The Cadillac Seville was the first round of GM’s attempts to compete with the European luxury brands. Given a smart, angular suit in a more compact format, it was designed to head off the inroads being made by Mercedes, Jaguar, and BMW. Built on a significantly modified version of the X-body platform (dubbed the K-body), it was powered by a 180hp Bendix/Bosch-fuel-injected version of the Oldsmobile 350 V8 engine. Interestingly enough, this car was also built under license in Iran by the company currently known as Pars Khodro, which now builds Renault and Nissan products. And while it was intended to appeal to a younger market interested in European luxury cars, it ended up predominantly selling to older women who felt more comfortable in a smaller, more maneuverable Cadillac. You can find this 1976 Cadillac Seville for sale for $3500 in Canoga Park, CA.
GM did their initial run of the first 2000 cars in Georgian silver to ensure quality, so it’s quite possible this is one of those cars. The smooth hubcaps and silver paint with matching vinyl roof really do the best to make this design look clean, where later cars with pseudo-spoke hubcaps and contrasting roof looked old-fashioned and cluttered. Interestingly, the vinyl roof was required on the early cars because the roof was assembled from two pressings, one from the regular X-body car and an addition for the K-body Cadillac. This particular car is said to have a mere 75,000 miles and run very well, and to have many new parts, although details are not provided.
While it needs some cleaning, the interior looks to be in excellent shape. Cadillac was not as daring with their interior decor, and this looks very much like its bigger siblings, and in fact many other GM products. The seats are stuffed with the finest of squishy Wonderbread, while the steering wheel and dash enjoy the finest in synthetic wood facing. While this car’s performance was fairly modest, in late-1970s terms, the fuel injection brought greater power and driveability than many other American-built cars. While it was not an overwhelming success, and didn’t succeed in its goal of getting import buyers to go domestic, it’s amazing the amount of car you can get for your dollar in this one.
Rusty But Trusty 
May 7, 2014 at 11:58 am |
Gone! I’m thinking that $3500 was a very fair deal for that car. I believe you’re mistaken about the success in the market for these cars; I remember them being a big hit for Cadillac and they were everywhere when I was a kid. The looks still hold up well too. I guess if someone was inclined to make one of these handle well, they could use F-body pieces to do the upgrades; they use similar sub-frame.