I remember a few people complaining about those 1977 downsized Cadillacs. I had a great aunt who had bought a new Cadillac every couple of years for decades, but she refused to purchase a '77, protesting that they were too small. Since Cadillacs never got mid-seventies big again, she eventually gave in and bought an early eighties Fleetwood and then returned to buying a new one every couple of years until her death. She never went for the max-downsized ones, though, sticking with the 1977-sized late-eighties Broughams.
I remember people saying the '77s, especially the coups, "had no ass". They also had those godawful not-quite-opera windows. '77-'79 were good years for coup-buyers to switch to the 4-door version.
Surprisingly growing up my Mom had an ‘87 Cadillac Sedan DeVille with the 4100 and it was an overall great car. I know they put close to if not more than 200,000 miles on it. Maybe we bought one built on a Wednesday
Had a gold 69 fleetwood brougham w gold brocade interior. Was one of the most beautiful cars ive seen. Had a bud w the 70 same car in black. Stunning pair of automobiles.
I owned a 1980 d’elegance white over white with wire wheel covers, which locked fortunately. Interior identical to your example. Still the most beautiful car I have owned. It always made me proud to drive it.
The Fleetwood coupe was basically this car with a few "upgrades" including limousine style rear and side windows, tufted seats, and a few more trim pieces. Definitely an even rarer classic.
Pretty sure the Fleetwood coupe was longer with longer doors that weighed a ton. My mom went from a 79 Coupe De Ville to an 84 Fleetwood Brougham Coupe and my first time in it I thought this door must be the size of a VW Beetle.
Thanks for doing a video of the favorite Caddy I ever owned the 81 Coupe DeVille d'Elegance. Purchased it from the original owner in 1990 it had 56k miles and the the owner absolutely babies this car which was garage kept and was absolutely perfect. Have to admit as soon as I seen those V-8-6-4 badges I was going to pass on that cream puff but the owner told me he had the system bypassed when it was a couple of months old and the engine has been trouble free, I had the car for three years and never had to anything but maintenance to it. This was the first "small" Caddy I owned, up until this time my previous ones were a 73 Coupe DeVille and 76 Eldo. The 81 had the quietest interior of the three and the most comfortable seats, the 73 eclipsed it in ride but the 81 made up for it overall driving and owning experience. The 368 was of equal smoothness of my previous 500 and 472 but seemed a lot more spirited in the 81. As you can tell I miss that car greatly, she was as beautiful to drive as it was to look at her.
Wholeheartedly agree, 1980 was a pinnacle year. My 1980 Sedan was by far the best of all the 70s and 80s Cadillacs that I owned. Mine was white with white vinyl top, navy leather interior with thin-spaced vertical stitching. The wheel covers were similar to this one, with the burgundy center and cloisonne, but had turbine strakes. The car was actually pretty lightweight, and with the 368 had almost perfect balance and predictability. Here in the NC mountains, you could even induce a bit of oversteer. The panel controls were intuitive and at a short reach, and a built-in CB delighted my friends. The car was about 8 years old when I got it, but several times I was asked what a kid like me was doing driving a new Cadillac! Later, a 1984 Fleetwood with 4100 was a disappointment. No engine problems, but just a slug to drive. An '86 Fleetwood with the 307 was really not much better. The 1980 model was really near-perfect, and I don't think Cadillac had a better car before or since.
There were so many of these Cadillac's to pick from off of the Lexus dealership trade in lots in the late 80's and early 90's. Literally grew on trees for years.
Yea...that's when American's began to lose brand loyalty, especially with American cars. Such a shame. It's really what killed Cadillac as a luxury brand and rebrand itself as an upper level 'euro sport' performance brand. I'd rather have the Cadillac.
My late uncle drove a Fleetwood Brougham D'Elegance back in the 1970's and early 1980's. I remember the footrests in the back. I loved riding in those cars as a kid.
Yours's too? LOL My late uncle bought a brand new 1973 Eldorado. White with gray and black houndstooth cloth interior. I remember he drive straight from the showroom to our house and let me play with all the gadgets inside even though I was only 8. I begged him to put the car away and I would buy it from him when I turned 17. But he traded it in 1976. Then, he bought a brand new 1980 Fleetwood Brougham D'Elegance. Black with gray cloth interior. That was such a good looking car! So comfortable to ride in. I wish I had that car today. But he only kept it a year and traded it in on a brand new 1981 Sedan DeVille with the 4-6-8 engine. That was the first Cadillac I ever drove when I first got my permit. He let me drive it on Thanksgiving Day. I've owned like 12 Cadillacs, but I'll never forget the feeling the first time I drove that car!
@@wizardofahhhs759 I had the same problem with my '88 Lincoln Town Car. All of a sudden, it would just die. No lights, nothing. Then after 20 minutes to 2 hours, it would just start up again. The dealer actually got angry at me because I kept bringing it back.
Had a friend who, upon coming back from Saudi Arabia where he worked for several years, bought his and hers 1980 Cadillac's like these. When I knew him, both cars were missing their bumper fillers. Thanks!
Love these, so classy and simple. Gobs of metal and big chrome bumpers. Comfortable and I agree so much that the velour was perfect. I had an 86 Cutlass with the blue velour seats when I was a kid and holy that was the most comfortable car! These Cadillacs are so iconic. However, I’m a bit biased because I’ve owned 1 89 and 3 93 Coupe DeVilles. I know they are FWD, but the size, the 4.5L and the 4.9L are bullet proof, and I would say these were the last of the traditional design before they started moving towards rounded and more modern looks. Also 93 was the last year of the CDV.
Parents had an '83 model. One of my favorite cars they had. It was sweet on the highway. Their 4100 never gave any troubles for 100k miles but I know that is rare.
I've somehow avoided leather and fake leather in all the cars I've had (not counting Cadillacs with leather in non seating areas, and one Mercedes years ago), but it's getting tougher. My favorite new cars right now are not available with cloth, so I'm kinda freaked out. I hope proper fabrics make a quick comeback so I'm not reduced to draping towels over the seat.
@@desertmodern7638 I have owned several Mercedes from 1981 to 1999, but my favorite interior was the 1979 Seville I had. It was in velour and fantastic. For a smaller car that Seville was a great ride and interior for a trip. So many of those were in leather and those turn me away.
Back in the day when it was fairly new, I had a 1980 Fleetwood d'Elegance in black with the same color velour interior. It was considered a very nice car at the time and i liked very much. I owned it about 2 years maximum.
I own a 1982 Coupe Deville in Dark Redwood colour ( a dark coppery reddish brown). It was only about two years old when I bought the vehicle. It looked almost the same as the car in this video, except the turn signal pods on the front were clear with little gold Cadillac emblems . Always received compliments wherever I went!! It was an amazing automobile! Comfortable, quiet and smooth running. After enjoying driving for about five years, I sold it to my father who drove it for many years after! Cadillacs back then were fantastic cars that didn’t receive the credit they truly deserved. Now own a 2019 XTS . Absolutely love it. Great car !! But I admit some times I miss and fondly remember that great 1982 Caddy 🤔😊👍
I had one. It was the most glorious V-8 Pittsburgh steel American land yacht that ever existed. It was so powerful that if you more than tapped the accelerator in a residential area, you were going 50, with flashing lights behind you. The sound system in that cavernous interior - in which I once moved a recliner -- was from Heaven itself. In snow, all you had to do was point that hood ornament where you wanted to go, and the vehicle just floated down the road, perfectly in control even on ice. The horn was like a symphony orchestra. Yes, you could easily sleep in the back seat. Ah, VA TON-555, my big beautiful blue baby, I'll never forget you!🎉❤
Thanks so much for this one, Adam !.. I had that exact same vehicle, 1980 Coupe de Ville wiith the 'D Elegance package, but mine had the wire wheel covers (Only Cadillac made convincing looking wire wheel covers, and only on the RWD versions)... identical interior.. Mine was a medium blue Firemist metallic exterior with dark blue interior. Those seats are very comfortable, you can rack up hours of driving without getting too tired. My radio was similar, but mine had the cassette tape deck instead of the 8 track.. My radio also included (as did the one in your video, but you didn't mention) the factory CB radio. The 6.0 liter 368 Cadillac V8 used the 472 block, and was just bullet proof. I bought it in 1990, it only had 40k miles on it, and was a garage kept "wife's car". Excellent extra clean condition, it looked like a million bucks. I got a lot of compliments on that car, and wish I had kept it. The lady sold it to me at a giveaway price, and I made money on it when I sold it 10 years later, having added 120k miles. No real problems with the car. I did have to replace the mouse fur headliner, which had developed a bit of a sag, but the rear filler caps in front of the tail lights looked new. Adding dual exhaust and bumping the timing 7 degrees helped performance a lot. This was the last of the true old school Cadillacs in many ways, at least in Coupe de Ville form.
