How good were the 1977-79 full size Cadillacs? (insurance, gasket, rear-wheel drive)
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We have a '79 Coupe DeVille that originally belonged to my wife's father. 425 CI L33 V8 and while it only puts out ~190 HP, it delivers over 300 ft/lbs of torque, more than enough to keep it moving nicely. These weren't meant to be speedsters so the engine is more than adequate for the application. The suspension is great, it's like riding on a cloud and to this day it starts without protest as long as we don't let it sit too long without driving it.
to me theyre so bland compared to the early 70's Cads I stopped being able to tell the year of each car because they just didn't inspire me to do so. I found the 73's to have the best styling IMO, i always liked that shark-like aggressive look (like the Electra 225 from 73) of the grille
The 79 Cad was the best yr back then. My dad (mechanic) always drove Cads...had a 77 Cpe de Ville with a slight fender bender (his fault retired age) and dickered on what to do as damage was slight (cosmetic).
Living in Palm Springs he saw a 79 Cpe de Ville parked on a corner vacant lot with a small 4 SALE SIGN. The car showed 9K on the speedo. Dad phoned the owner and bought the car paying CASH.
He sold the 77 for $500 less then what was paid for the 79......now that was a GOOD deal.
I drove that car and it handled like a dream.
Parents ended up in a Convelesent home.....mom died and dad sold the car with 21K on the speedo.
I wanted that car but was already too many cars poor and being solo (widowed) in my own business (mechanic) just movingi the cars around and never driving anywhere to speak of....just a bummer.
One thing with all my Cads from the past they all AVG 16 mpg....starting College 1952 with my 49 Vert, 51 Cpe, 55 Cpe, 59 Cpe, 61 Sedan, 65 Cpe, 69 Cpe, 70 Cpe. over the yrs.
In each case all the cars were purchased with the speedo showing between 45-50K and barely broken in.
In spring of 1992 or so, my best friend from high school bought a '79 Coupe Deville with around 150,000 miles on it for $400. If not for its severely oxidized metallic bronze paint and several good sized dents, the seller would have asked for (and got) a lot more money for it. Otherwise, it was actually a pretty dang good car for the price. It usually started easily, and it always ran smoothly. It even passed emissions testing (required back in my area back in the day) for registration renewal.
The most major problem was with the automatic climate control, which was completely inoperable. He got tired of it, and also didn't feel like figuring out the climate control, so he sold it before winter for the same price he paid for it.
That car was from the pre-Cimmarron days when Cadillac was still "the Cadillac" of cars.
i would guess that gas mileage was better when the Cads were downsized.
if i has to guess, a 73 Cad got 7-15 mpg in normal driving and 11 mpg on a 300 mile trip
and if i had to guess id say the late 70's Cads got 9-18 in normal driving and 14 on a long trip
They usually did better than that.
The '73 "7-15 mpg" sounds like the Consumer Reports results. As mentioned before, their "city" driving was really extreme... stopping every few hundred feet and a lot of idling.
My '76 Cadillac limousine, with the 500-cu-in engine, weighs much more than a '73 DeVille or Fleetwood Brougham, and averages 10.5 mpg. Range is 9-13 mpg.
im sure youre right. btw the interior of your Fury looked really nice. the seats looked high quality, thick and looked like you sat up high
Yes, great seats on that '66 Plymouth! Actually more comfortable than the seats on the '71 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. And remember, the Plymouth was classified as a "low-priced" (full-sized) car!
was that the VIP which was designed to compete with the LTD and Caprice? the quality is very unlike the say 68's thru 71s which i found very tacky. the interior is definitely up there with Ford and GM. our 71 Duster seats were of a "Deluxe" kind and look like the front seats in your Fury tho not as thick
i forgot all about the 500 V8 engine i thought the biggest was 472. was it the Eldorado that had the 500 standard?
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