The concept of downsizing seems to have gone by the wayside with carmakers. It seems like they’re all bigger, fatter, wider, longer, and heavier with each new generation. Cars, I mean, not their owners. Well, maybe that’s why vehicles keep getting bigger, come to think of it. This beautiful 1977 Cadillac Seville can be found listed here on eBay in equally-beautiful Monterey, California. The owner is asking $8,500. Thanks to Ikey H. for this tip!
Since old cars are mostly about the memories and reliving (i.e., living in) the past for me, the first thing that I would do with this fantastic looking Seville would be to take that Elvis-like grille off and put on a “normal” 1977 Seville grille. I know, I’m boring, you don’t have to tell me that. Seville’s first model year was 1976 after a mid-1975 introduction and the first-generation cars were made until the 1979 model year. The Seville was smaller but they were just as luxurious as a full-sized Cadillac was and they were perfect for those customers who were looking for something easier to drive and park but didn’t want to scrimp on the Cadillac experience.
Where’s the bustle-back trunk?! Those unusual second-gen cars came out in 1980 and a few of you know that I recently sold my 1984 Seville, and I really regret selling it. I really regret it, a lot. It was oddball enough to fit my personality and was a very nice rock-solid car. You can see some bumper filler issues on the Seville for sale here and the seller mentions that there are no major scratches or dents and there is no rust.
That interior is a definite 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 for me. Well, other than the steering wheel cover which would maybe come off before the grille did. The back seat looks equally perfect and the trunk also looks flawless. I prefer the trunk on my former ’84 Seville although I admit that it’s hard to beat the color red.
The engine is an Oldsmobile-sourced 350 cubic-inch V8 with around 180 horsepower. They say that the AC belt is off so obviously it needs more than a recharge. The seller has provided a walkthrough and test drive YouTube video here. Are there any first-generation Seville fans out there?
I remember Car and Driver bolted on some Firebird suspension components, and made one of these into a handling machine.
I agree with you Scotty. The trunk was much better on the 84’s.
This trunk on these looked like your standard Oldsmobuick, which looks fine on those cars but it just seemed to cheapen the Cadillac look.
Obviously GM agreed and changed it to style we all think of as Seville.
Still, a nice example of this model
My sister had a ’77 Seville. Loved that car. The fuel injection was a bit tricky but otherwise it proved to be a very luxurious and reliable car.
Back in 1981 an auto wholesaler I worked for picked one of these up that had a professional swap done. It was a former diesel converted to a fire breathing 427 chev big block. That thing looked stock right down to the wire wheel covers. What a sleeper though. I would have loved to have had that one.
The Seville is a beautiful car. I miss the days when you can get something other than black and gray interiors. When a luxury vehicle didn’t have to be a gigantic SUV lon one extreme or a car so aerodynamic that you lose headroom on the other. The Seville took the basic architecture of the excellent Nova platform and boxy shape and added luxury features galore. This Cadillac deserves a closer inspection.
Driver side low beam light is falling out.
Steering wheel cover poorly, quickly installed.
License plate expired last year.
Has it been rear-ended hard, and took a year to rehab.
Fuel gauge bouncing like a ping-pong.
Rear fenders and trunk color does not match front of car.
Enough tire shine on the interior to blind the video camera.
Engine detailing is over the top.
What is this car dealer trying so hard to hide?
CAUTION Scotty!
“The AC belt appears to be off.” APPEARS but NOT SURE.
“Custom built Cadillac by Fisher Body” CUSTOM?
“No rust that i have noticed”
Exp reg=DMV late fees. Did it pass the SMOG test?, I think not. The home listed on the REG cards sold July 2019. The car was titled in the name of the trust, estate sale? As to the miss adjusted low beam headlamp, could be a striped out nylon “socket”
I always preferred the first generation Seville to the second. Clean and simple lines, no whoops and swoops.
“No rust that i have noticed” SMALL “i”
Details…
I bought a 77 from one of my wife’s customers for my step son on his 16th bday. That was in 1998, in Naples, Florida. It was light blue in/out. He loved that car, but unfortunately a fuel hose just below the engine leaked and caught the car on fire. That destroyed all the electronics making it not worth repairing.
