A few weeks ago here on Barn Finds, we featured a red 1973 Cadillac Coupe deVille. It was a nice car and received mostly favorable comments, so I thought you guys might appreciate another, this one with even lower miles, and for less than half the price! This one is listed for sale here on eBay and is located in the St. Louis, Missouri area. It actually belongs to me, and I have provided more than seventy photos in the listing. The car has plenty of optional equipment on it, and the photos are intended to show what a remarkably straight and solid body it has for its age. 1973 was one of the best years for Cadillac, with more than 200,000 produced, and more than half of those were coupes like this one. Before the luxury car market became as crowded as it is today, Cadillac offered this car in 21 colors. Incredibly, nineteen of those colors were new for 1973.
Cadillacs of this era were available with many different interior configurations as well. This one has raised-texture brocade inserts in the seats, which GM called ‘medallion cloth, and they called this interior color ‘dark taupe’. It has a six way power seat, power windows, locks, twilight sentinel headlight switch, thermostatic climate control and more. Check out the optional thermometer in the base of the driver’s outside mirror. It also has the optional factory 8-track player, which set the original purchaser back $416! The power train options were the 500 cubic inch, or what I jokingly refer to as the “economy model 472”. Either came with a four barrel Rochester carburetor, coupled with a three speed automatic transmission.
While the big Cadillac with its large proportions and rear-facing tail fins will always be remembered as grandpa’s car, some amazingly creative things have been done with them as of late. Some of these things involve attractive, radically lowered stances, utilizing air bags and wide whitewall tires. Others are lifted high, with huge wheels and outlandish paint schemes, and are often referred to as “donks”. But of course most of them are still used for what they were designed and intended for, gigantic, luxurious boulevard and highway cruisers, looking good in their original colors, or classic black.
Love it – GM Mark IV
Rather have a Lincoln Mark IV
This shape has grown on me more and more of late…
Looks like that left fender and door has had paintwork
Most obviously!
I had a 1972 Cadillac Eldorado, all white, exterior & interior, I thought it was prettier than a beautiful naked woman.
Not sure where you are coming from on this one….? I am a die hard car guy all day everyday, love Cadillacs but more than a beautiful naked woman….gotta say I cant agree with you there.
Dude, “better than a naked woman”? You are seriously cracked!!! I too, am a die hard car nut but there is only one thing I can think of better than the female form in its natural state!!!!
If you like the car that much, I truly hope, for your neighbors sake, you have a garage……………..
I am the seller. The ebay listing contains a longer, more detailed description, including the older repair on the driver door and fender. I can answer questions about it here or there, please ask away. Thanks for looking and thanks for your comments.
My uncle had one that was blue. He tuned it up, and the best mileage he could squeeze out of it was around 10! Beautiful cars, though! Enough steel to produce about 8 Prius!
These have grown on me over the years. I had a 1977, gold with pea green, yellow and blue plaid interior. They love to soak up the miles and the fuel. I have seen some creative customizing in the last few years with these but think they look best in stock or mostly stock form. This one looks pretty good and would make a good first classic or budget friendly addition providing one has the room to dock it. They are huge, obviously but when parked beside a spitfire, midget or the like they look like an aircraft carrier. I would drive it for the right price
Just a beautiful car, Marty. My old man had a car very similar to this. Having a car like this back then, said to all, “You made it”. ( whatever “it” is) It’s a shame about the color match. I worked for an auto body paint dealer once, and color matching is the hardest thing. It looks good in the paint booth, but when the sun hits it just right, it can be off. These great cars graced our highways for years, now I think you’d stick out like a sore thumb. Re: gas mileage. If you buy a car like this, gas mileage should be the LAST thing on your mind. Best of luck.
Nice one.. I had an uncle who owned one and when I rode in it the whole car seemed to float on the road.. You couldn’t even feel the space bumps between the concrete slabs on the highway..
I thought everyone knew that the 500 engine was available only in the Eldorado from 1970 through 1974. ALL RWD cars in that period had the 472 engine and it was not a cheaper nor economy motor. Just the only one available. For 1975 & 1976 all Cadillacs shared the 500 engine.
Had a ’72 with the 472. It would just smoke the tires without even rolling forward when you floored it. You could hit a speed bump at 80 and not even feel it. Look at those seats, just made for comfort!
I had a ’72 Eldorado in 1983.I paid 125.00 Dollars for it.And believe or not it was nice.The owner was a close friend. It had the 500,but I believe it is actually a 501 cu in.Anyway it was light blue and white with blue and white interior. It had twilight sentinel as well as a dimmer switch on the floor, but what was neat to me at the time (17 yrs old)it had another button on the floor to CHANGE radio stations!!Too bad my young love of seeing smoke coming from front tires killed it.I loved that car.
Jeff, I learn something new every day. As the current owner of this deVille and former owner of a ’73 Eldorado, I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t know that about the standard and only engine in this car. I knew the Eldorado was 500 only, but was somehow under the mistaken impression that the deVille could be ordered with either one. Living and learning. Thanks.
I had a beat up ’73 Sedan DeVille that I got from my brother, that he bought from a little old lady on Long Island for $600. The best mileage that I got was 12 mpg on the highway for one trip, but my average was 8 mpg in town, 10 highway. But you couldn’t fault it for comfort or power. I was cruising the Westchester Expressway cursing the slow moving traffic that appeared to be crawling along. Until I looked at the speedometer reading 90 in the 55 zone… It’s also a lot of metal to stop when the electrical system shorts out at midnight on a twisty 2 lane, unlit secondary road in the Pocono Mountains!
I feel like i should buy this car just to reward Marty for his stellar presentation here at BF and on that eBay auction, WOW!
Sure do wish all eBay auctions were as articulate, honest, picturesque, and revealing as yours is.
Dunno ’bout the rest of the BFers here, but i could tell it was written by a passionate ‘car guy’.
Many thanks for your time Marty and good luck with your quest to find a new & reverent custodian for this kewl old Cad!
David,
Thanks for the nice words. I’m restoring a Model A and also working on a ’63 Impala, as well as maintaining our large fleet of family vehicles. I want to free up some resources (and space), and am hoping to see this Cadillac off to its next proper home. It’ll be a worthy, and very easy project for the right person.