I know the owner of this car, but haven't had the chance to drive it yet. He has an outstanding Cadillac collection. This one could arguably be his finest.
Great car - the cloth interior on the deVille dElegance was known as “Venetian velour” I believe 1979-1984. The faux wood grain is references as “simulated teak”. Thoroughly unconvincing! I enjoy your channel and the accompanying expertise!
Hi Adam My brother have the same car in London uk , exactly the same car but with two tone burgundy light and dark colour , with the wire wheels , with 38k miles, the velour is called Venetian star Velour.
Traditionally, leather was only used for the chauffeur’s seat, which was out in the elements and needed to be hard-wearing. In the back, the owner would sit on a fine wool or similar cloth. I’m not sure how or when leather migrated to the rear compartment, but we’ve suffered hot clammy seats in summer and cold hard seats in winter ever since. So, notwithstanding the fact that both my current vehicles have leather…I prefer cloth every time. Great take on a nice example.
Beautiful CDV. That interior pinpoint velour was oh so trendy at the time, we had a navy velour sectional sofa with the cream colored pinpoints in the family room.
1980 is definitely the best. I have an 87 Fleetwood Brougham, which I love. Diplomat Blue with matching navy buttoned leather interior. I actually replaced the wire wheel hubcaps with these red centre 1980 caps, which looks great on the navy colour scheme. 👍
I LOVE the 80 restyle. I think it's interesting that Cadillac and Oldsmobile seemingly flipped their headlight/turn signal arrangement for 1980- prior to then, Cadillac had a single level front end and Olds had the dual-level front styling. In 1980 they swapped. That said, my favorite change for 1980 was the more formal rear roof line. I think these cars just look amazing, especially in a dramatic color like red.
This is my car. Nice video. 1980 was the final year for a carbureted Cadillac motor as the standard engine (RWD models). It was also installed in the Commercial Chassis body until 1984. Regarding the lack of gauges, it should be pointed that Cadillacs provided two lights - a "Coolant" (amber) light that appeared just at the onset of overheating but yet to the point that it occurred - enabling the driver to take corrective action; ie shutting off A/C, increasing engine speed to improve water flow. Then if the problem persisted, a secondary, more urgent "STOP ENGINE TEMPERATURE" (red) indicator appeared which meant the engine must be stopped immediately. So you weren't completely in the dark as to the state of any overheating condition. As stated in the video, Cadillacs were always designed with ample cooling capacity. BHP in the standard 6.0 liter (RWD) carb engine was reduced to 150 BHP from 180 in the 425 that preceded it which is still plenty adequate in these cars, along with its torque. The fuel injected 6.0 liter in Eldorado/Seville of 1980 had 145 HH. In 1981 (V8-6-4), the HP decreased further to 140 HP. Another HP reduction came in 1982 with the introduction of the HT4100 which was only 125 HP and torque was significantly reduced as well. By 1984, HP in the HT4100 was increased slightly to 130 but the torque demands of the overdrive transmission was still too taxing on the small V8 which was constantly downshifting in an attempt to cope. Cadillac called the upholstery material "Venetian Velour" in the DeVille d'Elegance from 1979-1984. The d'Elegance option also included special "Tampico" carpeting (80-84) in addition to Brougham style upper door panel design and door pulls. ("Tangier" carpeting was used in 1979).
@@chrisblackburn1872 Nice! I had a '77 Sedan DeVille D'Elegance back in college. I wanted a '79 as I thought they looked nicer, especially inside. But I couldn't find a good one for a decent price!
@@chrisblackburn1872 Wow. One of the main things I HATED about my '77 was the taillights. Because they only lit half way down. I was so happy when they went back the full lit taillight in '78. So your grandfathers car was your wedding car eh? That's SO cool! What color is it? My grandparents each had Buicks. My late uncle had a '73 Eldorado. It was white with gray and black houndstooth interior. When my much older cousin got married, he drove them in that car. I still have a picture of it from the wedding which was in 74 or 75.
Another great video Adam and as always including things that I never thought of, like the tailight change Cadillac made form those puny little ones to the larger 60s style ones on your 1980 model. I have always been shocked at how bland the interiors got in that era as my dad had a 1983 oldsmobile 98 Regency, the last of the big ones that had a killer interior, but the Caddys always paled in comparison, I would love to see you do a video on GM interiors of the early 80s as well.
I learned something! My aunt and uncle had a Sedan de Ville (or maybe a Fleetwood) of this vintage. It was a nice car, but it always seemed to be a lot bigger than the '77-'79 cars. I guess it was the more vertical back window that provided the illusion. Thanks!
Definitely agree with you about the seating materials. GM velour is the best. Leather seats are horrible. I don't know why everyone thinks leather is superior. In coach built, chauffeur driven cars, the driver had a leather seat. But the owner rode in comfortable cloth seats in the back
Having driven both, I actually prefer the 5.7 Chevy V8 in the early 90s Brougham models. With the 700R4 overdrive transmission they even get respectable highway mileage. I also think the final boxy Brougham was screwed together a bit better than the early 80s ones. Those last boxy Brougham models were such an odd mix of ancient and modern features. I do like the four sealed beam headlights on the older car better than the huge single composite headlights on those last Broughams, but beyond that those final boxy models are just fantastic vehicles, both in appointments and mechanically. I really wish GM had gone to the Chevy V8 rather than the 4100 or Olds 307. Even the 5.0 Chevy 305 seems stronger in these than the Olds or 4100.
This was the Caddy that I wanted my schoolmates to know about just as soon as it came out. My peers often dreamed about riding in the limo by the time prom night came, but the truth is that it was out of our price range!
Wonderful and informative video. Adam, I would say IMO the last GREAT full size Cadillac was produced a decade later…and at the very end of this presentation you alluded to it. For my money, it’s the 1990-1992 Fleetwood Brougham d’Elegance with the optional 350 V8. Wow, what a great, beautiful and legendary car! I’m sure I’m hopelessly nostalgic for that era. I just graduated from college in the early nineties and like many young idealists…I just loved the prestige, beauty and elegance of that era of Cadillac. I wish GM still produced them today…I’d purchase one for sure! 😉😂. Thanks for your videos…I enjoy them immensely. You’re very informative and articulate, and I certainly appreciate and enjoy watching your work.
Maybe I’m weird, but this is almost my favorite Cadillac year ever, I love the way they tightened them up with the downsizing, and 1980 facelift was definitely improvement for all the GM top line cars IMHO Maybe that just was my era, but it’s just perfect and tight design, it’s gorgeous The 98 never looked better than then either And I guess 1980 is the only year of it without junk motors, so
I worked in a Cadillac dealer in 1980. One change was the coupe doors were very heavy in the ‘77-‘79 models and significantly lighter after 1980. Poorly built, but typical of the time. Save your money and go for an Olds 98 or Buick P/A.
They transitioned from the reliable scissor-drive windows to the lightweight and unreliable tape drive mechanism, which failed spectacularly in my 1980 Buick Electra.
Each of the three cars - the Cadillac deVille/Brougham, the Buick Electra/Park Avenue, and the Olds Ninety-Eight - had their own flair and quirks. You could not get the casket door pulls on the Buick. Buick had the cool electronic touch climate system in the late '80s. Each one had distinct seat cushion styling, the Cadillac earning the win with the library button-tufted seats, Buick with the horizontal segmented cushions, and Olds with the pillow cushions. Tail lights and front end clips were distinct. It really came down to which one you thought looked the best. There was no real powertrain winner among any of them during this era except the Cadillac 368 and the Chevy fuel-injected 305 and 350. I believe all three had the same degree of sound insulation and suspension hardware so they probably rode and drove about the same.
Buick also had a gargantuan analog clock clear over by the glove box, which I never understood, and they went way overboard on the fake-wood door trim. I much preferred the Olds 98 of this era.
My auto shop teacher used to bring his mom’s 1980 425 powered coupe deville into class for us to work on. One of the things he had us do was he had some custom made chrome valve covers made and we put those on it. It was probably the cleanest lowest mile coupe deville in the country. My old neighbor who I also worked with at the gm dealership had a 77 coupe deville with a 425, that he ordered with 3.73 gears and a posi rear that he used to pull his go kart racing operation all over the Midwest. It was that cool bronze orange color with a milk chocolate brown interior and top. That car with the 3.73’s would smoke the rear tires for blocks. I wished I would’ve bought that car from him. Side note his wife drove a 92 trofeo which they also bought new.
