Test Drive Review......1973 Cadillac Coupe deVille!!!

[Aron9000]

Originally Posted by Night Wolf

I test drove a '76 Town Car last weekend... car was NOT as described... man "mint" "show room" "collector" "original owner" "garage kept" "runs excelent" "paint like new" "good tires" can mean such vastly different things to 2 different people....

anyway... I can honestly say, and I thought I'd never say this.... but... I did not like that car.

As Chad said, from the outside, it is a sweet looking car, the front end with hideaway headlights, the slab sides and unmistakable Lincoln back end. Under the hood the "Power by Ford" factory valve covers were cool...

but I just didn't like the interior... just as that review said, as soon as you get in the car, all dimesions just shrunk in half, I mean it kinda feels tight inside it... to the point of not being comfortable. In all honesty, a co-workers new Honda Fit we take to lunch somedays feels much more roomy inside... thats just crazy.

As for driving it, eh, I didn't reallly go far, or fast or anything, it's a boat, but not like I was thinking, definitly rode smoother then my '96, but showed it in the handling too. The Speedo was neat as it changed color from 0 to your speed. Car felt it was going alot slower then it was... hit 70 and didn't seem like 70.... the old guy told me to "get on it" so I did and it pulled hard, the then said that it didn't kick down into low gear, to floor it as soon as I make the turn, so I did.... that was 1st gear, and I was just surprised a stock, average condition smog-era cruise liner would pull like that... put you in the seat and pulled hard... Hard to compare anything really, I'd still say my '96 is faster.

All in all, as sweet as the car was, it was just not me... as soon as I sat in it I knew I didn't like it (well I knew it was not for me when I first saw it in person, but I mean the car as a whole) I wonder if I'd have similar feelings on the Mark IV if I drove one... I used to think the "total waste of space" thing was cool, but eh, I didn't like it at all. When I got back in my '96 the whole car seemed to be about twice as big from the inside, then on the whole ride home (hour) I coudln't help but enjoy the fact how much my particular '96 is such a great car for me.

I dunno, I don't remember the 70's Caddys having that swallow you whole feeling.... I still think a '72 Eldorado convertbile would be my top pick.

Nothing against your town car, I'm sure its a nice car, but if you think a 4.6 mod motor is fast in that car, you really need to drive something with some torque and real power, like a LS1 Corvette, an LS1 fbody, a 300c with the hemi or even a stock LT1 powered b-body.

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Cool review Rick! I'm sure your '96 would be faster than it's 20 year old brother, but that 460 sure can pump it out!

What'd you think of the seats? That, along with the steering and suspension, was one of the things that I liked least about that '77 I test drove two years ago.

[Night Wolf]

Originally Posted by Aron9000

Nothing against your town car, I'm sure its a nice car, but if you think a 4.6 mod motor is fast in that car, you really need to drive something with some torque and real power, like a LS1 Corvette, an LS1 fbody, a 300c with the hemi or even a stock LT1 powered b-body.

I never tried to claim my 4.6 was anything spectacluar when it comes to speed, I was simply basing a very loose comparison of the car I just drove to mine.

But, please tell me you are kidding when you are trying to compare a stock '96 Town Car to a LS1 Corvette/F-body or HEMI 300C in terms of speed... I mean... right? cause really....

Actually, stock for stock, I'd like to see what my Town Car would do against a stock '94-'96 Fleetwood, I think it would be interesting.

My Town Car feels quick for what it is though, stock gearing was 3.08 I've got 3.27 as part of the ride control package, that may help a little... other then that it's all stock, maintained very well, but stock. It just feels alot quicker then others make them out to be. My car dosen't float like a co-workers '94 does, in the world of Town Cars, I'd say mine has a firm ride... but then again my car can also take turns quite differently then most Town Cars... besides the various upgrades to the suspension from the ride control package it's got stiffer front shocks then factory and poly bushings which seem to help. Maybe not everyones cup o' tea, but just about perfect for me, I'm very happy with it.

