Found on eBay: Triple Yellow ’80 Fleetwood Brougham!

I’ve always loved triple yellow Cadillacs. And in its various guises from approximately the late ’60s to the early ’90s, it was always a classy color, in your author’s opinion. The matching pastel yellow leather interior was not always available each year, but it usually was. You’ve got to have the matching yellow leather and top for the full effect, you see. As a friend of mine once told me, you can’t drive a triple yellow Cadillac and not feel good. They’re so bright and cheerful!

So I was instantly infatuated this past Thursday morning when another Cadillac-obsessed friend, Ron Schweitzer, sent me a link to this fine Colonial Yellow 1980 Fleetwood Brougham. As Frank Costanza once said, hoochie mama!

I’ve extolled the 1980-86 Fleetwood Broughams and 1987-92 Broughams before, so I’ll keep this post on the short side. But this looks like a pretty nice car. And as a 1980 model it has the 368 CID Cadillac V8.

No V8-6-4 to worry about (though that can be solved by clipping a wire) and no HT4100 V8 under the hood either. 1980 is the one to get if you want one of these. Or skip to 1990-92 and get one with the 5.7 V8 that came with the trailer towing package!

She’s got a buy it now figure of 7800, not bad if the car is as nice as it looks in the pics. In the description it says all power stuff works, including the factory CB and power antenna. On the down side, the top color doesn’t quite match the paint the way it should, and it has a De Ville hood ornament. Fleetwoods got a stand-up wreath and crest; the De Ville hood ornament was a larger crest with no wreath. But this would be tempting if it wasn’t in NJ. And I had a place to put it.

Anyway, it runs through next Wednesday, ifin one is so inclined. Here’s the link, with more pics. With autumn rapidly approaching, perhaps one could arrange a better price with future winter storage considerations. It would be a fun weekend cruiser, I think. Best of all, it’s a Cadillac.

18 Replies to “Found on eBay: Triple Yellow ’80 Fleetwood Brougham!”

  1. John C.

    The 1980 restyle got another 154 pounds out of an already lightened downsized car without loosing space or presence. The smaller engine still had enough torque to pull a 36mph/1000 direct drive third gear still with the strong THM 400. This without all the shifting busyness that came with lockup overdrives or the engine busyness that came with too small an engine.. If only they had managed the cylinder deactivation unheard of then but so common now, RWD Cadillacs could have kept a big block through CAFE while Lincoln, Chrysler, and Mercedes were losing theirs, befitting the standard of the world. Just as Cadillac managed to retain a V8 when going front drive while the others lost theirs. Tom mentioned driving one just makes you feel good, it’s hard not to agree.

    Reply
    • Carmine

      There is at least one car I’ve seen with such a swap done, GM Classics collector Matt Garrett had a 1980 burgandy Fleetwood Brougham with a mildly built , but very stock looking and running 1970 500cid Cadillac engine in it, it would crack into the mid 13’s.

      I’ve also seen a later 1986 Brougham with a very well swapped 1970 Oldsmobile 455, so well done it looked like it came from the factory.

      Reply
      • sgeffe

        I’ve seen his site, and maybe visit once or twice a year just to drool!

        Wouldn’t it be nice to have that kinda money and garage space!

        Reply
        • Carmnie

          That site has some really nice Broughamporn, I forget it exists for a while and then I go back, its always a treat. Jim Hailey Classic cars has some nice cars too.

          Reply
    • Tom Klockau Post author

      Well, I was referring to the ’80-’92s, since there was a major facelift in 1980 with all new sheetmetal. Nothing wrong with a 77-79.

      Reply
    • Rob

      The 77-79 had a much stronger 425 V-8. The 368 V-8 for 1980 dropped from 180 HP down to 145 HP and had a reputation for being somewhat breathless above 50 moh. Otherwise it’s a matter of style, mostly. The 79 Fleetwood base seats were a lot plusher than the 1980. d’Elegance interiors were nearly identical.

      Reply
  2. -Nate

    Indeed this fine looking car would be a delight to tour America in .

    The 368CID V8 is a sturdy engine with sufficient power and _zero_ troubles that even gets passable fuel economy for such a large car .

    I need to get my 1980 Fleetwood S & S Victoria Hearse back on the road .

    -Nate

    Reply
  3. rambo furum

    This sort of thing was always called a banana boat in my childhood.

    What is the deal with the glowing squares on the door trim? Is that just ambient lighting that the photographer felt the need to show was operational?

    Reply
    • sgeffe

      Probably courtesy lights on the doors that would illuminate puddles on the ground, and would warn drivers approaching from the rear that the door is open.

      Reply
    • Carmine

      Those are courtesy lights, they are lit when the doors are open or when the interior lights are turned on with the headlight control.

      Reply
  4. Carmine

    In my mind, as much as the 1961-1969 Continentals as associated with Kennedy, these 1980-1989 Cadillacs I associated with Ronald Reagan, the Presidential Limo was based on one during his admin, plus these were mostly bought by guys that were about The Gippers age and looks or their wives…..Nancy.

    The also share a well-dressed, square shouldered confident look like Reagan and the styling generation also ran pretty much concurrently with Reagans 2 terms.

    Though I would still prefer a 1977-1979 version with the 425 and the 4 wheel disc brakes first, both lost for 1980, this 80-89 version to me is the first image that jumps into my head whenever anyone says “Cadillac”, weather thats good or bad depends on you……

    Reply
      • scotten

        Wow.

        I’m a few years older than you and I remember my (5 year) older brother bringing a CB on road trips to grandma’s house in the mid-to-late 1970’s. I think his enthusiasm might have died out before OEM CD’s became a thing.

        Reply
    • Carmine

      GM and the other Big 2 and even AMC all had factory installed CB radio options during the late 70’s and early 80’s, some hung on through 1985 or so in GM cars. You can blame the trucker/cowboy thing that started booming after Convoy in 1975 for the factory CB boom and then Smokey and the Bandit made it a “must have” option.

      The radios were pricey, usually the top radio option in the range, some of them were very neatly made, I had a 1978 Eldorado with one, it had a digital channel selector in the hand set and it had a neat “stand by” position where you could hear the radio and then it would cut in with a CB broadcast when needed.

      In the pre-cell phone era they were a solid way for people that spent a lot of time on the road to communicate.

      Reply

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