Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
"Character" and "Class" is what unfortunately is missing in modern cars. This all went by the way side, after the 70's. The 80's held on to some of it, but they're still not even close to being the darlings of the cars from the 1930's-1970's.
Stateliness is also another great term when talking about the old cars, what ever happened to that?
"Character" and "Class" is what unfortunately is missing in modern cars. This all went by the way side, after the 70's. The 80's held on to some of it, but they're still not even close to being the darlings of the cars from the 1930's-1970's.
Stateliness is also another great term when talking about the old cars, what ever happened to that?
I find by the 80's when models were downsized and moved to FWD drive platforms or ended up sharing platforms with lesser models.
Esp. when cars like the Cadillac Cimarron was just a upscale Chevy Cavalier is what ended up putting the final nail in coffin of the classic era of domestic the Luxury automakers.
The Cadillac Cimarron was a compact luxury car built by General Motors based on the GM J platform. It was first introduced in 1981 for the 1982 model year, and sold through 1988. During its seven-year model run, 132,499 Cimarrons were built.
The Cimarron was Cadillac's badge engineered entry-level product of the Chevrolet Cavalier, which was a replacement of the Chevrolet Vega. Other than the installation of Cadillac's traditional "egg crate" grille, the Cimarron didn't exhibit any traditional Cadillac styling features associated with earlier products, and other than Cadillac badges, was virtually identical to the Cavalier. Both the Cimarron and Cavalier were built on the same assembly plant in South Gate, California and Janesville, Wisconsin.
I find by the 80's when models were downsized and moved to FWD drive platforms or ended up sharing platforms with lesser models.
Esp. when cars like the Cadillac Cimarron was just a upscale Chevy Cavalier is what ended up putting the final nail in coffin of the classic era of domestic the Luxury automakers.
The Cadillac Cimarron was a compact luxury car built by General Motors based on the GM J platform. It was first introduced in 1981 for the 1982 model year, and sold through 1988. During its seven-year model run, 132,499 Cimarrons were built.
The Cimarron was Cadillac's badge engineered entry-level product of the Chevrolet Cavalier, which was a replacement of the Chevrolet Vega. Other than the installation of Cadillac's traditional "egg crate" grille, the Cimarron didn't exhibit any traditional Cadillac styling features associated with earlier products, and other than Cadillac badges, was virtually identical to the Cavalier. Both the Cimarron and Cavalier were built on the same assembly plant in South Gate, California and Janesville, Wisconsin.
i always thought that the grilles of the 73 Cads and grilles and rear lights of the 73 Electras just reeked of snob appeal and aggressiveness. the Electra looked like an aggressive shark. i remember our neighborhood bully's family had a red 73 Electra with a white vinyl roof. his whole family was nasty and aggressive. they sure picked the right car to match who they were
by contrast i didn't see this shark like aggressiveness with the Olds 98 or Pontiac. the 98's seemed to more like an "old money" type of snob appeal (rather than aggressiveness) and the Grand Villes' seemed geared more to sporting than snobbery at least IMO
the Merc Marquis' seemed to focus on stateliness and handsomeness while the New Yorkers tried to be a cross between the GM cars and Mercs
this is what gave cars character in those days
From the profiles on the coupes it's hard to tell the Buick and Caddy apart.
I find by the 80's when models were downsized and moved to FWD drive platforms or ended up sharing platforms with lesser models.
Esp. when cars like the Cadillac Cimarron was just a upscale Chevy Cavalier is what ended up putting the final nail in coffin of the classic era of domestic the Luxury automakers.
The Cadillac Cimarron was a compact luxury car built by General Motors based on the GM J platform. It was first introduced in 1981 for the 1982 model year, and sold through 1988. During its seven-year model run, 132,499 Cimarrons were built.
The Cimarron was Cadillac's badge engineered entry-level product of the Chevrolet Cavalier, which was a replacement of the Chevrolet Vega. Other than the installation of Cadillac's traditional "egg crate" grille, the Cimarron didn't exhibit any traditional Cadillac styling features associated with earlier products, and other than Cadillac badges, was virtually identical to the Cavalier. Both the Cimarron and Cavalier were built on the same assembly plant in South Gate, California and Janesville, Wisconsin.
GM blew it with the Allante. Had it been rear wheel drive it would have been a more serious competitor to BMW and Mercedes. GM was obsessed with bringing a front wheel drive luxury sports car to the market. They should have made it a manual transmission as an option as well.
In 1980, the 368 was introduced to the Deville and Fleetwood and for this FIRST year, the 8-6-4 setup was not used. The styling was also new and very nicely done. You are correct, the V8-6-4 was dropped after '81. I think that with the arrival of the HT4100 V8 in 1982 (and the 4.1 V6 in 1981), Cadillac lost much of it's prestige at least from a performance standpoint.
In 1980, the 368 was introduced to the Deville and Fleetwood and for this FIRST year, the 8-6-4 setup was not used. The styling was also new and very nicely done. You are correct, the V8-6-4 was dropped after '81. I think that with the arrival of the HT4100 V8 in 1982 (and the 4.1 V6 in 1981), Cadillac lost much of it's prestige at least from a performance standpoint.
What hurt the 368 motor was the 3 speed tranmisson as well. No over drive made these cars real gas drinkers. When the HT4100 was introduced it had a 252ci motor but had over drive. My father's 83 Coupe DeVille got a real 17/25 in gas mileage and kept up with all traffic until the car hit 72,000 miles. After that the motor was pretty well worn out. I had 117,000 miles on it when the motor gave up the ghost.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
