In the 1974 Motor Trend King of the Hill competition pitting the Cadillac against the Lincoln Town Car and the Imperial, I remember the writer saying the fake wood was so bad he couldn't believe Cadillac was serious. It took no imagination to see Caprice instead of Coupe de Ville on the dash.
I have that test in the Brooklands Books Imperial compilation. Hard to read in a way between that ugly Cadillac, the beautiful but shrunken Imperial and the still-lovely Lincoln. I was in college then, but I remember thinking at the time how much better the '75's were because they got the converters and unleaded gas and both performance and economy improved.
I have the magazine with that article , it's the june 1975 issue of road test magazine . They mentioned the cheapness of the caddy interior several times . They went on to say " no wonder the peasants are so happy , their chevies are as luxurious as a caddy . "
My parents bought a Coupe Deville in 74. I don’t remember the wood grain being yellowish. I do remember a terrible premature rust problem though! It was rusting around the wheel wells and rockers before it was 2 years old
Gotta tell ya Adam, my mom had a good laugh at the 1974 Cadillac interior trim, she called it, "plastic peanut butter". But for 1975, Cadillac rolled out a new Simulated Distressed Pecan interior trim - and mom flipped when she saw it, "looks like they threw a little simulated chocolate in the peanut butter".
When I was in college, my Grandmother gave me her 74 CDV. Excellent condition. I did notice that weird woodgrain color. So, I got some black paint, dipped a rag into the can, smudged it on the "wood" , wiped it off...problem solved. Grateful I had this car. Yes, the wiper control was a nightmare. I had to concentrate when operating, almost like being distracted on an Iphone. I think the color was Cranberry Firemist with a white leather interior and white vinyl cabriolet. I drove that baby to the beaches in Long Island, no problem. She was a beast. Thanks for the memory.
We had a 1974 Coupe DeVille, white on white with red interior. The red interior would bleed through in stain on the white vinyl top. It could not be repaired or bleached. My dad had to have it painted over a couple times. I cannot recall if that was on warranty, I think it was the first time. The bi-plane dash was something my dad pointed out to me when the car first came to our driveway. The radio antenna would come up just a foot or so when the radio was turned on which was so cool! My folks played Barry White over and over on a road trip when the car was new. Our Irish Setter, "TOBY" lie on a beach towel between my brother and I in the back seat. Ultimately, we came to call the car "The Sled", there were many fun trips, jokes and laughing about the big car and our life and times with it. My dad would joke that he could park anywhere he wanted because it's a Cadillac. I do recall this car overheating (boiling over) on mountain trips despite being in good running order. Car weighed about 5,000 lbs. We had the car from 74' to 1985 when the folks got an 85' Eldo, white on white with a beautiful Navy blue interior. Smooth, high- revving sounding, EFI engine sounded so cool at idle with a soft, precision, ticking, EFI sound. Adam, Thank you so much for your prolific posting!
In the late 70's there was little differentiating a Cadillac from other GM brands besides the name. You could get a Chevy built on the same platform and body style, and option it up with everything the Cadillac had, comfort wise it would be the same car, same engine, slightly different appearance. The knobs and switches were made of light cheap silver colored plastic, and although it didn't impact the function, it just felt cheap, not what you would expect from a car of the class. And of course the fake plastic wood... the Cimarron was the lowest depth to which they sunk... I remember the steering wheel vibrating up and down at idle in park, and the raucous popcorn sound of the diesel engine... We had an Oldsmobile that had "wood panelling" on the sides, it was just a vinyl sticker stuck to the side of the car...
Coming out of Jaguars and Mercedes S class cars as a young boy and entering a 1973 model Ford LTD Country Squire, it took some swallowing looking at the faux wood. But, the size, the ride, the noise the scent and the looks on everybody's eyes (in the Netherlands) when that battle cruiser came into view, I will never forget. I was deeply in love with that Ford. And no, my father was not rich at all, he just drove CEO's cars for a living (and sometimes took me with him, if his work and my school allowed it).
My folks bought a new ‘74 CSD with leather interior. It was the biggest POS from day one. Transmission problems (4 repairs in a few years). All the issues you mention are true. Leather seats were good quality, though. Years later they bought a new ‘79 Mark 5. While still lots of plastic, a much better car. The benchmark, still, are the Mark III interiors. Maybe the best ever to this day.
I luv it, almost fifty years later and we're critiquing old American barge interiors! Now that you put it this way I can see the cheapness feaux look. That yellowish wood was supposed to be like an exotic teak or such. Turned out looking more like oak kitchen cab wood 😆 My '71 Olds 98 sedan had a clock in the back seat between huge pull straps. But I must admit, the plastic was hard. Still I loved the feel of that dark blue brocade seats. Felt cool and smooth on the hottest Texas day.
All very good points... my grandparents used to have an Impala of that era, which I always thought had a fine interior that was arguably better than the Cadillac, and it was nearly as quiet, powerful, and smooth riding as the Caddy. The seats were obviously not as comfortable as the Caddy, but I always loved that Impala and felt very safe in it.
I had one of these '74 Sedan de Ville's for a short while back in the late 70's. It had a black interior and the seats were hot in the summertime even with the A/C on. The worst part was that it was pathetically under-powered, that 472v-8 only had 200HP and the car weighed 5,000 pounds.....
I have a '74 Eldorado. The wood was described as "destressed pecan" and has an almost green tinge to it. I swapped it out with '77-'78 Eldorado wood which has a much more realistic look to it. The big issue with the vents is that the little foam pieces on the sides of the vents that were supposed to provide the friction to keep the vent in its location fails quickly.
I agree 100%. I think they must have thought they would try to make the plastic appear as Oak in that era. In any event, IMO 1967 was really the last year the Fleetwood Sixty-Specials and the Seventy-Fives had real wood and a nice rich looking interior . From 1969-1976 it seemed like each year more and more cheap materials were used with the exception of some of the bespoke high-fashion fabrics available. After the cars were a year or so old, people used toothpicks, or folded matchbook covers to hold the A/C vents in place, a lovely look combined with the faux-wood. (Heavy sarcasm).