The 368 engine was bulletproof. Originally being a 472/500 meant it was overbuilt and under-stressed. My. Dad's cousin got over 500,000 miles out of his original engine. Yes they were all highway miles. But that's still a lot from an engine built in 1980
My mother's best friend bought a one year old '80 Sedan Deville. She had that car up until she died two years ago. It had over 200k on it. Looked pretty good two but the drivers rear quarter was scraped back in the nineties and had torn the side trim off. She used duct tape to put it back on. and kept on driving....
I didn't have a Coupe Deville, but I did have a 1986 Fleetwood Brougham from 94-97. Best riding car I've ever owned. It had the Olds 307 and couldn't get out of its own way. Unfortunately, a big early seventies Buick without brakes nailed it from behind on Highway 12 in California. It was repaired but never felt the same. Traded soon after the collision. I had a 98 Concours in the early 2000s. Good, fast car, but didn't ride like that Fleetwood.
Several high output LG8 307s VIN code 9 were factory installed in Cadillac Broughams (I think 86 thru 88). I know for fact that some were in 1988's because I had one. They were quite a bit more spunky than the VIN Y 307's. They weren't 425's but they were definitely capable of getting out of their own way. ;)
I drove one of those 307 dogs. It was an 86 Sedan de Ville. We had 6 people in it and I was the "family" chauffeur. I had that thing matted on the Long Island Expressway to get it to merge and then any little incline felt like someone threw out an anchor. It steered and rode like a dream, though.
@@oldsguy354I’m not sure, but I think that high power engine was only in the d’elegance version. I had an 86 FW Brougham also, it was beautiful but dreadfully (maybe even bordering on dangerous) gutless. I owned it from 98-04(ish), had 14k miles when I bought it from the old lady across the street when she got a new caddy. She owned it for 12 years and never knew it had a power mirror on the right, or automatic headlights. She was so impressed with those on her new caddy, never forget the expression on her face when I showed her how those worked on her old caddy 😅. Anyway, in about 02 some punks stole it, drove it up to Utah and knocked some guy off, stuffed him in the trunk and got caught. Took forever to get the car back, and should have let it go, it was plagued with mechanical and electrical problems after and I finally just had to replace it. Pre-theft still one of my top 3 favorite cars I’ve owned.
@@oldsguy354 The "LG8" VIN code "9" engine was typically installed in the RPO code "B05" Armored Car Package and according to GM records was offered from 1986 to 1990.
@@LongIslandMopars Not correct. A 1986 Sedan DeVille would have had a 4.1L V8, not a 5.0L V8. Only the RWD Broughams from 1986 to 1990 would have had the 5.0L (307 CID) V8. The Sedan DeVille was the downsized "C" body in 1986.
These are great looking cars, though not quite as nice as the '77-'79 versions, which are my favorite Cadillacs. This particular example looks rather cheap with those wheel covers, though. That interior -- just a like a bordello (or what I imagine one to look like)! And you are so right about the engines -- those were a problem in Cadillacs for quite a while after this, starting with that V8-6-4.
The car had a set of genuine wire wheels on when I got it. I changed the wheels to steel rims specifically to install the the standard DeVille wheel covers which in my view look 1000x better on this car, especially because of the color.
Almost bought one. It hesitated on test drive. Went home and figured EGR was bad. Gone when I returned. Bought a ‘83 Delta 88 coupe instead with velour.
I could not agree more about leather. Interiors not dominated by black, too. Powertrain "never got better." Fell off a cliff. I remember reading they removed 100-200 lbs from the B&C bodies in '80, so the sheetmetal has always looked flimsier to me, even if it isn't.
Did he have paint or body work done to it? I notice it has the 'Fleetwood' crest on the back of the decklid instead of the Cadillac 'V' which is what all Devilles had until 1985.
He said that's the way the car came when he bought it a few months ago. He's been told he should remove the Fleetwood badge, but he's afraid of paint coming off!
@@retroguy9494 Partially correct. They didn't have the "V" in them from 1980-1982 if they had the Buick 4.1L (252 CID) V6. Then they wouldn't have a "V" under the trunk lock cover emblem.
@@retroguy9494 The second owner who acquired the car in 1993 is the one who was responsible for substituting/adding wreath/crest emblems all over the car in addition to swapping lenses from a late '80s Brougham. The third owner (in NJ who I purchased the car from) did his best to return all the incorrect emblems and lenses back to original. When I purchased the car, I removed the trunk wreath in order to install the correct "V" but the OH owner used super glue to mount it and the paint was ruined so the trunk wreath is the only item that cannot be changed back.
Those wheel covers remind me of the standard 1974-1976 Buick Electra wheel covers. The Electra also had a spoked version which wasn't as nice. I think the 1980 grill on these Cadillacs was better than what came later.
This brings back memories. My mom had a '77 Coupe de Ville d'Elegance in "Bimini beige", with an orange landau top and the same orange velour interior. I used to ride in the back and hide behind the C pillar because I didn't want kids from school to see me in what was essentially a pink Cadillac.... [Parents never seem to understand that minor decisions they make can really affect their children's lives.] The car was very reliable, I cannot remember my dad having a single problem with that car, despite the fact that he used it to tow a 6500 pound Argosy travel trailer from Michigan to Florida twice a year, up and down the mountains of Tennessee. It had ZERO power despite 7.0 liters of displacement, but it yanked the trailer up those mountains at 55 mph, basically full throttle the whole way time and time again, and this without any sort of towing package. I always found the dashboard to be well designed. Much better than the other B bodies from the same time period. Like Adam, I think the earlier dark plastic trees were better than the later light colored plastic trees GM cut down to build it. Great video!
I had a 1977 as well. A Sedan DeVille D'Elegance. It was my very first Cadillac and I bought it when I was in college. It was triple burgundy. Between that color and those big oversized pillow seats, my fraternity brothers used to call it the 'pimpmobile.'
@@retroguy9494 Hahah! In college in Flori-Duh I drove an '85 Volkswagen Scirocco Turbo with blue velour seats. People used to ask me "Where's the black leather?" and I told them to sit in the car and try to move around. Leather lasts longer but nothing holds you in place like velour! It is almost like velcro.
@@ralphl7643 Yeah, I'm sure that's true but my dad's car didn't have that. The 7.0 liter engine was so down on power (flat rated) from the factory that it could literally sit there for 25-30 minutes at full power, pedal floored, pulling dad's steel Airstream (that is what an Argosy is) up those mountains on I-75 north of Knoxville and not even come close to overheating~
@@Flies2FLL Flori-Duh eh? Or, as I like to call it. DeSantisland. Like Disney Land only without the drag shows! 😂 Actually, I find that velour lasts longer than leather. Leather gets worn and cracked. Actually I HATE leather. All my life I had velour seats. Now, you can't get velour in a luxury car. So my Cadillac Escalade has leather. Pain in the butt. Even with the ventilated seats they're always hot in the 90 degree weather. Just tonight, someone in front of me slammed on their brakes for reasons I could not figure out. I slammed on mine to stop from hitting the car and everything went flying off the passenger seat onto the floor. I never had that happen with velour!
Fisher Body...somewhere North of the Detroit assembly plant shipped the things by rail. As a Motech student in Livonia, MI back in '87...the bodies stacked 3-high were often riddled with bullet holes applied during the railroad journey from body plant to assembly plant. Some jerks were just having fun or had a beef with GM. The good 'ole days. Many of my classmates were GM laid-off workers. It was interesting to see their reactions to the shenanigans of the railroad shootings. There was(according to them) a body shop at the assembly plant to correct the holes incurred on the trip from body to final assembly. It was an interesting time to be around that game in the mid, late '80s. Lots of emotion.
The Fleetwood Body plant was on West End Ave in Detroit, MI, and the bodies were then trucked/shipped over to the Clark Street plant in Detroit, MI where final assembly occurred. The Clark Street plant closed in December 1987 and production of the large RWD cars moved to Arlington, TX at that time. There's a two hour video on YT showing the last days of the Clark Street plant operating.
@@googleusergp I was a 19 y/o kid from NH going to an Automotive school in Livonia in '87. Didn't know the area at all. As I said, most of my classmates were there in a "retraining" program from GM. None of them seemed all that happy to be going from building cars to fixing them. Interesting experience for me anyway.
