66k Miles! 1976 Cadillac Coupe DeVille
Back in the seventies, there weren’t many American offerings that let your neighbors know you had hit the big time any better than having a Cadillac parked in your driveway, without you ever having to utter a word. The DeVille was the Caddy of choice for many buyers, and even amid the oil crisis during the middle of the decade these cars continued to sell well, but some downsizing was in store for ’77, and the 1976 model is considered by many to be the last great year for the traditionally-sized Cadillac. If you’ve been in the market for a nicely-preserved 2-Door model, this 1976 Cadillac Coupe DeVille here on Craigslist seems like a fine example. It’s up in Arlington Heights, Illinois, with the asking price set at $15,900.
This one’s another finding from Barn Finds reader Pat L., and we’d like to thank him for the tip! The seller says the Cadillac is a two-owner car, with the previous owner being its caretaker for nearly a quarter-century, and it’s apparently only traveled a total of 66,000 miles. There’s no word on whether or not any of that is the original finish, but to be 70s-era silver it looks pretty amazing if even some of the paint is indeed from the factory. Maybe it’s had a respray or touching-up at some point, but regardless the body looks straight and overall the car presents beautifully. The plastic filler pieces around the rear bumper are a bit warped, but they’re notorious for that and fairly easy to replace should the next owner choose to do so.
Buyers were treated to a 500 cubic-inch V8, but compression was only 8.5:1 and even with a Quadrajet the motor only produced 190 horsepower, but you also got a Turbo 400 so for the time period it really wasn’t a bad combo. Things under the hood appear orderly, not exactly eye candy but I appreciate that the engine bay is being presented honestly without a lot of clean-up. The seller states that his Cadillac, runs, drives, and shifts just like it should.
Totally red interiors were popular in the mid-seventies, especially on silver cars, and most of the things we can see inside appear to be in reasonably good shape, other than some light wearing on the dash and a crack on top. The car is equipped with all the amenities you would expect, including leather seats, power windows, seats, door locks, and even a power driver’s side mirror. The Stereo features an 8-Track player, so a trip to your local thrift store to pick up some period-correct tapes will be an afternoon well spent for the future owner. Is nearly $16,000 a fair price for what you’re seeing here?
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Comments
The price for this Coupe de Ville is about right. It’s the top of the scale for 66k miles. 1976 was definitely a “last year” for the Rolls Royce Quality of Cadillac. Only the Eldorado lived up until 1978. Yeah, maybe one day Cadillac will come back and make a “real” touring car again. Nice article on this very nice car!
Nice looking Cad and not pimp out.😂 I remember when these where new. This is a nice color combo. Another combo I remember seeing was black paint outside red padded top and red leather interior. That was popular choice in the Bronx. Love the ride on these. This is a very fair price with the mileage on this one. Just make sure you have the room to park it.😄🐻🇺🇸
For me, it’s hard to look at this stunning `76 coupe and realize how far Cadillac has dropped in prestige over the years. I drove my Grandfather’s `76 black Talisman Fleetwood so I’m familiar with these majestic beasts. Always wanted another. (heavy sigh)
I had a ’77 baby blue with a white vinyl top and blue leather interior. I traveled from Pennsylvania to Kentucky occasionally and what a ride. Nice car for sure!
Gas gauge was not in the gauge cluster but up off to the right on the dash…you could see petrol disappear every time you opened the cavernous rear jets on the Quadrajet carb… run all day at 75 mph and highway mileage wasn’t bad, great comfort on long trips.
If t h e Underside does not have a lot of rust this is a good deal a beautiful car and I do love red leather
Back when a Caddy was a CADILLAC and set a standard. This car will still draw attention especially parked next to the current crop of Cads. I’ll take this one before many current supposed luxo-rides.
This is very similar to my ’76 Caddy. Back in ’76 you could order the d’elegance package which included the stand up hood ornament, opera lights, velour interior, among other doodads. Like mine. The original purchaser did not like the velour interior, so they ordered leather interior and the d’elegance options separately. If it was the package it would say d’elegance under the opera lights.
I’m also wondering if they replaced the parking light lens with a ’75, as the ’76 had two thin chrome strips on them.
I’m surprised the plastic fillers are in relatively good shape. The slightly warped ones can be replaced with hard plastic ones.
I never cared for the dashboard on the ’74, 5 & 6. The last great dashboard was on the ’71, 2 & 3 IMO
I feel the same about the 71-72-73 dashboards on the Olds 98 and Buick Deuce and a quarter. They were more wrap around. But I do like it. I had a 76 Oldsmobile Regency Coupe.
What a beauty!
Once dinosaurs roamed the earth. I remember so many of these back in the day. Great driving and riding cars. I was partial to the Eldorado for the simple reason I love convertibles. The 71 Coupe Deville was for me the nicest looking of the run but each hold their place. Nice enjoyable copy here with a great color combo.
What an impressive ride.
I think I may have owned this for a brief time in the late 90’s. I bought it from a family in Iowa I believe, brought it home and the wife said I looked like a pimp driving it so sold it right away. Never retitled it. Same area. If so, it was a beautiful ride and drove outstanding.
The exterior is pretty good, but the interior needs work. Personally, I wouldn’t be happy with it in that condition and to make it right I have no idea if you’d be break even or not. There was just another one for sale in triple academy grey on another site with 10-12k and it looked it. This one was stored outside for a good, long time.
This is a Coupe de Ville with the Cabriolet Roof option(which included a stand up see-through Cadillac Crest hood ornament). The d’Elegance trim option was an interior decor package that included the hood ornament, rear quarter opera lamps and pin striping. Leather was not available with the d’Elegance
option, however you could order the Cabriolet Roof option as well. This is a very nice looking example, however IMHO Georgian Silver with this metallic silver top looked better with a light gray, blue or black leather interior.
Working for Cadillac in the early 80’s I got to drive a lot of these. Have to be about the best Cadillacs made. Like driving a cloud. Drive it with your pinky. Sure miss ’em
I work at a new car dealership and $15,900 will get you half way to the used junk on our lot full of import cookie cutter crap with numerous electrical problems. When you can have this beauty with no stupid TPMS light every time the temperature drops to endless problems with GPS in the dash, this is what I want. My newest vehicle is 20 years old and my oldest just turned 50. I’m keeping my old cars. Call me old, but life in the 60s and 70s was far better than today.
Cadillac’s have always been a big fine running Car