balthazar

97regalGS= >>"In the 80's and 90's they were.....?"<< I've not studied the era, but in the '90s, it seems to me the Seville & Allante were compeitive with in their segment- the Deville was in a class by itself, no? It's really not my era. >>"Cadillac's best work was not 47 years ago, it was, (according to balthazar, sometime in the 70's) at least 26+ years ago. That's a HUGE difference. NOT."<< Look, maybe you don't care if metric tons of mud is slung around-- dford implied the entire showcase of Cadillacs was terrible (he certainly didn't call out 1 year out of 13) and they all would turn off potential consumers. Obviously you agree with that. Both opinions are not grounded in reality. I'm here to correct that. If you insist on whitewashing everything, fine; the conversation is over. But I will not sit by and watch gross misstatements carelessly tossed about. You do realize that mercedes & BMW were woefully uncompetitive in the '50s, '60s and '70s, right? Who was class leading longer? The '80s and '90s have no more bearing on potential new customers than the '40s and '50s, but let's focus on the singular '85 and call it all a failure. Excellent work.

You can get some powdercoat colors in a translucent- tho I see no burgandies on my chart (Eastwood). No offense intended, but unless money is not a concern or you are building a show circuit Caprice, it seems that extra $ could be put to better use elsewhere on the car. Then again- I have no idea what the 2 processes would cost relative to each other.

Smells like a BMW 5-series from here.

>>"but it's best work until 2002 was back in 1959!! "<< Any '60s Cadillac trounces any '60 luxury import, and any '70s Cadillac is more than competitive overall with any '70s luxury import. You do not need to go back to the '50s to find Cadillac's best work. Your point is simply not factually valid. >>"And win a few comparision tests in those biased buff magazines so the car guys have to rethink their positions...... "<< This is an entirely different obstacle to overcome- magazines are not based on objective evaluations, but pushing pulp. It's "entertainment", not journalism.

Aluminum headers?? I would think adonizing everything would be cost-prohibitive, since it is not a simple, local process. Powdercoating would be far more budget-friendly and comparitively durable.

>>"Who cares if the 85 Seville was supposed to get conquest sales. "<< YOU were the one who stated it would do nothing to earn conquest sales. I stated it's appearance was not designed to attempt that. >>"TODAYS cadillacs are supposed to - because previous generations of Cadillacs lost the customer."<< Sure, but TODAYS Cadillacs have steadily regained consumers. >>"Many import luxury buyers have a negative perception of Cadillac."<< And many Cadillac buyers have a negative perception of import luxury cars. This is only natural. Any corporation who has a goal of appealing to every segment consumer risks driving that corporation into the ground. Fact is, there will ALWAYS be import loyalists that will NEVER consider Cadillac, and vice versa. >>"...the perception of Cadillac to most luxury consumers (that don't live in Detroit) is of poor quality and out dated technology"<< Source, please. >>...should not be running ads that remind potential new customers of cars those very customers perceive negatively."<< Source, please. >>"You are not going to change the perception of a car by flashing its image and playing some Iggy Pop in the backround. But you can change the perception of a brand by showing the current cars in a contemporary context - that the cars are relevant to todays luxury buyers."<< Cadillac has done relevent advertising countless times in recent years- have you missed them all?? How does one heritage-based ad counter all that? Do you believe Cadillac's recent considerable sales gains are now at risk? Did mercedes see a notable sales dip because they ran more than 1 heritage-based ad a few years back? Do not forget- no degree of clever, relevent advertising is going to translate into lasting sales unless the product is there. Aren't Cadillac sales up something like the last 6 years in a row? This ad -tho not as effective as Moments, is a nice look back at the marque throughout it's history, the vast majority of which entailed class leading innovation & quality. Nothing wrong whatsoever with reinforcing that reality.

IMO, you are incorrect. #1- the 2nd gen Seville is not supposed to gain conquest sales from the competition's loyalists- just like an ad with an '85 BMW is not going to gain any conquests from any other brands loyalists today. It's not a compare-n-contrast ad, it's a look back at the marque's heritage. And the 2nd gen Seville was not without it's imitators (Imperial, Continental). I take it then the '85 is the only car you object to out of like 13? Hardly seems to warrant "the terrible cars". #2: 2006-30=1976. Cadillac was setting sales records (still not even approached today) in this era and the Seville was a critical and sales success. mercedes & BMW were still enlarging, equipping & empowering their cars to compete with Cadillac in the late '70s; Cadillac was the segment benchmark whether you believe it or not. '30 years of nothing' is a gross overstatement. And sometimes a little heritage awarness can educate those with erroneous perceptions.....