God bless America
I had a ’77 Seville. I loved that car. Metallic copper, with a buckskin leather gut. It had the COLDEST a/c! It could be 105 outside, and you’d have to wear a coat, to be comfortable, inside, set at the lowest setting. That fuel injected Olds ran great forever.
This generation of mid-size Seville was at the forefront of the downsizing craze that was in full swing by the late seventies.
Lincoln’s Granada based Versailles followed but wasn’t nearly as successful.
The first “small” Chrysler was the 1975 B-body Cordoba which became very quickly the best selling Chrysler in its history up to that time. This was originally destined to be a new Plymouth but plans changed after the Arab oil embargo.
All of these new smaller (downsized) models were a quick and hasty response to the six month Arab oil embargo that struck in the fall of 1973. Detroit was hit hard when the price of gasoline doubled overnight. Miraculously, Ford just happened to have introduced its ugly duckling 1974 Mustang II..and it sold like hotcakes!
There is a engine light on the dash lit up Amber color not sure what it is. The trim strip down the side of the car is correct except should not appear in the rear quarter panel. The condensers for the AC system for these cars is near impossible to Source anymore as parts were combined with the Eldorado and no one has the correct one anymore. Good luck fixing the AC.
I believe the green/amber lamps are some sort of “flue mileage minder” thing.
The car looks good to me and I’ve always liked those Sevilles like that. I’d love to have it if I had a need for it but I would need to check it out in person due to the rear having been apparently re-painted at some point. Two things about the wording of the ad bug me a little, one is the a/c belt “appears” to be off. It’s either off or it isn’t. The second is the bumper filler is broken so you don’t need to say things like “very typical for a car this old”. Just me I guess.
FOUR 1976 to 1978 Sevilles on eBay today.
This seller is asking $8999 not $8500.
One of the seller’s Highlights is:
“Full power AM/FM CB radio”
BUT there is NO CB microphone!
The other three on eBay do not have broken bumper fillers.
Is that part hard to find at the junk yard”
All 3 others have the factory pin strip on the trunk lid.
All 3 others have High trim strip down the side of the car and it SHOULD appear high on the rear quarter panel. As ROB pointed out: The Lower trim strip down the side of the car should not appear in the rear quarter panel, but here it does.
Seller says “No accidents”
As I noted earlier, Something happened back there.
This sale has 11 days to go on eBay.
QUESTIONS for you all:
Is seller watching Barn Finds and making changes to the ad, and,
Will seller save face by pulling it from eBay, or spray on more Armor All ?
This looks like a nice 43 year old car. Not perfect ot restored, but very nice. Maybe the trunk lid was damaged or replaced. Maybe the original paint on the trunk was shot and required a respray that was blended into the rear quarters. Not much effort to “hide” the respray given that no attempt was made to replace the pin-stripes!
The “original” California rear license plate looks unscathed and matches the front. Ditto with the bumper…rub strip looks no different from the front (fade, wear, etc). A quick visual inspection inside that trunk will tell the story.
By the way, the plastic filler around the bumpers of GM cars of this time are notorious for disintegrating.
The bumper fillers are something I watch. In FL, for some reason the sun picks on Cadillacs. Most of the 70’s and 80’s that I see have the bumper fillers rotted. But not as much with the other GM offerings. Does anyone know if Cadillac had a different supplier for the fillers?
Still a pretty car. Can’t comment on the originality or condition. Just pretty cool looking.
Can Not be sun damage.
Seller says “The vehicle was always garage kept and well taken care of.”
Northern California sun is nothing like Miami sun bake.
These are beautiful, great driving cars. Seller should spend 8 bucks on new headlight adjusters prior to advertising.
This, i believe, was the 1st domestic car not available in a 2 door.
& the 1st import was the Plymouth Cricket.
Not happy about that with either! – tho at least they still offered colorful interiors, unlike vehicles today.
Were any Sevilles built with a 403 v8? If not, Caddy oweners might have
been unhappy when they found out that some firebirds got them.
How could a Caddy have HVAC controls on the LEFT side of the steerin wheel?! I bet many front seat passengers were not happy! lol
Scotty says: “The engine is an Oldsmobile-sourced 350 cubic-inch V8 with around 180 horsepower.”
Oldsmobile 350 engines have larger crankshaft bearings and a stronger bottom end to house those bearings. Improved endurance for the Saturday night dirt track racers!