Me too! It was intended to be polarizing, as virtually everything on the road looked like the previous generation by the time it was retired. I was only nine years old when I first saw one of these and knew little about cars, but it still had the window sticker on it and I had to have a peek because it knew it had to be expensive!
10 yesrs of wear? I have a 20 year old Acura with less issues. At most my power tilt wheel gave up when the car was 18 years old and the paint is only just starting to fade.
Do you have any more foreign car reviews? I'm curious to compare the quality at the time, even the Rolls and the Audi had flaws, these videos are a good representation of how an average "off the lot" Detroit car from the era was delivered, but I'm curious as to how the foreign cars from the era compared.
@Christmas 1 My friend got 385,000 out of a Lumina and has nearly 400,000 on a Monte Carlo, I've gotten way more than 60,000 out of every GM car I've owned, maybe your parents were just bad at maintenance or had bad luck, but cool story bro......
@@rafaelfiallo4123 Yes, a lot of the imports were far from perfect, but at least for the German makes, the fit and finish was usually better than on U.S. makes, with the trouble and big bills, coming a couple of years later. I remember being singularly unimpressed with the fit and finish of Datsuns and Nissans during these years. Some of the exterior trim was installed after the cars arrived here, so it's no surprise that that was a mess, but I saw an 810 (later Maxima) in the dealer showroom and the dashboard was comprised of many little plastic segments that barely fit each other. At least Nissans were mechanically solid back then.
A well to do couple in my neighborhood bought a gas powered '80 Seville Elegante, silver & black. They must have liked it because other Cadillacs came and went but the Seville remained into the late 90s
Love how the Seville and the Eldorado Bob tested in another episode came with flat wheel covers. They looked decidedly different with that single detail.
I just think it's funny how I thought that the 1980-'85 "bustleback" Seville was the ugliest car in the world when I was growing up, but now I would give anything to have one.
I was one of the few people who neither loved, nor hated this Seville, or the 1982 Continental. The Seville was an interesting car because it was the only FWD "UPP" layout car that wasn't a coup, so it was the only car that made full use of the packaging efficiencies of the layout (with the engine and transmission longitudinally side-by-side and the right drive shaft routed through the oil pan). Ford had the original patent on this setup and GM considered using it on the '61-'63 Olds F85, but didn't like the idea of paying royalties on a high-volume car. So the transaxle was enlarged for the Toronado and Eldorado and never saw a sedan until 1980.
One good thing about the 1980-1985 Seville was its safety. The federal government started doing crash testing in 1979, so the 1980 Seville was in one of the first rounds of testing. A real life driver or front passenger would be likely to have only minor injuries in a 35 mph full-front head on collision with a vehicle of the same size, and given that the Seville was bigger than most cars on the road, it made it even safer in the real world. The safety design of this generation of Seville was very good for the early 1980s, it was one of the safest cars on the road then. It's not safe compared to a modern midsize sedan, but I'd say it's easily equivalent to an average mid 1990s midsize sedan. October 11, 2019 2:50 pm
So their excuse for all the issues was it was a training car for their mechanics? Basically what GM was really saying was we were training our mechanics for the countless hours ahead to repair the Sevilles flaws that they will encounter. lol
I've been enjoying these little snippets and wishing they'd given our reported more than 2 minutes each. But boy the build quality - is it any wonder that Americans starting ditching US cars - what a shame. Combination of over confident manufacturers and indifferent union workers. End result: US maker market share in 2020 = big fat joke.
From a marketing standpoint, the 1980 Seville was a huge mistake. Out went any appeal to customers cross-shopping European cars, in came a look that was 3/4 barely different from a DeVille and 1/4 that butt...nobody bought one who wouldn't have bought another Cadillac model if the Seville had stayed relatively restrained and "international".
I love the looks of the slantback Seville but you're exactly right. It was the opposite of what any Mercedes or BMW buyer might have been shopping for.
