Thank you for the reminder. I forgot that my father bought a San Remo convertible instead of a Corniche that was, hard to believe, almost the same price back then. He had a Silver Shadow so the Seville was something completely different. The San Remo had an expertly strengthened chassis--no shakes, squeaks or rattles. It cornered flat and could be tossed around from turn to turn--while the Silver Shadow rocked like a dinghy on rough seas. Also the San Remo was durable and inexpensive to service compared to the Silver Shadow (cigarette lighter, power windows, heater kept malfunctioning) that was expensive to service. The San Remo got lots of compliments while bystanders tried to ignore the Rolls. Too bad Cadillac didn't partner with San Remo to make limited editions as a luxury counterpart of what AMG was doing for Mercedes.

The Sevilla, though indeed a fairly small car by Cadillac and American standards was a very good looking vehicle, and its lines have aged gracefully.

Boy, you hit the nail on it's head on this video. There's just something truly wrong with every one of those chop-jobs. I've never understood the desire to modify such a fabulous car from it's factory intended design. No matter what brand or model, I've never liked any of this stuff and prefer the cars to be 100% original. I absolutely hate the "gold ornamentaion" and fake tires on the rear. But some of my biggest dislikes have been the gawdy over-sized grilles they put on. Keep it original!!

@thataustriancarguy

8 күн бұрын

I completely agree with you. The Seville is perfect, and no matter how hard you try, you can't improve on that. In fact, the harder you try, the worse it seems to get.

I agree with you. The only rendition worthy of the Cadillac Seville name is the factory-looking, 2-door coupe. Minus the "opera" roof lamp, typical '70's "opera window", and vinyl top. They always put vinyl tops on these conversions because they don't want to sand smooth the weld joints after chopping into the roof. Those others you show: the fake fender spare tire models, and dinky short front door scooters are absolutely horrendous. Super Pimpmobiles.

@kirbywaite1586

8 күн бұрын

One of the problems is that traditionally, expensively made coupe models usually had a different drive train in order to achieve more pleasing proportions and better rear wheel placement. When designers and customizers have to work with an existing drive train meant for a four- door, they run into trouble. Interestingly enough,the term " coupe" was originally used to describe a "cut" automobile. Coupe is French for " cut". It doesn't specifically refer to a two door car. a " coupe" is a " cut"( or shortened) car. Modifying the drive shaft of a rear wheel drive car is expensive. That is why coupes in the true sense of the word are always more expensive. The large two door " coupes" from the big manufacturers in modern times were almost always based on the four- door chassis and drive train. Hence their often odd proportions.

Hey, greg here. I dont recall seeing many of these conversions, even in naples FL where there was lots of $$. in my humble opinion the balance and proportions of the regular 1st gen seville is perfection. Any and all "adjustments" are difficult for me to accept....but I do agree with you the "San Remo Variations" are sort of ok, but again my mind is searching for the original. However the rest of the conversions I find utterly disgusting. The "grandeur Opera Coupe" imo strongly reminds me of the ridiculous station wagon in National Lampoons "Vacation" due to the bolt-on grille and side wheel applications. Now for the "Milan Roadster" to me looks like a shoe. Even the handful of standard "Gucci Editions" ive seen just sort of tarnish the original Seville's mission. As for the issue of a 2-door seville, that is the role Eldorado played. in fact equally awkward as a 2-door Seville would be a 4-door Eldorado. Again in my opinion some things in life are defined by what they are. I dont care to live in a world where one item suits all

@thataustriancarguy

8 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for your spot-on comment. I completely agree with everything you said. In my view, the Seville is perfection. Once you realize that, you understand there's no way to improve on perfection.

Someone recently built a Seville coupe using the stock Nova body-in-white with an unmodified Nova roofline. I can see why GM never built one - it shows the design roots too obviously and was a little too fastbacky for Cadillac's design language of the '70s - but it's a good-looking car.

The San Remos were rare, you saw a lot of those weirdly proportioned coupes and the occasional convetible when they were new in the Phoenix area.

I wasn't alive in the 70's, but these were definitely Liberace inspired cars. Did people actually see Liberace's style as good taste and something to be emulated??? I always thought he was kinda tongue in cheek and just being ridiculous for the sake of ridiculous.

@martinliehs2513

18 күн бұрын

I could imagine that real estate agents in Vegas might have been the target market for some of these conversions.

It would have made a gorgeous station wagon.

@thataustriancarguy

8 күн бұрын

Absolutely! I once saw a rendering of one and I fell in love with it! I am planing on a review later this year :)

@nlpnt

7 күн бұрын

The '78-83 A/G-body wagons came really close to what it would've been. And if nothing else the Seville rear door window frames got rid of the Hofmeister kink and could've been borrowed by Chevy and B-O-P to build an X-body wagon.

@kirbywaite1586

7 күн бұрын

@@nlpnt Please tell me what the Hofmeister kink was. Thanks

They ALL make me cringe!

The only decent looking one is the first of the two San Remo convertibles. Almost looks like a Roller Corniche with the top up. Most of the others look like clown cars.