How good were the 1977-79 full size Cadillacs? (luxury car, convertible, MPG)
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Dad bought a 79 Cpe de Ville (one owner) in Palm Springs Calif with only 9000 miles on the spedo.
I had the chance to drive it when he was in the hospital and it ran smooth with 16 mpg.
Later on he had to enter a convelesent/retirement home and the car sat outside all the time and he was not happy as his cars were always garaged.
He ended up selling the car with 21,000 miles on the spedo to a man sight unseen for $1500.
I wanted the car but was already car poor and had no place to park it.
Such is life. Steve
I've always considered '79 to be the last great year of the Cadillacs due to it having a big powerful V8 engine (for its time of course), I wish they would've just replaced the 425 with the 350 gas motors for all models
Well, good bad or indifferent, the 1979 model cars were definitely the last cars of the 1970's.
The time period 1977 to 1979 are not really "vintage" years for many car makers, the few early adopters of fuel injection are the exception, I'm talking in stock trim here. A BMW 2002 from this era, particularly a tii, can be a real gem, Porsche 911 similarly.
Certainly any car from this era that came with a V-8 can be retrofitted with a crate engine, an ex-junkyard engine, or even have the original engine re-worked to make decent power and mileage (assuming you don't have to deal with Cali smog Nazis).
The diesel, the 368 and 4100 V6 were supposed to be pretty lousy.
Common misconception with the 368... once the 4-6-8 feature failed or was disabled, the engine was just as reliable as any of the other. Even though it didn't work that was a pioneering move on behalf of Cadillac to give it a try, while it didn't work it didn't hinder anything else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by M3 Mitch
The time period 1977 to 1979 are not really "vintage" years for many car makers, the few early adopters of fuel injection are the exception, I'm talking in stock trim here. A BMW 2002 from this era, particularly a tii, can be a real gem, Porsche 911 similarly.
You may be surprised to know that Cadillac started having stock FI in '75.
I almost bought a 77 Sedan Deville this summer. I wound up passing though as cloth interior wasn't in good shape and the vinyl top had lots of cracking. Almost bought a 76 too, but they couldn't resolve the title. I would've rather had the 76 as it was more of the land yatch style and a hardtop.
Cadillacs mechanically were good up into the 70s, but once the 80s hit it went down hill. It is really a shame they didn't use GM 350s and 305s. Allantes wouldn't have floundered.
I had a friend that had a 1977 Sedan de Ville and I swear it rode no better than a Chevy Caprice. Not overly quiet either. The Eldorado used to be marketed as the Cadillac that gave the stiffer ride, but truthfully, without question, it was the best Cadillac, because it handled better, and I thought the stiff ride matched well with the heavy weight of the car.
Cadillac fanciers are often extremely loyal, but if someone was really objective, and unbias, the Lincoln truly gave a superior ride, was much quieter, and handled better than most Cadillac models.
1977 Cadillac Coupe de Ville
The new downsized 1979 Cadillac Eldorado rode and handled well
A superior choice over the late '70's Cadillac's as well as its fiercest rival, the Lincoln Town Car
My dad was a mechanic of 40 yrs...bought his first cad a 56 Cpe de Ville (new) and always took excellent care of them for many trouble free miles and 16-18 mpg. Always said it was the driving habits and fine adjustment of the mixture screw.
In college in 1953 I had a 49 Cad vert... then a 51 Cad Cpe de Ville...then a 54 Cad Cpe de Ville when dad got the bug from me and bought the New 56 from Beverly Hills Cad dealer.
Later on I had a 59 Cpe de Ville...a 61 sedan de ville...69 Cpe de Ville for a while and sold it to my dad who kept it for a while and it returned to me when he bought a low miles 76 sedan de ville that later on had a fender bender...sold it and bought the 79 with the 9000 miles on the spedo. It was parked on the side of the road in Palm Springs Calif (by private owner)...my folks lived close.
Palm Springs is where to get the best used cars due to the class of people (financial) who are retired and the cars generally have LOW miles and are well taken care of.
Anyway he sold it in 1992 or 93 as he passed away in 94...can't recall the exact yr.
When he sold the car I saw the life fade away from him. The knowledge that his transportation was just outside in the back parking lot kept him going. A person needs something to hold on too.
Yeah, I have heard that too about the 4-6-8 disablement that it was a good engine afterward.
Yep and Chevy had FI as far back as what, 1957? I know Pontiac did on the Bonneville as an option.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JTraik
Common misconception with the 368... once the 4-6-8 feature failed or was disabled, the engine was just as reliable as any of the other. Even though it didn't work that was a pioneering move on behalf of Cadillac to give it a try, while it didn't work it didn't hinder anything else.
You may be surprised to know that Cadillac started having stock FI in '75.
Grandpa still has his Cadillac... its a 1955 Series 62 sedan, but you know he had a 1955 Buick Special Riviera 4dr hardtop before and personally I thought that the Buick had a softer ride than the Cadillac, however, someone had replaced the rear shocks on grandpas Caddy and I think they put on HD shocks.
Strange, the Cadillac had rear leaf springs, but the Buick had rear coils. I think Caddy had rear leaf springs until 1958, then they went to rear coils on the 1958 when Chevrolet did, but Oldsmobile held onto rear leaf springs up through 1960. Odd. Not sure about Pontiac.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Bagu
My dad was a mechanic of 40 yrs...bought his first cad a 56 Cpe de Ville (new) and always took excellent care of them for many trouble free miles and 16-18 mpg. Always said it was the driving habits and fine adjustment of the mixture screw.
In college in 1953 I had a 49 Cad vert... then a 51 Cad Cpe de Ville...then a 54 Cad Cpe de Ville when dad got the bug from me and bought the New 56 from Beverly Hills Cad dealer.
Later on I had a 59 Cpe de Ville...a 61 sedan de ville...69 Cpe de Ville for a while and sold it to my dad who kept it for a while and it returned to me when he bought a low miles 76 sedan de ville that later on had a fender bender...sold it and bought the 79 with the 9000 miles on the spedo. It was parked on the side of the road in Palm Springs Calif (by private owner)...my folks lived close.
Palm Springs is where to get the best used cars due to the class of people (financial) who are retired and the cars generally have LOW miles and are well taken care of.
Anyway he sold it in 1992 or 93 as he passed away in 94...can't recall the exact yr.
When he sold the car I saw the life fade away from him. The knowledge that his transportation was just outside in the back parking lot kept him going. A person needs something to hold on too.
My uncle had a 77 seville (350 I think) great car
and my dad had 3 cadillacs-- 77' coupe deville 425-
84' coupe deville 4-6-8
87' Fleetwood-
the 77' coupie was the best
I thought the 4-6-8 engine was dropped after 1981
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