I always get a little sad when I see a late 1970s Cadillac, because I know how unkind the 1980s was to the brand. While Cadillac has weathered the storm and has a pretty decent lineup of vehicles today, its reliability woes undid a lot of the good reputation it accrued from being “The Standard of the World” for decades. That was still a couple years into the future when this 33,000-mile 1978 Coupe DeVille was built, and Cadillac was reaping the rewards of its successful restyling and downsizing for 1977; as a matter of fact, 117,750 Coupe DeVilles were built out of a whopping 349,684 Cadillacs in 1978. This one is being presented as a survivor with a “rare color combination” of Columbia Blue with a blue interior, and it’s being sold here on eBay in Utica, Michigan, with an asking price of $25,995 or best offer.
There’s no reason to get sad when you open the door and look inside a 1978 Cadillac; it has all of the velour one would want in their luxury car. As a side note, it’s too bad we’ve gotten away from velour as an upholstery material; after all, it’s as durable as anything used to cover a seat these days.
DeVilles basically came from the factory fully-loaded, with power everything, including windows, brakes, steering, and driver’s seat.
The engine was also one of the last of the “big” Cadillac engines, a 180-horsepower, 425-cubic-inch Cadillac V8. The engine compartment looks almost new, and the seller includes a 17-minute video showing the condition and the features: Everything seems to work, including the radio, power antenna, and climate control system. The 425 was hooked to a Turbo-Hydramatic 400 and a set of 2.56:1 gears out back: Those are tall for certain, but it was the ’70s after all, and the 425 had the torque to whisk the Caddy up to a quiet expressway speed.
The trunk still looks great, as you’d expect from such a clean original car.
Obviously, there will be some comments about the price, which, at nearly $26,000, is admittedly steep for a ’78 DeVille. With that being said, there’s always a price to be paid, either upfront or in repairs. I’ve personally almost exclusively made the wrong decision by buying fixer-uppers that need some attention, but a lot of people don’t want to deal with the hassle; plus, as they say, nothing drives like an original car. What would be your high offer on this like-new Coupe DeVille?
Of the “downsized” Caddys ’78 is my favorite year. Maybe because my parents had one growing up. Even with the high rear gears in these, they got up and went on the highway very well with all the torque that 425 put out. They’re nice driving cars too ( I used to “borrow” it as a teenager). This one looks terrific and I think definitely has low miles. The only real issue is the slight color variation on the rear bumper fillers I’m thinking they may have faded different then the rest of the car after 48 years. If they’re original they can be rather fragile at this point. Overall this looks like one nice Coupe Deville.
The dealer ended the listing on 3/19/2026 with no sale.
Steve R