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How good were the 1977-79 full size Cadillacs? They don't seem to get alot of mention compared to the earlier Cadillacs or the 1980s Cadillacs.
My grandparents had a 1979 Cadillac Brougham. It had a huge 425 engine. I remember it being reliable, but they were always complaining about the gas mileage.
My grandparents had a 1979 Cadillac Brougham. It had a huge 425 engine. I remember it being reliable, but they were always complaining about the gas mileage.
It should have been able to get somewhat better mileage than the earlier Cadillacs with the 472 and 500 engines. Maybe an average of about 13 or 14?
My '69 Fleetwood Brougham averages 11 mpg.
I thought the 1980s Cadillacs were unreliable vehicles and the engines they came with were troubleprone and way underpowered, I wish they haven't dropped the 425 V8 motor after 1979 but I knew the reason why they did and it was due to the skyrocketing gas prices that took place during that time period, I didn't like the taillights off of the 1977 models all that much though.
I like the 1975-1976 Cadillacs best and if or when I buy one they would be my first choice but the 77-79 Cadillacs are more common and lower priced. A good thing about that 425 is the 472/500 would be a very easy swap since they are all the same engine family which is what I would do if I had one. These are far better looking cars than any made today.
I was thinking only the bad variable cylinder V8 , the 4100 V6 or diesel V8 were the only available engines, but from the brochure a 350 gas engine (some were FI) were available on the very early 80s Cadillacs. I would say the 350 gas engine would be the good one. The diesel, the 368 and 4100 V6 were supposed to be pretty lousy.
In 1988, our neighbor had a 1981 Cadillac Coupe DeVille with the 4100 V6 (4.1L). It was a beautiful car I remember. Dark blue metallic with dark blue interior... had only 35K actual miles. I remember when it hit 50K the engine went in it. He and his wife was so good to it and so gentle. I remember I even helped them wash it... I was only 12 years old.
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
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