(first posted 12/03/2012) In the past couple of weeks we’ve seen several examples of Cadillac’s peak. Starting with its inception in 1902 and continuing more or less through the Sixties, Cadillac produced well-built, well-finished, impressive–and expensive–cars. Inside and out, wherever you looked you saw chromed, die-cast metal, leather, fine fabrics and extensive gadgetry. Since we’ve discussed the redesigned, dumbed-down 1971 Cadillacs ad nauseum (click here for the ’72 Coupe de Ville CC), today let’s take a look at the last real Cadillac: The 1970 model.
The 1970 Cadillacs were mildly restyled versions of the all-new 1969 models. In my opinion, the 1970 Cadillac is that rare case of a facelift improving on the original. The revisions involved nothing drastic, and every refinement–from the new eggcrate grille, to new wheel covers, to new taillights set above a deeper V, to the fender peaks bearing the Art Moderne Cadillac emblem–simply looked great. It didn’t hurt that the 1969 body shell was very well proportioned for a luxury car, and enhanced by a subtle character line that flowed from the top of the front fender through the door handles before melting into the center of the rear-quarter panel. Very elegant, and so very appropriate to a Cadillac.
The Calais and Hardtop Sedan de Ville had an attractive “fast” C-pillar; but in my opinion, the Fleetwoods, with their traditional wide C-pillar, were the best of the bunch. This Brougham looks wonderful in Lucerne Aqua Firemist, but then I’m a sucker for aqua and green cars. Like Lincoln’s Moondust colors, Firemist paints had a high metallic/pearlescent effect compared with the “standard” color choices. Firemist colors were available on all 1970 models for an additional $205.
While some of the interior appointments were not quite of pre-1968 quality, the cabin offered an abundance of well-tailored leather and fine fabrics and, most certainly, plenty of stretch-out room. Which is exactly as it should be, since the Sixty Special and vinyl-topped Brougham were the largest Caddies in the lineup save the Seventy-Five Series Sedan and Limousine. We’re talking about 133 inches of wheelbase, 228.5 inches of overall length and a road-hugging weight of 4,835 pounds (or 4,830 lbs. for the steel-roofed Sixty Special).
At CC, much has been made of post-1969 Cadillac interiors being cheap, flimsy, crummy, et al. Granted, this isn’t as impressive as, say, a 1960 Cadillac interior, but I really don’t think it looks bad. Keep in mind that 1968 brought much stricter limitations on the amount of chrome and other bright interior trim in American cars. The inevitable result was a somewhat drabber look for instrument panels, steering wheels and door panels. Considering the level of trim and furnishings expected in a luxury car, the new regulations surely hit Cadillac harder than, say, Plymouth. That said, I personally find the ’70 dash attractive. There was one cheap feature on ’70 Cadillacs, though. Regardless of whether the rest of the interior was navy blue, aqua, white or red, the steering wheel was black, just like a Chevy Biscayne.
That aside, there still was a lot that recommended the 1970 Cadillac, not the least of which was its proven powertrain. At its heart was the 472 cu in V8, which featured five main bearings, hydraulic valve lifters, and a Rochester four-barrel Quadrajet Model 4MV carb. Not surprisingly, it provided power, torque and durability that were second to none. Still rated at 375 hp and 525 wonderful lb-ft of torque, it also gave up nothing to the 1968 engine. As the saying went, a Cadillac could pass anything but a gas station. Turbo-Hydramatic was an expected and welcome standard feature.
Just below the $7,284 Sixty Special Brougham was the “plain” Sixty Special, which eschewed the Brougham’s padded vinyl roof. While much the same as the Brougham, it was priced at a slightly lower $6,953. A mere 1,738 Sixty Specials were built for the 1970 model year, versus 16,913 Broughams. Small wonder 1970 was the steel-roofed Fleetwood’s last year; it would be absent from the 1971 roster.