Wow, dford- what planet are you logging in from?? Did you watch the linked ads at all? It showed -what- 13 models over the course of Cadillac's history: which ones weren't "terrible" in your opinion?

My grandfather bought a new CTS last year, when he was 90.

Oldest of 3, same parents. I work daily with the youngest (brother), get along very well with him and middle sister. Age spread from me to him is about 7 years.

I'd sure love to see a media whistleblower come forth so some house cleaning can get done. After all, if it was worth declaring that pro wrestling is 'entertainment' when everyone knew that all along, why do auto magazines get a 'bye' when actual economic influence in involved?

Doesn't every phone sold come with a clip? Or do some people hold them in their sweaty little hand all day?

I would prefer this focus of marketing go unannounced rather than a press release be issued. It serves no purpose to say 'I'm going to do this'; just f'ing do it, damnit.

An increasing degree of divisional exclusivity MUST be so & prominently, esp from an engineering standpoint. Budget undoubtedly will not allow each division unique hardware, but the overlap & interchangability must continue to decline. Cadillac is in good standing, but Buick needs to pull out of the pack, and yesterday. One can trace the general historical Corporate decline clearly back to the elimination of divisional engineering- it's high time that short-sighted decision was reversed (again: as much as the budget will allow).

'retro fenders': '54 Wildcat II with open front wheelwells. 'floating hubcaps' : '53 Wildcat I with RotoStat front wheels. 'mid-engine 3.8' : '85 Wildcat lift-canopy mid-engined exotic.

Since the suggestions for self-betterment are flying in here, here's another thing to watch; the "we all" mentality. No such thing. Everyone here speaks for themselves only; no one's been elected anyone else's representative.

Almost gone:

And the '58-59 Edsel Corsair.

Chance-Vought Corsair.

V-16, naturally. I should clarify- it's 'World's Fair' significance was that it was especially built as a show car- no production '33s had that same sloping rear deck. It's the first custom showcar built by Cadillac.

We can all guess at what will or will not happen in the future, but I wouldn't call that "reality". Here's another point to ponder: BMW, mercedes and lexus sales have all been on a steady increase for many years. Meanwhile, Cadillac was on a steady decline for many years, coming off the luxury segment volume record (that has yet to be even approached).... but Cadillac reversed that trend completely, posting larger volume percentage gains than it's competitors in recent years, I am certain. That alone speaks volumes for the degree of change at Cadillac vs. the competition.

I'm mixed on this. No, I don't live in or near Flint, and I do not challenge the decline Flint has seen, but there are unquestionably some emotional (vs. factual) statements in the opening post ("How can you wonder why you're losing sales to foreign competitors when you have shown so little loyalty to your home town?"). Would I like to see Buick still in Flint- of course so. Do I think Flint is neccesarily 'owed' another 100 years of auto production? It has to make sense from a business standpoint.... does it??? When Buick sold over a million units per year, Buick City was completely vital to that. With Buick volume in the -what... 275K range??- now, there is no way anything close to that 80,000 workers would be required. What it was will never be again. But that's to be expected- there are no guarantees and very very few manufacturing facilities ever last as long as Buick City did- it beat the odds many times over as it is.

classicalpontiac.com & performanceyears.com both have active classified sections. poci.org should, tho I don't know offhand if it's in fact online (I get the monthly as a club member). There's always ebaymotors, of course.

1933 Cadillac Fleetwood Aerodynamic Coupe, shown at the World's Fair.

>>"I think with temprature changes and changes in humidity a FI car is goin to be easier to start up and drive than a carburated one. "<< While there may well be a measurable difference, please be advised that it is by no means difficult to start a well-tuned carb'd car regardless of the weather- cars & trucks were only carb'd for like 80 years or so. You do not fuss with carbs regularly- they don't care to sit for a few years without running- but beyond that they are hands-free. I drove 2 different 28-ish yr old cars with 4bbls as daily drivers thru some very tough Jersey winters- no motor/carb problems whatsoever. I rebuilt the one since it sat for at least 3 years, but the other, which sat less than 1 yr, I never touched. It's not an issue.