Forget opera windows, padded vinyl roofs or opera lights. Will someone who lived through the 1970s please explain how this coach-built Cadillac Seville actually saw the light of day, let alone a Maroney sticker that let you bring it home? How many people were going to the opera in the late 1970s, anyways? If anything, it looks like the car the Whistling Wolf drives in the old Tex Avery cartoon “Red Hot Riding Hood”, or maybe Cruella DeVille’s whip after being lightly squeezed in a crusher until it was squared off. That look works for a Duesenberg or a 1920’s Rolls, but a 1979 Cadillac…no.

Yet, here we are, clean as a whistle, complete with wire wheels, white walls, and a fuel-injected Oldsmobile 350 powering it all. It’s more than obvious that the look was meant to emulate a modern take on a Duesenberg Model J or any other 1930-esque luxury car with the twin spare wheels mounted on the fenders, but unlike the Model J’s flowing, curvy lines, the Seville’s creased and boxy shape comes of more like a brick than anything else. Yet, oddly the car was one of Cadillac’s smart decisions going into the 1980s…the big barge Cadillacs could barely hit double-digit fuel mileage figures while the Seville could knock down at least 17 mpg around town.

Is it wrong that I want to see this thing done up with side pipes and a blower sticking through the hood? It might actually add some character to the thing…or is it beyond all hope? You tell us!

Craigslist Link: 1979 Cadillac Seville custom two-door convertible