At what point in time did Americans start buying Mercedes and BMW as their "I Made It" car instead of Cadillac?

I think it started in the 80's. My mother says her father always bought cadillacs when she was little. They had a 55' somethin, 68' deville, 75' fleetwood.....then as the 80's came around they bought a lincoln mark VII and a Mercedes 3**S. In the 90's they bought the Infiniti Q45 he drives now and the classic 1985 Mercedes 500SEC he also drives now. He was a true cadillac man, but the quality issues turned him away as imports came in the US.

At the times Cadillacs were also the most expensive car you could buy, in the early 70's I remember reading that even a RollsRoyce was cheaper then an Eldo by like $700.
As the 80's rolled around a caddy was in the high $20,000 and $30,000 range where a BMW JAG or MERCEDES was like $40,000-%65,000 depending on the model. People just had money to burn.

Through this though, he is now thinking of buying a year used Deville becasue his friend has one.

When the Deville and Fleetwoods became shortbodies in the 80s with big body prices.

I would say in the mid 80's when Cadillac started loosing it's distinctness. It pretty much became a GM clone car on the outside.

Well baby thier back! Cadillac is poised to take back a huge share of a market they already do very well in. The new product in the pipeline is amazing stuff, watch out world Caddy has it's stuff together and here they come!:coolgleam

1977 to 1986 was the first "drop one notch". Then 1987 was the BIG drop, reinforced by the 1988. 1989-1993 they really didn't lose much, but the foreign car made big gains.

To me, the Cadillacs became MORE desirable when the Imperial died off in 1978, as my family always had "Imps" ~ With Imp out of the way, the field was narrowed to two: Lincoln & Cadillac. We had Cadillacs in 1983, 1988 and 1993. Lincolns in 1986, 1998 and 2003.

I still say it goes back to the fact that too many Cadillacs are produced, thus, a flooded market, therefore steep depreciation. Plus the fact that people need to keep them longer so that used car parking lots are not flooded with them. Benz owners love to point these things out. I don't like the K-car look of the 80's FWD Caddies, and I think that image tarnished the reputation a bit. Today, we have better electronic quality than Benz, and are aiming even higher, namely Lexus! I think Cadillac can easily become number one (you heard me) but they have to focus on ANY problem area, and test these until they don't fail. Slowly, after that, Caddy will get a favorable world-wide reputation again, if it hasn't already.

I've been around a long time and back in the 50's and 60's a Cadillac was the car to own. Unfortunately, my family could never afford one. That was the car for the movie stars. When we saw one on the road it was WOW. LOOK AT THAT. I would say sometime in the late 70's Cadillac just started fading away. No one seemed to care because they were looking for Jags, Mercedes, and once in awhile a Rolls would roll by. I remember in 1979 and 1980 we all went wild over the Lincoln. That was the only American luxury car. I associated Cadillac with old people. They were big, ugly cars which made absolutely no statement. When I saw the Cadillac Sixteen on TV while watching the Auto Show I yelled out "HOLY CRAP !!! LOOK AT CADILLAC.......". The rest is history. I found a 1994 Eldorado sitting in a used car lot and bought it. I guess the moral of this story is that fame doesn't just disappear, it sneaks up on you until no one cares whether you are there or not. It takes a lot to get back on top and I think Caddy is almost there with cars such as the Sixteen and the Cien. Hope they follow through.

Ralph, it's funny how cameras take pictures. I know for a fact that your roof & paint are identical, yet in the above photo, the roof color is too light, and the body color is too lilac-y. Neither one is true to the real color that it is. BTW, you put those wheels on, correct? Thise are 1993 Chrome plated Cast Aluminums from a 60 Special. (Same one I have) !

The new for '78 Seville was a direct response to Mercedes. So Mercedes must have showed up on their radar around '75. Unfortunately, Cadillac never responded with anything competitive.

Pimps with velvet hats in the movies and on TV also had a negative image on Cadillac in the '70's. How times have changed now that hip hop can partially be credited for Cadillacs latest revival.

Ralph, it's funny how cameras take pictures. I know for a fact that your roof & paint are identical, yet in the above photo, the roof color is too light, and the body color is too lilac-y. Neither one is true to the real color that it is. BTW, you put those wheels on, correct? Thise are 1993 Chrome plated Cast Aluminums from a 60 Special. (Same one I have) !

You are correct about the photo! That pic was taken on a hot mid-July atternoon in 2003, and it was 90F! The sun was very bright and seems to have "washed out" the color of the roof, as it is the same color of the paint. My friend had bought a new Sony digital camera, and for some reason, the car looks too lilac in this photo. It's really more of a beige, with a light pink tint! You can tell by the shadow where the sun was, just over the C pillar of the roof.

