When I was in college, my Grandmother gave me her 74 CDV. Excellent condition. I did notice that weird woodgrain color. So, I got some black paint, dipped a rag into the can, smudged it on the "wood" , wiped it off...problem solved. Grateful I had this car. Yes, the wiper control was a nightmare. I had to concentrate when operating, almost like being distracted on an Iphone. I think the color was Cranberry Firemist with a white leather interior and white vinyl cabriolet. I drove that baby to the beaches in Long Island, no problem. She was a beast. Thanks for the memory.
I luv it, almost fifty years later and we're critiquing old American barge interiors! Now that you put it this way I can see the cheapness feaux look. That yellowish wood was supposed to be like an exotic teak or such. Turned out looking more like oak kitchen cab wood 😆 My '71 Olds 98 sedan had a clock in the back seat between huge pull straps. But I must admit, the plastic was hard. Still I loved the feel of that dark blue brocade seats. Felt cool and smooth on the hottest Texas day.
All very good points... my grandparents used to have an Impala of that era, which I always thought had a fine interior that was arguably better than the Cadillac, and it was nearly as quiet, powerful, and smooth riding as the Caddy. The seats were obviously not as comfortable as the Caddy, but I always loved that Impala and felt very safe in it.
Gotta tell ya Adam, my mom had a good laugh at the 1974 Cadillac interior trim, she called it, "plastic peanut butter". But for 1975, Cadillac rolled out a new Simulated Distressed Pecan interior trim - and mom flipped when she saw it, "looks like they threw a little simulated chocolate in the peanut butter".
Hey Adam, you hit the nail on the head regarding the woodgrain of the 74 Cadillac!!! I am also a big fan of the wood trim of the Continental Mark lll 👍👍🙂
I have a Lincoln story for ya. I had a 71 Mark in the 90's that was originally a nice silver color with a red plush velour interior. By the time I owned it the sun had faded it to a dull grey car with a strangely pink interior. Add that it was plush velour and about the only thing that you would have to add to make a crazy looking lowrider would have been fuzzy dice and the little dangly balls! Car was a beast though and super fun to drive, 365 hp from the factory! I miss when gas was cheap.
The flimsy GM vents continued into 2000s. The GM truck line thru 1994 are prone to this… and that woodgrain I feel like was a practice of the time on a lot of 1970s plastic in cars or in homes a yellow plastic with a brown coating applied in various thicknesses to look like grain that didn’t hold up to cleaning. I think the 79 Cadillac had HORRIBLE woodgrain, and I’m not a fan of the 80 up teak. The 89 Deville and 90 Brougham brought out some of the finest fake wood I know of. My 83 Electra with its very unnatural blonde version of butterfly walnut compared to Oldsmobiles beautiful dark wood (as in my 85 Toronado Caliente) is also OK at best. The fact that they couldn’t dip the whole panel like the door panel tops rather just screen printed the grain on the flat face ruins the whole look.
Adam, I agree with you 100%. I have no problem with the wiper controls on my 1976 Fleetwood though. On the vent issue, I have had numerous Cadillacs with the same problem and my solution was to cut a small piece of electrical tape and place it sticky side together into the corner of the vents. That gives it the perfect friction to hold the vent in place. Otherwise, I love the overall design of the dashboard.
Interesting video. Sometimes trying too hard (from a manufacturing perspective) results in these odd decisions. The warning lights were a nice touch regarding its location.
Adam, you hit this one on the nail! The woodgrain on these cars just evidences a truly cynical approach to luxury, heightened no doubt by cost cutting concerns (oops, sorry!). The "carved" and "gunstock" versions on some of the Cadillacs in particular were just absolutely the worst in any car, ever. Given how well Lincoln (and to a lesser extent, Imperial) faux wood looked and felt, this SHOULD have been a real turn off to customers. Coupled with the fake upper vinyl padded area on the door panels, along with the vacuum formed lowers, this has to be the absolute nadir of Cadillac interior design. Alas, sales figures of these Cadillacs tell a different story.
In the late 70's there was little differentiating a Cadillac from other GM brands besides the name. You could get a Chevy built on the same platform and body style, and option it up with everything the Cadillac had, comfort wise it would be the same car, same engine, slightly different appearance. The knobs and switches were made of light cheap silver colored plastic, and although it didn't impact the function, it just felt cheap, not what you would expect from a car of the class. And of course the fake plastic wood... the Cimarron was the lowest depth to which they sunk... I remember the steering wheel vibrating up and down at idle in park, and the raucous popcorn sound of the diesel engine... We had an Oldsmobile that had "wood panelling" on the sides, it was just a vinyl sticker stuck to the side of the car...
I am a little behind on your new videos but could not help but laughed on the title of this one. I can only imagine the next video will be "The Varicosed" 😊🇨🇦
Definitely, the 1971-73 Cadillacs had nicer looking interiors. My big beef, in regard to styling, on 1975-76 was the stationary glass in the "C" pillar on 4 door sedans. It is like GM just cut a hole in the "C" pillar to change up the styling, but it really was not that appealing. The 2 door Cadillac coupes looked nice. Just my opinion.
I'm old enough to remember these cars; I was a college boy then. I can remember how hideous this Cadillac brochure's photos were, and that awful, awful wood grain plastic.