My mom went from a 1979 Coupe DeVille d’Elegance with a 7.0 Litre to a Fleetwood Brougham Coupe with the HT 4100. My dad said it wouldn’t pull a greasy string from a cat’s a$$. It was quite reliable with no engine issues but the alarm system had to have its plug pulled. Also the grayish Blue paint had issue but not as bad as my aunts 1979 Sedan DeVille d’elegance in silver which basically just faded to primer. That 1979 had the exact interior as that 1980 Coupe DeVille except the faux wood in the 1979 was a dark burl walnut pattern. My Dad and my uncle had the catalytic converters removed and my cousin and I can attest to the fact that those boats would haul ass. We could outrun 350 Camaro’s and the turbo k- cars of the era with ease. We thought it was hilarious that our mom’s Luxo Barges could outrun the era’s sports cars.
Wow! In fall of 79 my father took delivery of a coupe De'elegance exactly like that same colors in and out. His had the wire hubcaps and a astro roof. I think that was an extra cost color. DeLorean Cadillac Lakewood Ohio. And yes the last good engine
I have owned three Cadillacs with the HT engine( high-technology) I've never had a problem with the engine I put over a hundred and eighty-five thousand miles on my 1983 Eldorado with no problems regular maintenance and you're fine I also own a 1984 Eldorado convertible which I still have after all these years and the engine is just fine
I was hoping Adam had purchased this car. It's really special. I think I like the styling of this generation better than any other Cadillac. I own an 89 Town Car but in looks these Cadillacs won hands down. Reliability? It's the Lincoln all day long
My grandma had a 77 Sedan DeVille with the 425 and my granddaddy had a gorgeous two tone blue 84 with the cylinder deactivation on the smaller V8. That engine took almost all the luxury out of the car and it had to see the shop a few times whereas my grandma never had a problem. Granddaddy's car also had leather seats which I found less comfortable and cozy than the velour of my grandma's Caddy. So while like I said the 84 was gorgeous, I associate the updated long vertical tail lamps with less power and less luxury. I would still take a 77-79 over years after them any day. One other thing about the leather seats is that people think they're getting something so natural, precious and special, when in reality they come synthetically colored and clear coated just like the exterior of the car. It's a myth leather seats need a conditioner. The clear coat just needs to be kept clean and protected exactly like the exterior, and that is all. Hardly something natural in the end.
I loved all the Velour all over. To me it makes the interior seem far more warm and inviting! I also perspire easily and even cooled leather doesn't do tidily to help that problem!! I also miss the carpet on the bottom of the doors. Kept them from showing all the shoe marks!!!
Thank you Adam. I did note things changed around 1980 at GM. It was 1980 and 1981 they streamlined the styling on all its cars except the E Bodies has that was done in 1979. I think that 1980 and 1981 updates were grand across each brand. The Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs really look great. I do recall a lot of the cars had power coming out of the late 1970's into 1980, but lost it all starting in 1981. They did not start gaining power again until the mid to late 1980's. You told the truth at what happened at Cadillac. This is what hurt Cadillac in the 1980's were those engines and the great 1985-1987 downsizing and quality issues. They really had to work hard to recover from that. They spent the very late 1980's and 1990's recovering, but the market changed a lot during that time. It cost them leadership. It took going from the 368 V8 to the 4.5 and 4.9 to get reliable Cadillac power and then it came crashing down again with the Northstar V8. I am glad Fleetwood was using Cheverolet 350 V8's in the 1990's.
The Northstar was a great engine--until catastrophic failure. It was criminal that it took them 12 years to get decent head bolts for it after the HT4100 disaster.
@@ralphl7643 You are right. This is the stuff people remember about Cadillac sadly. This is why the quality and image suffered because of things like this.
Ah this brings back memories because I actually owned this very car. Back in 1986 my mother bought a lightly used 1980 Coupe DeVille for my brother and I to drive at college (our colleges were nearby in Connecticut). This car replaced the 1980 Chevy Citation that my mother bought for us in high school and by the time that 1985 came around, that car was having a host of problems and it was beginning to rust (!!!). The 1980 Coupe DeVille belonged to an elderly neighbor with only 20K miles and literally had been driven to the grocery store and church, and that was about it. My car was a darker shade of red (but the same vinyl roof color). The interior was the dark red knit cloth and was quite comfortable. it had tons of room and made many long distance drives from Connecticut to our home in Tennessee. And our car had the fake wire wheels but I thought those wheels were tasteful. And yes, many wild plastic trees died creating that dashboard. The fuel gauge in the top center is similar to where that was in older Cadillacs....my grandmother's '76 Sedan DeVille had the gauge up there. The 368 cu in V8 wasn't exactly fast but it certainly got around better than the Citation ever did and did it a lot smoother and quieter (Iron Dukes' kinda sucked). When I graduated in 1988 the car was passed solely to my brother who continued to drive it into the 90s when he went to law school. By the time we sold it, it had seen better days since it had spent all of its time with us outdoors so I think I remember it beginning to show some rust as well like the Citation (although the Citation was much worse). I loved the styling....it was far more successful than the earlier '77-'79 cars (and my other grandmother has the '77 Coupe DeVille D'Elegance). I'm now on my 7th Cadillac but i remember the 1st one fondly.
I don't know if the 1980 restyle wasn't necessarily "more successful" than the Tri7 body style. However the new sheetmetal made the car appear larger than the Tri7s even though length and width were nearly identical. From a sales perspective, the 1977 was the best selling Coupe deVille of all time - 138,750 while only 55,490 1980 Coupe deVilles were built. The recession was mostly to blame for this but that's another story.
Near the end of the line for the great Cadillac big blocks, albeit in its smallest-displacement form. The prior year 7.0 litre has a more appropriate power-to-weight ratio, but the neo-1965 sheetmetal on the 1980 and later cars was indeed more stately.
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The 1980 design was a home run. It improved on the '77-'79 styling and just became an iconic Cadillac look for many years.
Correct the bumper cutting down in the center with prominent grill becomes Iconic Cadillac.
@@allisons3663 Same applies to the Oldsmobile that I still have at present!
Good looking car. Wouldn't hurt my feelings if someone showed up in one and told me happy birthday.
You're so easy-going, so humble!
I bet
What day is your birthday so we can stop by
Took these cars for granted when they were still on the road.
It seemed tiny compared to '76 or earlier. Now it is called big.
Had this same one! The hubcaps were beautiful and the 368 rocked! Before the crappy 4.1!
I remember a few people complaining about those 1977 downsized Cadillacs. I had a great aunt who had bought a new Cadillac every couple of years for decades, but she refused to purchase a '77, protesting that they were too small. Since Cadillacs never got mid-seventies big again, she eventually gave in and bought an early eighties Fleetwood and then returned to buying a new one every couple of years until her death. She never went for the max-downsized ones, though, sticking with the 1977-sized late-eighties Broughams.
I remember people saying the '77s, especially the coups, "had no ass". They also had those godawful not-quite-opera windows. '77-'79 were good years for coup-buyers to switch to the 4-door version.
Gorgeous hub caps!
The 1980 Cadillac is something I'd like to own
I always liked this revised look over the '77-'79 Cadillacs. Thanks Adam.
I like it when Adam pronounces delegance correctly!
Surprisingly growing up my Mom had an ‘87 Cadillac Sedan DeVille with the 4100 and it was an overall great car. I know they put close to if not more than 200,000 miles on it. Maybe we bought one built on a Wednesday
Had a gold 69 fleetwood brougham w gold brocade interior. Was one of the most beautiful cars ive seen. Had a bud w the 70 same car in black. Stunning pair of automobiles.
My Dad had this car and I absolutely loved it. It was big but when I got behind the wheel its was a better experience than I was expecting.
I owned a 1980 d’elegance white over white with wire wheel covers, which locked fortunately. Interior identical to your example. Still the most beautiful car I have owned. It always made me proud to drive it.
The Fleetwood coupe was basically this car with a few "upgrades" including limousine style rear and side windows, tufted seats, and a few more trim pieces. Definitely an even rarer classic.
I had a 1981 Fleetwood Coupe, and yes, they are uncommon.
Pretty sure the Fleetwood coupe was longer with longer doors that weighed a ton. My mom went from a 79 Coupe De Ville to an 84 Fleetwood Brougham Coupe and my first time in it I thought this door must be the size of a VW Beetle.
Thanks for doing a video of the favorite Caddy I ever owned the 81 Coupe DeVille d'Elegance. Purchased it from the original owner in 1990 it had 56k miles and the the owner absolutely babies this car which was garage kept and was absolutely perfect. Have to admit as soon as I seen those V-8-6-4 badges I was going to pass on that cream puff but the owner told me he had the system bypassed when it was a couple of months old and the engine has been trouble free, I had the car for three years and never had to anything but maintenance to it. This was the first "small" Caddy I owned, up until this time my previous ones were a 73 Coupe DeVille and 76 Eldo. The 81 had the quietest interior of the three and the most comfortable seats, the 73 eclipsed it in ride but the 81 made up for it overall driving and owning experience. The 368 was of equal smoothness of my previous 500 and 472 but seemed a lot more spirited in the 81. As you can tell I miss that car greatly, she was as beautiful to drive as it was to look at her.