Actually 1968 was the last year for real wood. They used beautiful genuine Rosewood surrounded by filigree scrollwork.. it was especially nice in the Fleetwoods.. then, as you say they went to cheaper for a few years.
I agree that the woodgrain in 1974 was hideous, but my favorite part was the silver instrument cluster for some reason. It just looks more upscale than the later years. The best combo for me would be the 1976 interior with the 74 silver gauge bezel.
I had 1974 Coupe DeVille here in Finland, and yes, I didn't quite like some of these interior touches, especially wiper control you mentioned. It was awful.The car was very comfortable and made a statement everywhere I drove,so it was a real Cadillac anyway! And btw, 472 was thirsty beast but it would spin a tire EASILY.
Many '70's cars had cheap, generic interiors. The '71 - '73 Cadillacs looked and felt like taxi cabs inside. The '71 - '74 Mopar muscle cars had great interior designs but used horrible, cheap plastics. The best Cadillac dash is the '65 - '66.
Great video. The ‘74 Pontiac Grand Ville also had some interesting faux wood on the door panels complete with simulated carved details. It was dropped for the ‘75 model year.
I had a 75 with the same layout. The details of the Woode altered for the three years they ran. It was marginally less offensive by the time 76 rolled around but still wasn’t fooling anyone!
Look at the plastic surround around the speedometer: At the top it sags down, and you see the same non rectangular design around the vents and in other areas. This is utterly unacceptable today! I don't know how people bought these expensive cars back then with this sort of sloppy attention to detail when there were foreign built alternatives that did NOT look like this~
I have a Lincoln story for ya. I had a 71 Mark in the 90's that was originally a nice silver color with a red plush velour interior. By the time I owned it the sun had faded it to a dull grey car with a strangely pink interior. Add that it was plush velour and about the only thing that you would have to add to make a crazy looking lowrider would have been fuzzy dice and the little dangly balls! Car was a beast though and super fun to drive, 365 hp from the factory! I miss when gas was cheap.
Don't forget the 1950's when discussing worst looking faux-wood interiors. My bottom of the line 1954 Mainline Ranch Wagon has large swaths of fake wood grain vinyl on the interior door and side panels. When I was redoing the interior I couldn't find a fake wood grain that exactly matched the existing door and intact side panels, so what I used makes it look even worse. I suppose, however, that the cheap wood grain effect of the '54 Ranch Wagon might fit into the "it looks so bad that it's good" category for some people. A very low brow 1950's effect.
Adam, I agree with you 100%. I have no problem with the wiper controls on my 1976 Fleetwood though. On the vent issue, I have had numerous Cadillacs with the same problem and my solution was to cut a small piece of electrical tape and place it sticky side together into the corner of the vents. That gives it the perfect friction to hold the vent in place. Otherwise, I love the overall design of the dashboard.
Interesting video. Sometimes trying too hard (from a manufacturing perspective) results in these odd decisions. The warning lights were a nice touch regarding its location.
Hey Adam, you hit the nail on the head regarding the woodgrain of the 74 Cadillac!!! I am also a big fan of the wood trim of the Continental Mark lll 👍👍🙂
4:05 - I tend to notice and focus on details that few others do, in a situation or photo: Notice underneath the dash, two recessed openings - presumably the cigarette lighter-ashtray combo, and to the right, the glove compartment. The alignment of those panels, when closed, is so poor for "The World Standard", lol!
I was never a fan of the strange 3 spoke steering wheel Cadillac used in that era. It just loos odd to me. Maybe it's because I'm so accustomed to the two spoke Chevy wheel that was used in so much through the 70's and 80's.
I am a little behind on your new videos but could not help but laughed on the title of this one. I can only imagine the next video will be "The Varicosed" 😊🇨🇦
I had a '74 Fleetwood in the 80s. In its last year before I donated it to the Salvation Army, I had to hold a penny against the faceless wiper switch to get them to work. I don't remember the color of the fake wood being that bad, but then my whole interior was brown. 1974 was the last year of their thicker, stiffer, glossier leather.
I wonder if the "jaundiced" look got worse as the cars aged. The sun does a number on most plastics. Maybe there were coatings or polishes to adjust the tint and enhance the 3 dimensional appearances of such finishes.
My very first car was a 1973 Coupe DeVille that I bought for $500.00 from my Grandparents. I have to agree with you… the ‘74 interiors were odd and subpar. I liked my ‘73 a lot.
I have a 75 coupe DeVille. You raise some good points. The upper door panels were done in done in different materials depending on the trim level. I am thinking to recover mine in matching leather when I do the seats.
'77 and '78 AMC Matador Barcelina😁 My Grandfather had the '78, in a two tone beige/orange combo, both exterior and interior. Very, very comfortable😁 In today's context, this car screamed 70's/early 80's senior citizen transportation louder than a Dean Martin impersonator at the local Holiday Inn😁
The flimsy GM vents continued into 2000s. The GM truck line thru 1994 are prone to this… and that woodgrain I feel like was a practice of the time on a lot of 1970s plastic in cars or in homes a yellow plastic with a brown coating applied in various thicknesses to look like grain that didn’t hold up to cleaning. I think the 79 Cadillac had HORRIBLE woodgrain, and I’m not a fan of the 80 up teak. The 89 Deville and 90 Brougham brought out some of the finest fake wood I know of. My 83 Electra with its very unnatural blonde version of butterfly walnut compared to Oldsmobiles beautiful dark wood (as in my 85 Toronado Caliente) is also OK at best. The fact that they couldn’t dip the whole panel like the door panel tops rather just screen printed the grain on the flat face ruins the whole look.
That 73 Cadillac interior is beautiful. My mother would refer to the 74 interior as "god awful". They had some other colorful descriptions that can't be written here. Would love to meet the "brain trust" that came up with that terrible wiper control. And yes, that faux wood grain is so cheesy and ugly for sure. What the heck were they thinking??
GM recently had this horrible grey almost beige interior color recently on some vehicles as an option. It reminded me of the color old school prosthesis used.
