Used Cadillac for occasional use, what would you pick ??

[Aaron Hudacky]

Any 77-79 rwd carbureted 425 Cadillac as long as it isn't driven in salt.  They are still affordable, plentiful, reliable, beautiful, and drive exceptionally. 

[wrefakis]

all you guys that like the 70's and early 80's cars must like the style but never had them as new/late models,great lookers,but the trouble I had with them would fill a book

bought an 84 coupe new in 2 years did more work to it than my 05 town car in 9 years 265k, driving a 2010 town car today,all original 455,000 miles runs like a top

back in 86 when you sold a Cadillac at the major dealer auctions they were as-is in engine noise, a far cry from the 70 and down 472 that would always run with a major idle rock,but would go miles, my product loyalty cost me huge back in the day sticking with domestic brands,

69-70 bod body work,weak paint and frontends,but power and the held up well,all downhill after 70

[76eldo]

Bill,

The reason that this topic came up is that I am tired of pouring money down a Northstar rathole. My current driver is a 99 Eldorado, beautiful car but the repairs just won't stop.  I have spent $5000.00 in 11,000 miles over 2 years including doing some of the work myself.  I am done.

I have gotten some good suggestions but they all have drawbacks.  The 77-79 cars with the 425's are a good choice, but I am looking for a car to use on nights and weekends for going out and I make a lot of 3-4-5 hour each way trips looking at cars for export to Europe for a broker in Norway.  A 70's Caddy will use too much gas and is far from totally reliable.

The 80's brings the HT4100 issue, been there, done that, not to be trusted as a "Road Car".

The 1990's Fleetwoods with the Chevy V-8 would be a good choice but I am just not in love with the style.

Seems like I am always doing stuff around the house and shop, always buying and selling stuff, doing swaps with wheels and tires, and I have always liked El Camino's.  If I can find a mid 80's El Camino (hopefully an SS) it will serve my purposes.  Decent on gas, simple to  maintain, style I like, and even though it's not what I first asked about on this topic, it's looking like a good vehicle for what I need right now.

I have a business vehicle that I use during the week, my wife's AWD SUV for bad weather, and that holds 4-5 adults in comfort.  That keeps my collector cars in the garage too.

Cadillac just forgot how to built a decent engine after 1980 or so and I don't trust ANY Northstar, even a 35K mile one.  Every one will need headgaskets eventually.  Not my opinion, I am getting my info straight from a Cadillac Master mechanic who has done about 2000 head gasket and block re-seal jobs.  It's unfortunate but that's the way it is.


Brian

[35-709]

I'm with the '76 - '79 Seville guys.  Change the injector o'rings and rubber fuel lines and go.

[TJ Hopland]

I think the 94-96 Fleetwoods with the LT1's fall into the category of an overcomplicated engine that can be expensive to maintain.   It just was not that much more power than the previous model and it was way more complicated.  I really like the TBI chevs.   You got 75% of the benefits of EFI in a very simple inexpensive reliable package.  Ya you gain a little with multiport but it really adds a lot of parts.   The LT1 with the funky reverse cooling, direct drive water pump, and optispark were neat ideas and would have been pretty cool if they came out in the 80's but in the 90's?  What were they thinking?  3800's and Fords were distributor less by then.  I have not looked lately but back in the day it was $1000 to do the water pump and distributor.  I think after a while aftermarket came up with some less expensive stuff but don't know if that has all changed since there were never zillions of those engines on the road and have not been made for almost 20 years now. 

I think the Marquis is a possible idea if you like the RWD land yacht.   Seems like there are some of the 4.6 engines to stay away from but I think the older 5.0's were overall decent.

How about a 90's Park Ave or 98?   They are not quite a 70's style Cadillac land yacht but still pretty well equipped decent riding cars.  Still plenty of them out there and except for the upper plenums on the Series2 3800 its a very reliable engine. 

If you like the early 80's  but not the 4100 again the Buick or Oldsmobile would be an option most of the big cars would have had the 307 then.   Toronado and Riveria are nice and still not hard to find if you want a 2 door.

[gary griffin]

Brian,

    Since the question was what would "you" pick I will give my choice.

    You have a large selection of post war cars and they are all Cadillacs so I am assuming you wish to continue with another Cadillac.

     I would go back in time and buy a pre war Cadillac or LaSalle. 

     Not knowing how it would be used or your driving habits it is harder to go any further.  I like standard transmissions so that is not part of my consideration. 

     Having a convertible and a sedan already I would probably choose an Opera coupe or a business coupe from the 30's.  They are mechanically simple, easy to maintain and fun to drive.

     There are always opportunities to buy good restored cars as owners age or pass away.

[C.R. Patton II]

Hello Brian

Gee this is a great question.

Other than my LaSalle C4D which is just for oodling and my daily driver Cadillac I would probably select the stately 1927 LaSalle 1168 PHT owned by the gregarious Bill Aprile, or the beautiful 1935 LaSalle 5067 CCP owned by the gracious Leanne and Richard Zapala.

If only my net worth equaled my imagination.

[jdemerson]

Bill,

The reason that this topic came up is that I am tired of pouring money down a Northstar rathole. My current driver is a 99 Eldorado, beautiful car but the repairs just won't stop.  I have spent $5000.00 in 11,000 miles over 2 years including doing some of the work myself.  I am done.