I take my 81 on roadtrips all the time I love it
I actually prefer this style hubcap even over some of the wire wheel hubcaps. GORGEOUS example!
Another fine presentation.
I swapped a 1977 Cadillac engine into my 1981 Fleetwood Coupe, and it became a much better car.
Wholeheartedly agree, 1980 was a pinnacle year. My 1980 Sedan was by far the best of all the 70s and 80s Cadillacs that I owned. Mine was white with white vinyl top, navy leather interior with thin-spaced vertical stitching. The wheel covers were similar to this one, with the burgundy center and cloisonne, but had turbine strakes. The car was actually pretty lightweight, and with the 368 had almost perfect balance and predictability. Here in the NC mountains, you could even induce a bit of oversteer. The panel controls were intuitive and at a short reach, and a built-in CB delighted my friends. The car was about 8 years old when I got it, but several times I was asked what a kid like me was doing driving a new Cadillac!
Later, a 1984 Fleetwood with 4100 was a disappointment. No engine problems, but just a slug to drive. An '86 Fleetwood with the 307 was really not much better. The 1980 model was really near-perfect, and I don't think Cadillac had a better car before or since.
What a car you focused this content on, cherry and oh how I miss those days!!!!!~
There were so many of these Cadillac's to pick from off of the Lexus dealership trade in lots in the late 80's and early 90's. Literally grew on trees for years.
Yea...that's when American's began to lose brand loyalty, especially with American cars. Such a shame. It's really what killed Cadillac as a luxury brand and rebrand itself as an upper level 'euro sport' performance brand.
I'd rather have the Cadillac.
Well, not LITERALLY!
Had a 1980 dark maroon with wire wheels bought it in 87 was working in body and paint shop. Repainted it my self. Loved it. One of favorite cars
Great video Adam as always.My favorite channel on you tube.Keep them coming and a always cheers from Eulethra.
My late uncle drove a Fleetwood Brougham D'Elegance back in the 1970's and early 1980's. I remember the footrests in the back. I loved riding in those cars as a kid.
Yours's too? LOL My late uncle bought a brand new 1973 Eldorado. White with gray and black houndstooth cloth interior. I remember he drive straight from the showroom to our house and let me play with all the gadgets inside even though I was only 8. I begged him to put the car away and I would buy it from him when I turned 17. But he traded it in 1976.
Then, he bought a brand new 1980 Fleetwood Brougham D'Elegance. Black with gray cloth interior. That was such a good looking car! So comfortable to ride in. I wish I had that car today. But he only kept it a year and traded it in on a brand new 1981 Sedan DeVille with the 4-6-8 engine. That was the first Cadillac I ever drove when I first got my permit. He let me drive it on Thanksgiving Day. I've owned like 12 Cadillacs, but I'll never forget the feeling the first time I drove that car!
@@retroguy9494 What a disappointment trading the 1980 for the 81!!
My late father-in-law drove his up into the early 2000s when it started having undiagnosable electrical issues.
@@wizardofahhhs759 I had the same problem with my '88 Lincoln Town Car. All of a sudden, it would just die. No lights, nothing. Then after 20 minutes to 2 hours, it would just start up again. The dealer actually got angry at me because I kept bringing it back.
Had a friend who, upon coming back from Saudi Arabia where he worked for several years, bought his and hers 1980 Cadillac's like these. When I knew him, both cars were missing their bumper fillers.
Thanks!
i had a 1980, beautiful
Gorgeous coupe! I always like the domed wheel covers and the ones on the Brougham with the turbine fins. Very Nice!!
Love these, so classy and simple. Gobs of metal and big chrome bumpers. Comfortable and I agree so much that the velour was perfect. I had an 86 Cutlass with the blue velour seats when I was a kid and holy that was the most comfortable car! These Cadillacs are so iconic.
However, I’m a bit biased because I’ve owned 1 89 and 3 93 Coupe DeVilles. I know they are FWD, but the size, the 4.5L and the 4.9L are bullet proof, and I would say these were the last of the traditional design before they started moving towards rounded and more modern looks. Also 93 was the last year of the CDV.
I had a 1985 Fleetwood Brougham Coupe W/60k OG Miles and sold it like a damn fool!!
Body colored wheel covers and a great looking front end compliment this car ! Thanks for the video Adam!
Keep up the great work Adam, you’re the best!
Parents had an '83 model. One of my favorite cars they had. It was sweet on the highway. Their 4100 never gave any troubles for 100k miles but I know that is rare.
Thank you for the comments on leather seats. Leather is for the chauffer.
I've somehow avoided leather and fake leather in all the cars I've had (not counting Cadillacs with leather in non seating areas, and one Mercedes years ago), but it's getting tougher. My favorite new cars right now are not available with cloth, so I'm kinda freaked out. I hope proper fabrics make a quick comeback so I'm not reduced to draping towels over the seat.
@@desertmodern7638 I have owned several Mercedes from 1981 to 1999, but my favorite interior was the 1979 Seville I had. It was in velour and fantastic. For a smaller car that Seville was a great ride and interior for a trip. So many of those were in leather and those turn me away.
I liked this updated styling...
love this model!!!!! Cadillac did a great job with the 1980 DeVille!! specifically the Coupe!
I had a 1981 Bought Used. was a Great Car!
Back in the day when it was fairly new, I had a 1980 Fleetwood d'Elegance in black with the same color velour interior. It was considered a very nice car at the time and i liked very much. I owned it about 2 years maximum.
I own a 1982 Coupe Deville in Dark Redwood colour ( a dark coppery reddish brown). It was only about two years old when I bought the vehicle. It looked almost the same as the car in this video, except the turn signal pods on the front were clear with little gold Cadillac emblems . Always received compliments wherever I went!! It was an amazing automobile! Comfortable, quiet and smooth running. After enjoying driving for about five years, I sold it to my father who drove it for many years after! Cadillacs back then were fantastic cars that didn’t receive the credit they truly deserved. Now own a 2019 XTS . Absolutely love it. Great car !! But I admit some times I miss and fondly remember that great 1982 Caddy 🤔😊👍
I had one. It was the most glorious V-8 Pittsburgh steel American land yacht that ever existed. It was so powerful that if you more than tapped the accelerator in a residential area, you were going 50, with flashing lights behind you. The sound system in that cavernous interior - in which I once moved a recliner -- was from Heaven itself. In snow, all you had to do was point that hood ornament where you wanted to go, and the vehicle just floated down the road, perfectly in control even on ice. The horn was like a symphony orchestra. Yes, you could easily sleep in the back seat.
Ah, VA TON-555, my big beautiful blue baby, I'll never forget you!🎉❤
I love it i showed it to my aunt she had the same exact one same year same color everything she said she loved it and misses it so much 😂
I can still hear Frank Constanza's voice: "It's a COUPE DE ELEGANCE!"
très mauvaise liaison
Thanks so much for this one, Adam !.. I had that exact same vehicle, 1980 Coupe de Ville wiith the 'D Elegance package, but mine had the wire wheel covers (Only Cadillac made convincing looking wire wheel covers, and only on the RWD versions)... identical interior.. Mine was a medium blue Firemist metallic exterior with dark blue interior. Those seats are very comfortable, you can rack up hours of driving without getting too tired. My radio was similar, but mine had the cassette tape deck instead of the 8 track.. My radio also included (as did the one in your video, but you didn't mention) the factory CB radio. The 6.0 liter 368 Cadillac V8 used the 472 block, and was just bullet proof. I bought it in 1990, it only had 40k miles on it, and was a garage kept "wife's car". Excellent extra clean condition, it looked like a million bucks. I got a lot of compliments on that car, and wish I had kept it. The lady sold it to me at a giveaway price, and I made money on it when I sold it 10 years later, having added 120k miles. No real problems with the car. I did have to replace the mouse fur headliner, which had developed a bit of a sag, but the rear filler caps in front of the tail lights looked new. Adding dual exhaust and bumping the timing 7 degrees helped performance a lot. This was the last of the true old school Cadillacs in many ways, at least in Coupe de Ville form.
She's a beaut Clark!! One of my favorite rides....
lol, my father says that line all the time
I have a 81 with the 4/6/8 disconnected I love it!