Guess you had to be there at the time. Silver face pioneer and other audio gear was all the rage in another year. Buick did the silver face far better in another couple years. The yellowing didn’t look the same back then, it wasn’t a rich, deep color, but more of a dark honey color. Didn’t last, lol. The delay feature control lasted for years afterward. Thanks for the video, Adam
Our last Cadillac was a '72 brougham which was getting pretty bad. But I had an uncle that had a '74 Eldorado convertible (white over tan). That mauve dash in your photos has that awful embossing on the plastic strip on the passenger side of the dash. What I remember was the embossed escutcheons on the door pulls. Like poorly-formed, baby-poop-brown, squared...oyster shells. Pure-D ghastly.
As a sort of converse to this, the 2009 SRX4 my mother used to have had real wood that was so badly varnished it looked and felt like cheap plastic. (As did the chrome surround on the center stack, but to be fair, that _was_ cheap plastic.)
I thought overall it was an improved interior to the previous one. I for one prefer fake wood to real. I’ve paid exorbitant amounts to restore real wood interiors. Real wood ages horribly.
Thank you once again Adam. You find the most interesting topics to share. I know Buick later used that stainless steel back ground with black letter in its cars. I remember seeing Regals and Rivieras with it as well. I think I saw a late 70's Pontiac Grand Prix with it as well. It is interesting what passed for woodgrain over the years.
It’s definitely interesting the stainless gages kind of made its round thru the big 3 thru the 70s early 80s I want to say it finally died in the 79-84 area Grand Marquis Lincoln Town Car. Very valid point my man. I don’t know if I ever saw it in a Chevy… I can’t say I ever seen it in a Caprice, definitely not in a Monte Carlo or any pickup. I think the shittiest car I ever see it in was the first gen dash of the K Car. I been reading your comments I bet you got a lot of knowledge on the classic car.
Around 4:35 the yellow wood, could it be Maple (Birdseye)? If so maple has a yellow color like the video when no stain is used. Doesn't mean it looks good here.
My father had a 73 Couple DeVille. It was light years nicer than the 74 model year. As a kid I remember hating the steering wheel that started with the 1974 model.
As I recall, Arnold Palmer did some ads for the 1974 Cadillac and remarked that he liked how the new instrument panel "organized things". Six years earlier, he was promoting Lincoln Mercury cars and there was a free golf ball promotion at the LM dealerships .
1974 was a bad year disregarding the automotive designs that were probably made 3 years earlier.. Gasoline went from 29.9 cents a gallon to $0.79 a gallon. It was rocked by and everybody in my neighborhood in Southeastern Michigan.
I had a 1966 Sedan Deville and a 1975 Fleetwood S75 limo. The 1966 interior, paint and trim quality was obviously better, and the frame felt more solid. I wonder how many future sales were lost to Lincoln and Mercedes Benz because of the lesser quality.
I have to agree that the plastic wood was very “plasticy”. I also never liked how in the GM cars they would sometimes have the color of the dash and steering wheel different from the rest of the interior and carpet. I just thought it didn’t flow or look good. On a final note, I also thought that the upper end Buicks, like the Park Avenue and even the 98’s had a nicer, more plush interior than the Devilles in ‘75 and ‘76.
I worked at Cadillac and people loved their cars no matter what . My favorite was that 85 Eldo. I remember our living room at home looked like these cars and that was the whole point I think.
I remember the wiper switch always felt as if it was about to break. I also remember that Ford/Lincoln/Mercury fake wood grain in general looked better than GMs.
Definitely, the 1971-73 Cadillacs had nicer looking interiors. My big beef, in regard to styling, on 1975-76 was the stationary glass in the "C" pillar on 4 door sedans. It is like GM just cut a hole in the "C" pillar to change up the styling, but it really was not that appealing. The 2 door Cadillac coupes looked nice. Just my opinion.
That wiper switch didn't feel flimsy, it's WAS flimsy - and of course difficult to use. I don't know why these clowns were trying to put the smallest switchgear and speedo possible into their largest car...
I don;t know why I always wanted a 1974 Talisman. They are hard to find. Since you mentioned the fake wood grain . My 1978 Eldorado Biarritz had the fake wood grain. What I thought was a solid piece of plastic turned out to be paper coated plastic. No different than picnic paper plates. That drove me nuts. Over the years I have owned many cars , too many, American and European. The air conditioning vents on all the American cars brake with the exception of the metal crotch coolers on GM cars.
My parents had a black 77 Pontiac Bonneville when I was a kid. I loved that car. It had a 400 or 401 in it. Can't remember which. I'd like to see him feature one on here.
This is somewhat off-topic, but still a Cadillac question: The '67 eldo had front fenders that could not be stamped in one piece. How did Cadillac solve that problem on the '69-70 deVille?
What a fine example why competition is so beneficial in industry. If Lincoln and Imperial designers said “Hey, they lowered the quality to save money, now we don’t have to care about quality either,” all luxury cars interiors would look the same bad way. To be honest I am wondering whether Cadillac wanted to lower the benchmark and hoped all the others did too. When they saw, in one year, it didn’t happen. They jumped back to quality:-)
Adam, you hit this one on the nail! The woodgrain on these cars just evidences a truly cynical approach to luxury, heightened no doubt by cost cutting concerns (oops, sorry!). The "carved" and "gunstock" versions on some of the Cadillacs in particular were just absolutely the worst in any car, ever. Given how well Lincoln (and to a lesser extent, Imperial) faux wood looked and felt, this SHOULD have been a real turn off to customers. Coupled with the fake upper vinyl padded area on the door panels, along with the vacuum formed lowers, this has to be the absolute nadir of Cadillac interior design. Alas, sales figures of these Cadillacs tell a different story.
The 74 Coup DeVille will always have a place in my heart because my dad taught me how to drive in one when I was 12. I now drive a 100 foot long boat for a living. Coincidence? I think not.
I remember that dash...my friends dad had one and, since we had old crappy cars, I remember the warning light area seemed so cool. I dont remember the woodgrain but it does look awful. Maybe it was a black dash or something.
I thought the 1971-76 Cadillac interiors were a huge downgrade compared to the 1965-70 Cadillac interiors, the 1969-70 Cadillac interiors weren't the best but they were a lot better compared to the later giant Cadillac's.
