Adam is hilarious ... an automotive walking encyclopedia with a voice for radio ...
I learned quite a bit here.
1:15 - I think the silhouette is sort of weird, with the squared-up greenhouse about the exact same proportions as the hood and trunk on either side of it ... this was the car to borrow from your parents to put your friends in the trunk and take them to the drive-in free of charge.
These proportions are off. I'm sure they could have done something a little better.
2:00 - Am I to read that, for the downsize in 1977, it was the 425 ci V8, and, then, for this year only, there was a NA 368 ci divisional V8 before Cadillac started to do some weird things for a couple of years?
3:00 - I had no clue that the cylinder deactivation modules could be removed and it would become a normal 368 ci V8. However, if taking it through its smog or safety check, their seeing it deactivated would cause it to flunk, I believe.
10:00 - the amount of information in this strip gauge era was not enough. The temp gauge was sorely needed. Bull about how well engineered Caddy cooling systems were. On an heirloom 350 V8 Cutlass Supreme, the fan clutch was iffy and the car could run hot. We had that fixed. Then, the upper radiator hose had a mind of its own, which has nothing to do with the cooling system's engineering, and it would periodically form a bulge in one of its elbows. We had to carry a spare in the trunk. I was driving it east to go to school over 2,000 miles away, and one burst in the desert near St. George, UT. I had to wait for a long time for it to cool, put in the provisional one from the trunk, and then buy yet another one from a NAPA or sim. in St. George, UT. Needing a temperature gauge goes beyond how well the car is engineered because other things could cause an overheating problem. You just need the idiot light to turn on soon, so it steers you to keeping an eye on the temperature gauge.
11:45 - he feels the same way I do about these interiors. They were phenomenal for a long road trip and a feast for the eyes. Never say never; however, I don't think we'll experience some of the creature comforts from this chapter again.
So, yes, this car does feel like a brief return to the pre-1977 GM full-size downsizing in which most of the models got slab sided and lost a little bit of their personalities in the process.