I guess for me I'm not all caught up in the power thing like I once was, and I never really owned a high power car, but my 120hp 4cyl Isuzu is plenty for my day to day driving, and I have no problem with the power it's got... then when I get in the Town Car it feels faster to me... it is perfectly capable of doing any day to day operation with ease, it'll go 0-60 fast enough for me, it'll go 60-100 fast enough for me, it'll cruise at 90 fine, I've got no reason to want more power out of it.

What'd you think of the seats? That, along with the steering and suspension, was one of the things that I liked least about that '77 I test drove two years ago.

Seats were ok, didn't have the sink-in feeling I thought they would, or maybe I was just expecting them to be much more softer, I'd say they were about as soft as the '94 TC I've been in. Steering... I dunno, I was on stright roads and made 90* turns, defintly the classic 70's land barge light steering tho... almost became annoying when trying to drive stright tho... worse then driving downt he highway in my '96 with steering effort switch set to lo (which is annoying in itself) suspension... I liked it, it float, pulling out of the driveway where there was bumps and dips it just kinda bobed up and down like the land barge it was, whereas my '96 hit them like a typical bump.... really my '96 felt like a sports car in just about all aspects after driving the '76... yet it was similar is so many ways... quite an odd experience.

Chad, if you ever get the chance, I think you'd have fun driving my Town Car... I dunno, from what you've described that you like a balance of ride/handling/comfort/power etc... it seems, atleast to me, that you may be impressed with my Town Car... maybe not the materials and build quality compared to the benz, but the driving dynamics.... probably one of the things I like most about the car. Not all are like that tho, mine has the ride control package from the factory, then I totally went thru it and replaced nearly all worn out parts, all new steering and suspension with upgraded parts etc it's actually pretty impressive, and a whole lot different then when I first got it... If it wasn't for my tires which have a very soft and flexible sidewall, I think it could handle alot better too... but these tires do nothing for improving handling, thats where all the current body sway comes from. When I had the same tires on my '93 Coupe DeVille, it did the same things that it didn't do with the tires before it. Ah well, always a tradeoff...

Heh, it's been awhile since i made a long post...

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Did the '76 have the leather seats or the velour ones? If I remember correctly, the 1977's shed a lot of weight...I think they went from 5200 lbs in 1976 down to 47-4800 in 1977. So if that one was as quick as you make it sound for a mid '70s land yacht, then it might be quicker than that '77 I drove?

Rick, I bet I'd like the handling/suspension/steering feel of your '96 much more than any other mid '90s Town Car or LT-1 Brougham. Now as far as power and acceleration goes, that's gonna be a different story.

[Night Wolf]

Originally Posted by I~LUV~Caddys8792

Did the '76 have the leather seats or the velour ones? If I remember correctly, the 1977's shed a lot of weight...I think they went from 5200 lbs in 1976 down to 47-4800 in 1977. So if that one was as quick as you make it sound for a mid '70s land yacht, then it might be quicker than that '77 I drove?

Rick, I bet I'd like the handling/suspension/steering feel of your '96 much more than any other mid '90s Town Car or LT-1 Brougham. Now as far as power and acceleration goes, that's gonna be a different story.

It had white leather seats.

It was an odd car, it was white, white leather and white carpet, red dash. It had no vinyl top at all, yet it had the "ring" that went between the front and rear doors with the opra light and around the roof, almost like a landau top should be there but I didn't see any indication that there was one... also this car did *not* have the oval opra windows that I thought they all did. It was a 1976 Contential Town Car, which from my understanding all the made was the Contential, and the Town Car was a package ontop of that. I think in '77 they went to the taller and better looking grille design? I much prefer that over the '76.

As soon as I walked up to the car I was not interested in it, because as it was described was not the condition it was in, I really wanted to leave at that point once I established I wasn't interested in it, but the guy offered for me to drive it so I figured why not... it wasn't a long drive or anything special, just kinda down the road a couple miles few side roads and back.

I was pretty impressed with the power... I mean compared to todays cars it isn't anything to go crazy over, but it really moved along quite well... like I said I only did a couple WOT runs, and one from a stop when it actually was in 1st... and it pulled hard, I'd say better then my '79 did. Then again the car was just so big that it could have felt like it was accelerating faster then it was, I know I looked at the speedo and it was passing 70 pretty quick tho.... old guy in the car was just like yeah thats right keep it to the floor, shes in that low gear, don't let off it just yet.... but.... yeah one persons description can mean something totally different to another.

