The seller has this Glacier Blue Cadillac Cimarron, easily one of the most-favorite and popular cars here on Barn Finds (Hello? Is this thing on?), listed as a 1983 model year. The grille is clearly from the 1987+ update with sleek composite headlights, so it’s either a 1987 or 1988. Whatever it is, they have it posted here on craigslist in Ahwatukee, Arizona, and they’re asking $3,400. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Barney for the tip!
I wish we had a VIN or a photo of a data plate or some way to nail down the year of this Cimarron. I know you’re all dying to know the exact year so you can call your insurance company and get them rolling on full coverage for this gem. I’m sort of kidding; maybe there are a few people other than me who like these cars out there in Barn Finds Land. The 1983 Cimarrons looked even more like a Chevy Cavalier than this car does, and that redesigned grille and those “modern” headlights helped differentiate it from the mere pedestrian, lower-tier GM cars. I mean, who would want a regular Cavalier, Skyhawk, or Firenza when they could have a Cimarron?
For around $15,000 ($42,000 today), buyers got a new grille in 1985 along with a V6 for the first time. The 1987 cars, as I believe this is, had that V6 as standard, and it also had the newly-revised headlights. 1988 was the last year for this model, as Cadillac’s top brass voted nine out of 10 to discontinue this model. You can see that the Arizona sun has wreaked some havoc on this car, unfortunately. The seller says it belonged to their neighbor’s mother until she passed away, and then it moved next door. They drove it for about a year until a weird noise started coming from under the hood, and it has been parked for a couple of years now.
The cushy interior looks great in this J-Body four-door luxury sedan. I’ve always wondered what a Cimarron two-door sedan may have looked like, and if it would have helped keep this model around for a few extra years. Although this car likely sat outside in the Arizona sun for several years, the interior looks nice. The dark blue leather looks great both front and rear. A five-speed manual was available, and was 1.1 seconds faster to 60 mph than the three-speed automatic, but this car has the automatic.
The 2.8-liter OHV transverse-mounted V6 had 125 horsepower and 160 lb-ft of torque when new. It’s sent through a three-speed automatic to the front wheels, and the seller says they drove it for about a year and it started making “a noise that sounded serious,” so they parked it and then got a job out of town, so it’s been sitting for a couple of years. Sadly, Hagerty isn’t too bullish on the Cimarron, giving a #4 fair-condition car a value of $1,700 and a #3 good car a value of $2,300. Ouch, there is no way this car is above fair condition with the faded paint, bumper filler material, and the unknown engine issue. It may not even be worth that much. How much would you pay for this one, if anything?
The affordable, the every-man’s Cadillac
Not if the constant maintenance issues these POS are known for.
Well not paying that for a Cavalier with alloy wheels and leather seats. Probably didn’t get regular oil changes, 2.8 likes regular maintenance, why else just park it out of sight.
Agree Cadmanls.. the timely maintenance is an absolute must on those 2.8s and sometimes they’ll still throw a rod 😒😲
Agree with the others. Should be asking maybe 1/3 the listed price and that’s if there’s nothing majorly wrong mechanically.
Your 2 door rendition looks pretty darn good for this, Scotty.
Hey, Scotty, your 2 door looks like a BMW. No, really, that rear window has the Hofmeister Kink
If the engine can fixed at a reasonable price. And the A/C is functional Then it makes a really nice beater! Us people that live out in the desert with many gravel roads appreciate a good beater to keep the wear and tear off our nice vehicles. The 2.8 is not the greatest engine. But serves well with reasonable maintenance. ( it sure had its issues with crankshafts early on) Gee,a Cadillac for a daily beater, who’d a thunk it?!
That was meant to be the competition, specifically the E21 3-series that only came as a 2-door. I wonder why Cadillac didn’t go with a 2-door first and maybe use the Opel Ascona C roof and C-pillar for a bit of distinction from the rest of the American J 2-door notchbacks that had a slimmer C pillar.
