1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman: Maximum Broughamage

My friend and fellow Cadillac fanatic Jayson Coombes urgently texted me a link to this triple orange (technically Andes Copper) 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman the other day, the Broughamiest Brougham that ever Broughamed. Though no Brougham nomenclature was found on this Fleetwood special edition, available only in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

This one is currently being auctioned off on Hemmings, and has met its reserve of $20,000 already. A really remarkably nice example, judging from the photos.

I’ve always liked these, thanks to the Pocket Cars toy version I had in blue as a kid. I also had a mini-me Continental Mark IV and Mustang II Ghia. Explains a lot, doesn’t it?

At first I thought this was Terra Cotta Firemist, but the auction itself said it was Andes Copper, and reviewing my ’74 Cadillac colors, it appears they are correct. Though I do have a 1/24th scale 1974 Eldorado coupe in Terra Cotta. It’s similar, but unsurprisingly more orange.

And of course I love all the giant, unnecessarily large yet so compelling Cadillacs made from the Fifties through the late Seventies. And had I been around back then, this one would be a magnet drawing me into whatever Cadillac showroom held this particular example.

The ’74 is extra special as it has the distinction of being the largest, plushest four-seat Cadillac of 1974, as both the front and back seats hold large center consoles-also tailored in plush velour to match.

According to the seller, quoted on Hemmings: “I have owned the car since December 2010. I acquired it out of the estate of the original owner who took deliver at Delaware Cadillac in the fall of 1973 and kept the car until his passing in 2010. I then had the car restored in early 2011 and continually improved it every year.”

There’s still approximately eight days left on the auction, so if this trips your trigger, check it out. At any rate it will be interesting to see what the final selling price will be!

33 Replies to “1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman: Maximum Broughamage”

  1. LynnG

    Tom, thanks for posting Earl’s car… I already let Jack know he should be a buyer for this one. However anyone in the Riverside Green family of contibutors that needs a three ton/20+foot long four seat car, this is the ticket. It has been completely sorted out. I know this car and it makes my Talisman look like a poor relative. Brougham on….

    Reply
  2. John C.

    What a spectacular car. To think that we so loath the men our fathers and grandfathers were, that 47 years later the low build number top of the line built specifically for the best of them has yet to even get close to the original price adjusted for inflation. Powerful evidence that we either don’t measure up or have been distracted by false Gods.

    Reply
    • stingray65

      Did the greatest generation also loath their fathers and grandfathers when “classic” V-12, V-16, and Straight 8 Packards, Cadillacs, Pierce Arrows, Auburns, Marmons, Lincolns, Chryslers, and even Duesenbergs and Rolls sedans and limos languished on low end used car lots at dirt cheap prices, or gathered dust in barns or rotted in cow pastures in the 1940s to 1960s?

      Reply
      • John C.

        To test your hypothesis that the greatest gen was similarly loathsome of their father/grandfather’s cars around year 47 I consulted a 1990 classic car guide. I picked for my comparison car the 1941, no cars in 1943, Cadillac Series 60 Special due to similar build numbers/market placement. The Talisman at 20k is 23% of the 1974 cars list price adjusted for inflation, (86k). The 1941 60 Special in 1990 was $22,000 for a fine sedan compared to a $2090 1941 base list price. $22,000 in 1990 was the equivalent of $2,538 in 1941 or 121% of original list.

        Reply
  3. Disinterested-Observer

    Since I am not in the market and sure to forget to check the sale price can you post an update when the auction closes?

    Reply
    • Sobro

      The radio frequency indicator is hinged at the top. You just jam your jams into the radio dial.

      I think i’d have to put in a rumble seat to carry more than four. How could a man of distinction limit himself to just three friends in this comfort cruiser?

      Reply
  4. LynnG

    Hank,
    The 8-Track deck is built into the radio. The face plate (where the AM/FM stations are numbered) of the radio is hinged at the top, you just push the 8-Track cart into the radio. The on off volume dial on the left side of the radio can be pushed in to change the tracks if you want to jump to a different song on the 8-track cart. Foot note, on Cadillacs in the 1970’s, a mono AM/FM radio was standard, a signal seaking stereo AM/FM radio was approx a $100 option, the most expensive radio was the stereo AM/FM/8-Track which was approx a $300 option like the one on this car. Sorry no Cassette, CD, or DVD optional radios were available at the date of manufacture….. 🙂

    Reply
  5. Disinterested-Observer

    Watching the new and improved, although that bar is admittedly very low, Top Gear USA this evening and in some shootout Dax Shepard brought a 1994 Fleetwood Brougham. Not exactly a Talisman but pretty fresh for its time. Naturally I decided to try to find out how much I could pick one up for. Almost all the ones I found for sale were bizarre three-row, six door limo conversions by a company called Federal. I would love to know who is the customer for that layout.

