From the Oldsmobile V-8 Diesel in 1979 to the 1980 humpback Seville, 1981's V8-6-4 to the Cimarron and "HT4100" engine in 1982, to the stubby and clumsy Fleetwood, deVille, Eldorado and Seville in 1985 and 1986, Cadillac's missteps in the late 1970's and through the '80's are the stuff of domestic auto industry legend. Even keeping the old school "Fleetwood Brougham" around back fired on them. Our blue subject here is a 1988.
For the record, this car is technically not a Fleetwood Brougham. In 1985 and 1986, Cadillac had two Fleetwood models in showrooms; the new-for-1985, front-wheel-drive sedan and these "old school", rear-wheel-drivers. To abate confusion, from 1987 through 1992, Cadillac dropped the "Fleetwood" pre-fix on these cars making them simply, "Brougham". Same car, same wrapper, slightly different name. If you think that sounds a little wonky, well, such was Cadillac in the 1980's.
GM's plans, originally, were to push the old boat out to pasture in 1985 with its stablemates, the rear-wheel-drive Buick Electra and Oldsmobile 98. Both of those cars were replaced in 1985 with front-wheel-drive models similar to the new Fleetwood (and deVille).
No doubt some wise old sage had the foresight that some of Cadillac's super-core customers might be off-put by the new-fangled and demonstrably smaller, models. So, while the old rear-drive deVille went to the onion field, the Fleetwood Brougham soldiered on.
That decision, arguably the only smart thing Cadillac did in the 1980's, was a double-edged sword. While these cars sold reasonably well, some years accounting for more than fifth of Cadillac sales, they inhibited the brand's long term growth; "Yuppies" wouldn't be caught dead in one of these. Well, seeing how limousine builders loved the commercial-grade version of this car for their meat wagons, that would have been the only way they'd be caught in one.
In fairness, though, much like when our lives seem to suddenly go off track, there were plenty of signs of Cadillac's decline. Us fans of the brand chose to either ignore them.
Going back as far as the late 1950's, GM bean counters began strangling Cadillac's engineering budgets, innovation as much as styling the bedrock that made a Cadillac a "Cadillac". By the late 1960's and especially through the 1970's, there was little tangible difference between, for instance, a Cadillac and a Chevrolet Caprice. The Caprice the better buy as well. Same goes for the Pontiac Bonneville, Olds 98 and Buick Electra.
Timing being everything, GM willfully decided for Cadillac to be less than it was just as the far tonier, refined and more expensive luxury imports began getting a foothold here. The rest, as the cliche goes, is history.
The Facebook Marketplace ad for this '88 "Brougham" pitches this car as being "old school" and a "throwback". A throwback to what, though? To the bad old days when Cadillac wasn't anywhere near what it had been in decades prior?
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