I don;t know why I always wanted a 1974 Talisman. They are hard to find. Since you mentioned the fake wood grain . My 1978 Eldorado Biarritz had the fake wood grain. What I thought was a solid piece of plastic turned out to be paper coated plastic. No different than picnic paper plates. That drove me nuts. Over the years I have owned many cars , too many, American and European. The air conditioning vents on all the American cars brake with the exception of the metal crotch coolers on GM cars.
I owned a '74 Coup de ville in '84. No complaints about the interior at all. The entire auto was super, with the exception of the paint which developed big round rust circles the size of grapefruits. I later heard it was inferior metal, or recycled steel or something. In any regards I ran the odometer up to 160k or so before she completely rotted. I just don't remember any issues with the interior. BTW I had the cloth plush seats in dark blue. The car was a Navy blue with a white Landau top. Pretty spiffy
The 74 cadillacs were like cruise ships. Sofa-style front seats that reminded me of grandma's overstuffed sofa and matching lounge chair. There was enough foam rubber in those seats to keep the world supplied in padded bras for eternity. cadillacs have always had electrical issues. Wish they would have focussed more on fixing electrical problems that still exist today.
Black markings on a 'brushed silver' background; you can still see that today in elevators that are inside of old buildings. My last '85 Crown Victoria had that useless 'high end' touch.
The 74 Coup DeVille will always have a place in my heart because my dad taught me how to drive in one when I was 12. I now drive a 100 foot long boat for a living. Coincidence? I think not.
My nomination for ugliest interior goes to a mid 80s Camaro. I was selling Chevys then and a Camaro came in with the name “CAMARO” in big block letters multiple times on the seats and the door panels on different colored fabrics backings. I can’t remember if it was a Z-28 or special edition but it was a special kind of ugly.
I thought this was an improvement over 69-73. The stainless steel speedo for 74 was a nice touch. That steering wheel from 74-76 was one of their best designs and made you feel important as you barged around town. I'd say bad was 85-93 Deville and 86-91 Eldo and Seville. Mundane cheap looking dash with a rude unfriendly layout.
I remember that a lot of Cadillac owners had paper stuffed between the vent and the housing in order to keep the vents from flipping out of position. The cars would only be a couple of years old before the vents became loose. They were simply cheaply made
Thank you Adam. Someone has finally said it. I owned a '74 coupe (by default) and agree with you 100%. It also was the worst car I have ever owned and I have owned 30. It was constantly broken. Love the '73.
Around 4:35 the yellow wood, could it be Maple (Birdseye)? If so maple has a yellow color like the video when no stain is used. Doesn't mean it looks good here.
That shot that illustrates the yellowness of the faux wood is kind of misleading. The steering wheel is cracked/broken at the top and the vinyl on the spokes is discolored. This makes it seem likely that that faux wood has been sun bleached. The faux wood on the blue dash from the brochure looks much darker/nicer. The wiper control certainly is really non-ergometric. How such a switch was signed off on for production is the real question. I guess maybe all the good engineers were working on the GM multi-function turn signal stalk solution.
The upper instrument panel theme with the warning lights in a separate panel above the vents would continue through the 1977-1992 Cadillac Deville/Brougham. While it may have been fresh in 1974 the design was passed by the early 1980s. When you compared the interiors of the large S Class, 7 Series and later Lexus LS it looked ancient. This stretched theme was not limited to Cadillac. Lincoln Town Cars had the same general theme. I believe it was this boring and cheap appearing interior that help drive younger baby boomers and X gen buyers to the import luxury vehicles. Even Cadillac’s import fighter Seville would have a very luxurious but boring stretched interior layout until the 1986 model year. And that generation had other issues well discussed on this channel. I would argue that Cadillac did not have another world class interior again until the 1992 Seville/Eldorado. In that light the 1974 Cadillac interior was a harbinger indeed.
You left out the best part about the faux woodgrain. The doors! The woodgrain decal just ended inside the latch part on the edge of the door so you could see that it was just a decal. And secondly, the escutcheon thing that holds on the door pull-strap was this gaudy wood look thing on some of them. It looked like it was supposed to be some kind of carved wood end cap. Sooooo cheesy. In Adam's photo it is a metal-look piece, but I've seen them in "wood" and they're awful. The should have stuck with "metal". That's all though. My parents had a '74 Eldorado in Cranberry Firemist with white leather and matching white Cabrio roof - yikes! Pretty sure I thought it was cool as a 13 year old 🤗... Also, this dash the video ends on looks very familiar and I think it's that same cranberry and white interior we had.
Well I have a 74 black interior which gets alot of compliments. But of course you guys don't like it, it's like fashion it changes. I think its way better than the 71-73 interiors. I guess sales of 74 caddy will go down now.
I've never seen that in reality but from an optical perspective the wheel is the worst thing, I believe. Not only that the "wood" in the rim doesn't match the center - the center looks like a cracked toilet seat cover. Regarding the mismatch of wood colors: My '98 Mercedes has the same problem (with real wood).
Chrysler had some really bad woodgrains on their door panels - mind immediately goes to the early 70s Monacos, but there are others. And then AMC would stick woodgrain inside the gauges, which made no sense at all, as there never would have been wood on a speedometer face in any era.
