Seville for 1980. The most exciting new Cadillac to come along in a generation. This car was designed by the legendary Wayne Kady. It was a smaller, more efficient Cadillac that defined the look of luxury and prestige in the 80's and encoraged copying among its competitors. This is my second bustleback Seville. The 1980 model featured the 368 engine with Digial Electronic Fuel Injection. When the sensors are working well, this engine purrs like nothing you've ever experienced in a V8, has plenty of power and gets reasonable fuel efficiency. If you're looking for a performance benchmark, I would say that with the 368, the Seville is slightly faster than a 1976 Coupe Deville with the 500ci engine. It helps that it weighs about 1000lbs less than a 76. This car is by no means a slouch and is whisper quiet at 80. Drive one, and you will realize how bad a decision Cadillac made to abandon this powertrain after only one year of production. Imagine if 1985 was a TPI 368 instead of that rancid 4100. For enterprising individuals, remember that the 500 has the same external dimensions as the 368. I would love to see a 500 in a bustleback Seville.

The picture below is a rendering, made by Wayne Kady in the late 60's. Clearly, it predicted the direction for the 1980 Seville. I have spoken with Mr. Kady and he claims that the inspiration for this styling came from classic GM cars of the thirties and not the Hooper Rolls-Royce.

This image shows a 1973 Wayne Kady prototype for the 76 Seville. This semi-fastback design was far superior to the first generation production car. You can see how the 1980 car was taking shape.

The Man, The Legend, Wayne A. Kady

Here he is, the man behind the 1980-85 Seville. To the left of Mr. Kady is one of his renderings, showing a car that looks very similar to the 1974 Buick Riviera, a car that he designed. Although this car is somewhat overlooked because it replaced the tour de force boattail, it was a well designed, sharp car in its own right and the first modern appearance of the bustle back.

The Bustleback Riviera replaced the Boattail.

Seville was based on the 1979 Eldorado and shares the hood, cowl and front fenders with the Eldo, along with the frame, suspension and a great deal of interior components. To celebrate the clean lines of the 1979 Eldorado, I wanted to include this rendering by Charles Stewart.

My car wears its original paint (Flax) with a natural Saddle leather interior. This stunning, subtle combination enhances the car's classic styling and appears on the Riviera XX of 1983. The Seville proudly displays the New York orange plate, standard issue from 1973-1985 and the best looking NY plate in my opinion.

I purchased the Seville from the original owner, an owner of a local chain of paint stores in the Westchester/Putnam NY area. While this is unconfirmed, I believe the original dealership to have been Gidron Cadillac in Yonkers, NY. The car was stored in winters and only serviced by a Cadillac trained technician. It has 80,000 miles, but looks and drives like a virtually new car.

In May 2008, This car won First Place in Class at the Rhinebeck, NY car show. There were a lot of Cadillacs in the field and many of the owners told me how they liked the bustleback and were glad to see a nice one at a car show. It was gratifying to hear, but I would still be a fanatic for these cars, even if I was the only one.

Here is a picture showing the distinctive bustleback. This feature of the car engenders strong opinions from most people. It is a complex and sophisticated piece of styling, tying in neatly with the roof and sides and recalling the classic era of GM styling under Harley Earl.

This is a front shot of my Seville. 1980-82 had the best grille, with a large cap that integrates with the hood chrome and an aggressive vertical pattern. The front of this car ties in with the the other Cadillacs made in 1980 and established a look that would define Cadillac for years to come.

The above picture is of the Seville before I bought it. Tires were worn and some of the filler panels had cracked, but the quality of the original paint, interior, engine bay and mechanicals convinced me that this one was a keeper.

Below is a picture of my first Seville, a 1980 that I purchased about three years ago. It was midnight blue metallic with dark blue leather. It had low mileage and satisfied my lifelong craving for an 80 Seville, but it was an abused and neglected car that was a bit too much for me to handle at that point. Now, its living its second life on the Chesepeake Bay in Maryland. It was hard to part with, but I was resigned to the fact that a better condition 80 Seville would be mine someday.

The side view of this car is particularly nice. Notice the original equipment Firestone FR-721 wide white stripe tires. This car had only 35,000 miles on the clock.

1980 Sevile has a very handome dashboard. Designed under the direction of Drew Hare, it bespeaks elegance and brands the car as a Cadillac at first glance. Consequently, all of the controls are in just the right place. Notice the flat floor, covered with the original mat. Most of today's FWD cars don't have a flat floor.

Note: That gas pedal was powering a 368ci Cadillac engine. This was the last cast-iron engine made by Cadillac. The brake pedal was actuating 4-wheel discs, a standard feature on the Seville.

In this detail shot, you can see the dash panel, which has the look of fine teak, with inlaid walnut accents. Up top is the MPG Sentinel, standing watch against the evil forces of bad mileage. In 1980, this feature was only available with the 368 engine. It was replaced by a plaque that said "Cadillac," if you got the Diesel or the California Oldsmobile gas-fired 350 with port fuel injection.

In the center, is the electronic climate control. Set the temerature and forget it, or direct the air and fan speed to your preferences. The digital readout glows orange. The climate contol is also the window into the car's brain. Turn the igition to Run, hold down the "Off" and "Warmer" buttons and wait for the 88 to appear, indicating diagnostic mode. After this, you will either get a sequence of numbers, indicating trouble codes, or not, if everything is fine. 70 indicates that the diagnostic is finished. And you thought advanced electronics were invented by the Japanese.

Below that is the Digital tuning Stereo 8-Track. Sounds of the 70's with digital displays of the 80's. I've found the missing link. The chromed metal radio knobs were decorated with a gold wreath motif, further reinforcing the powerful branding statement that the interior of this car made.

Below is the dark blue leather interior. This vertical tuck and roll pattern was standard for 1980. Cadillac's world class Sierra grain leather was an option. The Elegante package featured a different seating pattern, deeper carpeting and a lockable storage console between the seats. The shifter was always on the column, where it belongs for an automatic transmission.

Here's a really nice street parked Seville found in Pelham Bay, in the Bronx, NY. This area is an Italian enclave that has mostly stayed the same during the seemingly inevitable downfall of New York's northern borough. It is also a hotspot for clean, well maintained luxury cars, like this one.

The images identify it as an 83-85 car, by the smaller grille, Seville nameplate on the front of the fender and clear over red taillaght lenses.

This car was parked in the vicinity of the best pizzeria in the Bronx, Louie's and Ernie's.

I cannot stress how clean this car was. The fillers were mint original, the button-tufted red leather was perfect and it was sporting the extra-cost wire wheel covers with wide whitewalls. Overall, a real treat to see.

The carriage roof was an option on Seville, starting in 1981. I personally think it interferes with the bustleback styling from this angle, but the excellent condition of this car makes up for it.