Actually, the Seville was the top of the line - that was its genius. Probably the most beautiful example of designed Bill Mitchell’s “sheer look”, the Seville was smaller yet priced high, just below the Fleetwood Seventy-Five limousine. There was a lot of hand finishing on these cars. I bought a 1979 new and kept it for 18 years and 176,000 miles.
Just needs white wall tires, and as far as cleaning the wires you just need to use a specific wire wheel cleaner like the one from P&S supply spray on let soak for 1 min and rinse no touch and they'll look like new!
Hey buddy, you got yourself a real treasure, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, you probably know that, but I enjoyed the video, not many like this, enjoy your car, really cool!
Got my '79, in Dec.'78. I loved that Caddy, pretty advanced for the era. Mine wasn't an Elegante, but, a silver exterior w/real wire wheels, Vogue tyres, Astroroof, & a very comfortable velour maroon interior. It was a great highway traveler, squeeze 6ppl in & away we went. I was happy it was rear wheel drive. From '80 on were front wheel drive. Loved the 4note horn, it was the car of my dream. Always clean,& very well maintained. Sold it in ,'83. Gr8 memories. Njoy yours, I did mine. P.s. the slots were for tape cassettes. Fiberoptic lamp monitors. Saved many owners from tickets.
It's the special features that set this car apart! Beautiful interior lights and reading lights. BUT for a car made in heaven, there is therefore no excuse for the "out of sight, out of mind" attitude of having hard plastic on the back of the lids of glove COMPARTMENTS, and other lockers! Rolls-Royce had a glove box lid, made from real wood, with a nice wood finish INSIDE as well! Pity that they, and Bentley, who they owned till more recently, had wooden dashes, and couldn't actually line up the glove box lids properly, so the grain in the wood didn't connect up with the grain on the rest of the dash!
@@nygelmiller5293 wow, I did NOT know that. Also, my pal, please don't take that AWESOME car to any highway til you replace those tires. The 1 thing I did change was the HEADLIGHTS. I switched to the halogen lamps from Lincolns. Same size by law. But, real bright, & wider beam. Gr8 for those highways that were pitched dark @ nite. Gr8 memories my friend, Thanks.
Young man, I had new in 1979. It was the top of the line of Cadillac. I purchased again in 1986, the whole model went under a body change. Smaller. Model change following year 80-85 what was called the "Hooper & Company, English builder Express line" some people liked or didn't. What you have there is a real Cadillac. She's the "Standard of the World" Keep that car in the family if all possible. Not everyone has now days in 2019. From Beverly Hills CA Best regards 👍
Thank you so much for the comment! This car was just a bit before my time and I didn't really appreciate it until I got older. I'm pulling it out of storage next week, it's not going anywhere.
Try 40 years old, That color combo with the red pin striping and factory wire rims only came with the elegante , classic. Other automakers copied that color combo one being the 1981 GMC jimmy.
I had a 76 in like 98-99, to this day best car I ever owned. A 1976 car that did pretty much everything my 2013 Chevy does now (fuel injected, power everything, automatic lights) one of the worst mistakes I made was selling that thing. Trying to put another together soon.
0:39 They could have fooled me. The Eleganti is the only post-war American car I know of with wire-spoked wheels as factory equipment. I read that the ones Cadillac used were made in England.
Hard to tell, you are probably correct, but the one I had fit cassette tapes in their cases, 2 deep. The leather steering wheel would contract when the weather got below 0 degrees F., and the horn would honk in the garage or drive way at 3 am ! Part of parking was unhooking the horn under the hood during cold snaps. Super Loud. Loved that car! Neighbors didn’t
Regulations in the United States did not allow automotive speedometers to indicate past 85 MPH - up until 1984. I suspect that the same speedometer unit was used with just a revised scale for Canadian market vehicles.