This kind of ugly styling that is completely irrational came back in the early 00s when several manufacturers put silver plastic all over dash boards to simulate aluminum trim. Lincoln was notorious for this. It looked really cheap and tacky. Electronics were also made in that color during this time. CRT flat screens and DVD players for example.
In Russian language there's even a special name for this shade of yellow-brown - "color of baby's accident" Though I don't find it the worst in industry, I used to sell Chinese light duty trucks once in my life - that was certainly much worse))
@@RareClassicCars Makes sense. Lincoln's 1974 interiors were had a bit of the 'plastic fantastic' interior syndrome going on as well, but they certainly had it all over what Cadillac division was trying to sell their customers. Malaise squared.
Hard to understand what they were thinking about, would it be a stretch to blame Cadillac with causing the whole decade of garish colour's and designs that pervaded so much of the 70s products and fashion?🙄🤣
Mabe the the Tackyest interior ever ...however the 74 El Dorado was without a doubt the most elegant of all the 70s caddilac El Dorado models ...hands down...
In the 1974 Motor Trend King of the Hill competition pitting the Cadillac against the Lincoln Town Car and the Imperial, I remember the writer saying the fake wood was so bad he couldn't believe Cadillac was serious. It took no imagination to see Caprice instead of Coupe de Ville on the dash.
I have that test in the Brooklands Books Imperial compilation. Hard to read in a way between that ugly Cadillac, the beautiful but shrunken Imperial and the still-lovely Lincoln. I was in college then, but I remember thinking at the time how much better the '75's were because they got the converters and unleaded gas and both performance and economy improved.
I have the magazine with that article , it's the june 1975 issue of road test magazine . They mentioned the cheapness of the caddy interior several times . They went on to say " no wonder the peasants are so happy , their chevies are as luxurious as a caddy . "
My parents bought a Coupe Deville in 74. I don’t remember the wood grain being yellowish. I do remember a terrible premature rust problem though! It was rusting around the wheel wells and rockers before it was 2 years old
My folks bought a new ‘74 CSD with leather interior. It was the biggest POS from day one. Transmission problems (4 repairs in a few years). All the issues you mention are true. Leather seats were good quality, though. Years later they bought a new ‘79 Mark 5. While still lots of plastic, a much better car. The benchmark, still, are the Mark III interiors. Maybe the best ever to this day.
I agree that the woodgrain in 1974 was hideous, but my favorite part was the silver instrument cluster for some reason. It just looks more upscale than the later years. The best combo for me would be the 1976 interior with the 74 silver gauge bezel.
Many '70's cars had cheap, generic interiors. The '71 - '73 Cadillacs looked and felt like taxi cabs inside. The '71 - '74 Mopar muscle cars had great interior designs but used horrible, cheap plastics. The best Cadillac dash is the '65 - '66.
I thought overall it was an improved interior to the previous one. I for one prefer fake wood to real. I’ve paid exorbitant amounts to restore real wood interiors. Real wood ages horribly.
I had a 75 with the same layout. The details of the Woode altered for the three years they ran. It was marginally less offensive by the time 76 rolled around but still wasn’t fooling anyone!
We had a 1974 Coupe DeVille, white on white with red interior. The red interior would bleed through in stain on the white vinyl top. It could not be repaired or bleached. My dad had to have it painted over a couple times. I cannot recall if that was on warranty, I think it was the first time. The bi-plane dash was something my dad pointed out to me when the car first came to our driveway. The radio antenna would come up just a foot or so when the radio was turned on which was so cool! My folks played Barry White over and over on a road trip when the car was new. Our Irish Setter, "TOBY" lie on a beach towel between my brother and I in the back seat. Ultimately, we came to call the car "The Sled", there were many fun trips, jokes and laughing about the big car and our life and times with it. My dad would joke that he could park anywhere he wanted because it's a Cadillac. I do recall this car overheating (boiling over) on mountain trips despite being in good running order. Car weighed about 5,000 lbs. We had the car from 74' to 1985 when the folks got an 85' Eldo, white on white with a beautiful Navy blue interior. Smooth, high- revving sounding, EFI engine sounded so cool at idle with a soft, precision, ticking, EFI sound. Adam, Thank you so much for your prolific posting!
I have a '74 Eldorado. The wood was described as "destressed pecan" and has an almost green tinge to it. I swapped it out with '77-'78 Eldorado wood which has a much more realistic look to it. The big issue with the vents is that the little foam pieces on the sides of the vents that were supposed to provide the friction to keep the vent in its location fails quickly.
I wonder if the "jaundiced" look got worse as the cars aged. The sun does a number on most plastics. Maybe there were coatings or polishes to adjust the tint and enhance the 3 dimensional appearances of such finishes.
My very first car was a 1973 Coupe DeVille that I bought for $500.00 from my Grandparents. I have to agree with you… the ‘74 interiors were odd and subpar. I liked my ‘73 a lot.
1974 was a bad year disregarding the automotive designs that were probably made 3 years earlier.. Gasoline went from 29.9 cents a gallon to $0.79 a gallon. It was rocked by and everybody in my neighborhood in Southeastern Michigan.
As a sort of converse to this, the 2009 SRX4 my mother used to have had real wood that was so badly varnished it looked and felt like cheap plastic. (As did the chrome surround on the center stack, but to be fair, that _was_ cheap plastic.)