1974 was just a dreadful year for the automotive industry, the ugly bumpers, cars that seemed more detuned than previous years and the really not popular seat belt interlocks that would not allow your car to start unless you had fastened your seat belt. Throw in the putrid 55 mph limit and high gas prices and it just seemed like a terrible year. Having said that, visibility notwithstanding, I liked the brushed silver face of the speedo, it looked a lot classier than the black face speedo shown in one of the pictures. I do agree, the woodgrain was firmly in the yuck category.
I owned a '74 Coup de ville in '84. No complaints about the interior at all. The entire auto was super, with the exception of the paint which developed big round rust circles the size of grapefruits. I later heard it was inferior metal, or recycled steel or something. In any regards I ran the odometer up to 160k or so before she completely rotted. I just don't remember any issues with the interior. BTW I had the cloth plush seats in dark blue. The car was a Navy blue with a white Landau top. Pretty spiffy
My first Cadillac was a '75 Coupe Deville and I still miss the luxury of its interior. The interior fake wood grain looked far more realistic than the 'real' wood trim in my 2020 Cadillac CT6 and the seats were far more comfortable.
Nope, that was done on purpose, look at the color on the hood. Hey I lived it, after seeing the cars m parents drove in the mid-late 60s (Toronados, Chargers etc) some of us got stuck with the malaise era by the time we turned 16.
Greatest fake wood quote I’ve ever read, can’t remember what magazine, reviewing a ‘73..? Monte Carlo said the dashboard was trimmed in “wood so fake looking it would surely make a tree cry”.
It's all about the car combinations for the interior and exterior and the options. I owned a 74 Coupe Deville (cold exterior black top black cloth interior with gold pin stripes) and a 75 Coupe DeVille (D Elegance) white exterior white top with a red cord interior. Any interior can look tacky if it's the wrong color combination. Any luxury car can look cheap if it's not optioned well. I'm a Cadillac fan if you couldn't tell so I defend the brand because it seems like Cadillac catches the most hell of any make. As a Cadillac fan I admit that a 75 caprice had a better dash but was not as luxurious,and Lincoln's were better looking 71-79 but it's not a night and day comparison. Both cars were impressive those years.
1984 Buick Riviera & 1985 Cadillac Fleetwood had the most wood grain dashboard I ever seen in my life. Being 6 years old at the time, all I saw was BARK..
Great video!! Honestly, I just assumed the warning light array across the width of the dash was a feature exclusive to Buick. I have that same display on my '92 Park Avenue.
My mom worked @ GM in the late 80s and got her a '88 Riv with those touchscreen comp plopped in the middle! Really snazzy and way ahead of it's time ( like mom!
My uncle and cousin burned up a 75? Cad -- they wrre on the way to a funeral about 150 miles away and my cousin had his snuff spit cup on the dash in front of the Hot light
😊 All Luxury Vehicle Back In time Had its own Distinction Automaker s were more competitive At that time all interior were fake parts you always paid more money out in a vehicle than what it was worth time told the true story Modern vehicle of today all Hav the same similarity And basically look the same a more worst situation today than yester years 😊
I'm old enough to remember these cars; I was a college boy then. I can remember how hideous this Cadillac brochure's photos were, and that awful, awful wood grain plastic.
In the 1974 Motor Trend King of the Hill competition pitting the Cadillac against the Lincoln Town Car and the Imperial, I remember the writer saying the fake wood was so bad he couldn't believe Cadillac was serious. It took no imagination to see Caprice instead of Coupe de Ville on the dash.
I have that test in the Brooklands Books Imperial compilation. Hard to read in a way between that ugly Cadillac, the beautiful but shrunken Imperial and the still-lovely Lincoln. I was in college then, but I remember thinking at the time how much better the '75's were because they got the converters and unleaded gas and both performance and economy improved.
@@loveisall5520 lol
The Caprice were actually nicer cars
I have the magazine with that article , it's the june 1975 issue of road test magazine . They mentioned the cheapness of the caddy interior several times . They went on to say " no wonder the peasants are so happy , their chevies are as luxurious as a caddy . "
My parents bought a Coupe Deville in 74. I don’t remember the wood grain being yellowish. I do remember a terrible premature rust problem though! It was rusting around the wheel wells and rockers before it was 2 years old
Gotta tell ya Adam, my mom had a good laugh at the 1974 Cadillac interior trim, she called it, "plastic peanut butter". But for 1975, Cadillac rolled out a new Simulated Distressed Pecan interior trim - and mom flipped when she saw it, "looks like they threw a little simulated chocolate in the peanut butter".
Two great tastes that taste great together!
@@ZGryphon But they don't belong as applique on dashboards. Adam and eddstarr's mother are completely justified in their conclusions.
Its so ugly, i love it lol
@@ZGryphon To have such awful interior trim in a premium car - it was like a real-life comedy show! 😂
When I was in college, my Grandmother gave me her 74 CDV. Excellent condition. I did notice that weird woodgrain color. So, I got some black paint, dipped a rag into the can, smudged it on the "wood" , wiped it off...problem solved. Grateful I had this car. Yes, the wiper control was a nightmare. I had to concentrate when operating, almost like being distracted on an Iphone.
I think the color was Cranberry Firemist with a white leather interior and white vinyl cabriolet. I drove that baby to the beaches in Long Island, no problem. She was a beast. Thanks for the memory.
We had a 1974 Coupe DeVille, white on white with red interior. The red interior would bleed through in stain on the white vinyl top. It could not be repaired or bleached. My dad had to have it painted over a couple times. I cannot recall if that was on warranty, I think it was the first time. The bi-plane dash was something my dad pointed out to me when the car first came to our driveway. The radio antenna would come up just a foot or so when the radio was turned on which was so cool! My folks played Barry White over and over on a road trip when the car was new. Our Irish Setter, "TOBY" lie on a beach towel between my brother and I in the back seat. Ultimately, we came to call the car "The Sled", there were many fun trips, jokes and laughing about the big car and our life and times with it. My dad would joke that he could park anywhere he wanted because it's a Cadillac. I do recall this car overheating (boiling over) on mountain trips despite being in good running order. Car weighed about 5,000 lbs. We had the car from 74' to 1985 when the folks got an 85' Eldo, white on white with a beautiful Navy blue interior. Smooth, high- revving sounding, EFI engine sounded so cool at idle with a soft, precision, ticking, EFI sound. Adam, Thank you so much for your prolific posting!
