A four door Deville looks just like a Fleetwood.

What are the fundimental differences??

 

Here is a pair of 1976's, the cars don't look the same at all. Fleetwood is green and I show the exclusive foot rests and the Deville is white.

 

aside one being camouflaged in forest green and the other in winter snow white, the side windows are all different ...


.

 

The Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham was produced from 1947 through 1996. The name combined two famous Cadillac trim lines, Fleetwood and Brougham, and was intended to signify the finest that the maker could produce.

The 1974 model year saw the introduction of the "Air Cushion Restraint System" (airbags) activated when the car was hit from the front only. Hidden in the steering wheel, and passenger side of the instrument panel, were instantaneous-inflating nylon bags designed to prevent front seat occupants from hitting the windshield during a frontal collision. The option replaced the glove box with a lockable compartment under the dashboard. During the mid-seventies this option never caught on and was dropped from the option list after 1976.

An option package available for the first time in 1973 was the "d'Elegance" package. Adding US$750, this package included a unique "pillow-style" velour seating trim as well as a more plush carpeting and a few additional features. Even more exclusive was the "Talisman" package available for the Fleetwood Brougham for the 1974, '75, and '76 model years. The package was so exclusive that it essentially removed the "Brougham" identification from the car renaming it a "Fleetwood Talisman" per exterior badging. For 1974 the interior featured a center console in the front and rear-seat passenger compartments; the front console containing a writing tablet. The rear seat console contained only a storage space. This seating arrangement turned the hulking Fleetwood Brougham into a four-seater automobile which may have led to the discontinuation of the rear seat console in the 1975/76 editions. Seating was in "Medici" crushed velour and interior carpeting was virtually of a "**** carpet" nature. The price of this opulence was reflective as well-US$1800 for the velour seats and US$2450 for leather-an unheard of amount for "options" in 1974. The leather trim edition was dropped after 1974. A 1974 version of this model was owned by former First Lady, Pat Nixon.

In 1977 GM significantly "down-sized" their full sized cars. The Fleetwood Brougham was still considered the top of the line Cadillac but was nearly identical to a lesser Sedan de Ville. Other than the name, the only exterior differences between a Fleetwood Brougham and Sedan de Ville were the hubcaps and the hood ornament, (the Fleetwood had a wreath and crest, the de Ville had just a crest), and the extension of the vinyl roof through the "b-pillar" giving a more formal look. The interior of the Fleetwood was more plush and offered more features as standard.

In 1980 the Sedan deVille, Coupe de Ville and Fleetwood Brougham were given a new body style with a squarer look and more formal roof line. In 1985 Cadillac introduced brand new, front-wheel drive platform. This is where the Cadillac Fleetwood was split from the Fleetwood Brougham. Cadillac put the Sedan de Ville, Coupe de Ville, and Fleetwood (two and four door) on this platform. The full size 1985 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham continued on nearly unchanged from the 1984 model. For 1985 the Fleetwood Brougham two door was dropped.

For 1989, the Fleetwood line was aligned more-closely with the Deville, essentially becoming trim variations on the same vehicle.

In 1990 the Fleetwood Brougham was renamed Cadillac Brougham and was given its first noticeable facelift since 1980. It featured composite headlights, wrap around front bumper, rocker panel cladding and clear/white tail lamps.

The Fleetwood departed the front-drive line-up for 1993 (as the Fleetwood name went on the new rear-drive replacement for the 1992 Brougham). Sixty Special continued in its front-wheel drive form, as it had since it was re-introduced in 1987, but this would be the last year. To visually differentiate the 1989 - 1993 De Ville from the upper-rung Fleetwood and Sixty-Special models, the front-drive Fleetwoods and Sixty Specials use fender-mounted "spats" or skirts over the rear wheels, while De Ville had full rear-wheel openings. For its final-year, there were 5,292 Sixty Specials built in 1993, including 688 with the optional "Ultra" Package that featured 22-way adjustable front seats, designed in Italy by Giorgio Grugiaro. This distinctive seating package had been standard on the Sixty Special since 1989, but in 1993, it became a $3,550.00 option.

For 1993, the Fleetwood name was switched from the Deville's front wheel drive C-body to the newly revised rear wheel drive D-body, being one of the first American front-wheel drive vehicles to switch to rear-wheel drive. This new body was based on that of the Chevrolet Caprice. The Fleetwood was the largest production car made in the United States until production ceased in 1996. It was replaced by the d'Elegance trim line of the Cadillac DeVille.

1994 brought the Corvette-derived LT-1 350 (5.7 L) engine to make 260 hp along with the new 4L60E transmission. Between 1993 and 1996, the Fleetwood Commercial chassis was used in lieu of the DeVille for funeral coaches and limousines. The DeVille was used again in 1997.

 

Awesome!

Thanks!!

I am very tempted by some DeVilles I see on Ebaymotors. There is a '77 out there that had a real real high reserve, so it didn't sell. However, the owner contacted me thru a question I asked and offered it up for $3500 cash and carry.

Still seems a bit high...

I can get a cherry condition '81 Fleetwood for about the same money.

I know it's not the same vehicle, motor, etc, but it's still the dollar range of cars I am looking at.

Still kicking myself for not buying the '71 Series 75 that sold for $5100 in mint condition. That was a turn-key car show vehicle...

 

As you see from my signature I own a 93 Fleetwood and 98 Deville D'elegance BUT evryone needs a real big Caddy. I am partial to the 76 Fleetwoods as you can tell from my posts, 500 fuel injected cubes, basically a factory limosine! That's the Caddy's from my youth, friend's dad had one. Of course I'd take a Coupe Deville anythng from 59 to 67. Hey I'd have taken that 71 series 75 too!