That 73 Cadillac interior is beautiful. My mother would refer to the 74 interior as "god awful". They had some other colorful descriptions that can't be written here. Would love to meet the "brain trust" that came up with that terrible wiper control. And yes, that faux wood grain is so cheesy and ugly for sure. What the heck were they thinking??
4:05 - I tend to notice and focus on details that few others do, in a situation or photo: Notice underneath the dash, two recessed openings - presumably the cigarette lighter-ashtray combo, and to the right, the glove compartment. The alignment of those panels, when closed, is so poor for "The World Standard", lol!
Great video. The ‘74 Pontiac Grand Ville also had some interesting faux wood on the door panels complete with simulated carved details. It was dropped for the ‘75 model year.
Look at the plastic surround around the speedometer: At the top it sags down, and you see the same non rectangular design around the vents and in other areas. This is utterly unacceptable today! I don't know how people bought these expensive cars back then with this sort of sloppy attention to detail when there were foreign built alternatives that did NOT look like this~
I had 1974 Coupe DeVille here in Finland, and yes, I didn't quite like some of these interior touches, especially wiper control you mentioned. It was awful.The car was very comfortable and made a statement everywhere I drove,so it was a real Cadillac anyway! And btw, 472 was thirsty beast but it would spin a tire EASILY.
I was never a fan of the strange 3 spoke steering wheel Cadillac used in that era. It just loos odd to me. Maybe it's because I'm so accustomed to the two spoke Chevy wheel that was used in so much through the 70's and 80's.
I have to agree that the plastic wood was very “plasticy”. I also never liked how in the GM cars they would sometimes have the color of the dash and steering wheel different from the rest of the interior and carpet. I just thought it didn’t flow or look good. On a final note, I also thought that the upper end Buicks, like the Park Avenue and even the 98’s had a nicer, more plush interior than the Devilles in ‘75 and ‘76.
Coming out of Jaguars and Mercedes S class cars as a young boy and entering a 1973 model Ford LTD Country Squire, it took some swallowing looking at the faux wood. But, the size, the ride, the noise the scent and the looks on everybody's eyes (in the Netherlands) when that battle cruiser came into view, I will never forget. I was deeply in love with that Ford. And no, my father was not rich at all, he just drove CEO's cars for a living (and sometimes took me with him, if his work and my school allowed it).
When I was in college, my Grandmother gave me her 74 CDV. Excellent condition. I did notice that weird woodgrain color. So, I got some black paint, dipped a rag into the can, smudged it on the "wood" , wiped it off...problem solved. Grateful I had this car. Yes, the wiper control was a nightmare. I had to concentrate when operating, almost like being distracted on an Iphone.
I think the color was Cranberry Firemist with a white leather interior and white vinyl cabriolet. I drove that baby to the beaches in Long Island, no problem. She was a beast. Thanks for the memory.
I luv it, almost fifty years later and we're critiquing old American barge interiors! Now that you put it this way I can see the cheapness feaux look. That yellowish wood was supposed to be like an exotic teak or such. Turned out looking more like oak kitchen cab wood 😆
My '71 Olds 98 sedan had a clock in the back seat between huge pull straps.
But I must admit, the plastic was hard. Still I loved the feel of that dark blue brocade seats. Felt cool and smooth on the hottest Texas day.
All very good points... my grandparents used to have an Impala of that era, which I always thought had a fine interior that was arguably better than the Cadillac, and it was nearly as quiet, powerful, and smooth riding as the Caddy. The seats were obviously not as comfortable as the Caddy, but I always loved that Impala and felt very safe in it.
My parents owned a 65 Impala wagon and I really loved that car. A lot of value for the money.
Gotta tell ya Adam, my mom had a good laugh at the 1974 Cadillac interior trim, she called it, "plastic peanut butter". But for 1975, Cadillac rolled out a new Simulated Distressed Pecan interior trim - and mom flipped when she saw it, "looks like they threw a little simulated chocolate in the peanut butter".
Two great tastes that taste great together!
@@ZGryphon But they don't belong as applique on dashboards. Adam and eddstarr's mother are completely justified in their conclusions.
Its so ugly, i love it lol
@@ZGryphon To have such awful interior trim in a premium car - it was like a real-life comedy show! 😂
In the 1940's and early 1950's, the woodgrain was painted and looked great. It was painted on my 1995 Oldsmobile 98 as well.
Hey Adam, you hit the nail on the head regarding the woodgrain of the 74 Cadillac!!! I am also a big fan of the wood trim of the Continental Mark lll 👍👍🙂
You forgot to mention the simulated imitation "carved wood" appliques.
I have a Lincoln story for ya. I had a 71 Mark in the 90's that was originally a nice silver color with a red plush velour interior. By the time I owned it the sun had faded it to a dull grey car with a strangely pink interior. Add that it was plush velour and about the only thing that you would have to add to make a crazy looking lowrider would have been fuzzy dice and the little dangly balls! Car was a beast though and super fun to drive, 365 hp from the factory! I miss when gas was cheap.