In the late 70's there was little differentiating a Cadillac from other GM brands besides the name. You could get a Chevy built on the same platform and body style, and option it up with everything the Cadillac had, comfort wise it would be the same car, same engine, slightly different appearance. The knobs and switches were made of light cheap silver colored plastic, and although it didn't impact the function, it just felt cheap, not what you would expect from a car of the class. And of course the fake plastic wood... the Cimarron was the lowest depth to which they sunk... I remember the steering wheel vibrating up and down at idle in park, and the raucous popcorn sound of the diesel engine...
We had an Oldsmobile that had "wood panelling" on the sides, it was just a vinyl sticker stuck to the side of the car...
Worst interior? 90s GM vehicle. Cheap materials, bizzare eregenomics, weirdly shaped seats, omg it was sad.
Coming out of Jaguars and Mercedes S class cars as a young boy and entering a 1973 model Ford LTD Country Squire, it took some swallowing looking at the faux wood. But, the size, the ride, the noise the scent and the looks on everybody's eyes (in the Netherlands) when that battle cruiser came into view, I will never forget. I was deeply in love with that Ford. And no, my father was not rich at all, he just drove CEO's cars for a living (and sometimes took me with him, if his work and my school allowed it).
Big american's impress people when they cruise around in distant countries, here in Argentina happens the same. I love them.
My folks bought a new ‘74 CSD with leather interior. It was the biggest POS from day one. Transmission problems (4 repairs in a few years). All the issues you mention are true. Leather seats were good quality, though. Years later they bought a new ‘79 Mark 5. While still lots of plastic, a much better car. The benchmark, still, are the Mark III interiors. Maybe the best ever to this day.
I luv it, almost fifty years later and we're critiquing old American barge interiors! Now that you put it this way I can see the cheapness feaux look. That yellowish wood was supposed to be like an exotic teak or such. Turned out looking more like oak kitchen cab wood 😆
My '71 Olds 98 sedan had a clock in the back seat between huge pull straps.
But I must admit, the plastic was hard. Still I loved the feel of that dark blue brocade seats. Felt cool and smooth on the hottest Texas day.
All very good points... my grandparents used to have an Impala of that era, which I always thought had a fine interior that was arguably better than the Cadillac, and it was nearly as quiet, powerful, and smooth riding as the Caddy. The seats were obviously not as comfortable as the Caddy, but I always loved that Impala and felt very safe in it.
My parents owned a 65 Impala wagon and I really loved that car. A lot of value for the money.
This is the best RUclips channel ever
I had one of these '74 Sedan de Ville's for a short while back in the late 70's. It had a black interior and the seats were hot in the summertime even with the A/C on. The worst part was that it was pathetically under-powered, that 472v-8 only had 200HP and the car weighed 5,000 pounds.....
I have a '74 Eldorado. The wood was described as "destressed pecan" and has an almost green tinge to it. I swapped it out with '77-'78 Eldorado wood which has a much more realistic look to it. The big issue with the vents is that the little foam pieces on the sides of the vents that were supposed to provide the friction to keep the vent in its location fails quickly.
Howdy Mitch! Haven't seen an update on your project in quite a while. Janice's Eldo has become a fixture in the local parades.
Great videos. Watch them all. If memory serves me the rear bumpers on the 73s met a 2 1/2 mph standard and the fronts 5 mph.
I agree 100%. I think they must have thought they would try to make the plastic appear as Oak in that era. In any event, IMO 1967 was really the last year the Fleetwood Sixty-Specials and the Seventy-Fives had real wood and a nice rich looking interior . From 1969-1976 it seemed like each year more and more cheap materials were used with the exception of some of the bespoke high-fashion fabrics available. After the cars were a year or so old, people used toothpicks, or folded matchbook covers to hold the A/C vents in place, a lovely look combined with the faux-wood. (Heavy sarcasm).
Actually 1968 was the last year for real wood. They used beautiful genuine Rosewood surrounded by filigree scrollwork.. it was especially nice in the Fleetwoods.. then, as you say they went to cheaper for a few years.
Yes, I saw the error too late and could not go back to edit it.
Sedan Devilles from '65/'69/'73 were my top favs.
I always loved the 65-66 Cadillac dash, the ignition location is up high on the dashboard
When I sold Oldsmobiles I would mention that they had "real fake wood". That worked every time!
I agree that the woodgrain in 1974 was hideous, but my favorite part was the silver instrument cluster for some reason. It just looks more upscale than the later years. The best combo for me would be the 1976 interior with the 74 silver gauge bezel.
I had 1974 Coupe DeVille here in Finland, and yes, I didn't quite like some of these interior touches, especially wiper control you mentioned. It was awful.The car was very comfortable and made a statement everywhere I drove,so it was a real Cadillac anyway! And btw, 472 was thirsty beast but it would spin a tire EASILY.
Many '70's cars had cheap, generic interiors. The '71 - '73 Cadillacs looked and felt like taxi cabs inside. The '71 - '74 Mopar muscle cars had great interior designs but used horrible, cheap plastics.
The best Cadillac dash is the '65 - '66.
Great video. The ‘74 Pontiac Grand Ville also had some interesting faux wood on the door panels complete with simulated carved details. It was dropped for the ‘75 model year.
Oh yes. It was awful too!
I had a 75 with the same layout. The details of the Woode altered for the three years they ran. It was marginally less offensive by the time 76 rolled around but still wasn’t fooling anyone!
In the 1940's and early 1950's, the woodgrain was painted and looked great. It was painted on my 1995 Oldsmobile 98 as well.
