Re: Cadillac owners

Posted by Kevin On 2008/12/19 20:26:00

FWIW, the Cadillac HT4100 (which originally stood for High Technology 4100, but has become known as the Hook & Tow 4100) was not introduced until the 1982 model year. In 1980, the standard 49 state gasoline engine was the 368 cubic inch version of the cast iron 472 motor that first appeared in the 1968 Cadillacs. Besides the unlamented diesels, the exceptions were the California-bound editions of the Eldorado, which retained the Olds 350 V8 with analog EFI. This same engine had been used in Sevilles from 1975 to 1979, as well as in the 1979 Eldorado.

1981 saw another iteration of the 368, which was the infamous V8-6-4 -- a great idea whose time had not yet come.

Continuing its plunge into the darkness, Cadillac unleashed the HT4100 upon the buying public in all 1982 models (except the Seventy Five series and the commercial chassis), thus setting the stage for the mass flight of its customer base to Lincoln, and then later to Mercedes and Lexus.

You really couldn't go wrong with any Cadillac up until 1981, and even in '81, if you knew which single wire to cut, you could still have a supremely quiet, comfortable, reliable and stately automobile. But between the HT4100, the Cimarron and the roller skate 1986 Eldos and Sevilles, Cadillac basically came apart at the seams. They've spent almost the last 20 years trying to recover, and trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Thankfully, the CTS shows great promise, but the rest of the line needs to rise up and meet the same bar level if they are to be taken seriously by today's luxury buyers (i.e., Mercedes and BMW customers). Maybe if The General drops some of the other divisions, Cadillac will have enough money to develop the models it needs to become a competitive global brand, like Packard was 80 years ago!