I’ve always thought the fourth-generation DeVille series was one of the best and most elegant designs to wear the DeVille name over its 46-year history. They’re long, low, and have such a unique grille and front-end treatment. The seller has this example posted here on craigslist in Bellingham, Washington, and they’re asking $8,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Curvette for the tip!
We don’t get to see the grille and headlights on this Cotillion White car, but the “wide eyes” (headlights) set apart are really unique. Here’s what this one should look like in front, with two round headlights on each side set apart in square-off housings with a unique Cadillac crest logo between each headlight. This design lasted until 1974 when Cadillac went with two round headlights on each side next to each other, and in 1975 and 1976, two rectangular headlights on each side.
The fourth-gen DeVilles were made for model years 1971 through 1976, and they were really a nice, sleek, rounded design between two sharp-edged generations of DeVilles. A convertible wasn’t available in this generation, which I always thought was a shame. I wonder what one may have looked like… This car looks great, but the seller doesn’t give any info on the underside. Being in Washington state, I’d expect it to be solid.
As expected in a Pacific Northwest vehicle, the interior looks great with no visible cracks or any other apparent heat damage. The Medium Aqua “Dunbar cloth and leather” brocade pattern seats look fantastic, although there is some staining and possible fading on the front seat. The back seat looks perfect, and for $8,000, this seems like a good buy. Hagerty is at $8,100 for a #4 fair-condition car, and this looks pretty nice so far. They’re at $13,300 for a #3 good car.
A weekend of detailing on the engine would do wonders for its appearance. This is Cadillac’s 472-cu.in. OHV V8 with 375 (gross) horsepower and 500 (gross) lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by a Turbo-Hydramatic 400 transmission sending power to the rear wheels, all the seller says about this one is that it “runs good.” If I were looking for a ’71 Coupe DeVille, I’d take a chance on this one. How about you?
Seems like a good deal and this Caddy looks pretty good! I would like to see a few more pictures.
Not a bad price at all. Looks like someone will get a nicely preserved original at a reasonable price.
Great looking coupe deVille. Can’t wait you hear what’s wrong with it.
Yoo Hoo, Angel! Check THIS out! Its calling.
There’s a lot to like about this car. And $8K is a fair price for what you’re
getting. And if the seller’s assessment about the running/driving condition of the car is
correct, it would be a candidate for a fly in/drive home proposition. But being the artist that I am, I’d say that this car is too white and needs a bit of contrast to make it look better. Some tasteful pinstriping would go a
long way towards making the car more appealing to the eye. Dress it out with some wire rims wrapped in
Vogue tires, and you’ll have a winner
IMHO. As for the drop top potential for this car, I’ll call on my inner Frank
Peller to come up with something. Frank Peiler is an auto artist who makes so called “what if” prints of cars that should’ve been but we’re never built. His rendering of a ’77-90
Chevy Caprice 4-door hardtop left me asking why after I saw it on Ed’s Auto
Reviews on YouTube. Mr. Peiler also did a ’49 Ford 3-window coupe that I
found both off and appealing at the same time. Converting a car like this
into a ragtop should be straightforward even down to the addition of extra bracing in the body
for improved rigidity of the structure.
That’s where you find a decent Cadillac shell and start from scratch.
I know Angel will fall in love with this one!
I have a 72, Cobalt-ish blue over Teal-ish blue, cobalt blue leather interior, 46K original miles, everything works, runs like a champ, iicy cool in Florida summer. I love it and wouldn’t trade or change it for anything. Only mod I did was new tech aluminum radiator and AC coolant update. It’s terrific.
Hi Guys,
Rick W & Kenneth C, yes, this one really caught my eye as I really want a ’71/’72/’73 and this one is white. Not crazy about the blue/aqua interior (although mom would have loved it) but at least it’s not red. And the price is pretty reasonable.
I can’t wait to finally get settled in so I can start concentrating on saving up for something like this.
This generation is gorgeous IMO. As Scotty said, long and low and I’ll add wide. Great styling, beautiful front end which in 1971 I didn’t like because of the headlights being so far apart but it grows on you. I love the full length vertical taillights.
