The 1993-96 Fleetwood was Cadillac’s last traditional rear-wheel drive, body-on-frame sedan. And in its time, it was the longest passenger car you could buy in the USA.

By the early ’90s, the Cadillac division at General Motors had reached a fork in the road. The USA’s premium car category was increasingly populated by Mercedes, Lexus, and the rest, compelling the brand to develop smaller, more efficient products. Meanwhile, a number of more conservative Cadillac drivers remained true to the old ways, even as they were aging out of the new car market.

To satisfy the shrinking band of diehard loyalists, or partly just from force of habit, perhaps, in 1993 Cadillac offered one more luxury battleship with rear-wheel drive, pushrod V8 power, and classic body-on-frame construction. For a name, Cadillac chose Fleetwood, a traditional designation for the division’s high-end models. (The previous ’85-’92 Fleetwood was a front-drive C-body.)

Known as a D-body in GM corporate platform language, the Fleetwood package was essentially similar to the B-body chassis used on the Chevrolet Caprice and Buick Roadmaster, but with the wheelbase extended from 115.9 inches to 121 inches. (See our feature on the Roadmaster here.) Meanwhile, the overall length was stretched to a full 225 inches, making the Fleetwood the longest sedan on the U.S. market at the time. The spacious trunk easily accommodated enough golf bags for a foursome.

The Fleetwood’s exterior sheet metal was typical of the GM styling studios in the Chuck Jordan era: a bit understated, arguably, but clean and classic with familiar Cadillac styling gestures in the grille and tail lamps. The interior appointments were pure Cadillac as well, with sofa-like seating for six senior-sized passengers and rich upholstery fabrics, and of course every possible convenience item. Buyers seeking even a little more exclusivity could opt for the Brougham upgrade ($2000 over the $33,990 base price) that included a full vinyl top, upgraded seating, and interior and exterior badging.

Under the hood, however, the Fleetwood was a Chevrolet. For ’93 the sole available engine was the L05 small-block 5.7-liter V8 with throttle-body fuel injection and 185 hp. Still, it was a capable and quiet powerplant (MotorWeek measured the interior noise level at 64 dB) and for ’94, the standard V8 was upgraded to an all-iron variant of the LT1 engine used in the Corvette, and it boasted 260 hp. In a show of force, Cadillac offered an optional 7,000-lb towing package with heavy-duty cooling and beefed-up suspension, and the sales brochures pictured Fleetwoods pulling deluxe-length Airstream travel trailers.

In the inaugural ’93 season, Fleetwood volume amounted to nearly 32,000 vehicles (respectable, but no threat to the front-drive Sedan De Ville’s 125,000+) and then dropped each year to barely 15,000 in MY ’96. When production of the Roadmaster and Caprice at the Arlington, Texas GM plant ended on December 13, 1996, Fleetwood assembly was halted as well. And that (if you don’t count the Escalade SUV) was the end of the big rear-drive dinosaurs at Cadillac, though they have a following to this day. Meanwhile, the Fleetwood’s closest competitor in the Motor City, the Lincoln Town Car, remained in production through 2011, largely to the livery trade.