1:50 It was the top-of-the-line (other than the limo) when it was introduced for 1976, and that's what makes it so interesting. Like the 1958 Eldorado Brougham, it was smaller than its cheaper siblings and set the styling trend for most of the downsized cars of the late 1970s. It was also amazing in that Cadillac was able to make such a smooth, quiet car on a stretched Nova/Camaro chassis. It lacked the handling refinement of its European competitors, but it was convincing as a pint-sized Caddy
It is curious that they priced this at the top of the range. You'd think the "baby Caddy" would have also been the least expensive, but it was not the case. I assume that in it's hubris, GM thought they were going to steal a bunch of sales from Mercedes and BMW and draw all the yuppies to Cadillac. Compared to those makes, the Seville was much less expensive. The reality was different though, and there demographic didn't change from the 70+ crowd. They bought these cars in their desire to "downsize" as they got less able to drive a big car, and to combat rising fuel prices.
You say it was never the fanciest or top of the line????? Quite the opposite actually. The Seville was Cadillac's most expensive car other than the Fleetwood 75 limousines. Yes, even more than a Fleetwood Brougham. Your car is an Elegante though so these versions of the Seville were the most expensive American car of their day. They were built in '78 and '79 model years like this car and roughly only around 5000 built each year. In 1979 if you ordered a glass sunroof or the Trip Computer you could push the cost over $20,000 US. I use a '78 Elegante daily. They really are one of the greatest '70's Cadillacs. Look after it my friend.
The X frame design thought was the only thing Nova based about these cars. And even that thought was scrapped for the K frame end design. This Nova gimmick was derived from competitors claiming cheap, yet they all mimicked the Seville design for over a decade.
I've heard that. I believe that the Bosch-Bendix system on these cars was closely related to the D-Jetronic system on the VW Type 3 and the original Bendix system that was an option on the 1958 DeSoto. If this car still has it, it's a real treasure.
It was the top of the line and is considered one of the best looking Cadillacs ever. The wire wheels could be stock. They were available and might have been a part of the Elegante package.
So everyone in the comments I want to buy a 1986 Cadillac deville however I noticed no one makes the parts for mechanics anymore so if I buy one what do I do if the transmisison or something mechanically fails and I can't find the parts? This is keeping me from buying one when I really want that old car.
thunderstorms06 Ive got a under 40k mile 1976 seville really pretty rare dunbarton green I noticed that car someware someone did what I did to my car right when I bought it a smog pump and lines ectomy that big void between the compressor and the alternator the open veiw of the oil fill tube not covered up by a smog pump on my car im converting the AC to a modern version with bracket and sanden compressor in place were the smog pump was and removing the $600 to replace frigidare A6 compressor but using R12 to keep it cold. have not got the conversion installed yet just getting the parts, the new system may require use of the 1974 nova classic AC conversion kit to be rid of the infamous failing ac heat programmer that says blower no blow lol replacement parts for the aftermarket system 10 times less costly and avaiabilty is no problem. hope its an icy cold seville soon. cadillacs have always had ac problems the down side of the great old school cadillacs.the damned HVAC programmer no longer available there is an inline fuse for the fuel injection computer in the center of steering wheel under dash replace it with a fuse relay and save yourself a tow its sometimes not the computer box, its interupted power via that fuse powereig the compter thats bad it gets hot poor contact but doesnt blow so its never discovered. $10 car starts everytime. that fuse was getting hot replaced fuse blade style relay stays cool. good contact to 12volt difficult to do job wires are very short but solved the problem shops will instantly blame the computer box and run up a big bill, get rid of that inline fuse and replce the intank pump rid of the cat converter smog pump and enjoy driving the car
11:56 They anticipated the need for a cell-phone compartment! My Accord has something similar, but this looks like a much better design; the Honda has a tab for the phone compartment and one for the bin underneath, but I'm always pulling on the wrong one.
Fuck I like driving, especially this one, too bad Cadillac didn't realize what they made then, it was the future of Cadillac, unfortunately they didn't see that , diesel Cadillacs should've had like a cheap rolls , it's obvious you're not following the manufacturers misleading instructions, those are the ones who get real service out of the car, I can say that I am a American who really misses cars like these, but at least different models show up from time to time.😊
Restored in 1988?? Must have been beat hard . It was only a few years old in 88. The Seville elegante was the most expensive Cadillac you could buy that year.. aside from the huge fleet wood limo. Doug is annoying don’t copy him lol
Do some homework.....that is the rarest Caddy of that year and the most expensive at the time ,get the truck tires off,put period whitewalls back on...nothing simple about that car, one of the first with EFI...easily a $10,000.00 car or more....and your in Ontario...Im in Kitchener,and its no pimp car,Id do a proper title for more hits...great car,lucky if you get it!
