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One of my schticks: When someone on Facebook or elsewhere posts a gorgeous Brougham-era car that I absolutely love, I comment *thud*. For those not in on the joke, it means I found the car so amazing and cool and beautiful that I fainted, thus the *thud*.
Lauren Schweitzer
I must confess that this was not an original idea. Josh Noiles, a good friend and fellow Brougham lover (he owns many Klockau Lust Objects, including a ’56 Eldorado Seville), originated the term on Brougham-related FB pages that I was a member of. He’s especially enamored of the 1959–60 Eldorado Seville and Eldorado Biarritz. So when someone would post one, he’d simply comment *thud*.
Lauren Schweitzer
I took that gag and ran with it! And if I’m ever up in his neck of the woods in Canada, I owe him multiple beers and/or steak dinners as a result. Anyway, I thought of all this recently when my friend Lauren Schweitzer posted today’s featured car on her classic car dealer’s page.
Lauren Schweitzer
If you’re just joining us, I must explain that I love the pastel yellow that was offered on Cadillacs intermittently until 1992. It was never always the exact same color, but the hue persisted. There was Phoenician Ivory in 1976, Canyon Yellow in ’77, and Colonial Yellow in the late ’70s to early ’80s.
Lauren Schweitzer
By 1984, it was Cameo Ivory and would remain so through 1991, when it was available on the Seville, Eldorado, Coupe de Ville and Sedan de Ville. Come 1992, it was gone, never to return, sadly.
Lauren Schweitzer
But whenever I see a pastel yellow Cadillac, it makes me happy. As a Cadillac salesman once told my friend Ray Flynn, It’s hard to be in a bad mood when you’re driving an all-yellow Cadillac! And if I didn’t already own an Autumn Red 2004 Town Car called “Big Rhonda,” I probably would have had to negotiate a deal for this car.
Lauren Schweitzer
Per the dealership website: “Beautiful example of the iconic ‘bustle back’ Cadillac Seville from 1984. Senior collector owned and maintained since 2007. Yellow leather interior shows like new and features Symphony Sound and power everything. Comfort, class, and style all in one package. Would make a stunning addition to any classic car collection! Runs and drives excellent!”
It also has only 38K miles on the clock. And the filler panels around the front and rear bumpers, a frequent GM trouble point, are in very fine shape. I’m not sure if they’re originals or replacements, but they look very good.
Lauren Schweitzer
The 1984 Seville had a factory MSRP of $22,468. A total of 39,997 were built for the model year, and curb weight came in at 3844 pounds. This was the penultimate year for the bustle back…
Lauren Schweitzer
Yes, the bustle back. That distinctive, yet oh-so polarizing styling feature brought in for the 1980 model year, when the 1976–79 K-body Seville, with its svelte, purposeful look, gave way to what outgoing styling president Bill Mitchell decreed would be his final statement on new cars and their appearance.
Lauren Schweitzer
The original Seville was an answer to Cadillac owners who loved the luxury and styling, but for whom the size was getting a little too, er, extravagant. So the new Seville came onto the scene a smaller, tidier Cadillac with up-to-the-minute “sheer” styling and a fuel-injected 350-cubic-inch Olds-sourced V-8—though Oldsmobiles did not get the Bendix-sourced fuel injection.
Lauren Schweitzer
And the car was a great success. But for 1980, GM brass decided the Seville should be based off of the E-body coupe platform, which at the time included the new-for-1979 Cadillac Eldorado, Buick Riviera, and Oldsmobile Toronado, with front-wheel drive.
Lauren Schweitzer
So the 1980 Seville would become the one-and-only four door version. But how to make it stand out? Well, unbeknownst to many but the 1970s GM designers and diehard Cadillac fans, early designs for the original Seville had included some bustle back designs inspired by Rolls-Royce and coachbuilder Hooper.
Lauren Schweitzer
Although the design element was not used for the first-generation Seville, for the second gen those in charge decided it would really make the car distinctive. And boy, did it.
Lauren Schweitzer
I personally love them—as well as the original 1976–79 Seville. But the second-gen model was a clear-cut case of love it or hate it. Many loved it. And many hated it.
Lauren Schweitzer
Production of the bustle-back Seville ran from 1980 to 1985. Models included the standard Seville, which was no slouch, equipment-wise, and the even fancier Seville Elegante.
Lauren Schweitzer
In 1984, the Elegante package added $3879 to the already rather princely $22,468 “base” price of a standard Seville. Extra features included two-tone paint (though solid-tone exteriors could also be had), special tucked leather seating, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a special center storage console, 40/40 dual-comfort front seats, deluxe Tampico carpeting, and more.
Lauren Schweitzer
The star-crossed V-8 produced 135 horsepower at 4400 rpm and 200 lb-ft of torque at 2200 rpm. An equally star-crossed 5.7L diesel engine was available at no charge.
Lauren Schweitzer
Overall, 1984 was a good year for Cadillac, as sales rose 13% over those of 1983, for a total of 300,300 models produced. Not bad, considering the frequently disdained “HT4100” V-8 and the presence of the Cimarron, another target of modern-day internet “experts.”
Lauren Schweitzer
Now, I’m not saying there weren’t problems. But dagnabit! In 1984 Cadillacs still looked like Cadillacs, with all the extra chrome, button-tufted interiors, myriad color schemes, and a yard-long list of options and accessories that a man or woman of means could want.
Lauren Schweitzer
Problems, image issues, and whatever else—I still love ’em!
Lauren Schweitzer