I’ve heard of Bro-mance before, but I’m developing a serious case of Broughamance for this long black Caddy. The 1970 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham in Polk City, Florida is not perfect, but it appears to be priced accordingly. The listing here on BarnFinds asks $11,500 for the shiny solid driver that recently benefited from a host of replacement mechanical parts.
Never trust (or be) a seller who doesn’t show the driver’s seat bottom. Buyers on the fence will pass, wondering what else you’re willing to hide or what other tricks you’re willing to play.
Look at the size of the rear side window and you appreciate the extra length of the Fleetwood’s 133 in wheelbase. The B pillar may break up the smooth look of the Hardtop Sedan de Ville’s open greenhouse, but for stately elegance, the Fleetwood takes the prize. Check out how the trunk’s center section emulates the sporty styling of the Eldorado, which shared the prefix “Fleetwood” in 1970. Thanks to lov2xlr8 for some details.
The back seat looks about perfect, and features plenty of leg room for your golf foursome or athletic teens. Though not pictured, the 472 cid (7.7L) V8 made 375 HP, that engine’s peak before 1971 brought a reduction due to emissions requirements. Model year 1970 also marks the swan song of this body style; Cadillac rolled out an all-new four-door fleet for ’71.
Growing up in northwester Pennsylvania you wouldn’t see a ’70s car looking this clean after even one winter. If arriving in style for under $12,000 is your primary goal, name a better way to go than this sweet Fleetwood. I’d rather drive my family cross-country in this ride than newer SUVs costing five times the price. Stick a phone to the windshield and you’ve got a better navigation system than most new cars, and you don’t have to pull over and engage Park to program your destination. Speaking of parking, the 1970 Fleetwood’s Parking Brake disengages when you engage Drive, a convenience lacking in many modern luxury vehicles. What would be your first destination after taking ownership of this Broughamantic masterpiece?
Who do you think you are, Todd, Kid Rock? He had a black Caddy, and we can’t forget the Boss,,”Cadillac, Cadillac, long and dark, shiny and black”,,my old man loved big Caddy’s, had one like this, a 2 door, my mom couldn’t close the doors. The absolute ZENITH, in US luxury cars, the best we had to offer. What ever happened to that?
You’re right, Howard. This is one awesome ride. I’ve legitimately been thinking of buying something like this. Relatives had a ’67 or so Series 75, the small stretch with the jump seats, also in black and I remember playing with the power windows, etc. My Dad said it rusted out and the family sold it to some college kid for $600. He must have been the toast of the town back at the frat house!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zDkMfhSteE
Pretend its black………..
I have 6 in my warehouse showroom new plastic still on the seats and floors. The floor mats are in the trunk too with only 22 milea on them all !!!!!!
Ok, Nobody gets to say that without pictures?
Why?
Any for sale Bob? Doug @ oneway0003@gmail.com
Dad had a string of Coupe deVille’s through the 60’s and early 70’s; the last one being a ’70 similar to this. What is impressive is the 525 ft. lb. of torque that the 472 puts out.
Worked for a guy when I was just 18 who owned a dark blue / black version of this exact car, being a young lad had to seek out the maximum top speed. Gave up after burying the speedo a few times…still wanted more!
This looks like a nice car for the $$
Back when a Cadillac was a CADILLAC!
Thank you!
I’ll never forget my aunt had a 1969 Caddie and when you put a cigarette near the ashtray it would magically disappear. She jokingly called it a butt-sucker. LOL
I had a 70 Calais that I let go 6 years ago. This is making me hate myself. These cars just float down the highway, and when you kick in those 3rd and 4th barrels on top of that 472 you can watch the gas gauge slink to the left. Used to pull a 26ft ’67 Airstream with it effortlessly. My 330hp Avalanche struggles with the same trailer, in the absence of the school bus-like drive ratios on this beast of a Caddy.
Engident, I owned 5 Avalanches, the first edition, the last edition, and several in-between. They kept changing the chassis’s on them, and I agree that the final 2013 edition was a pooch. I think Chevy badly misjudged the buying public, starting out with a wonderfully functional “Tonka Truck” (loved the cladding), and ending up with an Escalade knock-off. If I had wanted a Cadillac Escalade, I woulda bought one!
Engident, I agree that the Avalanches became less functional and more stylish in their 10yr span. I owned both the first edition, the last edition, and several in-between. I think Chevy really misjudged the buying public’s affection for the early “cladded” versions, it was a real Tonka Truck! Sadly the last year they were a pooch on the road, and nothing but an Escalade knock-off.
Love these Caddies. Looks like the drivers inside door handle is missing. Climbing through the window will ruin the mystique.
First destination? The other side of the continent.
69 & 70 are my favorites, always have been.
There was 5 of us no seatbelts teens skipping school, going 75 mph my freind put it in reverse, all I could picture was bodies about to be hurled against the windshield. The tires immediately smoked and we slid forward smoking the tires in reverse about 500 feet or so, then foot still on the gas he slammed it in low smoking the tires forward, listening to ZZ Top , and we were beyond cool to the private school girls in the back , the following week we were yanking a tranny from the local yard. Great tough car, many stories many burnouts.