I dunno, you need to get your butt down here some time for one of these Caddy meets so you can drive the Town Car By then it would probably have like 150k on it... but all is well. I don't know how fast it is, it is defintly quick to me atleast. I found a trick out the other day but if I put the shifter in 1 and run wide open, it'll shift at a slightly higher RPM but a much more positive shift into 2nd... since it's all electronic controlled... thats cool cause if I was to ever auto-x the car (as I have had thoughts of doing, just can't find it around here) just leave the shifter in 1 and turn OD off, then it would automatically default to the lowest gear for the given speed and never shift into OD... that could be quite fun. Although 1st runs to 35 or 40 under WOT, but if the shifter is in 1 it won't downshift into 1st until 28mph... still neat tho, I was quite surprised at how much firmer it shifted.

The sorta local (like 35miles?) 1/4 mi drag stirp has their test n tune nights... I wanna see when the next one is, I'd really like the race the Town Car, see how it compared to my other cars I've had and if it beats the 15.9 as my fastest car that my '93 Coupe ran.... plus it would still be cool, it's been a long time since I've been to the track. Maybe then I would be able to get a baseline to what it runs.

Reason why I said you would like the power tho, cause you mention alot you like the low end torque of a V8, with the Town Car as soon as you jab the gas it's moving, in fact since I normally drive the Zu, I am used to giving it alot more throttle input (plus it's more fun to drive like that) so when I get in the Town Car I'm really jumping off fast from a stop until I adjust again. But besides the low end torque it's got nice midrange and top end power too, accelerating at any speed is sorta just instantanious (sp?) but I think your Benz accelerates above 80 faster... it still hits the 107 limiter without much trouble... overall it's a nice package, I've thought about adding some go-fast parts, but... for what? it's powerful and fast enough as it is, plus I like keeping it stock. I can't complain about it, and personally I am starting to really like the 4.6 OHC alot... kinda sorta making me think about manual trans Mustang GT convertibles.... cheap and not bad... not in the same category as the E30 tho....

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

I'd be quite impressed if your Town Car could break into the 15's. I always thought those were a low/mid 16 second car?

But regarding that 1976, you're positive it's a '76 right? Because the opera windows were made standard on the Town Cars in 1975. 1974 was the last year that they did not have opera windows. The 1974 grille is closer to the 1976 than the 1977, but like the 1977-79's, the width between the grille bars is uniform, unlike the 1975-76's.

It's cool to hear that the Town Car is quicker than your '79. I wonder if it would be able to keep one tire spinning through first gear too?

[Night Wolf]

Originally Posted by I~LUV~Caddys8792

I'd be quite impressed if your Town Car could break into the 15's. I always thought those were a low/mid 16 second car?

But regarding that 1976, you're positive it's a '76 right? Because the opera windows were made standard on the Town Cars in 1975. 1974 was the last year that they did not have opera windows. The 1974 grille is closer to the 1976 than the 1977, but like the 1977-79's, the width between the grille bars is uniform, unlike the 1975-76's.

It's cool to hear that the Town Car is quicker than your '79. I wonder if it would be able to keep one tire spinning through first gear too?

Yes, it was a '76, first the guy said '75, then '76, sticker ont he door put the build date at 05/76. I don't know why it didn't have the oval windows either.

I dunno if it would run 15's, it may, then again the Coupe had the same power but was lighter, so I dunno, it would be fun either way.

Don't quote me on faster then the '79, it's been 2.5 yrs since I've driven that car... but it just seemed so, could be mistaken... defintily has some power tho.