I still remember the very first one I saw on display in a mall. First thing ( a very young) me thought of was, man, this looks like a Cavalier, but fancier. The second thing was the stick shift. I just couldn’t believe a Caddy had a manual trans. The last time they offered a stick would have probably been the early 40’s I would guess. I honestly didn’t quite know what to make of it lol. But now, how many are left? Its definitely worth keeping it nice and maintaining it.
That is an `87 or newer based on the composite headlamps.
The V6 engine was not optional until `85, and became standard in `86.
I ordered dozens of those while I was the fleet manager at Fanning Cadillac-Buick in Chicago.
You’re right, David. I mentioned that as well in the first couple of sentences. ’87 and ’88 had the composite headlights.
Just here for the comments
Poor man’s caddy.
GM toyed with naming it the Cadavalier instead of Cimmaron. They might as well have, since under the spicy skin it’s and overstuffed cheap Chevy.
GM toyed with naming it the Cadavalier instead of Cimmaron. They might as well have, since under the spicy skin it’s an overstuffed cheap Chevy.
2.8 makes me immediately stop and look at something else no matter the body it’s in. They were gutless and dangerously slow to accelerate in the S-10’s.
As for the Cimmaron, I’m surprised there isn’t a secret division at GM that buys up any that come for sale and shreds them along with any left over advertising material – in the hope that eventually no one will remember this embarrassing part of GM history.
My mother had one – the model year, no recollection – but I do remember a few uncomfortable short rides in it, and thinking what has “Cadillac” turned into? Just a glossier piece of embarrassing GM crap at that time.
Pure drek and a stain on the Cadillac name that GM never recovered from.
Hey Scotty, that coupe looks great! But how ’bout a ragtop?!!!
All it takes is someone with a little creativity to build one for real. For an engine, I’d go with a 3800 V-6 from a Buick LeSabre
with HD innards from a 2000s era
Impala police interceptor. Next, add fuel injection and a turbocharger. All that should be good for at least 285-300 HP. Figure in the power to weight ratio, and you’ll have one helluva
rocketship! To help it corner, use
suspension bits from either a Z24
or the Impala police cruiser. You’re gonna need the brakes from the police cruiser to make it
whoa, but they should be to up to
the job. I saw a fellow on YouTube who did this to an ’01
Buick LeSabre sedan like the one
my late MIL had. He had the turbo set on 10.5% boost and my
God that thing was fast! Final thing to do would be to let Angel
put her foot in it just to see the look on her face when the car hits
at least 140-150 MPH. The guy with the Buick hit 145 with his so in this light of a car, it should hit
150 or 160. I should show this to
the girls. Who knows, they might
let me buy this one or one like it.
@Ken
Someone has already done that. They took a Chevrolet Cavilier convertible and transplanted Cadillac Cimmeron parts on it making it a Cimmeron convertible. I believe I saw that here on BF not too long ago. Plus just yesterday we had the ’88 Cimmeron.
The only problem with the convertible was it had one year front and diffent year rear as the taillights change and would have been too much metal work to make them match.
Cadillac land yachts these are NOT! But they are part of history so must be included
Ken, you are as crazy as me! I’m not sure the 3.8 supercharged engine transmission setup will fit under the hood of this thing. But I would stand in line to drive it!
It should fit. They look to be of the same size and same dimensions. When they built the
3800, they fixed all the problems
with the 2.8 such as the hollow ground cranks and the timing chain issues that came from using plastic timing gears replacing them with steal ones.
My only real worry would be how
to locate the turbo unit under the
hood WITHOUT having to alter it
and tip your hand that you have a
screaming V-6 living under there.
One way would be to use bumper
mounted ram induction like the Olds 442 used in 1970. Theirs used plastic hoses that ran from under the bumper to the carb, allowing for the low hood line. Which ever way I’d do it, the Cimarron I’d have would be the
fastest sleeper in town! And after
certain folks drove it, they’ll ask:
“That’s a Cimarron?!!!”
Makes you wonder who was in charge in those days- Cadillac Cimarron, Lincoln Versailles and Chrysler New Yorker. It was like a virus going around Detroit that infected the big three and convinced them that they could slap a Tijuana upholstery job on a cheap family car and sell it as the top of the line luxury.