Look at the plastic surround around the speedometer: At the top it sags down, and you see the same non rectangular design around the vents and in other areas. This is utterly unacceptable today! I don't know how people bought these expensive cars back then with this sort of sloppy attention to detail when there were foreign built alternatives that did NOT look like this~
I have a Lincoln story for ya. I had a 71 Mark in the 90's that was originally a nice silver color with a red plush velour interior. By the time I owned it the sun had faded it to a dull grey car with a strangely pink interior. Add that it was plush velour and about the only thing that you would have to add to make a crazy looking lowrider would have been fuzzy dice and the little dangly balls! Car was a beast though and super fun to drive, 365 hp from the factory! I miss when gas was cheap.
Yes Adam, that’s one great reason why I have my second 1973 Cadillac!
I love all 70 s interiors. The lush colors. The faux wood. The insane upholstery. The vinyl roof tops.
Don't forget the 1950's when discussing worst looking faux-wood interiors. My bottom of the line 1954 Mainline Ranch Wagon has large swaths of fake wood grain vinyl on the interior door and side panels. When I was redoing the interior I couldn't find a fake wood grain that exactly matched the existing door and intact side panels, so what I used makes it look even worse. I suppose, however, that the cheap wood grain effect of the '54 Ranch Wagon might fit into the "it looks so bad that it's good" category for some people. A very low brow 1950's effect.
Adam, I agree with you 100%. I have no problem with the wiper controls on my 1976 Fleetwood though. On the vent issue, I have had numerous Cadillacs with the same problem and my solution was to cut a small piece of electrical tape and place it sticky side together into the corner of the vents. That gives it the perfect friction to hold the vent in place. Otherwise, I love the overall design of the dashboard.
Interesting video. Sometimes trying too hard (from a manufacturing perspective) results in these odd decisions. The warning lights were a nice touch regarding its location.
The ‘73 curved, cockpit style Instrument panel was really nice, the ‘74 wasn’t even an instrument panel, just a flat cheap looking “dashboard”.
Hey Adam, you hit the nail on the head regarding the woodgrain of the 74 Cadillac!!! I am also a big fan of the wood trim of the Continental Mark lll 👍👍🙂
All those poor plastic trees that once lined our forests. Gone…. Lol. Well played Adam!
I always marvel at the square medallions anchoring the door straps... what is it, a weird abstract flower ?
An example of a premium priced brand not being premium.
4:05 - I tend to notice and focus on details that few others do, in a situation or photo: Notice underneath the dash, two recessed openings - presumably the cigarette lighter-ashtray combo, and to the right, the glove compartment. The alignment of those panels, when closed, is so poor for "The World Standard", lol!
I was never a fan of the strange 3 spoke steering wheel Cadillac used in that era. It just loos odd to me. Maybe it's because I'm so accustomed to the two spoke Chevy wheel that was used in so much through the 70's and 80's.
I loved my 74 Caddy sedan with the 472. Very dependable and comfortable 😊
I am a little behind on your new videos but could not help but laughed on the title of this one. I can only imagine the next video will be "The Varicosed" 😊🇨🇦
I had a '74 Fleetwood in the 80s. In its last year before I donated it to the Salvation Army, I had to hold a penny against the faceless wiper switch to get them to work. I don't remember the color of the fake wood being that bad, but then my whole interior was brown. 1974 was the last year of their thicker, stiffer, glossier leather.
My neighbor growing up had a ‘74 Fleetwood Brougham. It was brown with brown leather interior. The interior wood didn’t look that bad.
I wonder if the "jaundiced" look got worse as the cars aged. The sun does a number on most plastics. Maybe there were coatings or polishes to adjust the tint and enhance the 3 dimensional appearances of such finishes.
My very first car was a 1973 Coupe DeVille that I bought for $500.00 from my Grandparents. I have to agree with you… the ‘74 interiors were odd and subpar. I liked my ‘73 a lot.
No ac?
@@floridaroadways I had ac.
@@Jason-xb3jh I’m glad you did. My dad had a 73 Eldorado and I think it had a 473 or 500cubic engine. I can’t remember.
@@floridaroadways Mine had the 472 cid engine. My Grandparents had a Quarter Horse Ranch … they pulled a horse trailer with it.
@@Jason-xb3jh those Cadillacs were good back then. I want to buy a new Escalade but I’ll settle for a 2013-2015 Escalade.
I like the top line of idiot lights.
I have a 75 coupe DeVille. You raise some good points. The upper door panels were done in done in different materials depending on the trim level. I am thinking to recover mine in matching leather when I do the seats.
'77 and '78 AMC Matador Barcelina😁 My Grandfather had the '78, in a two tone beige/orange combo, both exterior and interior. Very, very comfortable😁 In today's context, this car screamed 70's/early 80's senior citizen transportation louder than a Dean Martin impersonator at the local Holiday Inn😁
The flimsy GM vents continued into 2000s. The GM truck line thru 1994 are prone to this… and that woodgrain I feel like was a practice of the time on a lot of 1970s plastic in cars or in homes a yellow plastic with a brown coating applied in various thicknesses to look like grain that didn’t hold up to cleaning. I think the 79 Cadillac had HORRIBLE woodgrain, and I’m not a fan of the 80 up teak. The 89 Deville and 90 Brougham brought out some of the finest fake wood I know of. My 83 Electra with its very unnatural blonde version of butterfly walnut compared to Oldsmobiles beautiful dark wood (as in my 85 Toronado Caliente) is also OK at best. The fact that they couldn’t dip the whole panel like the door panel tops rather just screen printed the grain on the flat face ruins the whole look.
That 73 Cadillac interior is beautiful. My mother would refer to the 74 interior as "god awful". They had some other colorful descriptions that can't be written here. Would love to meet the "brain trust" that came up with that terrible wiper control. And yes, that faux wood grain is so cheesy and ugly for sure. What the heck were they thinking??
GM recently had this horrible grey almost beige interior color recently on some vehicles as an option. It reminded me of the color old school prosthesis used.
The center of the steering wheel literally looks like a cheap plastic toy for kids. It's not just the color, but the grain pattern itself.
You forgot to mention the simulated imitation "carved wood" appliques.
The pattern molded into the plastic wood looks like something you'd find on a cheap JC Penny television cabinet of the period.
