Special-edition Detroit luxury cars from the Malaise Era always make for good Junkyard Treasures, and I’ve been proud over the years to share such discarded classics as a 1980 Cadillac San Remo Dorado, a 1982 Lincoln Continental Givenchy Edition, a 1981 Frank Sinatra Edition Imperial, two 1979 Lincoln Continental Bill Blass Editions, a 1983 Cadillac Cimarron d’Oro, and a 1982 Lincoln Mark VI Bill Blass Edition.
Today we’ve got an example of the most expensive (non-limo) 1978 Cadillac you could buy new: a first-year Cadillac Seville Elegante, found recently in a Denver self-service boneyard.
We can’t talk about the first-generation (1976-1979) Seville without talking about its sibling, or maybe cousin, the Chevrolet Nova. The photo above is a 1978 Nova sedan found in the same yard just a few rows away from the Seville Elegante; it doesn’t look much like its far costlier relative at a glance, does it?
The definition of the relationship between the Nova and the Seville is much more controversial than the relationship between the Nova and its X Platform siblings (Pontiac Ventura/Phoenix, Oldsmobile Omega, Buick Apollo/Skylark).
The first-generation Seville was based on a stretched X-Body platform with better build quality and some upgrades to improve ride quality. Some feel that the 1976-1979 Seville remained a Nova underneath and did long-lasting damage to the Cadillac brand, while others point out that it printed bales of money for the Cadillac Division and should be considered a genuine Mercedes-Benz rival.
The Seville Elegante came with two-tone exterior paint and two-tone leather seats, plus real wire wheels and a bunch of snazzy extras. The base MSRP for the 1978 Seville was $14,267, with the Elegante package adding another $2600. That comes to $16,867, or about $81,980 in 2024 dollars.
Meanwhile, the 1978 Mercedes-Benz 280E, ancestor of the E-Class, listed at $16,616 ($81,631 after inflation). Most sources I can find seem to indicate that 5000 first-year Seville Elegantes were sold.
Sadly, the gangster-grade wire wheels are long gone from this car.
The engine is a fuel-injected Oldsmobile 350 V8, installed at a time when many buyers of GM cars were angered by engines from “lesser” divisions going under their hoods.
Naturally, there’s an 8-track player in the faux-wood dash. This was a $106 Seville option ($521 today).
Driven by Arnold Palmer.
A classic in its own time.