My understanding is MTCOTY was openly for sale in the ’70s and ’80s. DriveWire® Ignition Coil - Set of 4. Even the Cavalier got a new dash in some models in 86 or 87 (Iforget which). Read more. The all-wheel-drive system is the same as that used in the famously successful rally-racing Quattros. Well, sure, and in 1984 a 10-pack of 3.5″ diskettes was around $50 ($125 adjusted). I remember reading as a teen and feeling frustrated, although it really took a while to understand just how bad these cars were when the write-ups said they were generally ok. Liars. I don’t know if this is a regular feature, but it shows that they engage in these types of exercises. And it has potential to compete with the European and Japanese sports sedans, all Cadillac needed to do is put more thought into it. Cadillac had nothing smaller than the Eldo/Seville and needed to get there fast. https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Cadillac-Cimarron-Overview-d2091 No luxury cruiser by far, but I had it for 100,000 trouble free miles. Sure, there are always nationalistic variations, often almost excusable by very different conditions in each market, but essentially, the bad cars were always called for what they were for the reasons that mattered to the enthusiast reader. Represents the "D (large cars)" market segment. Purchased on Jul 31, 2020. Cadillac Cimarron Reviews & News - Autotrader. Motor Trend did something like that fairly recently (in October of 2019) with an article about a “what-if” Accord Type-R…. (You know the answer). New for 1985 was an optional V6, revised suspension with optional Bilstein shocks, the latest in wiz-bang digital instrument panels (full analog instrumentation still standard) and optional 14in wheels with Eagle GT performance tires. - Instrument cluster replaced when purchased. It was crazy back then to think that a muscle car would ever be worth anything..they had all the appeal to the collector market of that time that a dropped Civic with a carbon fiber hood and loud muffler has today.. Reminds us you can only make a first impression once. I don’t think the V6 was ever offered on this generation Cavalier sedan – V6 availability was limited to the Z24 two-doors and the wagon (the latter a unicorn), presumably to avoid stepping on the Cimarron’s toes. Get information and pricing about the Cadillac Cimarron, read reviews and articles, and find inventory near you. )” mode. The last thing an ’80s West German car buyer wanted was over-styled ChiCom-compliant gin palaces on wheels, which is all Germany sells now. Everything that was wrong, venal, lazy and mendacious about GM in the 1980s was crystallized in this flagrant insult to the good name and fine customers of Cadillac. By price, size and equipment, it was right there in that class of “luxury compacts”, if the Accord (or Toyota Cresida) had a lot of options. It’s possible that if the Cimarron were an entry-level Audi, it would not be reviled and perhaps be remembered fondly. I’d forgotten how much I liked the the “boxy” Cavalier coupe. The article claims that the Cadillac will have a similar price to the Audi, but ended up being substantially higher. All problems experiencing with my car is a resulting from not taking proper care form previous owner (s). Definitely weird, and a bad sign that Cadillac wasn’t willing to even spend the money on a new dash for 85. Is there any realistic way in the early 80’s that Cadillac could have gotten in and been competitive in the Yuppie car market? It’s crucial to remember when I first laid eyes on a Cimarron (in a magazine), I’d never seen a Cavalier in the flesh, much less 2 million of them. The car was offered with 4 … The Cimarron was simply one of GM’s most brazen and callus attempts to dupe the few remaining Cadillac devotees into buying the new ‘European’ Cadillac by doing nothing but raiding the J.C. Whitney catalog, slapping a few pimped-out shiney bits on the outside (and a grungy leather interior on the inside) of a 4-door Cavalier, then having the audacity to double the price. I did some research before I got it to get an idea of what I'm getting. Selling a mediocre car when they needed to have a fantastic one was truly a deadly sin for Cadillac (officially GM’s #10). To say nothing of the upscale ambiance and reliability the Cimarron (and German alternatives) could only dream about. Cadillac Cimarron. Helpful Automotive Resources. old car isn't a lot. Next to a new BMW and Audi, it looks comparable, more modern and even quite attractive. The Cimarron didn’t solve those issues, but it didn’t create them either. (first posted 1/21/2020) If yesterday’s Curbside Capsule of a 1988 Cadillac Cimarron whet your appetite for Cadillac’s 1980’s flagship of mediocrity, this should be just the main course to satisfy you. The Audi and BMW have progressed in appearance quite a bit, but the Cimarron looks pretty much like it did in 1982 and is transparently similar to models sold by every other GM division. Cadillac Cimarron dOro 2.0L (man. Pwr windows, pwr locks, pwr mirrors, rear defrost, pwr truck release, locking gas lid, fog lamps, 14" aluminum wheels, digital dash readout (really love this, leather seats (mine after 20 years still haven't cracked up badly) and more I can't think of. The Brougham was just really overdue for an update by that time, though it was supposed to die after 84 but kept alive due to low gas prices and its popularity. Really great write up Jon!!! I think there may have been reliability issues, but I don’t think the J-bodies were particularly troublesome by the standards of the day, so I could be wrong about that. We were running out of oil and everyone knew we had to make do with less. The current small Cadillacs have large displacement turbocharged four cylinder engines, as if their competitors were dictating their offerings to tie their hands. Search by model, year and location. