1989 Cadillac Coupe DeVille - What The Hell Happened?

I found this twenty five year old Cadillac for sale on ebay with a buy it now price of $6995. Seems about right for a twenty five year old car in mint condition but this isn't some ordinary, run of the mill, twenty five year old car in mint condition; it's a Cadillac, baby and  being such it deserves a deep dive. 
 

 

Let's start by looking at what a twenty five year old Cadillac was twenty five years ago. With its subtle, vestigial tail fins and undeniable gravitas, the 1964 Cadillac was still The Standard of The World. It was a Cadillac. Would this car have been on the market for what amounts to $3500 in 1989 ($6995 in 2014)? Of course not so, why would a mint 1989 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, in essence the spiritual successor to this 1964 Coupe DeVille, have an asking price of just $6995? 

 

Well, for starters, it's not this car's fault, per se, that it's not nearly as valuable as the legendary Cadillacs that came before it. Most cars built after 1974 are valued less than cars built before then. Why? There is no concrete consensus but it seems somewhat coincidental that "cool cars" fell off a safety bumper, CAFE and emissions precipice into oblivion after certain events of the early 1970. Most notably the 1973 OPEC embargo not to mention those government mandates for safety and emissions controls. Asian and to some extent European makes came into play at that same time as well. Can you name one American car that is not a performance oriented machine that is little more than a microwave today that was made after 1974? 

 

Additionally, the "blame" for the '89's lack of value has as much to do with the perceived value of the '64 as much as anything else. While the 1964 Cadillac was still considered "The Standard of The World" there was little, honestly, to distinguish it as such aside from advertising telling you that it was. Long tagged as being nothing more than fancy Chevrolets to begin with,  beginning in 1965, GM began a period of debasement of the storied Cadillac brand to keep profit margins as large as the new car market could stand the cheapening of the product. With each succeeding generation of new Cadillacs, said debasement only got worse.

 

To make matters worse, the real Standard of The World was making unfettered inroads into Cadillac's breadbasket as moneyed taste makers that wanted to impress stopped buying Cadillacs and instead purchased a Mercedes Benz'. If ever there was a perfect storm.

 

It all came to a frothy, miserable head in 1985 with General Motors introducing a series of truncated, front wheel drive, five and six passenger sedans. All well and good to fend off the relentless assault from Asia where space efficient front wheel drive was the norm. However, against the luxury onslaught from Germany - a front wheel drive Cadillac Deville was akin to the Allies throwing snowballs at Hitler on D-Day. 

Chin up front wheel drive Cadillac fans and know well that if that gorgeous 1964 Cadillac had to put up with even half of what this 1989 had to put up with, it may have fared even worse. It's resale value being perhaps even less than what the owner of this '89 is asking.

God Bless America.