Whether a Sixty Special or Sixty Special Brougham, Fleetwoods offered all of the features of the de Ville series along with automatic level control. As you’d expect, the stitching on Fleetwood seats and door panels was unique, and complemented what the 1970 brochure described as “the rich look of oriental tamo wood on the doors and instrument panel. Sixty Specials offered a choice of seven sumptuous leather interiors, four Dumbarton cloth-and-leather selections, and four upholstered in Divan cloth. And there were colors–lots of colors. Remember when car interiors offered real colors? Personally, I love the look of the navy blue Sierra grain leather shown above.
The Brougham set itself apart from the Sixty Special primarily with its oh-so-current padded vinyl roof, but also featured adjustable rear-compartment reading lights, folding carpeted rear footrests and a two-way power Dual Comfort front seat. Full power control of the seats could be had for an extra $90-$116, depending on the model. Both the Sixty Special and Brougham received thin horizontal chrome belt line molding, bright wheel opening moldings and a wide chrome rocker molding with rear-quarter panel extensions. Fender skirts? But of course.
All in all, Cadillac had a good year in 1970. It produced 238,745 vehicles, a marked improvement over the 223,267 built in 1969. In fact, 1970 production set an all-time division record, despite disappointing calendar-year sales of 152,859 units, a performance due in large part to the major GM strike that, well, struck during the 1970 model year.
A 1970 Cadillac may have been a bit cheaped-out compared with a 1962 or 1963-64 model, but to my eye it remained every bit a Cadillac. Just look at that lush black-leather seat. Comfy, yes? What’s more, 1970 Caddys were safer, thanks to new 1968 Federal safety regs. Seat belts were provided for every passenger, along with shoulder harnesses for the two outboard front-seat passengers. A dual-circuit brake system (a Cadillac feature prior to 1968); headrests; an energy-absorbing steering column; anti-glare dash top and A-pillar covers (the bane of all you chrome-loving ’60s Cadillac interior lovers); and power front disc brakes with finned rear drums were present and accounted for on every 1970 Caddy.
I actually got to ride in one of these. A grade school friend’s mom had a gold ’70 Brougham with a white top and white leather interior. They actually had a thing for old Cadillacs, since they also had a navy blue ’69 (I think) Seventy-Five sedan. Both cars were a bit worn out, but still did their fine pedigree proud. Anyway, there was a class trip to the Rock Island Arsenal when I was in second or third grade, and Luke’s mom was one of the drivers. Guess who I rode with? It was a cool car that was great to ride in. To this day I have fond memories of that car. She kept on driving it daily for years, even though it steadily got rougher. The last time I recall it running I was in maybe sixth or seventh grade.
Years later, I ran across the very same car (it’s hard to miss that color combination) in the local junkyard. I was sad to see it had succumbed, but I guess it was nice to get to see it one last time. I took the Fleetwood Brougham plaque off the instrument panel as a souvenir of a happy childhood memory. To this day, it sits on my desk at home.
Yes, 1970 was a good year for Cadillac, and in my opinion, a good year for Cadillacs. However, it was all about to change as Cadillac Motor Division, in its relentless pursuit of profit and sales records, drastically decontented the 1971 models. I like them, but I don’t think they can match 1970 and earlier Cadillacs for sheer quality and presence.
(Special thanks to CC Cohort contributor runningonfumes, who spotted and photographed this splendid black ’70 Brougham. Great find!)
Oh, and that back seat? Now while I’ve spent some time in Nevada, but never have partaken of certain houses of “Ill repute”, nor even been in one, though driven by a few, that back seat makes me think of nothing else but a mental image of those broken down, not quite motels in extra rural Nevada.
We had a ’68 base Electra with a solid-feeling padded vinyl and steel dash. Grandma bought an all-black ’70 Cadillac Calais to replace her unreliable ’64. That deep binnacle was hollow plastic and felt like it. Even without the head restraints, she had to almost stand up to see over the high back seat, so she got a ’72. I thought its yellow buff interior was nicer than her ’70, but it may have been the color. The flexible body made the glass make funny noises against the weatherstripping until we used WD40 on them. The ribbed fabric shed threads after a decade despite the low miles. It had less than 50k when my dad gave it to his stepson in 2010.
