver's eyes, a very poor design on my opinion. But I'm nitpicking here, as I do like these small 80's Cadillacs, especially the Allante. Well, I guess the Allante wasn't small...
I have a 91 eldorado. Its a pretty good car especially considering its 80s GM
@Paul Lunsford uh the last model year of the Seville was 05 only about 100 models were sold that year have loved Cadillacs since I was a young girl my grandmother had a used 79 Coupe Deville
I'm genuinely interested in how Lexus got 255 hp out of a 4.0 V8 the same year, and Cadillac got 155hp out of a 4.5 V8?
Donald Trump is Ghetto Trash I’m liking your comments simply because of your user name 😂🤣
@@jameswillard1 A Trump hater with a simplistic mind, how rare.
Alex Cintas a Trump supporter that can actually spell, how rare 👍🏻
@@jameswillard1 I'm not the easily influenced simpleton going off a screen name, and I don't speak in emojis.
jameswillard1 Trump 2020. Making LibFuck Snowflakes like James Cry Again 😭
The speedometer stopped reading after 85mph? Yikes lol. I know alot of cars in that era had 85mph speedometers, but I didn't know the digital ones actually stopped at 85mph lol
The best part is that most of those digital dashes still had the hundreds digit for kilometres, but it went unused in US mode.
I think it was federally mandated at the time.
@@palebeachbum Earlier in the '80s but that had been repealed by '89.
@@nlpnt Are you sure? My 1990 Ford Ranger, which was new for 1989, had an 85mph speedo.
I used to own an 88’ Eldorado and once you hit 85 mph. it just began to blink on and off.
I loved this Cadillac STS it was so cute.
That style is timeless and still beautiful today.
These first STS' are great looking cars, and in the revised later year/s, with the 4.9 v8, they are pretty great I only wish there were more of them around so I could find and buy a nice, clean one!
30 yrs later that day has never came.
But for Lincoln it has...
But the CTS and now-defunct ATS gave the Germans a run for their money.
I will watch this comment's prediction with great expectations!
I'm 38 and was obsessed with cars since I was a child. I can't remember the last time I saw one of these cars...the car looked like it was falling apart over bumps. Now I understand why.
@Paul Lunsford and what is your point?
Motorweek is uncharactaristically critical here! I did not know they were capable of doing that.
As I'm watching this video, I remember watching it in 1989 on WNED Buffalo and remembering when a 30 year old car was a 1960!
The upright notchback styling was quite common in the USA back in the 80s, the opposite to the fastback design used by everyone else today. Also FWD v8 wtf gm
Well, to be fair, they've been doing the FWD V8 combo since the mid 60's.
Chris Troxler Didn’t work all that well then, either.
@@PrydeWater901
No, it worked out quite well. Those 3 speed transmission they used were bulletproof. They only switched to the side-mounted format because the industry was going in that direction.
This car actually still looks decent by 80s standards. The FWD V8 was a slam dunk, you have to remember that rough running V6s were commonplace for many years and a smooth V8 added alot of value even at only 155hp
@@Chris_Troxler damn right -worked so well they used them for rv's as well
I love Retro Reviews but have to admit this car was basically a piece of crap. Still fun to watch though.
Well it was made by gm....
@Donald Trump is Ghetto Trash I guarantee this thing ran like shit after 1 year of ownership. For driving enjoyment it was probably okay but nothing special. To me the next generation STS is when Cadillac stepped up their game. I still like the look of that one.
@Donald Trump is Ghetto Trash Well okay, not major issues after one year, but I'll bet it began having minor stuff like electrical problems that Toyotas and Hondas didn't have, for example. Part of the trouble of these luxury cars from back then is that they had way more stuff to go wrong (also the case today, really, but worse then because electronics in general weren't great).
@Donald Trump is Ghetto Trash The Cadillac HT engine (particularly the 4.1 and 4.5L variants weren't known for being exceptionally reliable. This was still Roger Smith's GM at the time.
Still rode like a cloud on the highway.
These Retro Review videos would really benefit from better-quality deinterlacing, such as Yadif or QTGMC. That would get rid of the "jaggies" seen on diagonal lines and provide a much clearer, sharper image.
Their Inspiration was "European Cars that Europe would never make because they would be Garbage".. It's a rare market but GM hit it right on the head!!
