Joseph Dennis’ photography posted at the Cohort has been irresistible, but this one takes the cake. What a terrific shot; it looks so well staged. And the Seville plays its role perfectly.
The gen1 Seville has been a controversial subject in these parts. I’ve become known as the world’s greatest Seville hater. How could I possibly hate on this? It’s a handsome design. I just happen to think its makers might have been a bit more ambitious, technically, as well as in certain aspects of its design. As a result, it failed to attract younger buyers (average age: 57) and import (Mercedes) buyers to any substantial extent, even though that was ostensibly its mission. But sitting here at the curb in Chicago’s The Loop, it looks…perfect.
Note to readers: Do any of you have any gen1 Seville magazine reviews/comparisons?
Related reading:
1976-1979 Seville: GM’s Deadly Sin #11 – The Sin of Underachievement
1978 Seville: Nope, Nothing Wrong Here (by Tom Klockau)
You’re right… seriously cool pic. May have to become a new desktop…
As if from a 40 yr-old brochure; kudos! And still not a bad looker.
Something I rarely say… “Needs whitewalls, nice thin tastefully striped whitewalls.”
It was never meant to have blackwalls, but somehow they work on it in this context. Whaddaya think, it’s owner’s gonna order from Coker Tire? He knows a guy who knows a tire guy.
Actually if the windows were heavily tinted you could convince me that this was the GM prototype for a PI “Detective Special” Seville.
It does have whitewalls.
Really? On the passenger side? 🙂
Look closer.
Right you are. I had to zoom in to see the very faint, thin lines. My monitor must not be as good as yours, or maybe it’s my eyes? 🙂
Well, I’m on a 3-year old el cheapo laptop… 🙂
It could be my compulsive attention to detail… and the whitewalls aren’t very white (they aren’t that thin though; a little thick for hubcaps if you ask me [perhaps you should up your vitmains]).
Great picture. I always liked these.
+1
Clean styling really stands out among most of todays look alike cars,Caddy really got it right with the first generation Seville, but it was all downhill with the faux Rolls Royce `80s and ridiculous downsized later ones. Really nice photo, area reminds me of an upscale 86th,St from Brooklyn, NY.I`d like to do an acrylic painting based on this photo, it`s tempting.`
Beautiful photo!
The only thing it needs is for somebody to photoshop out the Toyota and the Caravan(?) and put something more period appropriate instead.
Well then you’d have to get rid of the people too, who aren’t exactly wearing 1976 clothing, and probably some other details. It works precisely because it looks timeless in a setting that is very contemporary.
Great shot, although if I squint, I see a 1983 or so Cutlass sedan, which is sort of the problem. It’s a clean design, but as you’ve said, it could have been so much better.
The photo, though, is just about perfectly composed. 🙂
Absolutely amazing photo! The passing train, the towering buildings, the bustle of the city…but nothing obstructing the Seville, the star of the scene. Couldn’t have turned out better if it was posed.
As to the car–I think they got the styling just about perfect on these, with the *exception* of the low eggcrate grille. That, in my opinion, is what makes it resemble an Oldsmobile Cutlass. When they went to a different grille insert with a tall header in ’77, they fixed the issue, at least to me.
(Though, to be fair, the ’80 Cutlass wasn’t even a gleam in the designer’s eye when the ’75 Seville came out. Perhaps the blame should be assigned for making the ’80 Cutlass sedan too much of a clone of the ’75 Seville, much like Ford’s error of making the ’91 Escort look too much like the ’87 Mustang and cheapening the Mustang in the process.)
Right you are about the Cutlass being a clone of the Seville (or GM’s going that direction with its next-gen A-bodies), which of course I knew…
Great picture.
I never warmed up to them, though the first ones I remember seeing were the bustle backs. It has nothing to do with the allegations of Nova ancestry. No, these originals remind me a lot of a Plymouth Gran Fury (the M body version) with Cadillac badging. I understand what they were trying to do but I think it came out half-baked. The idea of charging more than you would pay for a full-sized Fleetwood for this car just seems absurd; even if you don’t think “bigger is better” this wasn’t really “better”. I can’t think of one measure in which it was anything but less car for more money.
Of course it does have the distinction of setting the styling of big sedans for the next 10 years: the downsized B and C bodies (not to mention the Panthers and M-Bodies) all looked vaguely Seville-esque, but the proportions were better.
Looks better than anything Cadillac offers today.