I know the owner of this car, but haven't had the chance to drive it yet. He has an outstanding Cadillac collection. This one could arguably be his finest.
Hard to watch, i had so many cadis . Breaks my heart, i gave them away to family and they just destroyed them. Live and learn.
At least you have style. And appreciation. Not everyone does.
What a BEAUTY!!!!!!
I had one of these in silver as my college car. Guess who was always having to be the chauffeur 😂
The car?
@@wizardofahhhs759 good one😂
Great car - the cloth interior on the deVille dElegance was known as “Venetian velour” I believe 1979-1984. The faux wood grain is references as “simulated teak”. Thoroughly unconvincing! I enjoy your channel and the accompanying expertise!
Hi Adam
My brother have the same car in London uk , exactly the same car but with two tone burgundy light and dark colour , with the wire wheels , with 38k miles, the velour is called Venetian star Velour.
I would love to have THAT car!
Traditionally, leather was only used for the chauffeur’s seat, which was out in the elements and needed to be hard-wearing. In the back, the owner would sit on a fine wool or similar cloth. I’m not sure how or when leather migrated to the rear compartment, but we’ve suffered hot clammy seats in summer and cold hard seats in winter ever since. So, notwithstanding the fact that both my current vehicles have leather…I prefer cloth every time.
Great take on a nice example.
Beautiful CDV. That interior pinpoint velour was oh so trendy at the time, we had a navy velour sectional sofa with the cream colored pinpoints in the family room.
My mom had a1980 Sedan DeVille in black
Beautiful car that moved.
1980 is definitely the best. I have an 87 Fleetwood Brougham, which I love. Diplomat Blue with matching navy buttoned leather interior. I actually replaced the wire wheel hubcaps with these red centre 1980 caps, which looks great on the navy colour scheme. 👍
I LOVE the 80 restyle. I think it's interesting that Cadillac and Oldsmobile seemingly flipped their headlight/turn signal arrangement for 1980- prior to then, Cadillac had a single level front end and Olds had the dual-level front styling. In 1980 they swapped. That said, my favorite change for 1980 was the more formal rear roof line. I think these cars just look amazing, especially in a dramatic color like red.
Its beautiful
This is my car. Nice video. 1980 was the final year for a carbureted Cadillac motor as the standard engine (RWD models). It was also installed in the Commercial Chassis body until 1984.
Regarding the lack of gauges, it should be pointed that Cadillacs provided two lights - a "Coolant" (amber) light that appeared just at the onset of overheating but yet to the point that it occurred - enabling the driver to take corrective action; ie shutting off A/C, increasing engine speed to improve water flow. Then if the problem persisted, a secondary, more urgent "STOP ENGINE TEMPERATURE" (red) indicator appeared which meant the engine must be stopped immediately. So you weren't completely in the dark as to the state of any overheating condition. As stated in the video, Cadillacs were always designed with ample cooling capacity.
BHP in the standard 6.0 liter (RWD) carb engine was reduced to 150 BHP from 180 in the 425 that preceded it which is still plenty adequate in these cars, along with its torque. The fuel injected 6.0 liter in Eldorado/Seville of 1980 had 145 HH. In 1981 (V8-6-4), the HP decreased further to 140 HP. Another HP reduction came in 1982 with the introduction of the HT4100 which was only 125 HP and torque was significantly reduced as well. By 1984, HP in the HT4100 was increased slightly to 130 but the torque demands of the overdrive transmission was still too taxing on the small V8 which was constantly downshifting in an attempt to cope.
Cadillac called the upholstery material "Venetian Velour" in the DeVille d'Elegance from 1979-1984. The d'Elegance option also included special "Tampico" carpeting (80-84) in addition to Brougham style upper door panel design and door pulls. ("Tangier" carpeting was used in 1979).
Good looking featured car. I like the wheel covers, they add something to this car's look.
I have heard them referred to as sombreros
Nice Caddy the last of the good ones!
Oh, my, Adam! Loved that generation of Caddies.
It does look like the '92 Bro-ham my father owned. I'm glad you covered that.
Great show. I have a 1979 Cadillac. Really Great cars. Enjoy the show keep up the great work 😎 👍
What model?
@@retroguy9494 Coupe DeVille
@@chrisblackburn1872 Nice! I had a '77 Sedan DeVille D'Elegance back in college. I wanted a '79 as I thought they looked nicer, especially inside. But I couldn't find a good one for a decent price!
@retroguy9494 Thanks mine belong to my Grandfather it was also mine and my wife's wedding car. Very cool you had a 77. I really like the tale lights.
@@chrisblackburn1872 Wow. One of the main things I HATED about my '77 was the taillights. Because they only lit half way down. I was so happy when they went back the full lit taillight in '78.
So your grandfathers car was your wedding car eh? That's SO cool! What color is it? My grandparents each had Buicks.
My late uncle had a '73 Eldorado. It was white with gray and black houndstooth interior. When my much older cousin got married, he drove them in that car. I still have a picture of it from the wedding which was in 74 or 75.
Another great video Adam and as always including things that I never thought of, like the tailight change Cadillac made form those puny little ones to the larger 60s style ones on your 1980 model. I have always been shocked at how bland the interiors got in that era as my dad had a 1983 oldsmobile 98 Regency, the last of the big ones that had a killer interior, but the Caddys always paled in comparison, I would love to see you do a video on GM interiors of the early 80s as well.
I learned something! My aunt and uncle had a Sedan de Ville (or maybe a Fleetwood) of this vintage. It was a nice car, but it always seemed to be a lot bigger than the '77-'79 cars. I guess it was the more vertical back window that provided the illusion. Thanks!
Definitely agree with you about the seating materials. GM velour is the best. Leather seats are horrible. I don't know why everyone thinks leather is superior. In coach built, chauffeur driven cars, the driver had a leather seat. But the owner rode in comfortable cloth seats in the back
Having driven both, I actually prefer the 5.7 Chevy V8 in the early 90s Brougham models. With the 700R4 overdrive transmission they even get respectable highway mileage. I also think the final boxy Brougham was screwed together a bit better than the early 80s ones. Those last boxy Brougham models were such an odd mix of ancient and modern features. I do like the four sealed beam headlights on the older car better than the huge single composite headlights on those last Broughams, but beyond that those final boxy models are just fantastic vehicles, both in appointments and mechanically. I really wish GM had gone to the Chevy V8 rather than the 4100 or Olds 307. Even the 5.0 Chevy 305 seems stronger in these than the Olds or 4100.
This was the Caddy that I wanted my schoolmates to know about just as soon as it came out. My peers often dreamed about riding in the limo by the time prom night came, but the truth is that it was out of our price range!
Wonderful and informative video. Adam, I would say IMO the last GREAT full size Cadillac was produced a decade later…and at the very end of this presentation you alluded to it. For my money, it’s the 1990-1992 Fleetwood Brougham d’Elegance with the optional 350 V8. Wow, what a great, beautiful and legendary car! I’m sure I’m hopelessly nostalgic for that era. I just graduated from college in the early nineties and like many young idealists…I just loved the prestige, beauty and elegance of that era of Cadillac. I wish GM still produced them today…I’d purchase one for sure! 😉😂. Thanks for your videos…I enjoy them immensely. You’re very informative and articulate, and I certainly appreciate and enjoy watching your work.
Maybe I’m weird, but this is almost my favorite Cadillac year ever, I love the way they tightened them up with the downsizing, and 1980 facelift was definitely improvement for all the GM top line cars IMHO
Maybe that just was my era, but it’s just perfect and tight design, it’s gorgeous
The 98 never looked better than then either
And I guess 1980 is the only year of it without junk motors, so
I prefer the 77 Park Ave over the 80
Adam, In this case when you say 'great', do you really me 'not awful'. 🤔😉🤣
love the deville delegance..!
I worked in a Cadillac dealer in 1980. One change was the coupe doors were very heavy in the ‘77-‘79 models and significantly lighter after 1980. Poorly built, but typical of the time. Save your money and go for an Olds 98 or Buick P/A.
They transitioned from the reliable scissor-drive windows to the lightweight and unreliable tape drive mechanism, which failed spectacularly in my 1980 Buick Electra.
@@desertmodern7638 thanks for the info. The new doors felt cheap and flimsy. Also, Adam omitted the addition of the Fleetwood coupe in 1980.
I had an uncle who had a 1980 Fleetwood and a 1982 Olds 98. What is so special about the 98? I thought the Cadillac was much hotter!
