If asked which classic car I’d most like to occupy while barrel-rolling down a jagged cliff, I would certainly choose the Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman. Witness this 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham Talisman outside Dallas, Texas. In an unsavory accident, overstuffed seats and padded door panels would cushion your every impact. Safely buckled into one of the world’s largest four-seat automobiles, your physique would tumble in elegance as the enormous steel envelop kept boulders and other craggy objects far away from your delicate innards. In truth, the Talisman was designed not with physical safety in mind, but as an opulent mobile parlor for those seeking the ultimate in personal travel comfort (seriously, you need to look at this one’s interior). Though a little rough on the outside, this mid-’70s luxo-liner runs and drives. Freshly offered after three decades of storage, its $6000 asking price here on craigslist likely makes it the cheapest Talisman on the market today. Only about 75 of the original 4,300 or so Talismans are believed to exist! Thanks to Hemmings for some details.
Confession time; I’ve been watching ’71 to ’76 Cadillac Fleetwoods as a possible next purchase, and I might be a buyer on this one if I wasn’t 20% into another project. Cadillac only built the Talisman during model years 1974, ’75, and ’76, and only the ’74 has the rear center console. If you believe size matters, these bumpers make the ’74 Fleetwood Brougham one of the longest cars sold during the last days of such decadent dinosaurs.
The Talisman-specific front console flips open to make a handy writing desk, perfect for when you simply must stop, bust out your calligraphy kit, and thank your mother, The Dutchess, for a proper upbringing. Nothing validates parenting more than your child arriving in a 234 in. long, 5,300 lb Cadillac.
Pictures suggest a second-rate paint job obscures the original color. I’ve seen cars with a finish like this where you could literally rub off the paint to reveal far-superior factory paint beneath. The five-digit odometer shows fewer than 43,000 miles. That, with long-term outdoor storage and neglect, might account for the current condition. The supple interior would have only survived 143,000 miles through extreme care.
The last year of the round headlights combine with the larger bumpers make this ’74 easily recognizable. Check out the unique rear window on that Toronado XS in the background! Our own Scotty G. wrote one up recently here on Barn Finds. The seller claims this Talisman is offered for sale to help a collector downsize and relocate. Timing is everything; I might regret not buying this one some day. Painting a car is far easier than refurbishing or recreating such a rare and palatial interior. Would this rare Cadillac impress your Mother?
Give me this car when the idiot on his smart phone rear-ends me….for the 3rd time.
Looks like someone already rear-ended this car… add another $5k to the $10k paint job and you’ll have a $20k+ vehicle worth less than half that, with a total buyer pool of 20. I’d go for it! :)
Truly opulent, only needing rear bumper inserts and a quality paint job to restore the outside to its former glory! GLWTA!! Now, about that rare “bent window” Toronado in the background…….. :-)
The real surprise is the photo was taken only three weeks after the car left the factory. The GM “Mark of Excellence” 1974-style!
Although rare, they aren’t as rare as the people that sell them claim they are, this has been for sale for a while, its cheap, but still overpriced considering the work that would still be needed to bring it up from old hooptie Cadillac stage…..
Wow. Love it. The interior looks like Grandma’s living room.
What do you mean? I don’t see the plastic seat covers.
Where was your grandma’s house of questionable repute lol?
Sorry, I had to say it.
I really like this car. Being raised on Milwaukee’s north side by the parents that I had (Dad in particular), this rolling bordello & drug den brings back childhood memories lol.
I would replace the bumper fillers (I just sold a set last week) and repaint it in a nice dark blue flake, install some real wire wheels & wide whitewall tires (maybe call in the troops @ Coker Tire…or Danny Koker) and cruise it through the hood, pretending I am far more “bad-a$$” than I am lol.
My Dad did have one like this for a short time. I believe it was confiscated.
My dad had one of these, don’t remember which year, but I do remember him taking me to my first year of college in 1976, so I think is was a 75 since I also don’t remeber the rear console. Midnight blue with the same blue interior. Must have been 90 yards of fabric in that thing. It was a giant boat, not fast, couldn’t turn, don’t now about reliability as I was not home, but what a highway car. It was an 8 hour drive from NYC to Rochester NY where I went to college. We took turns driving, and it was like piloting a giant Barcalounger down the road. In contrast, later in life I ended up with his 1970 Eldorado after his sister got rid of it. Now that was a Cadillac. Stunning looks, elegant black leather interior and wicked fast.