Drew Burk Which is a real shame because the 1976-79 Seville was appealing to European luxury car buyers. Mercedes-Benz didn’t see major sales increases while the first Seville was on the market. But when the 1980 model came out, Mercedes-Benz sales took off again. Nothing about the original Seville that attracted the new generation of luxury car buyers was retained for the 1980 model. And sales collapsed as a result. Cadillac sold more original Sevilles in 4.5 years than bustleback Sevilles over 6.
The 76-79 Sevilles were very durable. The 80 Seville wasn’t bad either. The 81 Seville wasn’t too bad as long as one disconnected the V-4-6-8 computer so that it would just run on all 8 cylinders. The 82-85 Sevilles had crappy engines, the 4.1 liter V8. After that Sevilles were just overworked GM badge engineering.
I love the '80-'85 Seville design.
Me too! It was intended to be polarizing, as virtually everything on the road looked like the previous generation by the time it was retired. I was only nine years old when I first saw one of these and knew little about cars, but it still had the window sticker on it and I had to have a peek because it knew it had to be expensive!
Well Lincoln and Imperial copied the bustle back.
I love how most of these cars from this era came off the assembly line with 10 years of wear lol.
@candi LENT even today pre production cars have these quality problems
10 yesrs of wear? I have a 20 year old Acura with less issues. At most my power tilt wheel gave up when the car was 18 years old and the paint is only just starting to fade.
🤣 So true!
I've been watching these for hours, they are so much fun, especially for a Miami boy like myself!
Glad you are enjoying them!!
Do you have any more foreign car reviews? I'm curious to compare the quality at the time, even the Rolls and the Audi had flaws, these videos are a good representation of how an average "off the lot" Detroit car from the era was delivered, but I'm curious as to how the foreign cars from the era compared.
@Christmas 1 My friend got 385,000 out of a Lumina and has nearly 400,000 on a Monte Carlo, I've gotten way more than 60,000 out of every GM car I've owned, maybe your parents were just bad at maintenance or had bad luck, but cool story bro......
@@thecardsaysmoops I agree, very well reported indeed.
@@rafaelfiallo4123 Yes, a lot of the imports were far from perfect, but at least for the German makes, the fit and finish was usually better than on U.S. makes, with the trouble and big bills, coming a couple of years later. I remember being singularly unimpressed with the fit and finish of Datsuns and Nissans during these years. Some of the exterior trim was installed after the cars arrived here, so it's no surprise that that was a mess, but I saw an 810 (later Maxima) in the dealer showroom and the dashboard was comprised of many little plastic segments that barely fit each other. At least Nissans were mechanically solid back then.
A well to do couple in my neighborhood bought a gas powered '80 Seville Elegante, silver & black. They must have liked it because other Cadillacs came and went but the Seville remained into the late 90s
Love how the Seville and the Eldorado Bob tested in another episode came with flat wheel covers. They looked decidedly different with that single detail.
I just think it's funny how I thought that the 1980-'85 "bustleback" Seville was the ugliest car in the world when I was growing up, but now I would give anything to have one.
I was one of the few people who neither loved, nor hated this Seville, or the 1982 Continental. The Seville was an interesting car because it was the only FWD "UPP" layout car that wasn't a coup, so it was the only car that made full use of the packaging efficiencies of the layout (with the engine and transmission longitudinally side-by-side and the right drive shaft routed through the oil pan). Ford had the original patent on this setup and GM considered using it on the '61-'63 Olds F85, but didn't like the idea of paying royalties on a high-volume car. So the transaxle was enlarged for the Toronado and Eldorado and never saw a sedan until 1980.
