I have been saving this 1987 Cadillac DeVille hearse for Halloween, although I had photographed it last year near Tuxedo, New York where I was attending a Renaissance Faire. It was being used to advertise something called Forest of Fear. Well, in this case the advertising didn’t work: I didn’t go to the Forest of Fear because I would be jumpy enough walking through woodlands at night even without costumed people jumping out at me. But I sure took notice of this hearse, even if what it was advertising was not my cup of tea.
Arguably the biggest failing of the 1985-88 Cadillac DeVille/Fleetwood, next to the unreliable HT-4100 engine, was the styling. While neat and elegant, it failed to either establish an exciting new design direction or retain the conspicuous and ostentatious proportions and detailing of its predecessor. Blame a styling department that was so terrified of scaring off existing buyers that it stubbornly retained existing design themes on drastically downsized bodies. The design faux pas was also noticeable in hearse format: while I feel these downsized Caddys are somewhat unfairly maligned, this DeVille hearse looks scarcely more commanding than would a Chevrolet Celebrity wagon with a coffin in the back.
The upcoming all-female Ghostbusters movie will use a 1980-84 Cadillac as the “new” Ecto-1. Although not as garish as the original Ecto-1, based on a ’59 Caddy, it has a certain old-school, larger-than-life charm. Alas, the featured 85-88 hearse just doesn’t have that, even if it is efficiently packaged.
The really “spooky” part of using an 80-84 Cadillac hease in the new Ghostbusters movie is that it is older than the ’59 was in the original Ghostbusters! (Aaghhh!!!)
I bet some old-school V8 RWD loyalists would’ve rolled over in their graves to know that this was the last vehicle they rode in.
I have to think that the HT4100 does not motivate all that extra weight with any sense of urgency. Good thing that in typical service they proceeded at a stately pace.
Well for 1988 the HT 4100 was replaced by the far better 4.5 liter with a full 40 extra LBS FT of torque and the difference was immediately felt.
That 87 looks like what you might use to advertise fireworks sales in one of those small towns in the Carolinas, or southern Kentucky.
These are THE ultimate expression of “car is a box on wheels”. ANY minivan ever built looks more attractive than one of these 80s Cadillacs. And while it’s been said before about countless cars, these Caddys really do look like they were taken from drawings produced by a couple of kids in kindergarten.
Not rusty enough for New Hampshire, then?
I like the Darrin Dip on the tailgate. Kiss of Death!
Are these things even wide enough for a casket to fit?
Efficient packaging is good if you’re in the market for a Golf, not a Caddie, let alone one used for carting off loved ones to their final resting places in dignity. Beats a Caravan today I guess. It’s no wonder cremation rates keep rising!
Was there ever a time when taking a step down to a top Buick/Olds was more tempting because of the awkward Caddy styling or more rewarding because of the reliable 3800 instead of the flaky HT4100?
There was a time that Eureka built a bunch of “Buillacs” for SCI…Roadmaster sedan fronts with Cadillac taillamps, so the folks at the “business end” of the car assumed it was a Cadillac but it was actually a Buick. I suspect that was driven by $$, a Roadmonster cost less than a Brougham.
http://cwcoach.weebly.com/store/p114/1996_Eureka_%22Buillac%22_Hearse_REDUCED.html
Before that, Cotner Bevington built Oldsmobiles in the 50s thru 70s…with strong running 455s in them. Superior Built Pontiacs in the 60s and early 70s. There were several options…
How long was the HT4100 inflicted upon us though? I know it lasted at least a couple years into the downsized generation, but didn’t the RWD Fleetwood Brougham start using the 305/307 once the downsized cars appeared?
The HT 4100 was dropped in the full sized Brougham RWD car starting in 1986 when the 307 Olds took over. That lasted until 1990 when a Chevy 5.7 TBI 350 was offered as an option for towing or livery. 1991 saw the 307 replaced with the Chevy designed 305 TBI and the 5.7 350 was optional across the board. Ditto for 1992.