The flimsy GM vents continued into 2000s. The GM truck line thru 1994 are prone to this… and that woodgrain I feel like was a practice of the time on a lot of 1970s plastic in cars or in homes a yellow plastic with a brown coating applied in various thicknesses to look like grain that didn’t hold up to cleaning. I think the 79 Cadillac had HORRIBLE woodgrain, and I’m not a fan of the 80 up teak. The 89 Deville and 90 Brougham brought out some of the finest fake wood I know of. My 83 Electra with its very unnatural blonde version of butterfly walnut compared to Oldsmobiles beautiful dark wood (as in my 85 Toronado Caliente) is also OK at best. The fact that they couldn’t dip the whole panel like the door panel tops rather just screen printed the grain on the flat face ruins the whole look.
Adam, I agree with you 100%. I have no problem with the wiper controls on my 1976 Fleetwood though. On the vent issue, I have had numerous Cadillacs with the same problem and my solution was to cut a small piece of electrical tape and place it sticky side together into the corner of the vents. That gives it the perfect friction to hold the vent in place. Otherwise, I love the overall design of the dashboard.
Interesting video. Sometimes trying too hard (from a manufacturing perspective) results in these odd decisions. The warning lights were a nice touch regarding its location.
This is the best UA-cam channel ever
Adam, you hit this one on the nail! The woodgrain on these cars just evidences a truly cynical approach to luxury, heightened no doubt by cost cutting concerns (oops, sorry!). The "carved" and "gunstock" versions on some of the Cadillacs in particular were just absolutely the worst in any car, ever. Given how well Lincoln (and to a lesser extent, Imperial) faux wood looked and felt, this SHOULD have been a real turn off to customers. Coupled with the fake upper vinyl padded area on the door panels, along with the vacuum formed lowers, this has to be the absolute nadir of Cadillac interior design. Alas, sales figures of these Cadillacs tell a different story.
I like how the cutout for the steering wheel and speedometer are shaped like a crest to pay tribute to the Cadillac logo.
In the late 70's there was little differentiating a Cadillac from other GM brands besides the name. You could get a Chevy built on the same platform and body style, and option it up with everything the Cadillac had, comfort wise it would be the same car, same engine, slightly different appearance. The knobs and switches were made of light cheap silver colored plastic, and although it didn't impact the function, it just felt cheap, not what you would expect from a car of the class. And of course the fake plastic wood... the Cimarron was the lowest depth to which they sunk... I remember the steering wheel vibrating up and down at idle in park, and the raucous popcorn sound of the diesel engine...
We had an Oldsmobile that had "wood panelling" on the sides, it was just a vinyl sticker stuck to the side of the car...
I am a little behind on your new videos but could not help but laughed on the title of this one. I can only imagine the next video will be "The Varicosed" 😊🇨🇦
Definitely, the 1971-73 Cadillacs had nicer looking interiors. My big beef, in regard to styling, on 1975-76 was the stationary glass in the "C" pillar on 4 door sedans. It is like GM just cut a hole in the "C" pillar to change up the styling, but it really was not that appealing. The 2 door Cadillac coupes looked nice. Just my opinion.
“They don’t make em like they used too!”
*THANK GOD FOR THAT,* lol
I'm old enough to remember these cars; I was a college boy then. I can remember how hideous this Cadillac brochure's photos were, and that awful, awful wood grain plastic.
I don;t know why I always wanted a 1974 Talisman. They are hard to find. Since you mentioned the fake wood grain . My 1978 Eldorado Biarritz had the fake wood grain. What I thought was a solid piece of plastic turned out to be paper coated plastic. No different than picnic paper plates. That drove me nuts.
Over the years I have owned many cars , too many, American and European. The air conditioning vents on all the American cars brake with the exception of the metal crotch coolers on GM cars.
The fake burled Walnut in my 70 Eldo is'nt plastic. Its photo embossed steel.
Lincoln used that " brushed" aluminum instrument cluster in the late 70's
I agree 👍 buddy with you a 💯 percent actually the 74 is the model I never liked I hate the headlight frame on them with a passion
I remember Grandma and Grandpas 1974 Buick LeSabre having the silver speedometer. A little different.
That silver speedo back plate was probably a nod to the silver face stereo receivers being produced in that era.
At least you could read the black lettering on the silver stereos! Now my Yamaha receiver has dark gray lettering on black... genius.
I think the worst wood grain ever used was that bright, yellow wood that Lexus used in the early-00s. At least it was real, but it was still hideous.
When I went to college in the fall of 76 my boss let me drive his 74 Eldorado and I remember thinking how can a car be better than this.
I owned a '74 Coup de ville in '84. No complaints about the interior at all. The entire auto was super, with the exception of the paint which developed big round rust circles the size of grapefruits. I later heard it was inferior metal, or recycled steel or something. In any regards I ran the odometer up to 160k or so before she completely rotted. I just don't remember any issues with the interior. BTW I had the cloth plush seats in dark blue. The car was a Navy blue with a white Landau top. Pretty spiffy
Mine was rusted around the little posts that held the side molding on...and a few other places.
The 1973 Cadillac dashboards and clusters were the last nice ones
I have a 71 eldorado convertible I owned a 68 Thunderbird bird previously and really liked that tbird interior more it was much more luxurious
The 74 cadillacs were like cruise ships. Sofa-style front seats that reminded me of grandma's overstuffed sofa and matching lounge chair. There was enough foam rubber in those seats to keep the world supplied in padded bras for eternity. cadillacs have always had electrical issues. Wish they would have focussed more on fixing electrical problems that still exist today.
In 1975 my Cadillac Dad bought his first Mercedes. Tells you all you need to know.
