1970 Cadillac Coupe DeVille 🇮🇹

Resplendent in its original Byzantine Gold (code 54) paint with a fabric /  leather combination  interior (code 344S / 384) in Medium Gold Dynasty, this car is an amazing time capsule of the year 1970.

Sold new in Detroit, MI, where it remained, the car led a pampered life with only 11,000 miles accumulated before it was purchased for the NB Center collection in 2000. The car was exported to Italy where the dazzling gold paint on a car that is larger than nearly any other on the roads, draws lots of attention wherever it goes. In the decades since the car arrived in Italy, it has accumulated about 10,000 additional miles cruising the Tuscan hills. 

Company
General Motors

Make
Cadillac

Model
DeVille, 70-683

Body Style
Coupe, 2-dr., 6-pass.

Body Manufacture
Fisher Body

Model year
1970

Wheelbase
129.5 inches

Length
225 inches

Engine
V8, OHV, 472 cid

Horsepower
375 hp @ 4400 rpm

Transmission
3-speed automatic, TH-400
Original Base Price
$5,884

Brand Production
238,745  model year

This Car Production
76,043

“Beautiful stance, Brilliant follow-through. The Cadillac approach to the spirited seventies.” 

That was how the advertising tag line read on an ad for this very car. Cadillac was the definitive luxury car brand in America. Nothing announced that you were successful like driving a new Cadillac. Cadillac sales eclipsed the competition for years and 1970 was expected to set yet another record for the brand. 

The best selling model in 1970 was the Sedan Deville hardtop with 83,274 units,  this was followed by the Coupe Deville hardtop. The DeVilles were differentiated from the base Calais by including all the fittings of the Calais plus dual rear cigarette lighters, two-way horizontal control front seat adjustment and rear center arm rests in all models except convertibles and some minor exterior trim items.

Styling updates were minimal from 1969 cars. In fact, Cadillac had been using nearly the same body dimensions and styling with minor updates each year since 1965.

Power was provided by an overhead valve V-8 engine of 472 cubic inch displacement. With a compression ratio of 10.0:1, the engine was rated at 375 bhp, a number that would be drastically lower when the industry shifted to net horsepower ratings in 1972. All Cadillac’s for 1970 got a redesigned rear axle, the first in 30 years.

Although Cadillac model year production set an all time record for the 1970  GM suffered a costly strike toward the end of the year. This was the first major strike against the company since 1946, and it  contributed to breaking Cadillac’s run of ever increasing model year sales that started in 1961.

Even though the Deville was popular, Cadillac was about to cut the body styles available from four to two. Both the Sedan Deville and Convertible DeVille would not return for model year 1971.