The Seville was actually the top of the line .
Had a new 1979 (December) Cadillac Seville, it was about as blue as the sky, I just loved that car, always regretted selling her in 1985 (November).
Actually, the Seville was the top of the line - that was its genius. Probably the most beautiful example of designed Bill Mitchell’s “sheer look”, the Seville was smaller yet priced high, just below the Fleetwood Seventy-Five limousine. There was a lot of hand finishing on these cars. I bought a 1979 new and kept it for 18 years and 176,000 miles.
To had: you kept your Seville for 18 years, and 186000 miles. WOW! Now that's a car!
Just needs white wall tires, and as far as cleaning the wires you just need to use a specific wire wheel cleaner like the one from P&S supply spray on let soak for 1 min and rinse no touch and they'll look like new!
Leaves a residue that still have to b wiped off with a dry rag headache
Hey buddy, you got yourself a real treasure, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, you probably know that, but I enjoyed the video, not many like this, enjoy your car, really cool!
What a beauty.
Got my '79, in Dec.'78. I loved that Caddy, pretty advanced for the era. Mine wasn't an Elegante, but, a silver exterior w/real wire wheels, Vogue tyres, Astroroof, & a very comfortable velour maroon interior. It was a great highway traveler, squeeze 6ppl in & away we went. I was happy it was rear wheel drive. From '80 on were front wheel drive. Loved the 4note horn, it was the car of my dream. Always clean,& very well maintained. Sold it in ,'83. Gr8 memories. Njoy yours, I did mine.
P.s. the slots were for tape cassettes. Fiberoptic lamp monitors. Saved many owners from tickets.
It's the special features that set this car apart! Beautiful interior lights and reading lights. BUT for a car made in heaven, there is therefore no excuse for the "out of sight, out of mind" attitude of having hard plastic on the back of the lids of glove COMPARTMENTS, and other lockers! Rolls-Royce had a glove box lid, made from real wood, with a nice wood finish INSIDE as well! Pity that they, and Bentley, who they owned till more recently, had wooden dashes, and couldn't actually line up the glove box lids properly, so the grain in the wood didn't connect up with the grain on the rest of the dash!
@@nygelmiller5293 wow, I did NOT know that. Also, my pal, please don't take that AWESOME car to any highway til you replace those tires. The 1 thing I did change was the HEADLIGHTS. I switched to the halogen lamps from Lincolns. Same size by law. But, real bright, & wider beam. Gr8 for those highways that were pitched dark @ nite. Gr8 memories my friend, Thanks.
Nice and super rare car. Hold on to it. I have 79 as well in the saddle brown and firmest. I caught hell finding it. Do not turn her loose.
Thanks, it's not going anywhere. :)
What's the value
Sell 15g. Low miles
Nice 2 tone
PUT THE WHITE WALLS BACK ON IT!!!! the wire rims were a factory option and lovely....
and standard only on the Elegante..
Yes, The Seville needs white sidewall tires.
Looks too plane with black wall !
Top of the line 1979 Cadillac Seville Elegant, looks lovely, I would just put new white walls on her. Nothing more.
Yeah, I might go whitewall next time around.
I would go with a set of Vogues over plain whitewalls
@@murphingmotors
I would recommend American Classic 2 inch wide stripe White Walls.
Very nice 😀
The most beautiful Seville ever made.
Young man, I had new in 1979. It was the top of the line of Cadillac. I purchased again in 1986, the whole model went under a body change. Smaller. Model change following year 80-85 what was called the "Hooper & Company, English builder Express line" some people liked or didn't.
What you have there is a real Cadillac. She's the "Standard of the World"
Keep that car in the family if all possible. Not everyone has now days in 2019.
From Beverly Hills CA
Best regards 👍
Thank you so much for the comment! This car was just a bit before my time and I didn't really appreciate it until I got older. I'm pulling it out of storage next week, it's not going anywhere.
Nice looking car for it's age
Good video - thanks and greets from Germany
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Try 40 years old, That color combo with the red pin striping and factory wire rims only came with the elegante , classic.