Black markings on a 'brushed silver' background; you can still see that today in elevators that are inside of old buildings.
My last '85 Crown Victoria had that useless 'high end' touch.
The 74 Coup DeVille will always have a place in my heart because my dad taught me how to drive in one when I was 12. I now drive a 100 foot long boat for a living. Coincidence? I think not.
Lighting up the '74 Cadillac tonight, eh Adam?
Will we ever get one on the 3 different shades of contact paper wood in the Mark IV and it's own silver faced gauges?
My nomination for ugliest interior goes to a mid 80s Camaro. I was selling Chevys then and a Camaro came in with the name “CAMARO” in big block letters multiple times on the seats and the door panels on different colored fabrics backings. I can’t remember if it was a Z-28 or special edition but it was a special kind of ugly.
That 1971 with the black seats looks fantastic to me
I thought this was an improvement over 69-73. The stainless steel speedo for 74 was a nice touch. That steering wheel from 74-76 was one of their best designs and made you feel important as you barged around town. I'd say bad was 85-93 Deville and 86-91 Eldo and Seville. Mundane cheap looking dash with a rude unfriendly layout.
I remember that a lot of Cadillac owners had paper stuffed between the vent and the housing in order to keep the vents from flipping out of position. The cars would only be a couple of years old before the vents became loose. They were simply cheaply made
Thank you Adam. Someone has finally said it. I owned a '74 coupe (by default) and agree with you 100%. It also was the worst car I have ever owned and I have owned 30. It was constantly broken. Love the '73.
We had a '68 deville. Last of the better quality caddy dash layout. Uncle had a '70 remember black plastic everywhere!
Around 4:35 the yellow wood, could it be Maple (Birdseye)? If so maple has a yellow color like the video when no stain is used. Doesn't mean it looks good here.
It’s fake wood
Really appreciate the fact new cars don’t look like a sweaty shaggn van anymore lol
That shot that illustrates the yellowness of the faux wood is kind of misleading. The steering wheel is cracked/broken at the top and the vinyl on the spokes is discolored. This makes it seem likely that that faux wood has been sun bleached. The faux wood on the blue dash from the brochure looks much darker/nicer.
The wiper control certainly is really non-ergometric. How such a switch was signed off on for production is the real question. I guess maybe all the good engineers were working on the GM multi-function turn signal stalk solution.
Just a heads up Adam the title reads "woodrain" instead of "woodgrain". Thanks for your awesome, unique content!
Thanks for that!
The upper instrument panel theme with the warning lights in a separate panel above the vents would continue through the 1977-1992 Cadillac Deville/Brougham. While it may have been fresh in 1974 the design was passed by the early 1980s. When you compared the interiors of the large S Class, 7 Series and later Lexus LS it looked ancient. This stretched theme was not limited to Cadillac. Lincoln Town Cars had the same general theme. I believe it was this boring and cheap appearing interior that help drive younger baby boomers and X gen buyers to the import luxury vehicles. Even Cadillac’s import fighter Seville would have a very luxurious but boring stretched interior layout until the 1986 model year. And that generation had other issues well discussed on this channel. I would argue that Cadillac did not have another world class interior again until the 1992 Seville/Eldorado. In that light the 1974 Cadillac interior was a harbinger indeed.
You left out the best part about the faux woodgrain. The doors! The woodgrain decal just ended inside the latch part on the edge of the door so you could see that it was just a decal. And secondly, the escutcheon thing that holds on the door pull-strap was this gaudy wood look thing on some of them. It looked like it was supposed to be some kind of carved wood end cap. Sooooo cheesy. In Adam's photo it is a metal-look piece, but I've seen them in "wood" and they're awful. The should have stuck with "metal". That's all though. My parents had a '74 Eldorado in Cranberry Firemist with white leather and matching white Cabrio roof - yikes! Pretty sure I thought it was cool as a 13 year old 🤗... Also, this dash the video ends on looks very familiar and I think it's that same cranberry and white interior we had.
Worse than this imo is the even more yellow and grotesque the "rose wood" trim in the early 90s Altimas.
That was damning…but you have to call ‘em as you see ‘em…
It's the faux wood grain of the 80s and 70s that made me hate faux wood grain
Well I have a 74 black interior which gets alot of compliments. But of course you guys don't like it, it's like fashion it changes. I think its way better than the 71-73 interiors. I guess sales of 74 caddy will go down now.
Lots of things were ugly in the 70s. But I steel like that big steering wheel with the wood base for the Cadillac emblem.
Thank you for the Radiohead reference! Lol!
And so, Cadillac begins its existence on reputation alone for the next 30 years….
I've never seen that in reality but from an optical perspective the wheel is the worst thing, I believe. Not only that the "wood" in the rim doesn't match the center - the center looks like a cracked toilet seat cover.
Regarding the mismatch of wood colors: My '98 Mercedes has the same problem (with real wood).
Chrysler had some really bad woodgrains on their door panels - mind immediately goes to the early 70s Monacos, but there are others. And then AMC would stick woodgrain inside the gauges, which made no sense at all, as there never would have been wood on a speedometer face in any era.
This kind of ugly styling that is completely irrational came back in the early 00s when several manufacturers put silver plastic all over dash boards to simulate aluminum trim. Lincoln was notorious for this. It looked really cheap and tacky. Electronics were also made in that color during this time. CRT flat screens and DVD players for example.
