The backseat, a nice place to be in. the interior is nearly in 'as new' condition, it has only done about 56000 miles. The original owner did 50000 miles in the first 3 years he then sold it on to someone who put it in a warehouse for 17 years before the original owner bought it back, he then drove another couple of thousand miles before deciding to get rid of it for good and sold it to the dealer I got it from...
Elegante script behind the rear door. This was Cadillac's most expensive model apart from the factory limo's. Handling and driveability had to be better than a full-size Cadillac's. The decision to price it above its larger and heavier stable mates was a real reversal of Detroit tradition and the only sure way to equate smallness with desirability. Although the car was obviously smaller, it was always referred to as 'international size' however it still looks pretty massive when parked next to a European car.
The 'Bustleback' trunk was a piece of retro styling when retro styling wasn't cool and got a very mixed response, it was stolen from the Hooper bodied Daimler's and Rolls Royce's of the 1930's - 1950's. This was one of Bill Mitchell's last ideas before he retired, he liked the bustleback Caddy so much that he drove a Seville himself and said it broke his heart when he learned GM was going for a more boring conservative styling after 1985. Personally I thought the trunk was really ugly when I first saw them but then it started to grow on me and my girlfriend and before long we wanted one.
The Elegante package came in 3 colour combinations: Sheffield Gray Firemist with Norfolk Gray, Sable Black with Sheffield Grey Firemist, or Canyon Rock with Desert Sand Firemist. In 1980 the basic Seville's didn't have the downward chrome curve, this feature became standard later although the two tone paint was an extra cost option that was standard on the Elegante. You can just make out a TBM (Tunnel boring Machine) on the left side of the picture that was used for drilling part of the Channel Tunnel.
One badass looking car, performance isn't bad either although it won't see of any sports car but for that I have my 1971 AMC Javelin AMX which falls just short of breaking the sound barrier. The grille is obviously nicked from Rolls Royce, Lincoln did the same for their Continental a few years earlier and Chrysler had a very similar grille on their Imperial of the same vintage (The Imperial also had an attempted Bustleback) The ligths underneath the bumper are also to comply with British law which states that sidelights can only be white, therefore this has been rewired from the indicator lenses to those big lamps underneath the bumper, not ideal and I am trying to think of a better option.