This generation looks great as a coupe, sedan or Fleetwood. The convertible ended up on the Eldorado alone.
I’ve always been a dreamer ✨ so…. 🎵 as I was motivatin over the hill 🎶 I saw Angel QUEEN in THIS 🎵 Coupe de Ville 🎶 . Sometimes Dreams and memories are really what keeps us going. Here’s to🥂 the dreamers and Friends here in the BARN. Always dream, pray and Wish upon a star and your dreams might come true 👍
Beautiful and reasonably priced.
Beautiful Couple Deville. I have to admit, I lean towards the ’71-’73 models myself. I like the true 2 door hardtops. One of the nicest Coupe Devilles from this early 70’s generation I’ve ever seen was years ago. It was silver and pulling an immaculate vintage Airstream trailer. What a pair!! Its stuck out in my mind for over 30 years. That 472 had no trouble towing. I also agree with the above comments on the price too it seems very realistic to me.
Hi Angel! I’m about to satisfy Scotty’s
yen to know what this car would look like as a drop top. I’m already looking at this car and all the angles to make it all work. This will be one of my Frank Peiler moments if I could pull this off. And to sweeten it all up, I can make it look like a page from a 1971 brochure or magazine ad. And
yeah honey, I could see you driving one if I were able to build it for real.
Wouldn’t be all that hard except for adding the extra bracing to the body
structure to stiffen it up and compensate for the loss of rigidity when you remove the roof. The top
mechanism could be lifted from either the Buick or Olds parts bin. You’ll need the windshield frame and posts from a ’71 Eldorado. The rear seat corners could be grafted from a
Delta 88 ragtop. And yeah, if you do it right, you could also use the parade boot from an Eldorado. At least that’s how I’d do it if I were able. But with my heart problem, all I can do is to tell
some young kid how to do it. Just find a ’71 roller and have fun.
Kenneth, I’m hoping you clicked on the red text in the third paragraph? I did a quick and cheesy Photoshop convertible. It isn’t exactly perfect, but nobody has mentioned that yet, so that’s why I rarely spend hours on those things.
Also, I hope I’m not the only one who doesn’t know who “Frank Peller” is? I just looked up his name and got a wide variety of people with no clear answer.
Sorry Scotty! I just can’t resist! FRANKly I’m not sure, but I can only imagine Clara Peller yelling *Where’s the Convertible? *
Yes. I’ve seen Frank’s work in “Collectible Automobile”. Surely one of my favorite publications.
The reason you didn’t find it was because I may have misspelled his last name. That is spelled Peiler and it’s pronounced Piler. As I said earlier,our Mr. Peiler has quite an imagination when it comes to cars and how to make the most drab design look better. You can find his story at Ed’s Auto Reviews on YouTube. He also did the artwork for another of Ed’s videos that he made about what would’ve happened if Packard, Nash, and Hudson had survived the 1950s. I found it to be most interesting indeed. Glad to hear that some of his stuff is published in other forms of media as well. One look, and you’ll know why his work is so fascinating.
Scotty, I did see your handiwork and it’s not all that bad. You gave me enough of a pattern for the front view of the car that I’ll use in a print called
“What might’ve Been”. I plan to lay it out much like the illustrations used in
Cadillac ads and brochures we saw in the 1970s. Van & Fitz I ain’t, but I’ll give it a go AFTER I get my friend’s 1956 Oldsmobile Super 88 2-door hardtop off my workspace and into a frame for her. Drawing for me is fun and relieves stress. I’ve already done
two ’56 Cadillacs for Angel and she said she really loved them. I also roughed out a ’50 Cadillac Sedan Delivery too. It’s a crying shame that I can’t offer my work here on BF. If you know how to do it, let me know and I’ll jump right on it. Right now, I could use the extra cash and the extra fun too.
Listing update: for some odd reason, this car is $200 cheaper now at $7,800. How it didn’t sell at $8,000 is a mystery, and now it’s even cheaper.