Great Car for a Cruise….
The ultimate testament to wretched excess: 234 inches long, 4 passengers.
Try at least 6!!
Strictly four passengers with the]one enormous fixed consoles front and rear.
He meant 4 passengers in the trunk.
What memories! Learned to drive in a midnight blue ’75! It would only fit in the garage if it was perfectly perpendicular to the back wall or the door wouldn’t close. It was a great reason to clean out the garage!!
There’s one of these for sale here in Roanoke,VA,
outside of the old WEBB MOTORS (ex BL dealer),in a
copper color.
Man,that is one BIG car!
Back in the 1980s -90s I wouldn’t have thought twice about gutting this car and entering it in a Demo Derby ; nothing looks so worn out to me as a tired looking Luxury car
Wretched excess about sums it up. I had a friend who owned one of these barges, a 74 since it had the round headlights, back in the early 80s. His brother, an Italian lawyer, had purchased it new and, when he got tired of it, gave it to my friend. I was driving a 70 Imperial at the time and the Brougham made my car seem spartan.
In addition to the extreme size and cathouse interior, it had a particularly nasty color combo: some kind of copper/orange metallic paint and a matching interior. Not exactly subtle.
I remember doing some research on the Talisman package and IIRC the MSRP on that option alone was more than the sticker price of a brand new Ford Pinto.
Had a 76 back in the 80’s when in the navy. It needed it’s own hull number! Damn, that thing was huge. Took it to Beverly Hills down rodeo dr. In broad daylight. Didnt take the cops long to start following me to make sure I left their town! Very comfortable to drive and sleep in. For a young sailor it beats sleeping onboard ship when you don’t have to.
I have always wanted one of these, but this car is way over priced for what it is.
I can’t remember a time when any 1974 Cadillac, other than the Eldorado Convertible, had any value at all.
Mr. Fitch,
Your article was enormously entertaining. If were to roll off a cliff, I agree, this would be the car to do it in. I picture a sales representative of some sort parked and using the console to take notes and write up proposals.
I was a teenager in the early 1980’s, and as I eagerly approached the legal driving age, most 1974 Cadillac’s were rusting pretty good in the Chicago area. Quite shocking that such beautiful automobiles would self-destruct rapidly before they were even 10 years old. By ’74, Cadillac was making cars for 70 years, they could have come up with a better anti-corrosion process. Such a waste to watch these behemoth cars fall apart in the midwestern states. The vinyl roofs really expedited their demise.
Thank you Craig! I love this generation of Cadillac and the Talisman is the ultimate excess. It may sound crazy but I’ve considered replacing my highway cruiser, an ’06 BMW 750Li, with a 71-72 Sedan DeVille, updated with EFI, faster gears, and Overdrive. The only thing I’d give up with be the BMW’s awesome handling and dashboard full of symbols telling me that a dozen things on the car don’t work that all cost over $1000 to fix. Thanks again for your comment!
I’m currently working on a 1976 Talisman with my grandfather. Its Royal Blue exterior with the same blue interior. He ordered it brand new from the Cadillac dealership in late ’75. Its got 40k miles on the original 500ci. He kept it in Florida until ’97 when he drove it up to PA and its been sitting in the garage since. The last few years were the hardest on it, as it shared its home with several cats. Exterior still appears to be in better shape than the one above, but we’re fixing it up. Parts are hard to find. If anyone has any hints they would be appreciated. Will probably take it to Hershey when its done. It makes you wonder just how many of these are actually left. I’ve never seen another one in person.
do you still have car
do you still have car
I had a 74 Fleetwood Brougham D’Elegance. I bought it in Myrtle Beach South Carolina for a Thousand bucks in 1983. It was blue with a light blue vinyl top. Same dark blue interior as the one shown. I turned it into a pimp mobile with blacked out windows, spoke wheels with wide whitewalls, and eyelids on the round headlights. I was a skinny 21 year old white kid. I got pulled over several times I assumed for driving a suspicious looking car. The looks on the cops faces when I rolled down that blacked out window to reveal a little white kid was priceless. Nearly 40 years later, still the most luxurious car I’ve ever owned.
do you still have car
The only one of these I ever saw in person was a beautiful maroon one with an experimental driver’s airbag in the square steering wheel. It was at a car auction in Atlantic City, NJ in the early 1990s. I don’t remember if it had the moon roof or not, but that interior beats the d’Elegance interior. I wish I could have one of my own.