Faults:
Note that most of this was because of neglect to maintain on the part of the previous owner.
Replaced; starter, power steering pump, freeze plugs, smog pump, transmission main seal.
Had alternator & carburetor rebuilt, new front brake pads, new belts, and a few other things.
When I purchased the car, it had a very bad battery drain, it turned out to be the glove box light, problem solved.
New correct 1.3 inch whitewall tires. Not the 3/4 inch WW you see on any grandmother's Buick. - not really something that went wrong, but I wanted to list them.
That's all.
General Comments:
A friend of mine once said this is the ultimate mafia car. I'm not going to argue either way.
I fell in love with this car after watching the movie Goodfellas, this car is exactly like the one Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) drives in the May 11th 1980 scene (with the helicopter). After looking for a year, I found this one on the other side of the country: California. I had to have it, the shipping alone was over 1k. I didn't care, I'm in love with this car! It was in good condition when I bought it, but I'm bringing it back to perfect.
This is a rare Phaeton Edition Coupe DeVille, one of 2,400 ever built. The chief difference from a regular DeVille is the canvas covered roof.
The color combination of mine is Western Saddle Firemist with a dark brown top and Antique Saddle leather interior - it glows at sunset.
The interior had already been redone by the previous owner around 2000, and looks like it did 28 years ago. Extremely comfortable.
I've put around $4,000 into this lovely car as of yet, not because it needed it, but because it deserves it. This car has traveled 218,000 miles and still starts up without a stutter. The engine has outlived the original transmission which was replaced in 1995 by the previous owner.
This car stands out where ever I go, I know I won't pass myself going down the street. I love how it looks, the color combination is stunning and was worth the wait.
The 425 CID Cadillac V8 is a nicely matched power plant for this car, it's not a speed demon, but can still move more than enough to keep up with things. Gas mileage averages around 15 mpg, but I drive sort of hard. Besides, it's a Cadillac, not a Prius. Half the fun is making tree huggers mad at us.
It still wears the original paint (last thing to be redone) it displays nicely, but isn't as shiny as it once was. If all goes right I'm having it repainted in the original color this summer.
Summary: I love her, she takes my money, but I would never want to live without her.
26th Jul 2010, 10:11
I had a '73 with the 472 version of that same V8, and it was my favorite car of all time. As much as I loved those ultra-huge ones from '71-'76, your downsized version was probably a little more practical. (I also drove many Oldsmobiles and so forth with that body size and style, and they were fantastic cars, just underpowered). I'd love to get an old Deville with the 425, but I guess they're getting very hard to find.