Seems to be a split opinion whether the 69-70 or 71-76 style was better. I consider the ’62 to be the height of Cadillac, so perhaps my vote doesn’t count. However I do prefer the 71-76 style. But does style alone determine what is the last true Cadillac?
Beginning in 1971, progressively tightening emission standards forced all automakers to reduce engine output. The ’71s & ’72s weren’t too bad, but they were weaker than the 70 models and the technology employed did reliability no favors. Things got a lot worse beginning with the ’73 models. It wasn’t until the early 80’s that automakers were able to meet emission standards without completely choking engine output.
This problem wasn’t unique to Cadillac, but at the prices Cadillac commanded, it was perhaps more objectionable to owners. Cadillac owners were long accustomed to smooth seamless power that made no compromises to drivability.
Our dealership sales manager once offered an interesting comment. Back in the early ’70s, he told me a typical Mercedes buyer generally had a bit of interest in the engineering. They would often lift the hood when inspecting a prospective purchase.
A Cadillac buyer would not be bothered with such a mundane task. They expected the car to have a reliable engine and thought a hood release was for the exclusive use of mechanics during the occasional serving. Any car that required them to lift the hood wasn’t worth buying.
Powertrain performance is an important part of the Cadillac experience. By that I mean performance against the traits most valued by Cadillac owners. Add performance to style and quality when designating the last true Cadillac and I’d have to agree that the 1970 model is it.
What came afterward might have still looked like a Cadillac – an attractive one at that – but performance and reliability against Cadillac standards began to degrade beginning with the 1971 models. In time, performance would recover. But by then, Cadillacs were swamped with other issues.
My dad’s last car was a ’69 Sedan De Ville, in the awful “Palmetto Green Metallic”, AKA Baby &$*@ Green. It had, as almost all his cars did, a “hopped up” engine that could really move that big boat. The idle gave it away as not being stock, and I think it had something like 3.42 gears in the rear end. This seems to be an exact duplicate of his car:
https://www.hagerty.com/drivers-club/my-garage/owu2cy32/dalton-w/5c6c37cc-ac90-4759-8a6a-b971b57355b6
I can remember that odd pattern on the “Dark Green Dardenelle” seat fabric, but most of my memories of it are when my dad and I would go someplace alone, and he would stomp on it, and take it up past 100, which was pretty scary to my 13-16 year old self. In March of ’73, the big Caddy died in a spectacular wreck near the Toledo Zoo. My dad passed out due to heart issues, six months later, he would be gone. The transformer on top of the pole exploded, knocking out the power to a fair chunk of Toledo. When I got home from school that day, my mom was trying to find him, as he had left work at 11:30am, but as of 2:15pm, was nowhere to be found. We called and called all the local hospitals, and nobody seemed to know what was going on. My mom called the police again, and they said they had taken him to a local hospital, but they weren’t sure where(???) and said he was talking and making perfect sense and told them where he wanted to be taken. About 3:30, I called the right place, and the person said, “Oh he’s been here since about noon, and he’s doing fine!”. Right about then, the owner of the driving school I was learning with shows up and by 5pm, I had my license. Dad never drove again. Hard to believe, but the last movie he saw in the theater was “The Godfather”! How he survived, not wearing a seat belt, with only a broken nose and loose front teeth is a total mystery. One odd thing, seeing that car folded up at the back of the dealership would be only the first ’69 Sedan De Ville in that same awful color I would see totally destroyed. The second one was trashed at a gas station I worked at when a minor (Like $50) money dispute between another employee, “Henry” and some supposed friend of his turned ugly and the friend tried to run Henry over. Henry shot him in the chest with a 30/30 hunting rifle just as he made a second run at him, killing him instantly. I got there just as the rods were coming out of the engine after he crashed into the big red bollards in front of the building, and the throttle stuck open. My dad’s car did the same thing after hitting the pole. Henry was arrested for murder, but the boss hired him a good lawyer, and soon Henry was totally off the hook. I soon quit after being held up and I always wondered what happened to Henry later on. The only real penalty he got was he spent a couple of days in jail and he never got his rifle back.