    Reply
      • Disinterested-Observer

        I have never ridden in a limo, nor received a handy in the back of one, but that is not how I pictured the layout.

        Reply
    • Carmine

      Those are what is the limo industry are called “family cars”, they were paired with a matching hearse to follow over to the cemetery. The seats face forward instead of facing each other like the standard party limo arrangement.

      There are also what is called a “24 hour” car that can do both funeral limo and party limo jobs with seats that can flip around and bar and TV sets that can recess back into the doors.

      Reply
      • Disinterested-Observer

        Thank you Carmine. I may be childish and churlish and flip, but I very much appreciate a real answer.

        Reply
  6. sgeffe

    This one looks like it just drove off the showroom floor! As was pointed out above, even the bumper inserts look mint!

    Sheesh, I wonder if this still has the seat belt interlock still connected! 😮

    Reply
        • Earl R

          Thank you Jack for writing this great article about my car. The car is exceptional and has been cared for by myself who brought it back and Dr. Walker who had it until his passing in 2010.

          It just turned 48 this month. The dealer paperwork I attached shows a delivery date of September 1973, this is also the build date so very early 74 and maybe one of the first Talismans produced. Check out all the rare original items like the Cadillac embossed paper and air conditioning tag, things I have not seen in another one.

          Reply
          • Jack Baruth

            Oh, Tom is the fellow who wrote it!

            Your Talisman is utterly stunning and it’s all I can do not to sell a race car or two and join in the bidding!

  7. John C.

    Interesting the disconnect between this generation and the executive car of a previous generation as demonstrated above by Disinterested Observer and J.C. All they can come up with is prom night or driving such a car as a statement of irony like somebody who listens to the music of someone who proclaims themselves Muddy Water.

    As an alternative, imagine a busy successful professional or executive that frees up his commuting time for more work by having an aide de camp drive while he does work in the back. Such a package, without the glorious American style, is still today offered by several Euro and Asian brands

    Reply
    • Jack Baruth

      Ah but that’s not a three row limo. That’s a Fleetwood Seventy-Five, like the in-house two row stretches built by the company all the way into the FWD eighties. The longer stretches are prom nights and pimps, with one exception: well into the Nineties you had people who went into Manhattan in Town Cars with two-foot stretches and folding rear facing seats.

      Reply
  8. LynnG

    Jack, are you referring to the Town Car L? I will defer to Tom but I thought those were factory or ASC for Ford built. The L could be ordered through the dealer as a factory warranted new car. They were the standard car for all the “Black Car” companies in the DC metro for years. They all eventually ended up being Earl Shibbs painted yellow or red and ended their life as worn out taxi cabs.

    Reply
    • Jack Baruth

      I was thinking about the Nineties era aftermarket “short stretch” Town Cars that were used in NYC quite a bit.

      But the Town Car L, like the Crown Vic L, was a factory effort and mostly sold in the State Of New York. My ideal Panther from that era is a Cartier L, but try to find one!

      Reply
    • Carmine

      These were bigger than the L’s, I’ve seen them too, some had a small stretch in the middle some had the length added behind the rear door, moving the seat back, similar to a Fleetwood 75 style limo.

      I think there is a company that still does something similar using a Chrysler 300.

      Reply
  9. George Denzinger

    Wow, that’s a lot of orange! My wife would go nuts over something like that. 15 years later and she’s still upset with me for trading off our Fusion Orange Pontiac Aztek for a gray Chevy Malibu Maxx. I get it, I do…

    Honestly, if I had to buy something from 1974, it would most likely end up being a mid-market, mid-sized muscle (ha!) car. Something like a Pontiac Grand Am or a Plymouth Road Runner GTX.

    Again, nice find Jayson and Tom!

    Reply
  10. Ian

    I own a ’74 Fleetwood Talisman. If you look at the lights to the left and right when sitting in the back seat, you will see that the design around those lights says Brougham. I’ll post a pic tomorrow.

    Reply

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