I hope the owner who bought it after you doesn’t see this! LOL
Love it! My mother had this same year, silver with leather interior. Me and my 3 brothers all used it to get our license. (I remember parallel parking it on my test and the instructor was impressed!) Another great feature is the massive trunk! Being the youngest brother, me and 3 of my friends would be ‘selected’ to hide in the trunk to get into the drive-in! What great memories! I want it!
I am looking for the matching hearse to accompany this vehicle.
My ’93 Allante and my ’14 Audi both have the automatic parking brake release when you put it in Drive or Reverse. Neither works. I have a coat hanger to manually release the Caddy since you can really hurt your finger getting out of the car, reaching under the dash and pullling the manual release, but fortuneatly the Audi can be released by just pulling the button you press down to engage it. The Audi was in the shop so many times in the first 50,000 miles under warranty for faulty electronics that this defect never got fixed. The Prince of Darkness has invaded Germany via China. But this would be a great car to pull your travel trailer across the USA.
A great car to hook your car trailer to so you can tow your Audi to the dealership when it breaks.
I bought a 89 Caddy with a bad exhaust. I –THOUGHT –I would BACK–the REAR END upon my car ramps. When I got done I went to release the emergency brake.Their was NO EMERGENCY BRAKE HANDLE. I got down and looked up under the dash near the emergency brake pedal and their was a LITTLE STUB. I HAD TO GET SOME VICE GRIPS TO GET IT RELEASED. I hate that–still have the Caddy. Also hated changing the valve cover gasket. It a long hard job too.,but love the ride. Can,nt get rid of it. Its my woman,s car. I think the next time the covers need changed.I,ll tell her to change them and maybe she,ll have me sale it. I like these big cars. The ride is great and you don,t get all beat up and tried going any where . This is a good looking ride. Like to own it and a big barn to put it in.Great looking car. It,d take a big barn to park it in.
Think it would really look Great to mount to American Flags on the front fenders. Back it into my driveway, and my town of 625 would be talking about who could be at my house visiting. I have MS and was having a problem breathing. Found out it was a collapsed lung & pneumonia, when they took me out on a stretcher I covered my head. This caddy really would get them going again. I only lived here the past five years. So much fun to hear them talk about everyone. And to come up with something like this car parked in the driveway. By the way where is this city in Florida near a Big town ??
I have a 70 Deville, triple black convertible and we have so much fun with the car…it is very good driver quality. The car just floats up the road and I always have the urge to have a cigar when I’m in it. It is one of my favorite cars. This four handle could be tons of fun for not a lot of money. I hope someone get it and enjoys! It makes you feel like a big shot even if your not
Body looks really nice. Love the rear foot rests. I recently sold a 70 formal limo that looked much like this. Someone is going to get a really nice toy.
I had much the same Caddy as this but was a stretched limo with the extra jump seats in the back. It was originally the State President of South Africa, P.W.Both’s official limo. I loved driving that car but I eventually sold it to a funeral home as a family car.
I’m only 17, and though I can’t remember when cars used be nothing but simple, I’ve always been drawn to old cars and trucks like beauty. I wish cars weren’t thingss that needed a computer to tell you your tire’s flat. Cars were simpler then……Why can’t we go back to those times?
Edd L. Brock:
Very creative name spelling I must say. Speak it fast and you get it. Clever.
Now, the reason(s) America is NEVER going back to simple cars is just that they are simple.
Manufactured cars with simplicity do not bring in cash to the makers and dealers. This and a host of other reasons are why including federal mandates.
You can blame Congress.
My dad had a ’65 Fleetwood Broughm & what an awesome automobile!
Reminds me off when I was young. My Dad worked for a truck leasing company that leased a caddy to a fleet owner. He had to deliver it to upstate NY so he planned a family vacation and a small plane flight home. While he was in the driver’s seat playing with all the buttons I placed my hand on the open trunk lip. He. Loses the trunk from his position, on my hand. He didn’t hear me screaming outside as all the windows were up. My Mom heard me from inside the house and came to my rescue.
I later owned a 64, a 68, and even a 1941 75-19 limo. Loved the big ones.
That reminds me of when I was about 5 years old. A neighborhood kid and I were playing around my dad’s old Plymouth. I was inside the trunk and he shut it, not knowing my hand was on the spring. It took off the top of my middle finger. My mom thought it was just a cut until she rinsed it in the sink and the bone was sticking out. I know, TMI!
Well, I guess you had a ‘hand’ in the memory.
Sorry I couldn’t resist.
Reminds me of when I got two of my middle fingers stuck in the right rear door of a ‘61 Corvair. Ouch, that hurt.
I was 5 y.o. B.I.T.D. Ever since, I hated Corvairs.
Aw man, it wasn’t the poor Corvair’s fault! ;-)
Well worth the price! A real car……compared to the modern day,truck wagon like tires and suspension, we have to endure today,,,,
I’ll always remember my Mercedes mechanic. Rolf was his name and he was a licensed Mercedes mechanic. A bit of a rebel though and didn’t fit well in the dealership environment.
He went out on his own and had a shop in a small town in Eastern Ontario.
