Stoney and I talked about this in the OK Cadillac Forums Members Thread. Basically, we're going to have something about Cadillac history each week, we can do it every Tuesday I guess (since today is Tuesday ). This bit of history can be about anything Cadillac, whether it be a model, an engine, a year, a designer, hell, we might even do the history of the cadillac logo:thumbsup:. This is basically to inform people more about certain areas of Cadillac that they may not know about or already know about, but want to know more...
I'm not sure if I'll do it every week or if we'll let various members suggest topics and/or write the history for them (I've already wondered about Sandy, as I'm sure he could provide a wealth of knowledge seeing as how he was in the business for so long...) We'll see how this goes. Basically, I'm going to tell about the topic and have everyone respond to it (what they think about it, why it succeeded/failed, how it affected Cadillac, etc.)
I'd appreciate if you didn't go off topic or discuss anything besides the current topic at hand (I'd like this topic to stay organized). Thanks in advance ALSO, ONCE WE'VE MOVED ON TO THE NEXT TOPIC, PLEASE DON'T POST ANYTHING ABOUT THE OLDER TOPICS IN THIS THREAD....
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This weeks topic (October 25, 2005) is..........The Cadillac Cimmaron:
I'm not sure if I'll do it every week or if we'll let various members suggest topics and/or write the history for them (I've already wondered about Sandy, as I'm sure he could provide a wealth of knowledge seeing as how he was in the business for so long...) We'll see how this goes. Basically, I'm going to tell about the topic and have everyone respond to it (what they think about it, why it succeeded/failed, how it affected Cadillac, etc.)
I'd appreciate if you didn't go off topic or discuss anything besides the current topic at hand (I'd like this topic to stay organized). Thanks in advance ALSO, ONCE WE'VE MOVED ON TO THE NEXT TOPIC, PLEASE DON'T POST ANYTHING ABOUT THE OLDER TOPICS IN THIS THREAD....
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This weeks topic (October 25, 2005) is..........The Cadillac Cimmaron:
The Cadillac Cimarron was first introduced by GM in 1981 for the 1982 model year.
Although GM had experimented before with smaller Cadillacs such as the Seville, the Cimarron was by far the smallest and, in many opinions, the least distinguished Cadillac model ever produced, before or since.
General Motors had originally planned on revealing the Cimarron model in the mid-80s. However, a rising demand for smaller, more fuel efficient cars and GM's desire to compete with BMW and Mercedes helped to hurry production.
The Cimarron was part of General Motors' "J-car" line, which was an economy car concept (similar to Chrysler's K-car) that spread over each GM marque. Each GM division had their version: the Buick Skyhawk, Pontiac Sunbird, Oldsmobile Firenza and the Chevrolet Cavalier. Each of these models were essentially the same basic car, with minor differences in features and major differences in price. This was the first and only time in history that General Motors produced a common model that spread over all GM car divisions (excluding GMC).
While some motoring press critics had high praise for the car and Cadillac's first manual transmission since the early 1950s, the car buying public saw the Cimmaron as a ruse. Consumers thought it was absurd to pay twice as much for what essentially was a well-optioned Chevy Cavalier with Cadillac emblems, and thought GM should have developed a compact model specifically for Cadillac. Even though interior fabrics and craftsmanship were top notch, the Cimarron took a lot of criticism for its standard four-cylinder engine (a V6 engine was standard in 1987 and 1988). Even though the Cimarron had grown comparatively more refined by the end of its production run, buyers stayed away, and the car was discontinued after 1988. Oddly, a similar strategy applied to the Cadillac Escalade, which 14 years later was proven to be a sales success...