Here we go, ladies and germs, the original Cadillac Seville! Well, original in that this variant of the Cadillac Seville, introduced in May 1975 as an early ’76 model, was its own model and not a hardtop variant of the Eldorado.
The first Seville was the Eldorado Seville, sibling to the topless Eldorado Biarritz. It was available from 1956 to 1960. Starting in 1961, the Eldorado reverted to a convertible only model once again, returning to the convertible-only model it had been from 1953-55. But I digress!
One of the dumbest and most frequently cited ‘facts’ about the 1976-79 Cadillac Seville is that it was just a tarted up Nova. Um…no. Not at all. Anyone who thinks that doesn’t know what they are talking about. Or they know damn well that it’s bull, but persist in saying it because they hate the car and General Motors so much. Why? Who knows. Maybe they weren’t hugged a lot as a kid. Folks of that persuasion tend to be sad, angry people. I feel sorry for them.
Yes, the Seville’s basic hard points did originate vis-a-vis that middle-America favorite, the Chevrolet Nova. But that was just what they started with. Once Cadillac had gotten the Seville to the point they wanted it at, it was so heavily revised and stretched that it was basically a new car.
It was, indeed, so substantially changed that GM designated the 1976 Seville as the K-body, not the X-body that the Nova, Ventura, Omega and Apollo were using. It didn’t hurt that it was a beautiful car, either.
Cadillac certainly changed a lot between, say, 1960 and 1970. Heck, times were changing! Another trick certain bloggers like to pull is the old ‘stupid cheap GM’ schtick. Now it is true that trim and upholstery started seeing some cost cutting in the late Sixties and Seventies. It began around 1969-1970.
Interiors lost the aluminum and real wood trim, dashes became less ornate and had more plastic and/or padded foam. But most of this was safety regulations. It was far preferable to bounce one’s head off of a padded instrument panel or door panel than bonking said head off a leather covered metal trim piece. To Cadillac’s traditional well-heeled customers, many of these changes was cause for dismay, but in my opinion the bones were still solid through ’70.
The 1971 Cadillacs were all-new, from the Calais coupe to the top-trim Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham. But Broughamage was creeping in on the less-prestigious GM lines. Caprice, Grand Ville, Delta 88 Royale and Centurion all added more and more Broughamy touches to the middle-priced full-sizers. And this made the Cadillac seem somewhat less prestigious, less fancy.
The 1971-76s were also gigantic, keeping in Cadillac tradition. In fact, they were the biggest Cadillacs ever produced, with the Series Seventy-Five limousines the absolute biggest. Not too long after the ’71 B- and C-bodies debuted, General Motors realized this, and made plans to shrink their biggest offerings, starting with the next generation.
But what to do prior to the ’77s debut? I can imagine the brain trust in Detroit, hashing things out over martinis. “Well, people are paying more money than a Cadillac for those little Mercedes-Benzes! How about that? They’re smaller too. The seats aren’t cushy, they still have wind up windows, the air conditioning hangs down below the dash like a secondhand 1963 Chevy II, and people are paying through the nose for them!”
“Well Bob, we could do something like that. We have the money. We have the technology, and we have some of the best people in the business working for us? So why not give it a shot?”
Yes, starting in the early ’70s, well-to-do folks nationwide were starting to see the merits of a certain European manufacturer with a three-pointed-star. And Cadillacs were getting relatively cheaper than their 1960s forebears (in order to chase more sales volume; Cadillac set a production record in 1973). The wreath and crest was perhaps not as special as it once had been to certain upper-crust clientele. And folks who still loyally bought Cadillacs were harping about how big some of their models had been getting. What to do?
Solution: offer a smaller Cadillac. Customers had been asking for a smaller, more manageable Cadillac for a while.
Well before the M-B started elbowing Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial towards stage left, as a matter of fact. There had been a short-deck Cadillac in 1961, partly in response to wealthy Cadillac owners whose mansions had somewhat short 1920s-era garages for their mansions.
original US car brochure scan
It lasted through the 1963 model year, but never sold in significant amounts. But by the mid-’70s, the time was right to give it another try. And this wouldn’t be a standard Cadillac with a shorter trunk! Not this time.
