Cadillac's 1980 reboot of the deVille brought elan to the lines of the car that were missing at best and clunky at worst when the car debuted as part of GM's massive 1977 downsizing.
The changes were subtle yet significant and made for an overall much more pleasant looking premium automobile. The car also appears to be larger than before. Not a bad thing considering the era and the mentality of Cadillac buyers at the time.
The interiors were also brought up several notches too. Fit and trim markedly better and the quality of the leather upholstery improved as well.
While certainly not to Mercedes Benz or BMW levels, at least what was offered was an improvement over what was offered previously. That was not always the case with General Motors offerings from this era. If you've ever replaced something with the same item and felt it not quite as good as it was, that was GM in the '70's.
The 1982-84 deVille do have an Achilles heel thought and it's this infamous HT4100 (HT for high tech - kid you not) V-8 with Digital Fuel Injection. I test drove an '82 DeVille years ago and found it utterly unresponsive to even the hardest stabs of the gas pedal. What's more, in a car weighing as much as this car does, the lack of power makes you drive differently. While its said that driving a slow car fast is more fun than driving a fast car slow, its debatable that you could even get to a point where you could say you're moving fast in this thing. Upside, very respectable gas mileage. About 22 mpg. Congrats, GM. You made a big car that actually got decent mileage. Too bad that came at the expense of all driving pleasure.
It's a shame because these are very nice cars and this low mileage beauty in particular, for sale in sunny California, is in especially clean shape. Asking price, if you're interested, $10,000. All the money in the world for a thirty one year old car of any ilk let alone, "A Best of All It's a Cadillac", Cadillac.
Five grand, perhaps six and we have a sleeping beauty. Take it to a good shade tree mechanic and spend the difference giving Grandpa here a heart transplant. Let's do it right with a snorting Chevy 350 and an aggressive set of gears and turn this gem into a real Cadillac.
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