Cadillac continued its domination of the the American luxury car market in 1971 with an all-new body and chassis for the popular Coupe de Ville.
Courtesy of the GM Heritage Center, here’s a great old Cadillac clip from 1971 that probably hasn’t been circulated in years. Another chapter in the familiar “Someday, you’ll own a Cadillac” marketing theme, the commercial features a young lad admiring a stately Classic-era Cadillac sedan rolling by. Fast forward a few decades, and now the boy is a successful gentleman behind the wheel of his very own Cadillac—a 1971 Coupe de Ville.
Cadillac’s best-selling Coupe de Ville/Sedan de Ville series was all new for ’71, thanks to a freshly re-engineered General Motors C-body platform (shared with the Buick Electra and Olds 98). Front and rear suspension received some much-needed upgrades, and the wheelbase was stretched slightly to a full 130 inches. Cadillac’s giant 472 CID V8 continued on, but with a reduction in compression ratio to 8.5:1 to handle regular fuel, now it supplied 345 SAE gross horsepower. (The front-drive Eldorado boasted an even larger 500 CID V8.) Sheet metal was lower, longer, wider for 1971, but strictly in keeping with the signature Cadillac look. This basic package remained in use through 1974, and with a refresh, through 1976—the last of the “big” Cadillacs.
Naturally, the nearly endless list of available features included an AM/FM stereo with built-in 8-track tape deck, power-assisted everything, and GM’s sophisticated Climate Control with thumbwheel temperature control. In these years the de Ville series represented the sweet spot in the Cadillac lineup, claiming the lion’s share of the division’s total volume of 161,000+ units, and the bulk of the American luxury car market as well. Video below.
Now THAT’S a Cadillac!
That’s from when a Caddy was a wealthy man’s car. Doctors, lawyers, stock brokers drove large luxury cars like that, a sign that you had made it in life. Now a Caddy is just another fancy Chevy, that magic is gone. Sure, they are nice, expensive cars, but you see them all the time. Back then, a Caddy or Lincoln were as much to impress others as well as yourself, now they don’t get a second glance. It’s a shame the once proud marque is now just another fish in an overcrowded ocean.
We GM “old-timers” remember when there were five independent GM Motor Divisions, each with its own General Manager, engineering department and assembly plants. Then came CPC and BOC in the mid-eighties. Maybe that change saved the Corporation, er rather, Company but GM has never been the same since…
An 8 track and adjustable heater controls in 71.Most upmarket models had all of that available. My 71 Galaxie has that. Though half a ton less sheet metal.
The Caddy was size, quiet and prescence with opulent interior.
And no I do not aspire to own one. Though do not dislike them at all.
Though by the 80s they were just a luxury Chev.