I thought the worst thing were the faux carvings in the wood elements...
In Russian language there's even a special name for this shade of yellow-brown - "color of baby's accident"
Though I don't find it the worst in industry, I used to sell Chinese light duty trucks once in my life - that was certainly much worse))
Glorious, revolutionary, Chinese trucks. We must maintain Party approved Correct Thinking.
I would have gladly driven a 1974 Caddy...if it had the ACRS option...
any comments about how the jaundiced plastic looks when it's 50 years old?
Compare that dash to the Jag XJ6
Very enjoyable
Definitely not Cadillac's brightest moment!
Didn't affect sales/profits too much, did it? Really, did it? I'm guessing not but you KNOW, Adam. Right? Do tell.
Not in 1974. But I think it caused a number of people not to be repeat buyers.
@@RareClassicCars Makes sense. Lincoln's 1974 interiors were had a bit of the 'plastic fantastic' interior syndrome going on as well, but they certainly had it all over what Cadillac division was trying to sell their customers. Malaise squared.
If you remove the word 'were' from my last reply it almost makes sense. Duh.
Hard to understand what they were thinking about, would it be a stretch to blame Cadillac with causing the whole decade of garish colour's and designs that pervaded so much of the 70s products and fashion?🙄🤣
Mabe the the Tackyest interior ever ...however the 74 El Dorado was without a doubt the most elegant of all the 70s caddilac El Dorado models ...hands down...
I think that pink color was worse than the wood grain.
The fake wood is bad, but those cheapo RV spec air vents are just awful!
You are unaware of their being species of wood that are yellow?
In the 1974 Motor Trend King of the Hill competition pitting the Cadillac against the Lincoln Town Car and the Imperial, I remember the writer saying the fake wood was so bad he couldn't believe Cadillac was serious. It took no imagination to see Caprice instead of Coupe de Ville on the dash.
I have that test in the Brooklands Books Imperial compilation. Hard to read in a way between that ugly Cadillac, the beautiful but shrunken Imperial and the still-lovely Lincoln. I was in college then, but I remember thinking at the time how much better the '75's were because they got the converters and unleaded gas and both performance and economy improved.
@@loveisall5520 lol
The Caprice were actually nicer cars
I have the magazine with that article , it's the june 1975 issue of road test magazine . They mentioned the cheapness of the caddy interior several times . They went on to say " no wonder the peasants are so happy , their chevies are as luxurious as a caddy . "
My parents bought a Coupe Deville in 74. I don’t remember the wood grain being yellowish. I do remember a terrible premature rust problem though! It was rusting around the wheel wells and rockers before it was 2 years old
Worst interior? 90s GM vehicle. Cheap materials, bizzare eregenomics, weirdly shaped seats, omg it was sad.
My folks bought a new ‘74 CSD with leather interior. It was the biggest POS from day one. Transmission problems (4 repairs in a few years). All the issues you mention are true. Leather seats were good quality, though. Years later they bought a new ‘79 Mark 5. While still lots of plastic, a much better car. The benchmark, still, are the Mark III interiors. Maybe the best ever to this day.
I agree that the woodgrain in 1974 was hideous, but my favorite part was the silver instrument cluster for some reason. It just looks more upscale than the later years. The best combo for me would be the 1976 interior with the 74 silver gauge bezel.
Many '70's cars had cheap, generic interiors. The '71 - '73 Cadillacs looked and felt like taxi cabs inside. The '71 - '74 Mopar muscle cars had great interior designs but used horrible, cheap plastics.
The best Cadillac dash is the '65 - '66.
I thought overall it was an improved interior to the previous one. I for one prefer fake wood to real. I’ve paid exorbitant amounts to restore real wood interiors. Real wood ages horribly.
Unless you're driving a Lexus 😉
@@8corymix8 Lexus it’s the same
Agree 100%! Sorry Adam!
I agree with the design itself. I loved it and considered the dash 100% better than the 73! I dug the long swept straight layout.
@@modspell I love the 95 deville
I had a 75 with the same layout. The details of the Woode altered for the three years they ran. It was marginally less offensive by the time 76 rolled around but still wasn’t fooling anyone!
We had a 1974 Coupe DeVille, white on white with red interior. The red interior would bleed through in stain on the white vinyl top. It could not be repaired or bleached. My dad had to have it painted over a couple times. I cannot recall if that was on warranty, I think it was the first time. The bi-plane dash was something my dad pointed out to me when the car first came to our driveway. The radio antenna would come up just a foot or so when the radio was turned on which was so cool! My folks played Barry White over and over on a road trip when the car was new. Our Irish Setter, "TOBY" lie on a beach towel between my brother and I in the back seat. Ultimately, we came to call the car "The Sled", there were many fun trips, jokes and laughing about the big car and our life and times with it. My dad would joke that he could park anywhere he wanted because it's a Cadillac. I do recall this car overheating (boiling over) on mountain trips despite being in good running order. Car weighed about 5,000 lbs. We had the car from 74' to 1985 when the folks got an 85' Eldo, white on white with a beautiful Navy blue interior. Smooth, high- revving sounding, EFI engine sounded so cool at idle with a soft, precision, ticking, EFI sound. Adam, Thank you so much for your prolific posting!