Guess you had to be there at the time. Silver face pioneer and other audio gear was all the rage in another year. Buick did the silver face far better in another couple years. The yellowing didn’t look the same back then, it wasn’t a rich, deep color, but more of a dark honey color. Didn’t last, lol. The delay feature control lasted for years afterward. Thanks for the video, Adam
Yes, silver face receivers were nice, bring them back every thing is black.
Our last Cadillac was a '72 brougham which was getting pretty bad. But I had an uncle that had a '74 Eldorado convertible (white over tan). That mauve dash in your photos has that awful embossing on the plastic strip on the passenger side of the dash. What I remember was the embossed escutcheons on the door pulls. Like poorly-formed, baby-poop-brown, squared...oyster shells. Pure-D ghastly.
As a sort of converse to this, the 2009 SRX4 my mother used to have had real wood that was so badly varnished it looked and felt like cheap plastic. (As did the chrome surround on the center stack, but to be fair, that _was_ cheap plastic.)
My TR 6 has a light plywood veneer dash. They crack with time.
Come on now Adam, Mish-Gin grows the finest plastic trees in the world up in Polyhedron township in Ontonagon county....
Great video!
What an excellent review!! It's also right on target!
I thought overall it was an improved interior to the previous one. I for one prefer fake wood to real. I’ve paid exorbitant amounts to restore real wood interiors. Real wood ages horribly.
Unless you're driving a Lexus 😉
@@8corymix8 Lexus it’s the same
Agree 100%! Sorry Adam!
I agree with the design itself. I loved it and considered the dash 100% better than the 73! I dug the long swept straight layout.
@@modspell I love the 95 deville
Thank you once again Adam. You find the most interesting topics to share. I know Buick later used that stainless steel back ground with black letter in its cars. I remember seeing Regals and Rivieras with it as well. I think I saw a late 70's Pontiac Grand Prix with it as well. It is interesting what passed for woodgrain over the years.
It’s definitely interesting the stainless gages kind of made its round thru the big 3 thru the 70s early 80s I want to say it finally died in the 79-84 area Grand Marquis Lincoln Town Car. Very valid point my man. I don’t know if I ever saw it in a Chevy… I can’t say I ever seen it in a Caprice, definitely not in a Monte Carlo or any pickup. I think the shittiest car I ever see it in was the first gen dash of the K Car. I been reading your comments I bet you got a lot of knowledge on the classic car.
@@AlexanderWaylon The Grand Marquis had them as late a 1991. Thank you for your comments. They are appreciated.
Regals and Rivieras ARE Buicks.
Around 4:35 the yellow wood, could it be Maple (Birdseye)? If so maple has a yellow color like the video when no stain is used. Doesn't mean it looks good here.
It’s fake wood
My father had a 73 Couple DeVille. It was light years nicer than the 74 model year. As a kid I remember hating the steering wheel that started with the 1974 model.
Agree 1000%. Also the 74’s rear end styling was terrible and the coupes rear windows were fixed.
As I recall, Arnold Palmer did some ads for the 1974 Cadillac and remarked that he liked how the new instrument panel "organized things". Six years earlier, he was promoting Lincoln Mercury cars and there was a free golf ball promotion at the LM dealerships
.
His name was on the Cadillac dealership in Charlotte, NC. Maybe still is.
1974 was a bad year disregarding the automotive designs that were probably made 3 years earlier..
Gasoline went from 29.9 cents a gallon to $0.79 a gallon. It was rocked by and everybody in my neighborhood in Southeastern Michigan.
I think the worst wood grain ever used was that bright, yellow wood that Lexus used in the early-00s. At least it was real, but it was still hideous.
Agree. I prefer the 69 and 70 dashboard and controls.
I had a 1966 Sedan Deville and a 1975 Fleetwood S75 limo. The 1966 interior, paint and trim quality was obviously better, and the frame felt more solid. I wonder how many future sales were lost to Lincoln and Mercedes Benz because of the lesser quality.
I was never a fan of the 1974 or 1975 caddy. Now I know why.
I like the 1976 caddy sedan Deville’s exterior styling.
Thanks for sharing.
I have to agree that the plastic wood was very “plasticy”. I also never liked how in the GM cars they would sometimes have the color of the dash and steering wheel different from the rest of the interior and carpet. I just thought it didn’t flow or look good. On a final note, I also thought that the upper end Buicks, like the Park Avenue and even the 98’s had a nicer, more plush interior than the Devilles in ‘75 and ‘76.
“They don’t make em like they used too!”
*THANK GOD FOR THAT,* lol
I worked at Cadillac and people loved their cars no matter what . My favorite was that 85 Eldo. I remember our living room at home looked like these cars and that was the whole point I think.
I remember the wiper switch always felt as if it was about to break. I also remember that Ford/Lincoln/Mercury fake wood grain in general looked better than GMs.
Whoever designed that wiper control was on some good drugs!
Definitely, the 1971-73 Cadillacs had nicer looking interiors. My big beef, in regard to styling, on 1975-76 was the stationary glass in the "C" pillar on 4 door sedans. It is like GM just cut a hole in the "C" pillar to change up the styling, but it really was not that appealing. The 2 door Cadillac coupes looked nice. Just my opinion.
That wiper switch didn't feel flimsy, it's WAS flimsy - and of course difficult to use. I don't know why these clowns were trying to put the smallest switchgear and speedo possible into their largest car...
Controversial I know, but I hate the interiors of this era Cadillac. The tiny speedometer looks so claustrophobic in the centre of the dashboard!
I like how the cutout for the steering wheel and speedometer are shaped like a crest to pay tribute to the Cadillac logo.
I don;t know why I always wanted a 1974 Talisman. They are hard to find. Since you mentioned the fake wood grain . My 1978 Eldorado Biarritz had the fake wood grain. What I thought was a solid piece of plastic turned out to be paper coated plastic. No different than picnic paper plates. That drove me nuts.
Over the years I have owned many cars , too many, American and European. The air conditioning vents on all the American cars brake with the exception of the metal crotch coolers on GM cars.
