[91 s-10baja]

Fleetwood coupe, and sedan were lengthened for 1989. They each benefited from the same elongations the DeVilles experienced. After a two year absence, the Fleetwood returned to the line with room for six passengers. Many of the standard and optional equipment items available for DeVilles find homes in Fleetwoods as well. The Fleetwood however, now offered Teves Electronic Anti-Lock braking as an important standard equipment upgrade...

Video: 1989 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty-Special Test Drive

 

[MalibuMan2010]

And thus ends the great debate: 2015 Cadillac ATS: Why Cadillac Can't Sell A Great Car. The stench of this sad era of Cadillac has not yet passed.

Compare to what the competition was selling at the time:

Edit:
At :07 in the video, note the beautiful real wood trim on the dash of the BMW. Twenty-five years later, Cadillac is still filling its vehicles with sheets of fake plastic trim. Folks, this is not luxury. It is garish.

Look at the two watches below. In my mind, one represents Cadillac luxury. One represents Mercedes Benz luxury. I will let you decide which is which.

 

[1958carnut]

Let's just scrape the door handles off during a hard corner. Wow. These were definitely not Cadillac's glory days. I think the original "downsized Cadillacs from 1977 were better executed than these.

 

[91 s-10baja]

Let's just scrape the door handles off during a hard corner. Wow. These were definitely not Cadillac's glory days. I think the original "downsized Cadillacs from 1977 were better executed than these.

I would argue this model was far more space efficient(interior) than the 77

 

[bicentennialcadillac]

I would argue this model was far more space efficient(interior) than the 77

Better use of space, yes, but the proportions were heinous. Makes the new XTS seem suave.

The '77, for all its flaws relative to the '76, at least looked the part.

 

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

^^ There was something about these that seemed cheesy and fake, but much less so than the 1986. The 1977 everyone loves, but it seems practically even worse "let's take a Caprice and throw chrome at it"

 

[NINETY_EIGHT_REGENCY]

 

[91 s-10baja]

Better use of space, yes, but the proportions were heinous. Makes the new XTS seem suave.

The '77, for all its flaws relative to the '76, at least looked the part.

perhaps, but that is a subjective conclusion. not until 1993 did the full size rear drive Caddy 'Look the part' .... to me The 77-92 looked like artificial luxury. Tacked on, over done...

^^ There was something about these that seemed cheesy and fake, but much less so than the 1986. The 1977 everyone loves, but it seems practically even worse "let's take a Caprice and throw chrome at it"

Agreed.

 

[KingElvis]

I remember at the time I read it more as GM bouncing back from the CAFE heights reached in '85-'86 when this chassis debuted. They seemed to be slathering more 'fat' back on - getting bigger and roomier and with stronger engines.

Again I'll say, Cad would wish to have this much market segment today - but times were much different then. I've often said this "H" chassis and the '91-96 B bodies should've been combined into one 116-120" wheelbase longitudinal engine unit body that could be fwd, rwd or awd - kinda derived from the Caddy Voyage concept. The took front drive lux sedan handling pretty far with Seville, so I don't think the Series 60 = all fwd handling at all.

Yeah comparison to Bim 7 is kinda damning. OTOH, Cad is only NOW coming up with a real response to the 7. Could be the Ats doesn't sell because there is no CT6 yet.

 

[Dequindre]

I love land yachts!

 

[Dirk Wiggler]

People on this site are quick to say "Bring back the Fleetwood name". No thank you-- the Fleetwood name belongs in the junkyard. I'm cool with the anonymous names ATS and CTS have as long as they remain the excellent vehicles they are.

 

[johnls_39]

Kind of surprise that people on here don't like the '89-'93 Fleetwood (Fleetwood Sixty-Special). The last generation, imo, is one of the best looking out of all the Sixty-Specials. Although the '87-'88 looks nice, they were my least favorite due to the shortened look.

The only Cadillac that kind of took its place was the Fleetwood Limited '98-'99 which was a coach model that was pretty nice as well but I would take the Sixty-Special over it.

Although the 7 series and S Class were fine high-end vehicles and served their purpose, they did not had the road presence like the Sixty-Special.

 

[BlackGTP]

People on this site are quick to say "Bring back the Fleetwood name". No thank you-- the Fleetwood name belongs in the junkyard. I'm cool with the anonymous names ATS and CTS have as long as they remain the excellent vehicles they are.

This is exactly what I think of when I hear Brougham, Fleetwood and all of those other "great" names. Slap on of those old fart names on my ATS and I would've never bought it.

Though at the time, to me, these Cadillac's looked like jokes/old people cars that were little more than rebadges, especially vs. the German competition. But now they have a kind of coolness to them.

 

[ehaase]

I wish people still wanted cars like DeVille, Fleetwood, and Eldorado and that Cadillac still made them. However, I think Cadillac should have developed something like the CT6 before smaller cars like the ATS and CTS.

 

[fastball]

My Grandfather was the stereotype of the old Cadillac customer. He bought a 1985 Eldorado brand new, then it was stolen in 1993 and he bought a '93 Sedan deVille. Which was the car he owned until he passed in 2007. I learned to drive on the Eldorado and drove the deVille many times. I actually drove it for two months on a daily basis to work and used it as my every day car after he passed.

But I never wanted to keep it. I know there are people who lament these old luxobarges have gone away, but when you compare them to even low end modern cars there's no comparison, in my opinion. I like a car that stops fast, doesn't float, and has some steering feel.

 

[Amphibian]

This should've been the last Fleetwood of this type. With the debut of the 1989 Lexus LS and Infiniti Q40, the bells should've gone at the HQs of Cadillac and Lincoln. The 1993 Fleetwood, or the next Deville, should've been a serious sedan. BMW and MB already had this segment, while Audi, Infiniti, and Lexus were making a name for themselves with the V8 Quattro, LS, and Q. A heavily modified VR Caprice platform could've been the basis, along with the then-new Northstar V-8. It's really too bad because both GM and Ford had the finances, resources, and know-how to compete had they wanted to, but SUVs and trucks were the focus.

 

[Butz]

The 1980s were an awful time for Cadillac except for the Brougham.

 

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

This should've been the last Fleetwood of this type. With the debut of the 1989 Lexus LS and Infiniti Q40, the bells should've gone at the HQs of Cadillac and Lincoln. The 1993 Fleetwood, or the next Deville, should've been a serious sedan. BMW and MB already had this segment, while Audi, Infiniti, and Lexus were making a name for themselves with the V8 Quattro, LS, and Q. A heavily modified VR Caprice platform could've been the basis, along with the then-new Northstar V-8. It's really too bad because both GM and Ford had the finances, resources, and know-how to compete had they wanted to, but SUVs and trucks were the focus.

I'm not sure if they could have gone anywhere near those cars with a Caprice platform... I mean BOF with a live rear axle against an Q45, LOL :lmao:

 

[91 s-10baja]

The 1980s were an awful time for Cadillac except for the Brougham.

The Brougham epitomized the awful times for caddy in the 80s.

 

[fastball]

Problem for Cadillac today, whether they like it or not, and whether GM and Cadillac fans like it or not, is that these awful cars are still fresh in people's minds.

I was a kid when they were brand new.