The downsized FWD Deville/Fleetwood still carried the HT4100 but in revised FWD format and that lasted until 1987. For 1988 a new 4.5 liter V8 with 25 more Hp and 40 extra torque and much greater reliability was used across the board except the Allante which only used port injected 4100’s and 4.5 liter engines.
I saw an older Cadillac Brougham a few weeks ago. You don’t see them out here too often. But, it screamed one word: presence. It was just as large as some pickup trucks, and seemed very dignified.
This generation to me just looks like a Caprice with a trim job. I know they’re different, but the styling doesn’t help it’s case.
When I go, put me in a Buick Roadmaster wagon- I want only the best 😉
These little ones are only about 36 inches wide between the rear strut towers. When I was working for Kriegshauser Mortuaries in the late 80s, we got a very hefty woman in a very wide casket. I was sent out to measure the coach…she wouldn’t fit. I was then told to wash and wax the Econoline flower van…that would be her last ride.
Newer coaches are more like 45 inches wide at the narrowest point. People keep getting larger and larger, but even a really heavyset person should fit in one of Batesville’s Options line of enhanced width caskets. Goliath Casket Co makes one that is 52 inches wide, and will hold someone weighing 1000 Lbs or more. Good luck finding a crypt or burial vault at that size…going to have to buy a precast concrete cistern and use that. And think about the poor pallbearers trying to carry someone like that…
Those little FWD Cadillacs really drove well, compared to the RWD models. They seemed faster off the line, tighter steering, less floaty on the highway. They just looked funky…too small to make the proportions look right on a funeral coach. They also made bad limousines…too small inside, especially in width, and looked silly when they were stretched.
THANK YOU for the link to CW Coach ! .
Too bad most of their cars are rusty , at least they have good pricing .
I’m in need of parts for my 1980 Caddy S & S Victoria Hearse .
-Nate
Nate, Carl Woerner and the team at CW Coach sell anything from nearly new professional cars to rusty relics, and everything in between. Great guys to work with, and a fun lot to walk through…never know what sort of oddball vehicles you’ll see.
Thanx CinciDavid ;
I spent some time perusing their site and was pleased to see they have lots of good used glass in stock as I got a crack in the extra tall windshield not long ago .
I also need some door trims and the white plastic clips to hold them in place .
-Nate
I like the way the conversion retained the tail lamps in little “finlets”.
IKR? At least It says “Cadillac”!
They didn’t look right as limousines either, for some of the same reasons as the hearses. For my high school prom, a late decision was made that 3 of us guys would pitch in and share a limo to impress our dates. However, due to the late decision, it was hard to find a service that wasn’t already booked up. We finally did and went out to look at the choices, which were an old RWD Fleetwood stretch in white, and a downsized FWD Deville stretch in black, of this same generation. Probably an ’86 or ’87. And that FWD Deville just did not look right AT ALL as a limo. So we chose the Fleetwood, despite it probably being about 5 years older. This was in 1998 mind you, so neither of them were exactly spring chickens!
Looked at another way these C-body cars were way ahead of there time in many ways. Most full sized cars today are barley any longer or wider and some lack the massive rear leg space that these cars enjoyed. Interior space utilization is excellent considering how small these were on the outside. Yes width was down but so are most so called full sizers today. The difference here was that you didn’t have massive center consoles stealing floor space, they had close to a flat floor, the doors were thinner along with the seats before all the safety regulations started kicking in and the one area that suffered on these was trunk space. But consider this. Even though the trunks were criticized for being a tad small today’s Buick flagship has but 10.9-13.3 cu. ft. and the previous generation Toyota Avalon had but 14.4. Both full sized cars.
And while it is easy to poke fun at how an 80’s car was styled, the boxy formal look was still very much in at the time so much so that Chrysler borrowed this look for there new 1988 Dynasty and New Yorker which looked remarkably similar to these.