Second one on BF that was just listed. The Cimarron LIVES LOL!!
Owned an ’81, over 250,000 miles when rust was the end. Rebuilt head once, power steering rack 3 times, clutch once, electrical gremlins near the end, just put up with power door locks clicking off and on. Was a great commuter car, in and out of Boston, from NH, easy to park, nimble in traffic, 5 speed but good range in all gears. Friend’s late one, with V6, was even better. Had better suspension than Cavalier, A/C worked till the end, as did the excellent sound system. Greenhouse clearly copied BMW Bavaria of the ’70’s. Probably not worth the $12,000 price when new when the base Cavalier was about $6,000, but used, like mine, at 87,000 and 5 years, for $2000, a bargain. Perforated leather seats, like Mercedes.
Someone in Europe decided to treat a Cimmeron to “Pimp my Ride.”
The faux cabriolet roof, continental kit and the extra chrome grill you see on so many de Villes and Eldorados.
Did a quick research on the baby Caddy (this is the only Cadillac you can call a Caddy) ’85 they changed the taillights to wrap around and some of the Cims you could get a digital dash.
Hi Angel, that’s why I wanna turn one of these into a real screamer
running a very hot 3800 V-6 instead of that puny 2.8 litre engine that these things came with. If ever there was a sorry GM engine other than the first gen Vega four, this was it. A fellow I used to swap dirty jokes with used to work at the plant that made the 2.8. He said that if
they could assemble at least 5 or
10 hood engines a day, they were
having a good day. And yes dear,
I’d love to soup up one of these just for grins and giggles just to say I did it. And yeah, I’d like to see the look on your face when it
would hit 140-160 MPH in the quarter mile. With that hot 3800
engine I mentioned under the hood of even a sedan just like this one, it would be the oh my God factor times ten!
All this talk about making a Cimarron into a screamer with the 3800 is just asking for good money to go down a rabbit hole. Remember, It’s just a fancy Chevy Cavalier clone, people!
I know that Jake, but at my age, I need all the fun I can get. I’ll be
71 in 2 weeks and things like this
car only serve to test my injinuity
and creativity– very important for
someone my age. It keeps my mind sharp and the creative juices flowing. But seriously, a
souped up Cimarron would be a
blast to drive, but II’mcurrently working on a self charging mobility scooter 🛵 for people with disabilities. I’ve got the theories down, and now it’s time to put them into practice. I know
that with two bicycle generators,
I can perpetually charge the two
12 volt batteries while I use the
scooter. The generators make
power with each turn of the rear
tires. In theory, you could keep the batteries fully charged going to the store or wherever you might go. All I need now is the
money and space to build and test a working prototype and buy a license to use the patents for
the generators. I don’t have that
here in the complex we live in. And once the bugs have been ironed out, I’ll either offer DIY kits
or pitch the idea to the power chair manufacturers themselves so that they can install my kits as
standard equipment on the units
they sell. There’s a lot to be said
for power of imagination.
My advice: Keep your ingenuity and especially your sanity in more productive pursuits like that self-generating scooter you mentioned. As for me, I can watch paint dry for hours at a time. Especially at my age, 67.
It’s just plain fun to go out and do something even though you know
you shouldn’t. That’s how I crammed two lifetimes into one.
And he’s working on a third!
Ken and Angel, I know all about cramming more than 1 lifetime into one. I’m in the process of trying to wind down lifetime number 3 and looking forward to enjoy lifetime number 2. I had never thought about numbering my progressing life stages. But after self reflection for time and hours invested. It doesn’t feel wrong to do that. During my working life. I was fortunate to have bosses who “let me” work as many hours as I wanted to. (That means no overtime pay) It also allowed me the freedom to do my job how I felt needed to be done. Getting my 3rd. life completed (building my own new home) I look forward to be back at number 2. (retirement) Which is back to playing with my automotive projects. And yes, some are a bit on the crazy side/different from anyone else would do. KEN! GO FOR IT DUDE!
Did anyone else notice that the odometer picture (number 17 of 24 on the CL ad) is from (I think) a VW dashboard?
