My friend and fellow Cadillac nut Jayson Coombes sent me this link to another Fleetwood Brougham on ebay earlier this week.
Of course, I had to immediately investigate. It appears to be a nice, if not showroom new, with some rust creeping in on the door bottoms, but pretty solid for a forty two year old East Coast car. Claimed one owner car, which I’ve always thought a little disingenuous, since the classic car dealer wasn’t the one who bought it new. But I digress.
And it’s a good year, with the good engine, the 425 V8. Pre-HT4100 so it still has some oomph when you press the go pedal. And it’s a Fleetwood Brougham, so it has the extra plush interior, more chrome and that tapered B-pillar, seen only in 1977, 1978 and 1979.
I’ve always liked the 1977-79 Cadillacs, newly downsized, less a floating Four Seasons suite but still Broughamy, with all those traditional ‘Cadillacy’ features, like the teeny Cadillac emblems on the sides of the front seat. And especially fetching in Colonial Yellow or Naples Yellow with matching top and leather interior.
But this one looks very good in triple dark green – Blackwatch Green, to be exact. Green is my favorite color, despite my compulsion to zero in on yellow Cadillacs when I spot them at car shows.
The auction ends on Wednesday around 7:30 PM Central time, so if you have a hankering for a green velour-bedecked Brougham, check it out soon. UPDATE: auction ended, guess someone made an offer the seller couldn’t refuse. Be interesting to see if it pops back up again in a few weeks or days. Seems a lot of cars are perpetually on ebay, sometimes for years, ha ha.
Tom, your friend had nice find, but I hope the buyer put that car on a lift to check the underside before he paid for it. There was way to much rust in that engine compartment and the right side front fender well was excessive rusted around the bolt holes almost to the point of needing replaced. Likewise, notice the discoloration of the carpet and door kick panels, in spots, a sign that there was mildew that had cleaned off. If these 1970’s carpets are going to fade they do it evenly (think firethorne turning orange). I would bet that those carpeted rubber floor mats were holding down moisture and the floor pans are rusted. Also the steering wheel wood trim is completely shot which can be repaired but is a $700-$900 undertaking. Again, not kicking the car but there may be a lot of hidden rust issues on this one. Even if that is orginal paint which held up well, she appars to be rusting from the inside out. East Coast car used in the winter or stored in a realy damp garage.
Yeah, it looked crispy around the doors too, it made me think of that old line of rust being like an iceberg, you only see about 10% of all of it. The splotchy carpet would make me nervous too. Still, I loved the triple green!
I couldn’t see any rust in any of the pictures, but then again I was looking at low-res ones on my iPhone after the car had been sold. My guess is that rust loves to hide underneath the chrome moldings on the lower doors.
Still looks like it has decent bones for a restoration—a “twenty-foot” car, at least.
I wonder what’s with the Eldorado in the background of the one pic?
I also really like the color. With a one owner car, if I was the one trying to sell it, I would include a biographical sketch of the owner. Among the reasons we love these cars is an artifact of a society we remember and prefer but is no more. Even where the individual doesn’t measure up, that was always a percentage, the notorious details will only add to the charm of the survivor car,
Up till a few years ago, the first floor of the Seattle Art Museum had a dozen or more real all white second gen Taurus and Sables in a diorama. I am not sure if the artist was shooting a bird at “Pleasant Valley Sunday” style generic consumerism or just putting a face on a common experience of very different people like the Campbell Soup Cans of Andy Warhol. Either way, as those Taurus, faded from the street the meaning of the diorama over time changed for me to remember when we all used to have similar American made cars serving our intact and self supporting families. They took the diorama down, and for the life of me I can’t remember what replaced it.
I googled the Seattle Taurus display and it turns out to be a high buck display done by “American” artist Cai Guo Qiang as a tribute to Hunter S Thompson blowing up rental cars in a fit of, well you can fill in the blank. You are supposed to get that they are about to explode. Hah, Hah
Why oh why did Warhol have to die and leave us alone with this dreck
A relative of a relative had one of these in black in the early 80s and I couldn’t get enough of it. Black on black, leather, drove like a hover-craft. Made me want a Caddy…but pretty soon after, I became more interested in Firebirds and Camaros.
Love this generation of Cadillac. In 1980, my parents picked up a ’77 Fleetwood Brougham from a neighbor that bought a new Cadillac every 3 years. It was Cerulean Blue Firemist with a light blue leather interior. We were mostly a GM family but that was our first Cadillac. It was a big step up from the ’70 Buick Electra that it replaced. Smooth, quiet, and comfortable.
My dad had this color and car back 43 years ago. It rode with a super soft ride and little feel for the road. Never drove it. I was only 11 years old at the time. The stereo was pretty good. Digital radio dial was an amazing upgrade for the time. He had a CB as well (no idea why that was an option). Looks like there’s a cassette tape player which wasn’t available at the time I think. We had an 8-track!
It looks to be in great condition especially since the pictures suggest Boston suburbs (house architecture, Harvard sticker, Mass inspection sticker). Winters up there eat cars.