Any way, he had a ‘66 Caddy with a massive trailer towed behind that he used to pick up broken down Mercedes and bring back to the shop.
He always said the Caddy was indestructible and outlasted all those over engineered Mercedes.
It was quite a sight to behold, that old Cadillac hauling in all these broken down Mercedes!
That is a good story. You don’t have to get a $800 (B) Mercedes service and flush the brake fluid on the Caddy either. Some technology is cool but most overrated. These Caddy’s will run a long time with a little love. The hood on these cars would make an entire body and subframe on a newer car. When steel was steel and men where actually men
I’ve got a ’70 Eldorado and a ’71 Fleetwood- they’re great, smooth riding cars both currently undergoing some restoration. The surprising fact is, even with the antiquated Q-jet 4 barrel and 500 and 472 ci respectively, no worse fuel mileage than a full size pick-up or SUV. And yes,very strong torque!
Fabman nobody gets to say that without PICTURES 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
My parents had a string of Cdillacs starting with a ’75 Coupe de Ville. It had to be parked perfectly straight in the garage and nudging the carpeted back wall for the garage door to close!! I think it may have been the longest one they ever owned!😂 What a back seat…I’m 6’1 and I could stretch across it! None of their other Cadillacs were as big and smooooth!😂🚘🚘
Absolutely spot on regarding the navigation systems on most vehicles they are completely unintuitive 😡. I had the same car and I sold it still running with 370,000 miles!
Never liked a Cadillac and never will.
I look forward to the day of not seeing another mega sized land yacht if this kind ‘Floating’ around on any road or highway anywhere in America.
You need to take your meds.
I don’t take meds, smoke or drink. Therefore, my mind is clearer and cleaner than most. So is my liver, pancreas, and kidneys. Take note; CLEAN Rodders roll forever. Was that you I saw in my rear view mirror? LOL🤣
That’s OK, Phil. That means more of them for the rest of us!
First three words of French I learned, followed by Le Sabre…
My first wife’s grandfather always drove Caddys … that was back in the day when you could drive to Detroit and pick the car up at the factory … he started in 1947 … he’d keep them several years and then gave it to one of his grandchildren … the last time he did that was in 1963 … he picked up his ’69 at the dealer … he never gave one to my ex, but I sure wanted that ’69 … we dated in that car- had a great back seat … the grandson who got it never appreciated it and ragged it to death … the so-called Caddys of today can’t hold a candle to those land yachts back then …
Being caught dead in a Cadillac usually means it’s your LAST ride!!!
You can blame the electronics industry. Electric, and then electronic gizmos, have, over the years, become incredibly cheap to manufacture. Think about power windows and power convertible tops – they were hydraulic in the late ’40’s on some cars. Little electric motors replaced that kind of system for the better. The downside is that once the electronic parts fail that for most of them there are not generic parts to replace them and you can be left with trying to find NOS parts, and if yours failed, it is likely that others did, so that the NOS parts are gone. The failure rate of the “computer” on my ’84 Dodge Caravan, and a “fuel sensor” on my ’14 Audi were so prevelent that each, when still under warranty, sat for a week while the dealer searched other dealers for a part. In each case it was another dealer who let one go, the Dodge salesman drove an hour each way to pick one up for me, meanwhile offering to lend me his GM station wagon if he could not get it installed in time for a my family vacation. So as 90’s cars become “collectable” keeping them going is going to be more and more difficult. And, you say, we can do without power windows, and door locks, and clean air (most of the engine gizmos are directed at limiting air pollution) but I have been saved inconvience by traction control, and saved damage (and a daughter) by ABS. Everything is a trade off. I am old enough to remember the terrible air pollution in the East Coast cities, and LA, in the 1960’s (smog, remember?) which is largely gone, thanks to Congress and President Nixon.
Just out of curiosity, how was Nixon involved with air pollution? (other than the pollution his speeches generated.)
He signed legislation that “created” the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and by Executive order, created EPA. (Both the Air and Water acts were based on earlier, but much less powerful legislation). We have that Congress and him to thank for the auto (and stationary source) emission regulations that have in fact much improved air quality in our big cities and the whole eastern seaboard. (I taught enviromnetal law for 15 years in the ’70’s and ’80’s.) Hard to belive, I know, but times were different back then.
I bought my first and only Fleetwood Brougham, a white 1970 like this one, in ’82, for $325. A valve had fallen into the number 1 cylinder, punching a hole in the piston. Other than that it was in fine condition. I swapped the engine from a wrecked ’70 Deville, that I got for only $100. I did the swap in February in Ohio, the first couple of days the weather was unseasonably warm, but by day three we had freezing temps, rain and snow. I remember lying under the car in freezing slush, tightening flywheel bolts. But I succeeded, and in April we drove it Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side. On the highway it got nearly 15 MPG, but around town it barely got 10. Unfortunately, after 25,000 miles, roughly 4 months, the tyranny failed on the highway in a bad part of town, and by the time I made it back to the car to tow it, people had broken in and stolen the stereo, and pried the trunk open. It never moved under it’s own power after that, and several years later it was sold to the scrapper.