While it seems weird, I had a conversation on the salt yesterday with some pals and the topic of Cadillacs came up. We all agreed that the only thing you need to do with a Caddy from the middle 1960s right on through the middle 1970s to make it look really cool is put it on air bags and drop the thing a couple of inches. Their sheer size lends them to look great while scraping the ground. I couldn’t really get that idea out of my head and I started looking up period videos of the boulevard bruisers and it led me to this 1970 Lincoln vs 1974 Cadillac battle.
Let’s be fair, neither of these cars are fast although the 1970 Lincoln would likely look like a Bugatti Veyron when it came to an acceleration contest but these cars were not about speed. You are going to see the pinnacles of luxury for their respective time period. The Lincoln Continental was redesigned for 1970. It was the first time that the car had been changed significantly since 1961 and people liked the changes. Expensive and targeted at the wealthy, the car had all the stuff that people with cashola back then wanted. A 127-inch wheelbase, hidden headlights, an interior that you could get lost in, and a massive presence whether sitting still or driving down the road. The thing had 365hp and as we all know, those numbers fell through the floor in the ensuing years.
The 1974 Cadillac Talisman was a gargantuan car. Riding on a 133-inch wheelbase and extending in both directions several feet in both directions. It had every available option that Cadillac offered and the inside of the thing was a crushed velour palace. Powered by a 205hp engine that made 365 lb/ft of torque, there’s no way in hell it could run with the Lincoln but in terms of ridiculous luxury, it has the Linc beat hands down. When you watch the Cadillac commercial you’ll see just how freaking huge the car was. Over the three years that the car was sold, Cadillac made about 4,300 of them. People believe that there are less than 100 left. The cost? $13,200 in 1974 dollars or about $70k today.
So there you have it. Which do you choose?
I always loved that you could get those big cars with 2 doors, so cool.
I’ll take the ’70 Lincoln, please. Preferably with two doors!