That is a bit odd that this one picture would make it into the mix of the other 23 pictures, and the seller is basing the mileage in the ad on this picture (105K).
🤔
Nice cavalier!!
Thanks Wayne and Angel. And yes dear, I am starting a third life
as an inventor/problem solver. After all, who are best at overcoming problems by being very adept at adapting and overcoming? Disabled people that’s who! I was sitting ony patio last night having a smoke when BAM! the solution to an age old problem.hit me like one of Mark Harmon’s head slaps on
NCIS. That problem being how to
extend the range of mobility scooters for those who need them. Now most all of them are
24 volts to start with so my approach isn’t a radical one. Just
install a 12 volt bicycle generator
on both sides of the scooter that would run off the rear wheels by
setting up the generator heads to make contact with the rear tires
allowing them to spin with the tires to make electricity. The hardest thing to figure out would be what to make the mounting brackets out of as the bike mounts for these are quite flimsy
and would sheer off the first time you spun the tires. Next, you run a line from your generators to the
hot side of each battery. You don’t have to worry about grounding them as the batteries
are already grounded to the chair
itself. Charge the batteries overnight to make sure they are full. What you should see when you use the chair is that your battery life meter on the chair should not go down as you are
making enough juice to replace the power you’re using to run the
chair as you go about your business each day. And the faster you go, the more power you make. Once I figure out what to make the brackets from, the only
other big expense would be to buy licenses to use the patents for the generator. And that’s where I build a prototype to test it by using the chair to take me to my store and back or maybe doing Door Dash on my days off.
All this to see just how far you could go before the batteries would have to be charged at home. So that’s how I plan to
make a perpetually charging mobility scooter. Any questions?
The faster you go the more power you make.
Are you also going to invent brakes for this speed chair?
No dear, because the top speed on these chairs is capped at no more than 15 MPH, the standard
brake setup will stop you just fine. Most folks that use them travel between 5 or 8 MPH on either bike paths or sidewalks. That way, you can yield to a pedestrian or not be thrown off
the chair by hitting a crack in the
sidewalk. I just looked at an enclosed model on Amazon for
$800. As I said, it’s enclosed to
keep you dry while you use it on
rainy or snowy days. These units
have headlights, taillights, blinkers, a radio, heat, A/C, and
some even have backup cameras! But these are 60 volt
systems that require more power
than your basic mobility scooter.
The best power yield I could hope for with an enclosed model would about 40% with just a 24
volt charging system like the one
I’m figuring out. And I’m talking
that figure for a 60 volt model. Not bad I guess, but you’d need a
larger generator for something like that. Best thing is that you don’t need a license or insurance
to use one. I’ve seen on YouTube
where folks out age that can no longer drive a car buy these enclosed models and use them just like a car. Can’t wait to get some space, some cash, and start building!
And if you ever got an enclosed model, we could put Cadillac crests on it for you too!
Ken, a pully mounted on the back side of one of the wheels and belt drive to a 24 volt alternator. Varying pulley sizes until a serious drag and then back off a size. No such thing as perpetual .motion. BUT, conserving power to be reused later is a good thing. I would contact a few local universities to find one working on solar/robotics or power generation that could make this a going proposition. IF, nothing else, it could make wheel chairs safer at night with serious lighting.
I have indeed thought about an
alternator. But I hit a wall when it came to parasitic drag on the motor and just how much that would be. And if an alternator is
used, where do you mount it to
maximize efficiency. You’d have to have a way to put tension on the belt to spin the armature and
make the current. That’s why I chose the two bike generators in the beginning to test my theory of
perpetual charging. Solar? You could do that with a basic 24 volt
system as a solar panel by itself
makes 25 volts. And since a solar panel is DC voltage to begin
with, you could very well run the
chair on solar during the day by
directly powering the motor itself
and then, through a switch, use the battery pack for nighttime use. And as you say, use the alternator or generators to power
some kind of lighting system. LEDs could be used here as they
use less current as regular light bulbs in this capacity. And yes
Wayne, there are a bunch of brainy kids over at Florida Polytechnic that may just have all the answers to my questions. Thanks for the tips and the input!