I couldn’t agree more. I know it’s a common sentiment here, but most of the newer cars (not just Cadillac, almost everything) look bloated and ill-proportioned compared to older designs (not to insult anyone here who may own one — I understand that you need a new car and you have to get what’s available, me included). I went to an open house event recently at a local Cadillac dealer, and thought the Escalade worked best design-wise, but it’s ridiculously huge and not practical (for me, anyway).
Hard to hate a car that still looks good 40 years later, especially considering it came from 1976 Malaise era. Sort of like a good song that is still liked years later even by different generations.
seville or impala?
i see a lot of the late 70’s impala in this. a design i also appreciated then and now.
Even though the featured car is either a ’75 or ’76, my sister’s 1977 Seville was a clone to the featured car, sans the vinyl top and of course the different grille. It was two-tone blue with the turbine-vaned wheel covers. I think that it is still an elegant design, looking great even 40 years later. IMO there is no mistakng a gen1 Seville for anything else. The interior in her car was very well made and you could see it was put together with care. The quality of the materials was top notch and very luxurious. The pictured car looks so damn good I want one!
The setting and composition remind me of an Edward Hopper painting, which is high praise. Maybe someone can Photoshop this Seville’s front end into “Nighthawks.”
Paul – regarding your request for Seville reviews, I found in my files a 1976 Road & Track review, a 1977 Car & Driver review, and a one page comparison with the Lincoln Versailles from the same Car & Driver issue. I can post them or just email them to you for you to use in the future.
If you’re willing to scan and e-mail them, that would be great. Many thanks.
Just yesterday I saw a pair of the Seville’s Dearborn counterpart in a local western New York salvage yard, dark chocolate and powder blue Lincoln Versailles. Wish I’d had a camera with me, a photo of that forlorn pair dusted with snow, surrounded with junked ’90’s cars would have been a great contrast to this elegant scene.
How could they expect to attract younger buyers with a 4 door luxury taxicab? I’m 55, and I wouldn’t be interested in it today. I have no interest in any expensive 4 door. I may buy a cheap one, just as a transportation appliance, but for what a Caddy costs, I’m sure I could find something with 2 doors. $14K!!!. Jeez Whiz. The 1977 Corvette was only $10K, and if you needed a back seat, a new Camaro Z28 was only $5k. For just a little bit more that what that ugly 4 door Caddy cost, you could almost buy a new Corvette AND a new Camaro. Or, if you were poor, just get the $3500 2 door Nova. The Caddy loses big time every which way.
And just to add insult to injury, a mint condition 1977 2 door Nova, Camaro, and Corvette are now worth TWICE what they cost new, while the Caddy would be worth less than HALF it’s original MSRP.
Did GM really thing people were THAT dumb?
We know that you don’t like 4 door cars. But why do you assume that nobody else does either? Mercedes didn’t steal Cadillac buyers with 2 door cars, which made up a very small percentage of MB sales in the 70s and 80s.
The ability to buy a Vette and a Camaro instead of a Seville might as well be a comparison with speedboats. Cadillac (and Mercedes) buyers were not interested in sporty Chevy’s.
“Cadillac (and Mercedes) buyers were not interested in sporty Chevy’s” That’s true. But younger buyers are not usually interested in Cadillacs and Mercedes. And since GM’s plan seems to have been to attract younger buyers, it just seems they would have done so with something other than a $14K 4 door Cadillac. Back then especially, Cadillacs, Buicks, and Oldsmobiles were considered cars for older people. I still don’t see many younger people driving late model Cadillacs and Buicks. If they have money, they go for Camaros and Corvettes. If not, they go with a Spark or a Sonic. Even at my age I’m still considering a Miata. Divorced, kids grown, why not?
I probably don’t qualify as a “younger person” anymore (I’m 34) but if I had the money I’d much rather have an ATS coupe or a CTS-V (when that variant reappears next year) than just about anything else in the GM lineup, Corvette and Camaro included. The previous generation CTS-V coupe and CTS-V sportwagon were two of my favorite cars in production at the time, period.
But I know I’m an oddity. I’m the same guy who bought a Lincoln (albeit used) at age 24. Still, there are people like me out there, and more importantly people like me but with the disposable income to *actually* buy a new Cadillac rather than just dreaming about one. Back in the 70’s, those people bought Mercedes and BMW. Today that’s still what they buy (throw in Audi and Lexus). Then, as now, they wanted to capture some younger buyers so they might have “Cadillac people” when they got older. Maybe a sedan priced over the comparable Fleetwood/Deville wasn’t the ideal option, but the Seville concept was a good one for the time.