[Fleet]

Here are some road test specs from various magazines:
--------------------- Engine-- Axle ratio- Weight-- 0-60-- 1/4 mile

'95 Lincoln Town Car- 281 ci.-- 3.08------ 4,177 lb- 9.0 sec- 16.9@83
'73 Cadillac Fleetwood- 472---- 2.93------ 5,200--- 10.2-- 17.8@80
'74 Cadillac Fleetwood- 472---- 2.93------ 5,250--- 12.0-- 17.98@77.5
'75 Coupe de Ville----- 500---- 2.73------ 4,950--- 10.9-- 17.66@78.32
'78 Coupe de Ville----- 425---- 2.73------ 4,270--- 10.6-- 18.2@78.8

Also:
'75 Lincoln Continental- 460--- 3.00------- 5,200--- 9.5-- 17.12@81.37
'69 Cadillac CDV------- 472--- 2.94------- 4,780--- 9.4--- 16.5@83.8
'64 Cadillac SDV------- 429--- 3.21------- 4,900--- 8.5--- 16.4@86

[Night Wolf]

Originally Posted by Fleet

Here are some road test specs from various magazines:
--------------------- Engine-- Axle ratio- Weight-- 0-60-- 1/4 mile

'95 Lincoln Town Car- 281 ci.-- 3.08------ 4,177 lb- 9.0 sec- 16.9@83
'73 Cadillac Fleetwood- 472---- 2.93------ 5,200--- 10.2-- 17.8@80
'74 Cadillac Fleetwood- 472---- 2.93------ 5,250--- 12.0-- 17.98@77.5
'75 Coupe de Ville----- 500---- 2.73------ 4,950--- 10.9-- 17.66@78.32
'78 Coupe de Ville----- 425---- 2.73------ 4,270--- 10.6-- 18.2@78.8

Also:
'75 Lincoln Continental- 460--- 3.00------- 5,200--- 9.5-- 17.12@81.37
'69 Cadillac CDV------- 472--- 2.94------- 4,780--- 9.4--- 16.5@83.8
'64 Cadillac SDV------- 429--- 3.21------- 4,900--- 8.5--- 16.4@86

The '95 TC has the stock 3.08 gears, 3.27 were part of the Ride Control Package and 3.55 were tow package. I think the weight on my title said either 3,900 or 4,000lbs. Either way, I'd like to take it to the track and see, almost seems to be a hit and miss, sometimes people say the car is pretty quick, then others say it is slow, maybe it's just what you've been used to? I think it would be faster then a 16.9, as that is what my '89 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight ran, and the TC seems faster.

It also lists for '78 Coupe DeVille an 18.2, however I ran a 17.5 with my stock '79 Sedan DeVille d;Elegance, it was a consistant 17.5, couldn't believe it, the whole night didn't matter what, it was 17.5. U guess that puts it slower then the '75 Continental, but alot of those numbers seem to be off a bit.

[Fleet]

Regarding the magazine test times, there are a few differences from the test car and our cars...

- There were usually two aboard and test equipment, which added weight.
- Cars were sometimes not broken in.
- Many times the transmission was left in "Drive."
- Times would vary according to the skill of the driver.

As for the mid-'90s Town Cars, my '95 doesn't have a huge amount of torque.. it does not roar off the line! But once going it accelerates pretty well and feels like a high-16/low-17 second car.

[Aron9000]

Originally Posted by Fleet

As for the mid-'90s Town Cars, my '95 doesn't have a huge amount of torque.. it does not roar off the line! But once going it accelerates pretty well and feels like a high-16/low-17 second car.

That's why I've never liked the Ford mod motors, not enough torque. If you rev them up they have decent power, but I like a lot of torque in a big heavy car.

[FLNCHM5]

Thanks for the review.... I think you are spot on! On the other hand, I am a bit biased..

[Aron9000]

I knew a guy with a white 1973 Coupe Deville, I think it had the D'Elegance package. Inside was pretty cool, it was burnt orange carpet, dash door panels, the seats were orange and gold striped velour.

[Pete Benson]

Probably a '74. Velour wasn't offered on the deVilles until then, and that was also the first year for the d'Elegance package.

[Aron9000]

Originally Posted by Pete Benson

Probably a '74. Velour wasn't offered on the deVilles until then, and that was also the first year for the d'Elegance package.

I know it had round headlights in the front, might have been a 74. It also had that cool "see through" cadillac crest hood ornament. Like the one on the left.