1976 Cadillac DeVille Coupe review from North America

Since purchasing the car I have had to replace the following parts to make it roadworthy:

Power steering pressure hose.

Alternator.

Battery.

Muffler and resonator.

Lots of soap, polish and scrub brushes.

My wife bought this car for me as a retirement present for 20 years in the US Navy, to drive cross country this fall, and to display this summer in the local shows. There will be plenty of Camaros and Mustangs, but very few Cads!

This car was extremely dirty when I bought it after years of storage, but has cleaned up incredibly well. The red metallic paint and white leather interior look almost brand new, and the car looks to be in fantastic shape for any car, let alone one 29 years old.

For the barca-cruiser it is, handling is quite good. If you know how the behemoths of the 70's handle, and have the nerve to drive them hard, they can handle surprising well. It's a lot of fun to see the looks of your passengers as you drive a 5000+ pound brick like a sports car. A lot of people think these cars are cement blocks, but the suspension is quite sporty while being soft and comfortable. It can be driven like it's on rails if you hold on tight and pucker up enough.

The 502 big block needs a little help. In a matter of 5 years of production, this engine's output was almost halved by choking it with emission controls. An engine this big should be able to twist the tires off the rims. Once I get it cleaned up and going well, I am going to address this problem with either modern high performance parts, or donor parts from an earlier engine.

This is truly the last of the real road crushers. In 77 all manufacturers started to shrink their cars or replace their big-car model lines. It is the final hurrah for a time we will not see again.