It was thought (correctly, as it turned out) that a smaller version would be popular with not only women, who were not particularly enamored of parallel-parking a Nimitz-Class Fleetwood Brougham or Sedan de Ville, but also as a way of offering a more Mercedes-like Cadillac.
Thus, the Seville came onto the scene in 1975 as an early ’76. It proved popular, and Cadillac made money on every one, as it was priced at the top of the range–including the venerable Fleetwood Brougham. Only the Series Seventy-Fives were pricier. I have to tell you, I think it was a beautiful car. Always have and always will. It was readily identifiable as a Cadillac, yet had a hint of Mercedes-Benz and Rolls Silver Shadow as well.
And it sold well. Remarkably well, despite (or perhaps because of) its price. These cars were well made, comfortable, and solid. It had rather advanced engineering for a Cadillac too, with Bendix fuel injection–a feature which, sadly, was trouble. Otherwise, these were every inch a Cadillac, despite the X-body starting point.
Were they fast? No not really. You want fast, get a Ferrari. Were they heavy? You bet! A plush ride and absolute silence when under way were important to Cadillac customers. If they had utilized less sound insulation, today you’d be hearing about how noisy and rattly they were, not how their 0-60 mph times stunk. We could talk all day about how most post-1974 U.S. cars were slugs–at least when compared to their ’60s forebears.
A ’76 Seville would hit 60 in about 13 seconds–not great, but consider all the then-primitive emissions devices on the things, not to mention the 4179-lb. shipping weight. It was still about 800 pounds less than a ’78 Eldo, and 140 less than a downsized ’78 Fleetwood Brougham.
The 1976-79 Seville also ushered in Bill Mitchell’s “sheer look,” with cliff-face nose, tail and roofline. This styling would take the GM lineup by storm, being added to our beloved B-body and C-body GMs in 1977. It would soon become a bit of a cliche, appearing on the mini-Seville 1980-up A/G-body sedans as well, but that was later. In ’76, it was fresh, new and attractive.
So, the Seville was a success. Its new, tidier dimensions and sheer-faced style was a preview of what was to come on future Cadillacs, it sold well, it was well made, and it started a nameplate that lasted all the way to 2004. Or 2011, if you count the succeeding 2005+ STS, since said acronym originally was short for Seville Touring Sedan.
Was it perfect? No. But it was the 1970s. New federal regulations were coming one wave after the other. Safety, emissions, the whole nine yards. And it showed in everything, from shoddily assembled LTDs to rust-prone Honda Civics to cracker-box Datsun 510 Honeybees.
The Bendix fuel injection system on the Seville’s Oldsmobile 350 CID V8 was problematic. Despite being touted as ‘international sized’ it still had a bench seat and column shifted Turbo Hydra-Matic.
Now, many Cadillac owners, and even Seville buyers, probably liked the bench seat and column shifter, but it still would have been nice to have an optional bucket-seat-and-console-shift option. Not that it hurt sales any!
Perhaps handling to match contemporary Mercedes-Benz S-Classes and the big BMW sedans could have been a boon. But again, most folks plunking down serious cash on a new Seville just wanted a contemporary, classy, smaller Cadillac. And in that the Seville delivered.
Today’s featured example, a 1977 Seville, is finished in heavenly Naples Yellow with matching yellow Sierra grain leather and padded vinyl roof.
It was duly spotted by my friend Jayson Coombes at the recent Cadillac-LaSalle club Grand National meet, held in San Marcos, Texas. This is the same event that the 1958 Sixty Special and 1961 Eldorado Biarritz posts written by yours truly were bivouacked.
Jayson knows very well that I am infatuated with the 1976-79 Seville. And I also love yellow Cadillacs. So you can imagine my reaction when he posted a couple of pictures of this fine automobile on my Facebook page several weeks ago. I believe the term, ‘Klockau bait’ was bandied about.
When I saw this sensational Seville, I was simply smitten. Triple yellow (paint, top and leather interior, natch) factory wire wheels, and an Astroroof?! I immediately messaged him and kind of ordered him to please please please take more pictures. And the man delivered! God bless him.
Simply put, the original Cadillac Seville was the right car at the right time, and GM had a hit. A profitable hit. And anyone who bitches, pisses and moans about them either had to deal with their fuel injection systems, or Bob Hope ran over their foot while driving one through LA while said complainant was wandering about stoned. Har!
1976 Seville