Other automakers copied that color combo one being the 1981 GMC jimmy.
I had a 76 and a 78 great cars
I had a 76 in like 98-99, to this day best car I ever owned. A 1976 car that did pretty much everything my 2013 Chevy does now (fuel injected, power everything, automatic lights) one of the worst mistakes I made was selling that thing. Trying to put another together soon.
Amazing 👍🏻
This era of Seville was the best.. Needs some Vogue Tires to make it look as Elegant as it can look.
That car deserves to be respected
Standard of the World.
That's awesome man!
Great video. Awesome Seville!!
Nice example. My dad had one, a 76 he bought in 77 for $12000. Seville was the top of the line.
Loved thosekind car
0:39 They could have fooled me. The Eleganti is the only post-war American car I know of with wire-spoked wheels as factory equipment. I read that the ones Cadillac used were made in England.
PC Wire wheels were made in ENGLAND? That figures!
you are correct,made by Dunlop for GM
Beautiful
The slots were for 8 tracks which the stock radio played
Hard to tell, you are probably correct, but the one I had fit cassette tapes in their cases, 2 deep. The leather steering wheel would contract when the weather got below 0 degrees F., and the horn would honk in the garage or drive way at 3 am ! Part of parking was unhooking the horn under the hood during cold snaps. Super Loud. Loved that car! Neighbors didn’t
I'm from the UK and to me that is the best shape caddy all-day long
Regulations in the United States did not allow automotive speedometers to indicate past 85 MPH - up until 1984. I suspect that the same speedometer unit was used with just a revised scale for Canadian market vehicles.
1:50 It was the top-of-the-line (other than the limo) when it was introduced for 1976, and that's what makes it so interesting. Like the 1958 Eldorado Brougham, it was smaller than its cheaper siblings and set the styling trend for most of the downsized cars of the late 1970s. It was also amazing in that Cadillac was able to make such a smooth, quiet car on a stretched Nova/Camaro chassis. It lacked the handling refinement of its European competitors, but it was convincing as a pint-sized Caddy
It is curious that they priced this at the top of the range. You'd think the "baby Caddy" would have also been the least expensive, but it was not the case. I assume that in it's hubris, GM thought they were going to steal a bunch of sales from Mercedes and BMW and draw all the yuppies to Cadillac. Compared to those makes, the Seville was much less expensive. The reality was different though, and there demographic didn't change from the 70+ crowd. They bought these cars in their desire to "downsize" as they got less able to drive a big car, and to combat rising fuel prices.
You say it was never the fanciest or top of the line????? Quite the opposite actually. The Seville was Cadillac's most expensive car other than the Fleetwood 75 limousines. Yes, even more than a Fleetwood Brougham. Your car is an Elegante though so these versions of the Seville were the most expensive American car of their day.
They were built in '78 and '79 model years like this car and roughly only around 5000 built each year. In 1979 if you ordered a glass sunroof or the Trip Computer you could push the cost over $20,000 US.
I use a '78 Elegante daily. They really are one of the greatest '70's Cadillacs. Look after it my friend.
Wow! I always thought the Fleetwood was the top of the line. Thanks for the details, I appreciate it.
You are 100 % correct my friend. The Elegante package is ultra rare in the first gen Seville’s.
This car was based off of the Chevy Nova. The Elegante was the top of the line in its time.
The X frame design thought was the only thing Nova based about these cars. And even that thought was scrapped for the K frame end design. This Nova gimmick was derived from competitors claiming cheap, yet they all mimicked the Seville design for over a decade.
9:20 The "breaking chopstick"!! GM loved those switches and they hated manual seat recliners (probably fearing they would lead to lawsuits).
Many people got rid of these Sevilles in the 80s because of the injection problems
I've heard that. I believe that the Bosch-Bendix system on these cars was closely related to the D-Jetronic system on the VW Type 3 and the original Bendix system that was an option on the 1958 DeSoto. If this car still has it, it's a real treasure.
Love it. But couldn’t afford it in 79
I’m in Ontario
this my hart ❤❤❤❤❤
It is A Very Special Cadillac …. It was the top of the line.
Ah, the Canadian Edition... has studded snow tires all around!
Looks good but needs the correct period whitewalls to complete the "proper" look.