Each of the three cars - the Cadillac deVille/Brougham, the Buick Electra/Park Avenue, and the Olds Ninety-Eight - had their own flair and quirks. You could not get the casket door pulls on the Buick. Buick had the cool electronic touch climate system in the late '80s. Each one had distinct seat cushion styling, the Cadillac earning the win with the library button-tufted seats, Buick with the horizontal segmented cushions, and Olds with the pillow cushions. Tail lights and front end clips were distinct. It really came down to which one you thought looked the best. There was no real powertrain winner among any of them during this era except the Cadillac 368 and the Chevy fuel-injected 305 and 350. I believe all three had the same degree of sound insulation and suspension hardware so they probably rode and drove about the same.
Buick also had a gargantuan analog clock clear over by the glove box, which I never understood, and they went way overboard on the fake-wood door trim. I much preferred the Olds 98 of this era.
My auto shop teacher used to bring his mom’s 1980 425 powered coupe deville into class for us to work on. One of the things he had us do was he had some custom made chrome valve covers made and we put those on it. It was probably the cleanest lowest mile coupe deville in the country.
My old neighbor who I also worked with at the gm dealership had a 77 coupe deville with a 425, that he ordered with 3.73 gears and a posi rear that he used to pull his go kart racing operation all over the Midwest. It was that cool bronze orange color with a milk chocolate brown interior and top. That car with the 3.73’s would smoke the rear tires for blocks. I wished I would’ve bought that car from him. Side note his wife drove a 92 trofeo which they also bought new.
The 425 was discontinued after 1979 and in 1980, the standard engine was now the 6.0 368. The only way a 1980 had a 425 was if the engine was swapped.
The 368 engine was bulletproof. Originally being a 472/500 meant it was overbuilt and under-stressed. My. Dad's cousin got over 500,000 miles out of his original engine. Yes they were all highway miles. But that's still a lot from an engine built in 1980
My mother's best friend bought a one year old '80 Sedan Deville. She had that car up until she died two years ago. It had over 200k on it. Looked pretty good two but the drivers rear quarter was scraped back in the nineties and had torn the side trim off. She used duct tape to put it back on. and kept on driving....
I didn't have a Coupe Deville, but I did have a 1986 Fleetwood Brougham from 94-97. Best riding car I've ever owned. It had the Olds 307 and couldn't get out of its own way. Unfortunately, a big early seventies Buick without brakes nailed it from behind on Highway 12 in California. It was repaired but never felt the same. Traded soon after the collision.
I had a 98 Concours in the early 2000s. Good, fast car, but didn't ride like that Fleetwood.
Several high output LG8 307s VIN code 9 were factory installed in Cadillac Broughams (I think 86 thru 88). I know for fact that some were in 1988's because I had one. They were quite a bit more spunky than the VIN Y 307's. They weren't 425's but they were definitely capable of getting out of their own way. ;)
I drove one of those 307 dogs. It was an 86 Sedan de Ville. We had 6 people in it and I was the "family" chauffeur. I had that thing matted on the Long Island Expressway to get it to merge and then any little incline felt like someone threw out an anchor. It steered and rode like a dream, though.
@@oldsguy354I’m not sure, but I think that high power engine was only in the d’elegance version.
I had an 86 FW Brougham also, it was beautiful but dreadfully (maybe even bordering on dangerous) gutless. I owned it from 98-04(ish), had 14k miles when I bought it from the old lady across the street when she got a new caddy. She owned it for 12 years and never knew it had a power mirror on the right, or automatic headlights. She was so impressed with those on her new caddy, never forget the expression on her face when I showed her how those worked on her old caddy 😅.
Anyway, in about 02 some punks stole it, drove it up to Utah and knocked some guy off, stuffed him in the trunk and got caught. Took forever to get the car back, and should have let it go, it was plagued with mechanical and electrical problems after and I finally just had to replace it. Pre-theft still one of my top 3 favorite cars I’ve owned.
@@oldsguy354 The "LG8" VIN code "9" engine was typically installed in the RPO code "B05" Armored Car Package and according to GM records was offered from 1986 to 1990.
@@LongIslandMopars Not correct. A 1986 Sedan DeVille would have had a 4.1L V8, not a 5.0L V8. Only the RWD Broughams from 1986 to 1990 would have had the 5.0L (307 CID) V8. The Sedan DeVille was the downsized "C" body in 1986.
The 1965 (especially) and 1966 DeVilles were the last of the Great Cadillacs. I'd give anything to find a mint-condition '65 Sedan DeVille today.
These are great looking cars, though not quite as nice as the '77-'79 versions, which are my favorite Cadillacs. This particular example looks rather cheap with those wheel covers, though. That interior -- just a like a bordello (or what I imagine one to look like)! And you are so right about the engines -- those were a problem in Cadillacs for quite a while after this, starting with that V8-6-4.
The car had a set of genuine wire wheels on when I got it. I changed the wheels to steel rims specifically to install the the standard DeVille wheel covers which in my view look 1000x better on this car, especially because of the color.
Almost bought one. It hesitated on test drive. Went home and figured EGR was bad. Gone when I returned. Bought a ‘83 Delta 88 coupe instead with velour.
I could not agree more about leather. Interiors not dominated by black, too.
Powertrain "never got better." Fell off a cliff.
I remember reading they removed 100-200 lbs from the B&C bodies in '80, so the sheetmetal has always looked flimsier to me, even if it isn't.
Nice Caddy 👍👍
This car is owned by a good friend of mine.
Did he have paint or body work done to it? I notice it has the 'Fleetwood' crest on the back of the decklid instead of the Cadillac 'V' which is what all Devilles had until 1985.
He said that's the way the car came when he bought it a few months ago. He's been told he should remove the Fleetwood badge, but he's afraid of paint coming off!
@@retroguy9494 Partially correct. They didn't have the "V" in them from 1980-1982 if they had the Buick 4.1L (252 CID) V6. Then they wouldn't have a "V" under the trunk lock cover emblem.
@@retroguy9494 The second owner who acquired the car in 1993 is the one who was responsible for substituting/adding wreath/crest emblems all over the car in addition to swapping lenses from a late '80s Brougham. The third owner (in NJ who I purchased the car from) did his best to return all the incorrect emblems and lenses back to original. When I purchased the car, I removed the trunk wreath in order to install the correct "V" but the OH owner used super glue to mount it and the paint was ruined so the trunk wreath is the only item that cannot be changed back.
@@googleusergp Rear wheel drive DeVilles always had "V" on decklid as originally built. Engine choice had no effect on this.
Those wheel covers remind me of the standard 1974-1976 Buick Electra wheel covers. The Electra also had a spoked version which wasn't as nice. I think the 1980 grill on these Cadillacs was better than what came later.
This brings back memories. My mom had a '77 Coupe de Ville d'Elegance in "Bimini beige", with an orange landau top and the same orange velour interior. I used to ride in the back and hide behind the C pillar because I didn't want kids from school to see me in what was essentially a pink Cadillac....
[Parents never seem to understand that minor decisions they make can really affect their children's lives.]
The car was very reliable, I cannot remember my dad having a single problem with that car, despite the fact that he used it to tow a 6500 pound Argosy travel trailer from Michigan to Florida twice a year, up and down the mountains of Tennessee. It had ZERO power despite 7.0 liters of displacement, but it yanked the trailer up those mountains at 55 mph, basically full throttle the whole way time and time again, and this without any sort of towing package.
I always found the dashboard to be well designed. Much better than the other B bodies from the same time period. Like Adam, I think the earlier dark plastic trees were better than the later light colored plastic trees GM cut down to build it.
Great video!
They geared them for better mpg, but I believe a lower axle ratio was still optional in the late 70s.
I had a 1977 as well. A Sedan DeVille D'Elegance. It was my very first Cadillac and I bought it when I was in college. It was triple burgundy. Between that color and those big oversized pillow seats, my fraternity brothers used to call it the 'pimpmobile.'
@@retroguy9494 Hahah! In college in Flori-Duh I drove an '85 Volkswagen Scirocco Turbo with blue velour seats. People used to ask me "Where's the black leather?" and I told them to sit in the car and try to move around. Leather lasts longer but nothing holds you in place like velour! It is almost like velcro.
@@ralphl7643 Yeah, I'm sure that's true but my dad's car didn't have that. The 7.0 liter engine was so down on power (flat rated) from the factory that it could literally sit there for 25-30 minutes at full power, pedal floored, pulling dad's steel Airstream (that is what an Argosy is) up those mountains on I-75 north of Knoxville and not even come close to overheating~
@@Flies2FLL Flori-Duh eh? Or, as I like to call it. DeSantisland. Like Disney Land only without the drag shows! 😂
Actually, I find that velour lasts longer than leather. Leather gets worn and cracked. Actually I HATE leather. All my life I had velour seats. Now, you can't get velour in a luxury car. So my Cadillac Escalade has leather. Pain in the butt. Even with the ventilated seats they're always hot in the 90 degree weather. Just tonight, someone in front of me slammed on their brakes for reasons I could not figure out. I slammed on mine to stop from hitting the car and everything went flying off the passenger seat onto the floor. I never had that happen with velour!