I have gotten some good suggestions but they all have drawbacks.  The 77-79 cars with the 425's are a good choice, but I am looking for a car to use on nights and weekends for going out and I make a lot of 3-4-5 hour each way trips looking at cars for export to Europe for a broker in Norway.  A 70's Caddy will use too much gas and is far from totally reliable.

The 80's brings the HT4100 issue, been there, done that, not to be trusted as a "Road Car".

The 1990's Fleetwoods with the Chevy V-8 would be a good choice but I am just not in love with the style.

Seems like I am always doing stuff around the house and shop, always buying and selling stuff, doing swaps with wheels and tires, and I have always liked El Camino's.  If I can find a mid 80's El Camino (hopefully an SS) it will serve my purposes.  Decent on gas, simple to  maintain, style I like, and even though it's not what I first asked about on this topic, it's looking like a good vehicle for what I need right now.

I have a business vehicle that I use during the week, my wife's AWD SUV for bad weather, and that holds 4-5 adults in comfort.  That keeps my collector cars in the garage too.

Cadillac just forgot how to built a decent engine after 1980 or so and I don't trust ANY Northstar, even a 35K mile one.  Every one will need headgaskets eventually.  Not my opinion, I am getting my info straight from a Cadillac Master mechanic who has done about 2000 head gasket and block re-seal jobs.  It's unfortunate but that's the way it is.


Brian

Brian,
   Your question is fascinating, and you clearly have as much insight as any of us, given the models you have experience with. I'd be interested to hear more about your comparisons of the following models, assuming well-maintained and good condition to start with, for reliability and suitability for regular use:
1977-79 Cadillac RWD with 425 and carburetor
1980 Seville and Eldorado 368 with throttle-body fuel injection
1986-90 Brougham with Oldsmobile 307  (underpowered?)
1991-92 Brougham with Chevrolet 305
1990-92 Brougham with Chevrolet 350
My general sense is that these models seem to be quite highly regarded. So are 76-79 Seville and 1993-96 Fleetwood, but I understand why you might rule those out. Same for anything with a Northstar. Do you believe that a mid-80s El Camino is more reliable and a better daily driver than any on this list? Or is it simply that you like that model and its style?

Thanks for raising the question and for sharing thoughts.
John Emerson
CLC #26790

[wrefakis]

white shoes and belt in florida=town car?  cmon man! back in 68 who really bought all those pretty triple white eldo's? seems everbody had at least one $$$ relative tooling around boca in one.
Cadillac in its prime
roomy
safe
reliable
easy to maintain
good for lots of miles = town car
face it it took years for me to stop clinging to yesterday,cadillac as we knew it died in sept 1970, and I had hundreds of all of them 69 to 96

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Do you believe that a mid-80s El Camino is more reliable and a better daily driver than any on this list? Or is it simply that you like that model and its style?

I think this paragraph explains why he's leaning toward an El Camino:

"Seems like I am always doing stuff around the house and shop, always buying and selling stuff, doing swaps with wheels and tires, and I have always liked El Camino's.  If I can find a mid 80's El Camino (hopefully an SS) it will serve my purposes.  Decent on gas, simple to  maintain, style I like, and even though it's not what I first asked about on this topic, it's looking like a good vehicle for what I need right now."

[76eldo]

Bill,

I was just joking around about the white belt and shoes.  I could see my self in a nice Town Car, but not the Grand Marquis.  And if you see me in a Crown Vic, I'll probably be in the back with handcuffs on.

So if I migrate info the Lincoln camp I won't have to deal with fluids puking out of the heads and block and sensors making the dash look like a pinball machine?  The door panels won't crack?  Maybe I need to look into this new world.  With all the spare time I may even get to wax the thing.

Regarding the other cars, I had a 76 Seville for a while.  It was a 23,000 mile car, way too nice to park at the mall.  I liked the way it ran and drove but the short front door bugged me.  I would think of this car as a possibility if I found a nice one, but no too nice if you know what I mean.

86-92 Brougham is a nice car too.  If I find one that I like that could be a great semi-daily driver for not a lot of cash.

The El Camino with a small block Chevy is a really simple car as compared with a Northstar Eldo.  Cheap to fix and will undoubtedly hold it's value while providing utility.

I guess I kind of hijacked my own Cadillac thread with the El Camino.

Brian

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

If a decent Camino doesn't surface, a well maintained 90-92 Brougham with Chevy engine in the 100,000 mile club should be able to be found in the ~$5K range or less. They're getting harder to find in nice condition these days.

Agreed in general with your sentiments of Crown Victrola, Granny Marquis & Town House - but I must say, what they may lack in looks, they make up for in ride quality.

[INTMD8]

I just stumbled across this. Looks clean for the money-

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/4372362060.html

[wrefakis]

Hey Brian,90 Brougham,sure picked one up july 1991,ione owner GM executive car,black 5.7,the works.

was going to drive it that summer,first day it came in,parked it at the bar,the owner came out and said its mine!

3 weeks later,at 25,000 miles,he had a noise in the rear end,called my buddy who owned the Cadillac dealer in town,he did not have the parts,told me to take it to Chevrolet.

chevy?? but its a Cadillac,no my son,its a gm corp rear,same as a chevy cargo van.

70= Cadillac only super high torque rear end= 05 town car