Is it available now? Price, and delever to orange county charge?
8 tracks
It was the top of the line and is considered one of the best looking Cadillacs ever. The wire wheels could be stock. They were available and might have been a part of the Elegante package.
Be yourself, not someone else!
So everyone in the comments I want to buy a 1986 Cadillac deville however I noticed no one makes the parts for mechanics anymore so if I buy one what do I do if the transmisison or something mechanically fails and I can't find the parts? This is keeping me from buying one when I really want that old car.
We have a 78 Seville and an 82 DeVille and several 300's. The parts for caddys are easier to find than for SRT8 300's.
You’re in Ontario?! Where??
Beautiful too..is it for sale
thunderstorms06
Ive got a under 40k mile 1976 seville really pretty rare dunbarton green
I noticed that car someware someone did what I did to my car right when I bought it
a smog pump and lines ectomy
that big void between the compressor and the alternator the open veiw of the oil fill tube not covered up by a smog pump
on my car im converting the AC to a modern version with bracket and sanden compressor in place were the smog pump was and removing the $600 to replace frigidare A6 compressor
but using R12 to keep it cold. have not got the conversion installed yet just getting the parts, the new system may require use of the 1974 nova classic AC conversion kit to be rid of the infamous failing ac heat programmer that says blower no blow lol
replacement parts for the aftermarket system 10 times less costly and avaiabilty is no problem.
hope its an icy cold seville soon.
cadillacs have always had ac problems the down side of the great old school cadillacs.the damned HVAC programmer no longer available
there is an inline fuse for the fuel injection computer in the center of steering wheel under dash
replace it with a fuse relay and save yourself a tow
its sometimes not the computer box, its interupted power via that fuse powereig the compter thats bad it gets hot poor contact but doesnt blow so its never discovered.
$10 car starts everytime. that fuse was getting hot
replaced fuse blade style relay stays cool. good contact to 12volt
difficult to do job wires are very short but solved the problem
shops will instantly blame the computer box and run up a big bill, get rid of that inline fuse and replce the intank pump rid of the cat converter smog pump and enjoy driving the car
11:56 They anticipated the need for a cell-phone compartment! My Accord has something similar, but this looks like a much better design; the Honda has a tab for the phone compartment and one for the bin underneath, but I'm always pulling on the wrong one.
Are you putting the car or grandma away in storage?
This Car is 43 yrs old
No , that was the top of line, most expensive Cadillac
it screams for thin whitewall tires.
1.6 inch white walls is what it came with from the assembly plant
@@andrewcolsen I don't recall them being that wide when new, but any smaller stripe whitewall would finish the job.
Fuck I like driving, especially this one, too bad Cadillac didn't realize what they made then, it was the future of Cadillac, unfortunately they didn't see that , diesel Cadillacs should've had like a cheap rolls , it's obvious you're not following the manufacturers misleading instructions, those are the ones who get real service out of the car, I can say that I am a American who really misses cars like these, but at least different models show up from time to time.😊
You need to invest in a set of white wall tires. These cars are designed to carry white walls as black walls do not look correct on this car.
1997 is a pimp's car too? 😉
WHY THE HELL would you put black wall tires on that car!!????? Jeeez-Us!!!!
LOL maybe next year.
Is it for sale?
972 803 0091
No, I'm afraid not.
:(
Let me know when you want to sell it. Thanks!
For God's sake get Granny some new tires please..
سلام عشق منه کادیلاک میشه یک دونه هم من داشته باشم.... ؟
Restored in 1988?? Must have been beat hard . It was only a few years old in 88. The Seville elegante was the most expensive Cadillac you could buy that year.. aside from the huge fleet wood limo.
Doug is annoying don’t copy him lol
...4x4?.....
Should have white walls lol😅car is classic worth easy 12k-15k and still going up
Do some homework.....that is the rarest Caddy of that year and the most expensive at the time ,get the truck tires off,put period whitewalls back on...nothing simple about that car, one of the first with EFI...easily a $10,000.00 car or more....and your in Ontario...Im in Kitchener,and its no pimp car,Id do a proper title for more hits...great car,lucky if you get it!
You obviously know nothing about the history of this car. Change those tires and wheels but still nice car.