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Surprisingly, much of it was rather upbeat. People often give me thumbs up or ask if I want to sell it. That Motor Trend article, at least the parts I read before my stomach and ribs made different but equally-urgent requests that I stop, strikes me as an overinflated version of a Cadillac press release. Can you imagine a compact car with luxury pretensions weighing 2,200 lbs. They probably thought that the J car would be a legitimate competitor with Euro and Japanese stuff. Personally, I would rather have at least an extra 2 inches in the passenger seats and another 2 to lengthen the trunk. Would you buy another car from this manufacturer. The break-out section “The Making of an UnCadillac” is worth reading for insight into the Cimarron’s development. The Audi and BMW were not tarted up versions of a fundamentally cheaper car; they were built to be sold as you saw them. The slightly refreshed Brougham and the majorly revised Town Car both came out as 1990 models. Those same people who bought 318is in the 80s now have no issues dropping $100K on a loaded-up S-Class or X7, and Cadillac is mostly in the same position it’s been in for years. That metaphor definitely works here. Guess I still drink the VW coolaid, as my prior car was a ’78 Scirocco. No, it still had cheap-crap bones. I've known people to own an '88 civic DX, a 99 Solora, and a couple other Japanese vehicles and I'm not much into them. 1982 Cadillac Cimarron: See user reviews, 14 photos and great deals for 1982 Cadillac Cimarron. The compact Caddy was touted as "a new kind of Cadillac for a new kind of Cadillac owner" in its day. Local J cars from Holden had decent handling back in the day but there was another version from Japan that was labeled Holden for the NZ market alone that handled like a dog on lino, more customers lost to rivals. Cadillac Cimarron Customer Reviews. Minor issues I plan to replace (motors to the mirrors, replacing the belt until the harmonic balancer was adjusted-new engine installed-,get the carpet and floor-board checked out, etc.). It wasn`t a Cadillac Cimarron. Could GM have cribbed this drawing from MT??? His grandparents had recently purchased a brand-new, loaded 1985 Buick LeSabre four-door sedan. And I can understand why people don't trust the Big 3 with a lot of recalls and everything, but do some research and you'll find everyone has the same quality. I loved reading about that, although if I recall that article was only 1-2 pages in length. As it stands, we still feel like we provide some of the most accurate zero to 60 mph test results available today, and we pride ourselves on being able to provide you with the 0 to 60 mph and quarter mile speed data that you are looking for. I was like "wow" and wondered how fast I could go with this 3 speed transmission. Well, I did the math so you don’t have to. Thanks, I should do that one. In reality, Cadillac’s prospects would have been better served by a tasteful American luxury car based on the A-car. How about a few years later, when Cadillac may have had a bit more realistic and humble appreciation for the Cimarron’s prospects in the market? Whether Cadillac had done right by the Cimarron could be looked at two ways. Spooked by the success of premium small cars from Mercedes-Benz, GM elected to rebadge its awful mass-market J-platform sedans, load them up with chintzy fabrics and accessories and call them "Cimarron, by Cadillac." Of course, many of those cars later had terrible reputations for recalls, poor workmanship, and/or poor quality/reliability reputations. But it was a whole different ballgame competing with the Europeans who had amlLWE sport sedans engineered that way from the ground up. It was clear then that the car was a failure. The 90 TC was a tremendously effective redesign and made the Caddy look quite old in comparison. For example, I have a friend who refused to buy a Pontiac Vibe because it was underpowered. But then you lost me at “1988 Cadillac Cimarron. Now, if Cadillac had been willing to do as much modification of the basic car as they had done with the original 1976 Seville, things might be different. I especially like their mention (on p. 39) of a “brief visit with the world’s only running Cimarron”. They could have even offered fuel injection on it for a little extra. I plan to get a new paint job even though the paint is still good and shines well, just to make sure there isn't any rust problems. I’m sure the Bandit Trans Am article was what most interested me. Instead, earlier models starting in 1982 had stiff upright rooflines even on the “coupes” which were really two-door sedans which failed to appeal to the