Side note: I've always liked the looks of this generation. Even through GM copied this look in cheaper cars (Cutlass Supreme, et al), the original still looks great. These are still affordable classics, but one wonders if they will stay that way, especially if Cadillac is successful in its turnaround.
Collectible Classic: 1976-1979 Cadillac Seville
Automobile Magazine
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When the first-generation Cadillac Seville debuted, the name was borrowed from the hardtop version of the 1956-60 Cadillac Eldorado, but the new car really didn’t have much in common with its forebears.
The car’s trim dimensions, upright stance, and lack of gratuitous adornment imparted a dignified appearance that appealed to the growing subset of the affluent for whom ostentation had become jejune in the post-Nixon world. Like today’s hybrid buyers, these were the very people who could afford huge gas-guzzlers. The Seville was a means to convey a social responsibility and refined taste in contrast to the “Superfly”-style Eldorado.
It’s not as if buyers were really giving up that much, apart from pointless bulk, to transition to the Seville. The 350- cubic-inch V-8 (supplied by Oldsmobile) provided performance comparable to an S-Class, and the Seville, although certainly expensive for a Cadillac, was bargain-priced compared with the big Benz.
The car is a pleasure to drive, with the V-8’s smooth power and the Turbo-Hydramatic’s barely perceptible shift points. The Seville floats along quite nicely, and there’s even a modicum of road feel. It doesn’t wallow like its larger badge-mates, and it mostly holds it own in corners, with enough lean to keep your attention. Understatement, in every sense, is the Seville’s calling card. At speed, it’s eerily quiet but the factory-provided eight-track tape, titled “Cadillac Presents the Music Master … Enoch Light and the Light Brigade,” breaks the silence, especially the last selection, “Sound Salute to Cadillac.”
Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/featur...llectible-classic-1976-1979-cadillac-seville/
Follow us: @AutomobileMag on Twitter | AutomobileMag on Facebook
When the first-generation Cadillac Seville debuted, the name was borrowed from the hardtop version of the 1956-60 Cadillac Eldorado, but the new car really didn’t have much in common with its forebears.
The car’s trim dimensions, upright stance, and lack of gratuitous adornment imparted a dignified appearance that appealed to the growing subset of the affluent for whom ostentation had become jejune in the post-Nixon world. Like today’s hybrid buyers, these were the very people who could afford huge gas-guzzlers. The Seville was a means to convey a social responsibility and refined taste in contrast to the “Superfly”-style Eldorado.
It’s not as if buyers were really giving up that much, apart from pointless bulk, to transition to the Seville. The 350- cubic-inch V-8 (supplied by Oldsmobile) provided performance comparable to an S-Class, and the Seville, although certainly expensive for a Cadillac, was bargain-priced compared with the big Benz.
The car is a pleasure to drive, with the V-8’s smooth power and the Turbo-Hydramatic’s barely perceptible shift points. The Seville floats along quite nicely, and there’s even a modicum of road feel. It doesn’t wallow like its larger badge-mates, and it mostly holds it own in corners, with enough lean to keep your attention. Understatement, in every sense, is the Seville’s calling card. At speed, it’s eerily quiet but the factory-provided eight-track tape, titled “Cadillac Presents the Music Master … Enoch Light and the Light Brigade,” breaks the silence, especially the last selection, “Sound Salute to Cadillac.”
Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/featur...llectible-classic-1976-1979-cadillac-seville/
Follow us: @AutomobileMag on Twitter | AutomobileMag on Facebook
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