I miss these cars from GM. This "little limo" look they had across the board was classy. What I find amazing and amusing is that my current car only has a 2.0 turbo four banger under the hood with 245hp....half the cylinders and less than half the displacement but yet almost 100 more hp and gets 35mpg.
Sales were so poor on the Seville, beginning in 1986 that Cadillac should've released the 1992 model in '89, new for '90. As it was, they were two years late, giving imports from Japan a clear advantage.
4:59 John: NOT MANY WILL COMPLAIN, BUT COWS! LOL
😝🤣
That made me laugh more than it probably should have lol.
Vegans would have hated this car lol.
How right John was! Cadillac made a huge departure and went with the art and science. The cars got great handling and just look awesome and the fricken ct5 v blackwing! I still want a CTS V wagon!!!
I had a 91 STS with the 200hp engine bck n college! An tht cadi had the looks an style an power! Everybody wanted to buy it! 👏🤙😎
I've always liked the looks of these
This was finally the car the Seville should've been in 1980, not a total Euro clone but with less Brougham froufrou and more performance-mindedness than other Caddys so as to continue appealing to a different customer than the DeVille and Fleetwood.
Instead we got the bustle back disco inferno seville
What a fucking car...
May be an unpopular opinion but I think this is by far the best looking big sedan of the time.
Love Motor Week Retro! 👍🏼❤
Now I see why people went for the Lexus and Mercedes-Benz.
And infiniti
@@alexander1485 Infiniti hardly made a dent in Cadillac sales, their (Infiniti) initial advertising campaign was quite weak and they've never really recovered.
Jerry Phillips why would you sink $2000 on a car worth $2000
Went for them and never came back.If they showed back up and tried a NorthStar that was enough to finish them for good
"Sprinted to 60 in 8.9 seconds" that hurts to hear
It was more than 4 seconds faster than the heavier '85 Eldo Touring Coupe with the HT4100. And less likely to crap out expensively.
That 4.5 will run forever!!! Ours has 275K on it and is all original
I need one of these. Absolutely gorgeous! Love the DeVille Touring Sedan and Eldo Touring Coupe. Would love to have that Cimarron sport coupe hot hatch that looks like a Cavalier z38 with a hood ornament and obviously Cadillac interior.
This was actually a nice nice car, nice size also. The Continental that was out during this time mentioned, that it's cheaper, was a piece of junk and that basically was per my local Lincoln Mercury dealership
If it wasn’t t FWD, I would love to have one . The good old times.
Greetings from the international space station!
These looked gorgeous
Such a cool upgrade on those Sevilles!
Actually it was a failure.
I thought acceleration times were really good for a 155bhp V8 engine, I was expecting it to be a second or so slower in the 0-60mph.
Torque is helping a lot this case.
Key is the power output is absolutely pathetic and torque not great either. Ive had the Merc 260e they compared it too and in a bigger car with a 2.6L 6cyl its miles faster than this thing too.
@@Flying_GC Nah 🙄
I owned two of them, they were awesome. Handled great and was extremely comfortable. Too heavy to be a real performance sedan (5000lb curb weight!) and the rear seat of the STS wasn't composed of two bucket seats as such, so the seatbelt placement was awkward. Other than that I loved it. The white one I had was a 90, so it had a slightly larger displacement. A huge upgrade from the unreliable HT4100 design.
These didn't weigh anywhere near 5000lbs.
My Dad had an '87 Seville with the GOD AWFUL 4100, I still remember how slow that car was. The engine blew but he got a new one for free. Then he bought a '90 with this 4.5 that had the power jump to 180hp (not the 155hp one here). That thing would roast the tires all day long, it was a RIDICULOUS difference in power for the same car.
My 86 wasn't slow with the 4100. Had adequate power for the era.
@@TeeroyHammermill that 4100 was a dog. 130hp. My Dad's 4100 blew, too. That car was painfully slow, hate to tell ya. The 1990 Seville 4.5 he replaced it with it was CRAZY the difference. I still remember riding in it for the first time.....wow.
Yeah, definitely don't want all 150 screaming malaise ponies to be available all the way to redline. Good job, GM, you've always done the lord's work.
Genuine 80's GM crap at its best
True
remember the fuckin Cadillac Cimarron? or it's grandchild from the early 2000s, the Cadillac Catera that was essentially a rebadged Opel sedan.