Seen it before on a hotel daimler ds420
I love that model
One good thing about the 1980-1985 Seville was its safety. The federal government started doing crash testing in 1979, so the 1980 Seville was in one of the first rounds of testing. A real life driver or front passenger would be likely to have only minor injuries in a 35 mph full-front head on collision with a vehicle of the same size, and given that the Seville was bigger than most cars on the road, it made it even safer in the real world. The safety design of this generation of Seville was very good for the early 1980s, it was one of the safest cars on the road then. It's not safe compared to a modern midsize sedan, but I'd say it's easily equivalent to an average mid 1990s midsize sedan.
October 11, 2019 2:50 pm
I loved It I had two
Adjusted for Inflation for September 2018: Base Price $20,121 = $68,878.21; As Tested Price $21,515 = $73,650.16
To much for a car so roughly constructed
It’s a miracle the big three ever made it. It must be due to brand loyalists.
the quality slide is increasing in 80 at GM !
So their excuse for all the issues was it was a training car for their mechanics? Basically what GM was really saying was we were training our mechanics for the countless hours ahead to repair the Sevilles flaws that they will encounter. lol
These things were so cool back then. I was 13 and thought the Imperial was awesome, too. I can just hear the Bee Gees playing on the 8-track now...
Judging by the look on his face at the end, he's already driven the Thunderbird.
I love these. It looks like they took a normal Cadillac and stuck the back end of a Pacer or Gremlin on there.
Yeah & you can mount a sweet Continental kit on there 💯
Love them or hate them, the lines are actually from the 1950s Daimler limousines. The Gremlin and Pacer were each odd in its own way.
Thought it was hideous then now I find it attractive
It's too late! 🙂
Jeeesh... a lot of quality issues.
The Eightiesgod has spoken...
I've been enjoying these little snippets and wishing they'd given our reported more than 2 minutes each. But boy the build quality - is it any wonder that Americans starting ditching US cars - what a shame. Combination of over confident manufacturers and indifferent union workers. End result: US maker market share in 2020 = big fat joke.
Nice design, but they should have made the rear, slightly longer.
From a marketing standpoint, the 1980 Seville was a huge mistake. Out went any appeal to customers cross-shopping European cars, in came a look that was 3/4 barely different from a DeVille and 1/4 that butt...nobody bought one who wouldn't have bought another Cadillac model if the Seville had stayed relatively restrained and "international".
I love the looks of the slantback Seville but you're exactly right. It was the opposite of what any Mercedes or BMW buyer might have been shopping for.
Drew Burk Which is a real shame because the 1976-79 Seville was appealing to European luxury car buyers. Mercedes-Benz didn’t see major sales increases while the first Seville was on the market. But when the 1980 model came out, Mercedes-Benz sales took off again. Nothing about the original Seville that attracted the new generation of luxury car buyers was retained for the 1980 model. And sales collapsed as a result. Cadillac sold more original Sevilles in 4.5 years than bustleback Sevilles over 6.
That's okay! They followed up with the Cimarron, sure to compete with the best Europe has to offer!
Ugh, the 1975-1979 Seville was a good looking car, however the 1980 model was horrific and the beginning of serious GM quality control issues.
Beginning of the end for Cadillac.
Had Cadillac designed it as the first 3/4 of the '80 Seville and used an evolved '76-79 rear, they would have had a winner
The Seville at this point was a glorified Gremlin
He got the mother of lemons!
No he got a car that mechanics took apart to train on it. GM should’ve sent him a Seville that wasn’t a test car for mechanics.
$20 grand for a pile.....no thanks.
Absolute junk from bumper to bumper. At least he tested one with a better engine before they went to crap too.
Saw one of these last week on the road. I must say I hate the rear end! Ugly lol
Sevilles were shit from 1976 to 1992 and mediocre from 1992 to 2004 which was the last year Cadillac produced the Seville...
The 76-79 Sevilles were very durable. The 80 Seville wasn’t bad either. The 81 Seville wasn’t too bad as long as one disconnected the V-4-6-8 computer so that it would just run on all 8 cylinders. The 82-85 Sevilles had crappy engines, the 4.1 liter V8. After that Sevilles were just overworked GM badge engineering.