Right now I’m all over the board as to what to buy. A Camaro and Corvette are not options because of their high price (used) crazy insurance rates, and poor mpg. A Miata should fit the bill, if I can fit in it. But being a larger guy with orthopedic issues, there is also something to be said for comfort. I am also considering a late model Mercury Grand Marquis. The last big American land yacht. V8 engine and RWD. Roomy, comfortable, and very reasonably priced. But I would be going from 30 mpg highway to around 24. Losing 6 mpg would get really expensive at 30,000 miles a year. But despite having 4 doors, I love it’s ancient design. Other than the rounded body lines, it could be right out of the ’70s.
I’m 31 and I have zero interest in owning a Camaro or a Corvette or roadsters like a Miata or anything else of that genre. Zero. Even when I was younger I could give a rat’s ass about cars like that. I’d much rather ride in big cushy comfort and style than zip around as if I have something to prove. There is no law against how much float you got in your boat, but there isn’t much road you can legally use to make those sports cars shine. Its not that I don’t want any speed at all, but it should ideally be wrapped up in hood ornaments, white walls, velour and chrome. Bonus points for vinyl tops and opera lamps.
The problem with the Seville is that the designers were lazy or just didn’t really know where to go with it. The Caddy design features that look good on a Fleetwood or a DeVille look kicked in on this era Seville. The back end looks decidedly low-rent with the non-Cadillac horizontal tail lights. If they wanted a “midsize” Caddy with explicit Caddy design but with a twist, they should have brought out the bustleback Seville in 75. The bustleback justifies the horizontal tail lights and brings plenty of Caddy baroque-ish flair in a smaller package.
However, what Caddy really needed to attract the “up and coming” types or to just “modernize” would have been to bring out the Lexus LS400 before Toyota did. If they could have done something like that instead of the Cimarron, they would have really won a coup.
The Lexus LS400 had the body stiffness that Mercedes had, something that GM was working on but did not get until the 1995 Aurora/Riviera bodies. Cadillac would have liked the 1992 Seville to get the new body, but instead upgraded the basic Deville body.
Very true, that’s why I said they would have really had a winner on their hands if they realized that this was the way luxury was going, or at least part of it was and got there first.
I’m feeling as though today is *my* day on CC! First the Miata (my ex-), and now the first-gen Seville. All you need to do, Paul, is post a photo of a ’64 Corvair to complete the Trifecta.
I haven’t been able to focus on my day job! Now that’s the CC Effect.
cheers, SeVair GXP (formerly known simply as SeVair)
OK, I’ll do it myself:
Please don’t tell me that’s your Corvair! Drool.
Hi Paul: Yep, mine. You didn’t think I’d keep my practical car (Miata) and sell the frivolous, cranky one (Corvair)? Nothing beats the sound of that factory AM radio, though. It’s permanently tuned to the Oldies station. When you goose the gas, the static on the radio gets louder.
Agreed, great photo, I love the composition. The car and city surroundings beg for an environmental “portrait”. He made the right compositional choices, it’s hard to pull off with so much going on. I am curious if it was shot as a single or multiple exposure(s) to get the train and street discussion just right. Could just be F8 and there, either way he has a talent.
Thank you so much. This was one of six frames I got while en route to an appointment after work – completely on auto focus, but trying to get the timing and composition just right without being late to the other office.
There was a Seville this model nearby its gone now likely under tow it was slightly altered in appearance from the example pictured with 100spoke gold wires and chain link steering wheel and the lower 6 inches of bodywork mysteriously missing, I think someone importeed a well used Caddy from salt country, I sure hope they got it cheap.
Thanks, all, for the kind words regarding the photo. I try to avoid sounding self-congratulatory by posting in response to compliments on my pictures, but I am so glad to be able to share some of my curbside finds with such a great group as this one. I’ll just say I always look forward to reading about others’ finds, favorite cars, and projects. I’ve learned so much in just the past several months I’ve been following CC. Great group of administrators, contributors and followers assembled here.
It’s a gorgeous photo, thanks Joseph! It’s so evocative of New York even though it was taken in Chicago. Both are great cities though!
What I like about both the Seville and Chevette photos is that you can easily build a story just by looking at them.
So the Seville looks like it’s owned by a deadbeat cop who now rests peacefully in the trunk because he lost it for the last time at the races and couldn’t pay back the local loan shark…
…while the Chevette is waiting for their Bonny-and-Clyde-wannabe owners to finish holding up the local Walmart, after which they plan to flee to Mexico to begin a new life. Unfortunately for them, the cashier packs a .44 Mag and is a big fan of both Travis Bickle and Harry Callahan…
Carmine, where are you buddy? I love these, too.
I was just thinking the same thing. Hope he’s ok.