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Cadillac Seville

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1st Generation (1976-79)

The Cadillac Seville debuted in mid-1975 as a 1976 model. It was based on GM's X-body platform (Buick Skylark, Chevy Nova, etc) but was available only as a 4-door sedan (some claim it was basically a Nova in a tuxedo). The Seville was intended to compete more equally with the European imports of the day, such as the Jaguar XJ-6 and BMW 5-series. It was available with all the usual Cadillac bells and whistles of the day, but an interesting thing about the 1st generation Seville is that Cadillac, in a very bold move, actually priced the base Seville higher than the larger DeVille and Eldorado models - and it still became a huge sales success nonetheless. It was powered by a fuel-injected Oldsmobile-built 350 cid V8. The Seville became the first Cadillac in many decades to be powered by a non-Cadillac engine, but the public obviously didn't care very much. 1977 and 1978 Sevilles carried on with little change other than revised grilles and such, but 1979 became famous (or infamous) for introducing the Oldsmobile 350 diesel V8 engine as an option. The diesel at first became a fairly popular option, but quickly gained several reputations for being notoriously unreliable, as well as smelly, noisy, unrefined, slow... and generally just a very unpleasant powerplant. The rear-drive X-body chassis would expire across the board at the end of 1979.

2nd Generation (1980-85)

The Seville would become an entirely different animal in 1980, to put it mildly. It was now based on GM's new front wheel drive E-body chassis that it shared with the Eldorado coupe (also shared with the Buick Riviera and Oldsmobile Toronado)... but its styling was like no other at the time (probably a good thing). The most obvious change was the new "bustleback" rear end, supposedly mimicking a 1930's Rolls Royce, in which some called "distinctive" while some called it downright ugly. And if that wasn't enough, the Oldsmobile 350 diesel engine was now actually standard this year (Cadillac actually bragged about being the only car company in its ads that had a diesel engine as standard, which I'm sure to them seemed like a good idea at the time). The new gas engine this year was a Cadillac-built 6.0L 368 cid V8, and was thankfully available as a credit option. 1981 Sevilles had 2 new engines available. In addition to the diesel and the 6.0 V8, a Buick-built 4.1L 252 V6 became available, but the most interesting one was the "V-8-6-4", based on the 6.0 V8. It was an idea quite ahead of its time, and ironically GM and Chrysler are now using a similar technology in their V8s today... but alas the technology just wasn't there to make it work in 1981, and the engine was unceremoniously dumped after this one year. It became quite a troublesome engine, and to top it off, it yielded virtually no gas mileage benefits compared to the "regular" 6.0 V8, so it looked like Cadillac went to alot of trouble for nothing and ended up with alot of unhappy customers in the process. 1982 was the year for Cadillac's all-new HT 4100, a 125 hp 4.1L 250 cid all-aluminum V8. The V-8-6-4 and the regular 6.0 V8 were dropped this year, leaving the diesel, the Buick 4.1 V6 and Cadillac's new HT 4100 V8 (if you're getting the idea that Cadillac really had nothing to offer its customers by way of any engine of any kind of authoritative power, you'd be right). 1983, 1984 and 1985 Sevilles carried on with no appreciative change of any kind. Sales of this generation were never really that great, customers quickly grew tired of its odd bustleback styling, it had incredibly lame engine choices, and none of them had what you'd call exemplary repair records. A change was needed, and that's what it got in 1986.

3rd Generation (1986-91)

In this go-around, the Seville lost its bustleback rear styling and went back to a more conventional sedan-look... but now it simply looked like the 4-door Eldorado that it really was, itself now a heavily modified version of GM's new for 1985 N-body (Pontiac Grand Am, et al). This generation Seville attempted to go back to the original premise of the 1st generation, being a competitor to the European luxury cars, but Honda introduced the Acura nameplate this year also, giving the Seville even more competition, and no matter how hard it tried it just wasn't really up to the task. The only engine available this year was the HT 4100 V8, still only rated at 130 hp - no more Buick V6 or Olds diesel in this generation. 1987 saw virtually no change, but 1988 Sevilles had a restyled front end similar to the Eldorado's, but the rest of the car remained the same. The HT 4100 was laid to rest this year (more like taken out to the back of the barn and shot), giving way to a new 155 hp 4.5L V8 - only a 25 hp gain over the HT 4100, but at least it was a good start and finally headed in the right direction. Sales actually increased this year, finally reversing a downward trend. 1989 was the first year for the STS version, a designation that Cadillac still uses today. 1990 Sevilles still used the 4.5L V8 but this year it was given much needed power boost to 180 hp, finally giving the Seville some respectable under-10 second 0-60 times (you didn't have to measure its progress with a sun dial any longer). The 1991 models received new tri-colored taillights and yet another power boost (bring it on, baby!) to 200 hp with a new 4.9L V8 engine (the 4.5 was dropped). If you desire a 3rd gen Seville, definitely the newer the better.

4th Generation (1992-97)

NOW we're talking. The Seville this year received far and away its best redesign to date, even becoming (dare we say) a damn good looking car, easily the best since the 1st gen. This was probably Cadillac's apology for the god-awful bustleback 2nd gens and ungainly uninspired 3rd gens with their diesels and the self-destructing HT 4100s... but whatever, the Seville was now the genuine import fighter that Cadillac intended for it to be all along. The Seville was also more distinguished from the Eldorado in this generation - it was still a 4-door version of the Eldo, but at least it wasn't so obvious this time. And predictably, sales jumped dramatically. The base and STS models were carried over from 1991, the 200 hp 4.9L V8s were standard in both. 1993 saw the debut of the 295 hp 4.6L 32V Northstar V8 in the STS models, giving the STS sub-8 second 0-60 times. The base models carried on with the 200 hp 4.9L V8. 1994 Sevilles remained largely the same on the outside as the 1993 models, but base Sevilles became known as SLS models and recieved a new detuned 270 hp 4.6L Northstar as standard equipment (the 4.9L V8 was no more), while the "sporty" STS models retained the 295 hp version (consider this: the base Seville 10 years prior to this one has a 105 hp diesel engine as standard - boy what a difference 10 years makes!) 1995 didn't see much change from 1994 (not that much was needed), but in 1996 both the SLS and STS models received 5 horsepower increases, up to 275 and 300 respectively. Not much changed on the 1997 models as a newly redesigned 1998 model was waiting in the wings, other than OnStar becoming an option this year for the first time.

Main Competitors (1976-79)

Main Competitors (1980-85)

Main Competitors (1986-91)

Main Competitors (1992-97)

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