The whole car is original, right down to the tires (never even been rotated yet). My Dad bought it new off the lot in Regina Saskatchewan, April 1991, and the build date is 10/90 I believe. According to my 1991 Cadillac brochure, those rims were the optional "15 in. lace-design", so the dealership must have ordered it that way because he bought it off the lot. I've seen other rims like these, but with a black center hub cap, which I don't think looks as good as the silver-chrome. The rims are still where the factory put them, but I have taked off the caps just to check the tightness of the lug nuts. Remember, all we ever did to this car was a new battery, and I had to get the stupid radio fixed. It's as is, new in appearance and smell, just like your black beauty!

It's strange how sometimes colours look different in pictures or in different light.

Ralph's car just has the regular snowflake rims or whatever they're called for those year on it. I think it's just the light that's shining off them that's making them look brighter then they really are.

RALPH......My 90 had the same lace wheels............

Ralph, "Deep Plum" she's not Sable Black.

When did Cadillac become less desireable?:hmm:

Let's see, what word has the following definitions?

1.[n] wild (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/wild) sheep (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/sheep) of (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/of) mountainous (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/mountainous) regions (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/regions) of (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/of) western (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/western) North (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/north) America (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/america) having (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/having) massive (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/massive) curled (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/curled) horns (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/horns)

2.[n] a (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/a) river (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/river) that (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/that) rises (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/rises) in (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/in) northeastern (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/northeastern) New (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/new) Mexico (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/mexico) and (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/and) flows (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/flows) eastward (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/eastward) into (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/into) Oklahoma (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/oklahoma) where (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/where) it (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/it) becomes (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/becomes) a (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/a) tributary (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/tributary) of (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/of) the (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/the) Arkansas (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/arkansas) River (http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/river)

:confused:

(here's a hint)

Synonymes:Buick Skyhawk, Cadillac Cimarron, Chevrolet Cavalier,Oldsmobile Firenza, Pontiac J-2000

Ralph, "Deep Plum" she's not Sable Black.

Right, sorry I keep forgetting the name of yours. I wouldn't mind eyeing some more pics of it?

RALPH......My 90 had the same lace wheels............

Ya, they're ok. I actually prefer the "standard" 5 star spoke type rims that year. I think they would be easier to clean.

The Seville was born in '76 - not '78. If memory serves, they bustleback Seville was born in 1980. I remember being at a car show with that Seville on the turning display platform and the crowd was in awe with the car as well as the cost.

The Seville was touted in '76 as a response to European cars that we smaller and sportier. Of course by today's standards the '76 is still big with the standard 350.

I believe the decline of Cadillac started when GM started mixing division components. I can remember when people brought their new Oldsmobiles home (EVERYBODY had and Olds back in those days -- like they all have Toyotas now) only to find a Chevy 350 in it instead of and Olds -- they weren't happy.

(Oh and by the way I've owned 5 Cadillacs to date... 2 1970 SDVs, a 1974 CDV a 1976 Eldo (own it today) and a 1996 SLS (own it today. ))

My next one? Likely a current generation STS (2005+) I can't wait for a RWD N* with AWD. How can it get any better than that?

Ells


The new for '78 Seville was a direct response to Mercedes. So Mercedes must have showed up on their radar around '75. Unfortunately, Cadillac never responded with anything competitive.

Pimps with velvet hats in the movies and on TV also had a negative image on Cadillac in the '70's. How times have changed now that hip hop can partially be credited for Cadillacs latest revival.

It had to have been in the early 1980s.First with the 6.0 litre V8 with the unreliable V-8-6-4 modulated displacment system in 1981.A good idea,but too early.
Then there was the costly Cavalier - the Cimarron.

Add to that a nasty recession from 1978 (?) thru the 1980 s and indifferent build
quality . But that was a common problem with the Big Three at the time.

IMO Cadillac started losing market when they started producing Front Wheel Drive vehicles, with mediocre quality, average design, and the price of an exotic.

Their comeback IMO is producing awesome design cars, Rear Wheel Drive, big and powerful engines, excellent quality, and a resonable price.

Just my 2 cents,

Daniel Mejia

The 1977 vehicle downsizing started it.
The HT4100s helped it along a lot.
The further vehicle downsizing through the 80s furthered it.
The Cimmaron just sucked. 1.8 liters in a "Cadillac" that overall was cheap didn't help at all.
The build quality decreased as Caddy switched from huge RWD boats that they were good at to smaller more-weenielike FWD cars.
And to top it off, the brand component mixing dealt another blow to Cadillac.

But make no mistake about it, Cadillac is on the way to the top again.


It had to have been in the early 1980s.First with the 6.0 litre V8 with the unreliable V-8-6-4 modulated displacment system in 1981.A good idea,but too early.
Then there was the costly Cavalier - the Cimarron.

Add to that a nasty recession from 1978 (?) thru the 1980 s and indifferent build
quality . But that was a common problem with the Big Three at the time.

The 368MD was actually an OK system, a lot of the reason people believed it was bad was because the very next year Caddy switched to the Highly Troublesome 4100.