The fake burled Walnut in my 70 Eldo is'nt plastic. Its photo embossed steel.
My parents had a black 77 Pontiac Bonneville when I was a kid. I loved that car. It had a 400 or 401 in it. Can't remember which. I'd like to see him feature one on here.
This is somewhat off-topic, but still a Cadillac question: The '67 eldo had front fenders that could not be stamped in one piece. How did Cadillac solve that problem on the '69-70 deVille?
Though not a full size, the 1970-1978 Chevrolet Camaro also had the wrap-a-round driver dash setup.
I have a 71 eldorado convertible I owned a 68 Thunderbird bird previously and really liked that tbird interior more it was much more luxurious
What a fine example why competition is so beneficial in industry. If Lincoln and Imperial designers said “Hey, they lowered the quality to save money, now we don’t have to care about quality either,” all luxury cars interiors would look the same bad way. To be honest I am wondering whether Cadillac wanted to lower the benchmark and hoped all the others did too. When they saw, in one year, it didn’t happen. They jumped back to quality:-)
Adam, you hit this one on the nail! The woodgrain on these cars just evidences a truly cynical approach to luxury, heightened no doubt by cost cutting concerns (oops, sorry!). The "carved" and "gunstock" versions on some of the Cadillacs in particular were just absolutely the worst in any car, ever. Given how well Lincoln (and to a lesser extent, Imperial) faux wood looked and felt, this SHOULD have been a real turn off to customers. Coupled with the fake upper vinyl padded area on the door panels, along with the vacuum formed lowers, this has to be the absolute nadir of Cadillac interior design. Alas, sales figures of these Cadillacs tell a different story.
Okay now you have to do a video on 1970s fabrics. The paisley, checkered, corduroy and other garish and hilarious fabrics.
I agree 👍 buddy with you a 💯 percent actually the 74 is the model I never liked I hate the headlight frame on them with a passion
The 74 Coup DeVille will always have a place in my heart because my dad taught me how to drive in one when I was 12. I now drive a 100 foot long boat for a living. Coincidence? I think not.
I remember that dash...my friends dad had one and, since we had old crappy cars, I remember the warning light area seemed so cool. I dont remember the woodgrain but it does look awful. Maybe it was a black dash or something.
Cadillac called that the "information center."
The wood looked like it had 'jaundiced' so funny. Love it.
I thought the 1971-76 Cadillac interiors were a huge downgrade compared to the 1965-70 Cadillac interiors, the 1969-70 Cadillac interiors weren't the best but they were a lot better compared to the later giant Cadillac's.
1974 was just a dreadful year for the automotive industry, the ugly bumpers, cars that seemed more detuned than previous years and the really not popular seat belt interlocks that would not allow your car to start unless you had fastened your seat belt. Throw in the putrid 55 mph limit and high gas prices and it just seemed like a terrible year.
Having said that, visibility notwithstanding, I liked the brushed silver face of the speedo, it looked a lot classier than the black face speedo shown in one of the pictures. I do agree, the woodgrain was firmly in the yuck category.
I have a 1973 Riviera and the woodgrain is pretty awful too...big step back in quality from the earlier Riv dashes.
I owned a '74 Coup de ville in '84. No complaints about the interior at all. The entire auto was super, with the exception of the paint which developed big round rust circles the size of grapefruits. I later heard it was inferior metal, or recycled steel or something. In any regards I ran the odometer up to 160k or so before she completely rotted. I just don't remember any issues with the interior. BTW I had the cloth plush seats in dark blue. The car was a Navy blue with a white Landau top. Pretty spiffy
Mine was rusted around the little posts that held the side molding on...and a few other places.
My first Cadillac was a '75 Coupe Deville and I still miss the luxury of its interior. The interior fake wood grain looked far more realistic than the 'real' wood trim in my 2020 Cadillac CT6 and the seats were far more comfortable.
The pink dash and steering wheel looks horrid. I'm assuming that it was red and it faded?
Nope, that was done on purpose, look at the color on the hood. Hey I lived it, after seeing the cars m parents drove in the mid-late 60s (Toronados, Chargers etc) some of us got stuck with the malaise era by the time we turned 16.
Greatest fake wood quote I’ve ever read, can’t remember what magazine, reviewing a ‘73..? Monte Carlo said the dashboard was trimmed in “wood so fake looking it would surely make a tree cry”.
I can only imagine what it must have been like going round a corner a little to quickly on those slippery bench seats.
It's all about the car combinations for the interior and exterior and the options.
I owned a 74 Coupe Deville (cold exterior black top black cloth interior with gold pin stripes) and a 75 Coupe DeVille
(D Elegance) white exterior white top with a red cord interior. Any interior can look tacky if it's the wrong color combination. Any luxury car can look cheap if it's not optioned well. I'm a Cadillac fan if you couldn't tell so I defend the brand because it seems like Cadillac catches the most hell of any make. As a Cadillac fan I admit that a 75 caprice had a better dash but was not as luxurious,and Lincoln's were better looking 71-79 but it's not a night and day comparison. Both cars were impressive those years.
1984 Buick Riviera & 1985 Cadillac Fleetwood had the most wood grain dashboard I ever seen in my life. Being 6 years old at the time, all I saw was BARK..
Great video!! Honestly, I just assumed the warning light array across the width of the dash was a feature exclusive to Buick. I have that same display on my '92 Park Avenue.
My mom worked @ GM in the late 80s and got her a '88 Riv with those touchscreen comp plopped in the middle! Really snazzy and way ahead of it's time ( like mom!
My uncle and cousin burned up a 75? Cad -- they wrre on the way to a funeral about 150 miles away and my cousin had his snuff spit cup on the dash in front of the Hot light
Opps i meant '89
😊 All Luxury Vehicle Back In time Had its own Distinction Automaker s were more competitive At that time all interior were fake parts you always paid more money out in a vehicle than what it was worth time told the true story Modern vehicle of today all Hav the same similarity And basically look the same a more worst situation today than yester years 😊
I'm old enough to remember these cars; I was a college boy then. I can remember how hideous this Cadillac brochure's photos were, and that awful, awful wood grain plastic.