Fisher Body...somewhere North of the Detroit assembly plant shipped the things by rail. As a Motech student in Livonia, MI back in '87...the bodies stacked 3-high were often riddled with bullet holes applied during the railroad journey from body plant to assembly plant. Some jerks were just having fun or had a beef with GM. The good 'ole days. Many of my classmates were GM laid-off workers. It was interesting to see their reactions to the shenanigans of the railroad shootings. There was(according to them) a body shop at the assembly plant to correct the holes incurred on the trip from body to final assembly. It was an interesting time to be around that game in the mid, late '80s. Lots of emotion.
The Fleetwood Body plant was on West End Ave in Detroit, MI, and the bodies were then trucked/shipped over to the Clark Street plant in Detroit, MI where final assembly occurred. The Clark Street plant closed in December 1987 and production of the large RWD cars moved to Arlington, TX at that time. There's a two hour video on YT showing the last days of the Clark Street plant operating.
@@googleusergp I was a 19 y/o kid from NH going to an Automotive school in Livonia in '87. Didn't know the area at all. As I said, most of my classmates were there in a "retraining" program from GM. None of them seemed all that happy to be going from building cars to fixing them. Interesting experience for me anyway.
My mom went from a 1979 Coupe DeVille d’Elegance with a 7.0 Litre to a Fleetwood Brougham Coupe with the HT 4100. My dad said it wouldn’t pull a greasy string from a cat’s a$$. It was quite reliable with no engine issues but the alarm system had to have its plug pulled. Also the grayish Blue paint had issue but not as bad as my aunts 1979 Sedan DeVille d’elegance in silver which basically just faded to primer. That 1979 had the exact interior as that 1980 Coupe DeVille except the faux wood in the 1979 was a dark burl walnut pattern. My Dad and my uncle had the catalytic converters removed and my cousin and I can attest to the fact that those boats would haul ass. We could outrun 350 Camaro’s and the turbo k- cars of the era with ease. We thought it was hilarious that our mom’s Luxo Barges could outrun the era’s sports cars.
All Cadillacs look at their best when red!
Or black
I never saw so many good looking Cadillacs until I walked out onto a trade in lot at a Lexus dealership in the 1980's.v
I disagree. I say black or white looks the hottest.
Butter yellow is an awesome color for Cadillac.. Cadillac never really had any bad colors.
@@retroguy9494 The most elegant, for sure. I just have a weakness for red
Wow! In fall of 79 my father took delivery of a coupe De'elegance exactly like that same colors in and out. His had the wire hubcaps and a astro roof. I think that was an extra cost color. DeLorean
Cadillac Lakewood Ohio.
And yes the last good engine
Yes, if it was code 92 Victoria Plum Firemist, that would have been an extra cost color.
Love this Coupe Deville. I
I have owned three Cadillacs with the HT engine( high-technology) I've never had a problem with the engine I put over a hundred and eighty-five thousand miles on my 1983 Eldorado with no problems regular maintenance and you're fine I also own a 1984 Eldorado convertible which I still have after all these years and the engine is just fine
I was hoping Adam had purchased this car. It's really special. I think I like the styling of this generation better than any other Cadillac. I own an 89 Town Car but in looks these Cadillacs won hands down. Reliability? It's the Lincoln all day long
I liked the down-sized GM's of that era and this Coupe De Ville is no exception.
My grandma had a 77 Sedan DeVille with the 425 and my granddaddy had a gorgeous two tone blue 84 with the cylinder deactivation on the smaller V8.
That engine took almost all the luxury out of the car and it had to see the shop a few times whereas my grandma never had a problem.
Granddaddy's car also had leather seats which I found less comfortable and cozy than the velour of my grandma's Caddy.
So while like I said the 84 was gorgeous, I associate the updated long vertical tail lamps with less power and less luxury.
I would still take a 77-79 over years after them any day.
One other thing about the leather seats is that people think they're getting something so natural, precious and special, when in reality they come synthetically colored and clear coated just like the exterior of the car. It's a myth leather seats need a conditioner.
The clear coat just needs to be kept clean and protected exactly like the exterior, and that is all. Hardly something natural in the end.
1984 had the HT4100 which didn't have cylinder deactivation. All RWD Cadillacs were painted in lacquer at the factory until 1990.
@@59cdv I am remembering the year incorrectly then. It was the "V8-6-4" and the engine was hated.
I loved all the Velour all over. To me it makes the interior seem far more warm and inviting! I also perspire easily and even cooled leather doesn't do tidily to help that problem!! I also miss the carpet on the bottom of the doors. Kept them from showing all the shoe marks!!!
I can just tolerate the cooled seats in my DTS, but cold, stiff leather in winter pushed me to get a sheepskin seatcover.
@@ralphl7643yes leather is great, too cold in winter& too hot in summer, perfect
Thank you Adam. I did note things changed around 1980 at GM. It was 1980 and 1981 they streamlined the styling on all its cars except the E Bodies has that was done in 1979. I think that 1980 and 1981 updates were grand across each brand. The Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs really look great. I do recall a lot of the cars had power coming out of the late 1970's into 1980, but lost it all starting in 1981. They did not start gaining power again until the mid to late 1980's. You told the truth at what happened at Cadillac. This is what hurt Cadillac in the 1980's were those engines and the great 1985-1987 downsizing and quality issues. They really had to work hard to recover from that. They spent the very late 1980's and 1990's recovering, but the market changed a lot during that time. It cost them leadership. It took going from the 368 V8 to the 4.5 and 4.9 to get reliable Cadillac power and then it came crashing down again with the Northstar V8. I am glad Fleetwood was using Cheverolet 350 V8's in the 1990's.
You noted wrong. Remember, read, educate yourself, think, then write. In that order.
The Northstar was a great engine--until catastrophic failure. It was criminal that it took them 12 years to get decent head bolts for it after the HT4100 disaster.
@@ralphl7643 You are right. This is the stuff people remember about Cadillac sadly. This is why the quality and image suffered because of things like this.
Ah this brings back memories because I actually owned this very car. Back in 1986 my mother bought a lightly used 1980 Coupe DeVille for my brother and I to drive at college (our colleges were nearby in Connecticut). This car replaced the 1980 Chevy Citation that my mother bought for us in high school and by the time that 1985 came around, that car was having a host of problems and it was beginning to rust (!!!). The 1980 Coupe DeVille belonged to an elderly neighbor with only 20K miles and literally had been driven to the grocery store and church, and that was about it. My car was a darker shade of red (but the same vinyl roof color). The interior was the dark red knit cloth and was quite comfortable. it had tons of room and made many long distance drives from Connecticut to our home in Tennessee. And our car had the fake wire wheels but I thought those wheels were tasteful. And yes, many wild plastic trees died creating that dashboard. The fuel gauge in the top center is similar to where that was in older Cadillacs....my grandmother's '76 Sedan DeVille had the gauge up there. The 368 cu in V8 wasn't exactly fast but it certainly got around better than the Citation ever did and did it a lot smoother and quieter (Iron Dukes' kinda sucked).
When I graduated in 1988 the car was passed solely to my brother who continued to drive it into the 90s when he went to law school. By the time we sold it, it had seen better days since it had spent all of its time with us outdoors so I think I remember it beginning to show some rust as well like the Citation (although the Citation was much worse). I loved the styling....it was far more successful than the earlier '77-'79 cars (and my other grandmother has the '77 Coupe DeVille D'Elegance). I'm now on my 7th Cadillac but i remember the 1st one fondly.
I don't know if the 1980 restyle wasn't necessarily "more successful" than the Tri7 body style. However the new sheetmetal made the car appear larger than the Tri7s even though length and width were nearly identical. From a sales perspective, the 1977 was the best selling Coupe deVille of all time - 138,750 while only 55,490 1980 Coupe deVilles were built. The recession was mostly to blame for this but that's another story.
Near the end of the line for the great Cadillac big blocks, albeit in its smallest-displacement form. The prior year 7.0 litre has a more appropriate power-to-weight ratio, but the neo-1965 sheetmetal on the 1980 and later cars was indeed more stately.
My mother had a 1980 Fleetwood Brougham. That car really distinguished from the Electra and 98.
I love these old “boats” 😂
Who was the genius that designed those rubber pieces between the tail light and the body.