I remember when Clayton Farlow on Dallas drove one of these.
Today's clean looks, crisp handling & superb performance go to the Caddy CT5 V & CT5 V-Blackwing models.
Love Retro Reviews
That Caddy is pure class. Love it.
I had a 90 with the 4.9 motor, it would smoke the front tires on demand, it was a very fun and luxurious car!
Did he just say a 1980's Cadillac had 'crisp handling'?
🤔
No, the Lincoln did.
1989:”So while STS handling is a great leap forward for Cadillac, it’s not good enough to challenge a BMW”
2019: Same story
Drive a CTS-V after an M5 or a ATS-V after an M3 and tell me what the better handling car is. I own an M2 Competition by the way, so not Cadillac fanboying at all but judged just on handling and the newer Cadillac’s are superior to comparable BMW’s
jameswillard1 Don’t get me wrong, I like Cadillac, it’s just that for the last 30 years or so they’ve been playing catch up with Germany and Japan. Even if that is the case, I would much rather buy an M3 than an ATS-V, which is getting discontinued anyways
A lot of reviewers preferred the handling on Cadillac CTS’s and ATS’s over German competitors. When Motor Trend tested the C63 M3 and ATS-V, the Cadillac beat the M3
I was a serial BMW owner but I bought a CTS-V wagon because I needed the room for my 3 German Shepherds.
Had more fun and less trouble with that car than any BMW.
Other than tires and brakes it was almost trouble free for 159 K miles.
William Egler thats a ton of miles for a performance car
Damn people, this WAS 1989! Sheesh!
This thing looks like the Grand Am my brother had.
30 years later, Cadillac has gotten somewhat close. This a Grand Am 4 door with embellishments and a 8 slug mill. It was kind of cool back then until I saw the Audi V8.
It wouldnt take a lot to make one of these an amazing driving car. All it needs is uprated suspension, brakes and bushings. MAYBE a strut tower bar front and rear.
4.5L V8 making 155HP? WTF...
chief tp I think Lexus has one out the same year with 250hp and it was only a 4.0 but correct me if I’m wrong
@@apexgt4 This is correct, it's the Toyota 1UZ-FE engine in the Lexus LS400. An engineering marvel.
Geez my Camry's 2.5 does more than that
Saw one of these on Marketplace... had to come look it up. It has under 60k miles and they are asking $7500. Was curious what MotorWeek had to say about it. It does remind me of a 1989 Olds Delta 88 I owned in 2002, was a work-car and ran very nice.
Everytime I see these kind of Cadillacs it reminds me of a blown head gasket. Where the heat only works when the car is moving
Dam looks futuristic
Another shot of fm97.9 on the radio. Lol. 🤘
Somehow all Cadillac's reminds me funeral home :/
Me too. Lol. 🥴😑
I feel like all GM did in the late 80’s was take a cheap model car like a Chevrolet Corsica and put Cadillac badges on it and a small V8 in it lol.
"Blindingly fast" 😆
Carros da década de 90 são muito bonito 👍😁
'89 STS was the one of most beautyful Cadillacs.
$35 grand!? Damn that's $70 grand in today's money, shit!
A fine example of what went wrong with American auto manufacturing. But thanks for the post MW.
Aha. Idiot auto journalists have been brainwashing the general public with a mindset that euro = good
Ironically outperforming the germans in every way the journalists wanted only made things worse for cadillac
@@user-yj9hq8sq5y I'm with you. I'd much rather have a Cadillac or a Lincoln of this vintage over anything Euro or Japanese, especially the 1992 Seville and Eldorado. It's a sad shame that the traditional American luxury sedan aka American land yachts, aka the Sofa on Wheels were killed off because of stupid fools who wanted their Fleetwoods to be as agile and tighthandling, and as stiff riding and uncomfortable as a 3 series or Acura Legend.
"Blindingly fast acceleration......" 😂😂😂
Cadillac really tried hard, but didn't exactly hit out out of the park with this one. The only Cadillac I'd really want to have is the old school Fleetwood Brougham / d'Elegance. If it came down to the STS and the Mercedes 260E, I'd take the 260E. Back then, Mercedes still made a good solid, over-engineered car that just looked more classy.