The tenth generation Cadillac Eldorado was launched to great fanfare in 1979 and saw its sales figures fly higher than ever. Also buoyed was the Cadillac brand as a whole, which downsized its lineup at the right time and brought forth its first midsize – Seville – to great effect. As a result the brand managed its all-time sales record in 1979 of 381,113 cars.
Never to be matched again, 1980 was a turning point in Cadillac’s fortunes. The economy, inflation, and a poor job market caused a downward slide for GM’s most prestigious marque. That year sales declined by 55.8 percent, to 213,002 in total. Not to worry though, Cadillac had prepared a new type of engine to hit the competition where it hurt the most. The V8-6-4!
Standard on all models in 1981 apart from Seville (where the awful Olds Diesel was standard) was a 368 cubic inch (6.0L) V8 with cylinder deactivation technology, dubbed V8-6-4. In short, solenoids were attached to the cylinder heads and allowed either two or four cylinders to be shut off depending upon driving demands. This was supposed to improve fuel economy but didn’t work in reality, as the simple ECU managing the calculations could not keep up with real-world driving. There were multiple issues with the engine systems immediately.
This disastrous engine experiment lasted for only one year before it was dropped (full Abandoned History coverage here), but had a downstream effect: It rushed the HT4100 V8 to production and so the new engine arrived half-baked. The HT was intended to debut on front-drive Cadillacs in 1983 but instead appeared in all Cadillacs save for commercial chassis in 1982. Head bolts pulled from blocks, intake manifold gaskets failed, and the HT4100 was an engineering mess that Cadillac would repeat a decade later with Northstar. Abandoned History covered HT4100 as well, here.
The 1981 Cadillac lineup was a carryover affair, aside from much worse engines. Marketing changed the company’s tagline, a subtle recognition that Cadillac was no longer a world-class automobile. The longstanding “Standard of the World” slogan from 1908 was replaced by something more specific and defined, “An American Standard of the World.” The following year the slogan was replaced again, by “Best of all…it’s a Cadillac.”
Cadillac’s most basic model remained the DeVille, available in Coupe and Sedan formats. In 1981 there were 86,991 sedans sold, and 62,724 coupes. The fortunes of the Coupe DeVille turned in 1980 as Americans began their shift away from large coupes and two-door sedans and into regular sedans and personal luxury coupes.
Sedan DeVille asked $13,847 ($51,564 adj.) that year and was slightly more expensive than the Coupe DeVille’s $13,450 ($50,085 adj.). This was also a change over past generations, where coupe and sedan were priced at parity or the coupe was slightly more expensive since it was considered more stylish. Fleetwood Brougham sales are included in the statistics above, and pricing is not available for this year.
Seville entered its second sales year in front-drive bustleback format in 1981, and figures fell to 28,631 cars. Pricing is not available for Seville this particular year. More successful was the ever-desirable Eldorado, the only model in Cadillac’s lineup to improve its sales over 1980. The coupe sold 60,643 examples in 1981 and had a greatly increased $19,334 ($71,997 adj.) base price accounting for the inflation of the time.
Fleetwood Limousine and Fleetwood Formal Limousine were still in production in small numbers, though finding that data seems impossible. An article in 1982 cited Cadillac at 230,665 total sales in 1981, which would mean the numbers above are not entirely accurate. Cadillac improved its sales in 1981 by around 8 percent, notably worse performance than European manufacturers.
To compete with the European makes and their smaller, more sporty cars, Cadillac reached lower than ever in 1982 when it introduced the Cimarron. A luxury-lined J-Body Chevy Cavalier, the Cimarron was Cadillac’s first compact car, its first badge job of a Chevrolet, and its first four-cylinder (1.8 or 1.9L) powered car. Abandoned History covered the Cimarron in full a few years ago, should that interest.
The new smallest Cadillac ever asked $12,181 ($41,848 adj.) and was the most illustrious Cavalier sibling, alongside the Buick Skyhawk and Oldsmobile Firenza. It managed 25,968 sales its first year, a high mark for the model. Much more successful were the long-running Coupe DeVille with 50,310 sales, and the Sedan DeVille with 86,020. Sedan DeVille saw a price hike in 1982 to $15,699 ($53,935 adj.) and the coupe asked $15,249 ($52,389 adj.). The higher priced Fleetwood Brougham is included in the above figures, and cost about $2,000 ($6,871 adj.) more.
Customers were tired of the expensive midsize Seville, and the shine had worn off its innovative bustleback styling by 1982. Sales fell to their lowest point at just 19,988 cars. The Eldorado nearly matched its 1980 sales as 52,018 examples were sold in 1982. Though the asking price remained at about the same $19,334 ($66,423 adj.), 1982 was the lowest point in the tenth-gen Eldorado’s sales.
Assuming Fleetwood Limousine sales continued on their trajectory of around 1,500 examples, we’d have total Cadillac sales of around 236,000 for 1982. Sources cite both 290,138 and 309,811 as sales totals that year, which would include commercial chassis manufacture. The early Eighties proved to be a poor period of documentation for Cadillac’s sales totals.
1983 was another carryover year for Cadillac, as the brand struggled with engine mishaps in the HT4100, and a customer base that had soured somewhat on its offerings. Cimarron sales fell to 19,194 cars in its second year on the market. The Coupe Deville and Sedan DeVille reflected improved sales in 1983 at 65,670 and 109,004 respectively. The gulf between coupe and sedan continued to widen, and pricing remained similar to the prior year for DeVille and Fleetwood Brougham.
Seville’s sales improved to 30,430, a healthy increase over the prior year. Seville’s price had increased to a healthy $21,440 ($71,022 adj.) by 1983, notably more expensive than the Eldorado. The Eldorado fared well in its final year as a lone coupe. Customers purchased 67,416 Eldorados as pricing remained static.
Fleetwood Limousine remained on sale to little fanfare. However, it’s clear Cadillac’s sales fortunes were on the mend by 1983. We can account for 291,714 cars not including commercial chassis sales.
There was a last-of moment at Cadillac in 1984, as the brand would swap from a primarily rear-drive lineup to a front-drive one in 1985. Cimarron sold 21,898 examples in 1984, as the brand continued to make improvements to its instantly criticized small car effort. DeVille experienced its final year as a full-size car, and sold 50,840 Coupe DeVilles and 107,920 Sedan DeVilles, figures which include Fleetwood Brougham.
Seville had its best sales year ever at 39,997 cars, proving there was still some interest left in the midsize model. Its prime competition was the Fox-based Lincoln Continental, which was the only other bustleback vehicle on the market. Eldorado split (and improved) its fortunes in 1984 with the new convertible version built by ASC. It also had its best sales year ever in 1984 with 74,506 coupe sales, and 3,300 convertibles.
Fleetwood Limousines would bow out quietly at the end of 1984, as the last time Cadillac would offer a true factory-built limousine. What remained after were somewhat stretched versions of front-drive midsize sedans. We can account for 298,641 Cadillac sales in 1984, which would be well over 300,000 with commercial chassis and Limousines included.
There were enough changes to the lineup in 1985 that it’s worth separate coverage next time. It was the beginning of the Irv Rybicki era of cookie cutter cars at GM, and Cadillac was hit the hardest by the changes. The lineup was rebranded and fractured into front-drive “full-size” cars, rear-drive full-size cars somewhere in the middle, and leftover high-end products in the Seville and Eldorado.
[Images: GM]
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