Before we discuss price, take a look at the 1985 Cadillac in question. It does have some merits worth noting. For starters, the thing looks brand new, and it pretty much is, with only 2,000 miles on the odometer. No touch ups, no replacements. The tires, hoses, belts, all of it: as it left the factory. The pin striping is perfect. The white wall tires and the factory wire wheels look spotless. Even the red and white interior looks unbelievably immaculate.
Now, take a look at what makes this Cadillac rare. There were just over 8,000 Fleetwood coupes made in 1985. Out of those, this particular Brougham d’Elegance is optioned to the absolute max. In addition to the white walls and the wires, you have the white leather, the Astro Roof, the “symphony sound” stereo with cassette deck and CB radio, rear defrost, Twilight Sentinel with auto dimming feature for the gauges, and the electroluminescent opera lamps. Couple all of that with the low mileage and the perfect interior and exterior, and you have one beauty of a rolling sofa. It’s even nice enough that you should be able to ignore the HT4100 V8, especially since it’s got an overdrive automatic backing it.
So all in all, things are looking pretty good for the Cadillac, wouldn’t you say? So now comes the big question: Just how much would you pay for a damn-near-new 1985 Cadillac coupe? Would $10,000 be too far? Maybe even $15,000? Considering mileage and adjusting for inflation since the car was new you’d still be stealing it.
How about a Buy It Now price of $89,000 here on eBay? No, I’m not kidding. The seller assures that this is the finest example of a Fleetwood coupe in the world, and while the burden of proof would be on you to prove him wrong, can you justify the price? What do you think…is this appropriate or is the seller about forty years too soon to be asking that kind of money for a barely-driven Cadillac?
(Courtesy The Brougham Society/Tom Klockau)
Missing a set of 26″ wheels and a Skittles paint job.
Personally, 12-13 grand sounds reasonable, with room to haggle down on the sheer mass of basic maintenance this thing will need: bearings greased, all seals and paper or rubber parts replaced, all fluids changed. counting labor and parts, you could knock down maybe 4-600 (1000 if you’re a good haggler) but 89 grand is just foil hat territory.
I had one of these and was the WORST Cadillac I ever owned. Kept it for 18 months and traded it in for a blazer. Out of the 18 months of owning it, the dealer had it for a combined time of 3 months. not a 4 6 8 motor, just a 4100 and it kept eating cam bearings ( or so I was told ) it also had an issue with the rings. no matter what they did, it kept lining up the gaps on 3 different pistons. i had oil dripping out of my exhaust. They would NOT replace the engine, just kept rebuilding that one. Steel heads, aluminum block = junk!!!
I had to look up this engine. Yeah, it’s history ain’t pretty, and I’ve seen 22Rs built in sheds make more power and torque than the 4100. Kind of sad.
$5k is the right price ! Seeing as how this car is at the very tail end of Cadillacs good years and the beginning of them becoming badge engineered Chevys …. the fact that not driving a car … any car regularly is the worse thing you can do to it … claiming it to be ” the finest example of a Fleetwood is in fact an oxymoron [ there’s nothing fine to be found with this years Fleetwoods ] … all those ‘ original ‘ belts etc are on the verge of failure due to age [ so thats not a plus Bryan .. but rather a very serious negative ] … not to mention being evidence that this car was never maintained but rather left to sit idle …. add on the fact that this year and model has exactly Zero collectable/desirability cred ..
And Hell .. I’ll place odds it’d take a good $20 – 30k just to get this heap road worthy again . So for a fun project car with the potential of becoming a Luxury Hot Rod ? Like I said … $5k … tops! At some $89k though ? I’ve got no idea what this guy is snorting … but what ever it is it must be some pretty damn potent stuff
It’s a nice car but I would give that kind of money for it. If it was about 20 years older maybe.
Disregarding the ludicrous price- Air ride, 18″ daytons, LS transplant, totally hidden bangin’ system, with no external changes… Pimpin’ at its finest!
I was the assistant service manager at St. Claire Motor Co. in Santa Clara,Ca when this car came out. Cadillacs at that time were not a very good car. The HT4100 was and is the biggest piece of shit that GM ever put out. It was worse then the 5.7 L Diesel. The factory reps had the mechanics shimming the main bearings to quiet to KNOCK!
$89K? You could get a 57 Eldorado Brougham for that money.
How do you spell NO!
At $89,000 No – BUT … there is a twin turbo Corvette with 2000 HP for $69,000 that seems like more bang at a $20,000 savings.
I’m surprised to find myself agreeing with ColoradoKid here; I think $5000 would be a much more reasonable price. If I wanted a Cadillac unicorn, I could probably find a CTS-V wagon with a stick shift for less in equally good shape, and have considerably more fun with it. Or a ’50s Cadillac and have considerably more good ol’ over the top American excess.
I couldn’t agree more. Heck you could drop 5k on a “whale body” 94-96 Fleetwood. Pay a pro 30k to make it a coupe. Drop 15k on the baddest LS crate motor you can find. Slap on a 10k pro-level paint job and still come out ahead, and be more unique.
Just show up ‘before’ your local demo-derby starts & you can have your pick of the litter, plus you’ll save about $88,950
Was that one of the 4/6/8 computer models ??? Big POS !! Buy a fully loaded Esclade
Rod Saboury should take this thing home and 80’s Pro Street it. Giant Mickeys, blown and/or turbocharged big block, and overdrive with Lightening Rods.
Wayyy too much money.
Would be much better with a big block Cadillac, V8-6-4’s can be fixed by cutting ONE wire to put it in full time V8 operation. That being said, 500/472 with a 4L80, 3.23 rear end and enjoy.
I wouldn’t pay no more than $1500 for this Cadillac. I am a Auto tech and these are problem engines. The other Majority of the 8,000 or so made is in the scrap yard because people were tired of repairing this vehicle constantly. Back in 1996 when I was 16, you could get any GM car from 1978 and above for $500 to a $1000 dollars. All I see now a days are People selling junk at inflated prices, because at the end of the day it will need a new motor, tranny, vacuum lines, accessories and etc… after the first couple months of driving.