Some people aren’t bothered by cross-breed engine swaps. Others take a strong personal offense to seeing a Hemi in a Ford, or a Chevy engine jammed into any and everything possible. The GM small block and LS series engines, in particular, earn tons of ire in the automotive hobby because they do seem to eventually wind up in just about anything rolling. And apparently a Ford dealer in California had his fill of going to car shows and seeing Blue Oval products with GM drivetrains all over the place. The dealer was Ray Dixon, the former owner of Board Ford in Whittier, California, and he decided that the only way he was going to get back at everyone who soiled the cars that he loved so much was to do the same to them. He acquired a 1979 Cadillac Seville and with the help of former dealer employee Bill Kenney, Trigen Automotive in La Habra, California and over $100,000 in upgrades, they got to work.
The body was straightened up and shot in a beautiful red. Inside, Jaguar leather was used to re-skin the seats and the interior was brought up to show-car quality. But Dixon’s revenge lay underhood: a 5.8L/AODE combo yanked from a first-generation Ford Lightning pickup was cleaned up, chromed out and stuffed into the Caddy’s engine bay as a middle finger to every Chevy-powered Fox he ever saw. Saying that this is the nicest first-generation Cadillac Seville on the planet isn’t a far-fetched statement and the awards this car received certainly back that sentiment up: among others, the Seville won Best In Class at the Grand National Roadster Show after it’s 1997 completion. Compared to what was invested almost twenty years ago, the $13,500 price seems downright reasonable!
Craigslist Link: 1979 Cadillac Seville
Although I admire the choice of engine, I would never call a Cadillac Seville “beautiful”. A velvet-coated brick is still a brick, and the workmanship on this particular brick is exquisite….
Seems like a waste of a Lightning motor. Put it in a 3rd gen Camaro or something!
I’d buy it and put an LS engine in it, and sell the Lightning engine to a Ford guy. LOL
Should have swapped in a Cummins 6BT, luxury and power
I used to own that Seville…bought it at Barrett Jackson and sold it at Barrett..I disagree with one post that said that genre Seville was not pretty…It was a gorgeous design and had an European flair…now picking that engine for it was a bit off beat…A Northstar would have been more apropos..It actually was invited to Blackie Gejeian’s Fresno Invitational Only Show..Which is quite an honor ..It had tons spent on it by the original owner who owned a Ford Dealership, thus the Lightning engine..I bought it for like waay less than 1/10th of what it cost to build…unfortunately sold it for about the same percentage…lol..