All those poor plastic trees that once lined our forests. Gone…. Lol. Well played Adam!
I have a '74 Eldorado. The wood was described as "destressed pecan" and has an almost green tinge to it. I swapped it out with '77-'78 Eldorado wood which has a much more realistic look to it. The big issue with the vents is that the little foam pieces on the sides of the vents that were supposed to provide the friction to keep the vent in its location fails quickly.
Howdy Mitch! Haven't seen an update on your project in quite a while. Janice's Eldo has become a fixture in the local parades.
My neighbor growing up had a ‘74 Fleetwood Brougham. It was brown with brown leather interior. The interior wood didn’t look that bad.
I wonder if the "jaundiced" look got worse as the cars aged. The sun does a number on most plastics. Maybe there were coatings or polishes to adjust the tint and enhance the 3 dimensional appearances of such finishes.
Everything said here is somewhat biased opinion....from someone with like 5 74 Mercurys... take from that what you will.
My very first car was a 1973 Coupe DeVille that I bought for $500.00 from my Grandparents. I have to agree with you… the ‘74 interiors were odd and subpar. I liked my ‘73 a lot.
No ac?
@@floridaroadways I had ac.
@@Jason-xb3jh I’m glad you did. My dad had a 73 Eldorado and I think it had a 473 or 500cubic engine. I can’t remember.
@@floridaroadways Mine had the 472 cid engine. My Grandparents had a Quarter Horse Ranch … they pulled a horse trailer with it.
@@Jason-xb3jh those Cadillacs were good back then. I want to buy a new Escalade but I’ll settle for a 2013-2015 Escalade.
When I sold Oldsmobiles I would mention that they had "real fake wood". That worked every time!
Sedan Devilles from '65/'69/'73 were my top favs.
I always loved the 65-66 Cadillac dash, the ignition location is up high on the dashboard
Agree. I prefer the 69 and 70 dashboard and controls.
Whoever designed that wiper control was on some good drugs!
1974 was a bad year disregarding the automotive designs that were probably made 3 years earlier..
Gasoline went from 29.9 cents a gallon to $0.79 a gallon. It was rocked by and everybody in my neighborhood in Southeastern Michigan.
As a sort of converse to this, the 2009 SRX4 my mother used to have had real wood that was so badly varnished it looked and felt like cheap plastic. (As did the chrome surround on the center stack, but to be fair, that _was_ cheap plastic.)
My TR 6 has a light plywood veneer dash. They crack with time.
That 73 Cadillac interior is beautiful. My mother would refer to the 74 interior as "god awful". They had some other colorful descriptions that can't be written here. Would love to meet the "brain trust" that came up with that terrible wiper control. And yes, that faux wood grain is so cheesy and ugly for sure. What the heck were they thinking??
4:05 - I tend to notice and focus on details that few others do, in a situation or photo: Notice underneath the dash, two recessed openings - presumably the cigarette lighter-ashtray combo, and to the right, the glove compartment. The alignment of those panels, when closed, is so poor for "The World Standard", lol!
Great video. The ‘74 Pontiac Grand Ville also had some interesting faux wood on the door panels complete with simulated carved details. It was dropped for the ‘75 model year.
Oh yes. It was awful too!
I like the top line of idiot lights.
Look at the plastic surround around the speedometer: At the top it sags down, and you see the same non rectangular design around the vents and in other areas. This is utterly unacceptable today! I don't know how people bought these expensive cars back then with this sort of sloppy attention to detail when there were foreign built alternatives that did NOT look like this~
The ‘73 curved, cockpit style Instrument panel was really nice, the ‘74 wasn’t even an instrument panel, just a flat cheap looking “dashboard”.
I had 1974 Coupe DeVille here in Finland, and yes, I didn't quite like some of these interior touches, especially wiper control you mentioned. It was awful.The car was very comfortable and made a statement everywhere I drove,so it was a real Cadillac anyway! And btw, 472 was thirsty beast but it would spin a tire EASILY.
The center of the steering wheel literally looks like a cheap plastic toy for kids. It's not just the color, but the grain pattern itself.
I love all 70 s interiors. The lush colors. The faux wood. The insane upholstery. The vinyl roof tops.
I was never a fan of the strange 3 spoke steering wheel Cadillac used in that era. It just loos odd to me. Maybe it's because I'm so accustomed to the two spoke Chevy wheel that was used in so much through the 70's and 80's.
I have to agree that the plastic wood was very “plasticy”. I also never liked how in the GM cars they would sometimes have the color of the dash and steering wheel different from the rest of the interior and carpet. I just thought it didn’t flow or look good. On a final note, I also thought that the upper end Buicks, like the Park Avenue and even the 98’s had a nicer, more plush interior than the Devilles in ‘75 and ‘76.
Coming out of Jaguars and Mercedes S class cars as a young boy and entering a 1973 model Ford LTD Country Squire, it took some swallowing looking at the faux wood. But, the size, the ride, the noise the scent and the looks on everybody's eyes (in the Netherlands) when that battle cruiser came into view, I will never forget. I was deeply in love with that Ford. And no, my father was not rich at all, he just drove CEO's cars for a living (and sometimes took me with him, if his work and my school allowed it).
Big american's impress people when they cruise around in distant countries, here in Argentina happens the same. I love them.