I’ve often wondered if Cadillac could have broken out the new Seville as its own luxury brand, much like Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti did for Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. It was such a new idea for American car companies, but that idea may have been ahead of its time. This 1976 Cadillac Seville is located in Lynnwood, Washington, and it’s listed for sale here on eBay, where bidding is currently up to $3k. Thanks go to Curvette for the tip!

At the time, GM was more worried about European (German, in particular) luxury cars than Japanese cars creeping into American garages and taking away sales of what were big, lumbering, somewhat ill-handling luxury cars. The smaller, tighter Seville was touted as “The American Answer” on some brochures, and they were quite a departure from the norm.

By 1986, when Honda introduced the Acura brand (It was 1989 when both Lexus and Infiniti were introduced), the vehicle market was a totally different animal. European and Japanese carmakers had already gotten a solid hold of the American car market, and things would only get more dire as time went on. Introduced in 1975 for the 1976 model year, the first-generation of the Seville (as its own model) would be offered until 1979. Here’s a brochure showing the 1976 Seville.

The interior looks nice, and I believe these are the standard vinyl seats rather than the optional leather seats. One of you will know by looking at them. They look nice, both front and rear, and the trunk is more luxurious than on most cars of this era, or even now. The back seat looks great, and I’m wondering if this car has been painted or touched up in spots? The rear door post is painted, and I think that should be bare metal. Again, one of you would know for sure.

The clean engine compartment houses an Oldsmobile-sourced (remember that era? “An Oldsmobile engine in a Cadillac?! The horror!”) 350-cu.in. OHV fuel-injected V8, which had 180 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque when new. It rolls through a THM-400 automatic to the rear wheels, and the seller says the car has been sitting for a while, so they recommend going through the usual routine to make it a reliable driver. Also, the heater core needs to be replaced, and a replacement comes with the car. Hagerty is at $9,000 for a #3 good-condition car, how much would you pay for this Seville?