millions who bought GM’s midsize coupes in the 1970s and early 80s. Based on the story, GM still had a way to go to compete with the imports. In 1985, the magazines that depended on GM advertising pretended that Cadillac had addressed most of the issues that had made the Cimarron hopelessly outclassed. The first will be Motor Trend’s in-depth look at the car on its introduction in mid-1981 (as a 1982 model) with a road test of a pre-production car. Learn how your comment data is processed. The word loosely stood for Young, Upwardly-mobile Professionals, and they were known to be partial to upscale foreign cars. Most importantly the public had no impression it was related to the Nova….Conversely I can’t believe how lazy the Cimarron was…Only different endcaps front and rear…It even used the same dashboard and gauges… Thanks for subscribing. By 1985, they were much more critical. Not only was the car new, but the whole concept of an American car trying to compete directly with foreign luxury/sport sedans was previously untried. It is natural to wonder what Cadillac was thinking when it introduced the car. You could feel it in the handling dynamics and assembly. We in the west seem to look on our own products with reflexive embarrassment and self-consciousness. The main rub with the whole car is clearly identified, though: “Since Cadillac division had little to say in the final design of the 4-door sedan used for the Cimarron, they could only improvise on the J-car’s fertile bed”. As a point of historical perspective, the 2020 Audi equivalent, the A3 Quattro, goes 0-60 in 5.4 seconds (almost exactly half 1985’s time). Cadillac’s fundamental problems were multifaceted and included (1) any number of issues affecting all GM divisions, not just Cadillac, and (2) the division’s decision to chase volume. Cadillac Cimarron Reviews & News - Autotrader. Sign Up. For of all sad words of tongue or pen, And many more openly wondered what on Earth was GM thinking? The Buick Skhawk at least had some unique front sheetmetal but was about the limit they could take the J-car upmarket. The weren’t yuppies; they were empty-nesters. A Cimmaron plausibly offered one more rung up that latter, if you didn’t dig too deeply into the specifications. These car buff magazines were just blowing smoke. DriveWire® Ignition Coil - Set of 3. I think these reviews show how much GM benefited from what we later came to identify as the “Toyota-Honda Aura”. Such as updating the Fleetwood Brougham sometime in between 1980 and 1992. Bought my first new BMW in 1988. It seems like folks really wanted this concept to succeed, which makes GM’s failure here all the more exasperating. OMG, after watching that I think I want one! However, the biggest turkey among them was the Cimarron. Apparently the Long Term Test on the 82 Cimarron did not particularly endear it to the editors, nor had any of the improvements made prior to 1985. Now-please show us that Bandit 455! Produced as a four-door sedan, the Cimarron used the GM J platform, with counterparts from Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac. It also demonstrates that whatever GM did with Cadillac after 1979, the execution would have been abominable. I would take it on any trip in I had to, and not worry about it. At least between roughly 1975 and 1985. During its seven-year model run, 132,499 Cimarrons were built. VERIFIED PURCHASER. ... News, Reviews, Photos, Videos delivered straight to your in-box. This car would had made for a wonderful small Buick…..but never should had been called a Cadillac. Right down to every door, roof, and fender. Then as now, C&D tended to have more lively and readable writing as well as being a bit less prone to manufacturer butt-kissing. Spooked by the success of premium small cars from Mercedes-Benz, GM elected to rebadge its awful mass-market J-platform sedans, load them up with chintzy fabrics and accessories and call them "Cimarron, by Cadillac." - Seats are lightly torn due to my neglect. The Cimarron was a Chevrolet Cavalier with a bit of added bling and a fatter price tag. Maybe you were one yourself. Sales increased slightly in 1986, but fell off fast for its last two years. heavier than the 4000, which was quite the featherweight. Lincoln did the same thing with the Granada and that worked out about the same. They would have been throwing down the gauntlet that they really wanted to compete. were in theaters, and Cadillac roared into effete locales with the brand new "European-inspired" Cimarron. The first compact Cadillac, the Cimarron competed with similarly sized sedans from Europe.. By the time they finally revised the rooflines to give them some sportiness, buyers had moved on to foreign competition. In their defense, they were better cars than the ballyhooed Cateras. I purchased an new Escort in 1986. Hip-hop was just invading the suburbs, Ghandhi and E.T. The 4000 Quattro had a unique all-wheel-drive system and the 3 Series rode on a rear-wheel-drive platform not derived from an economy car. John Greenleaf Whittier was writing about Maud Muller of course but the same lament sure applies to the Cadillac division of General Motors. I think Cadillac had a fundamental problem with this Cimarron (as well as many subsequent GM cars): it was a cheap-crap economy chassis tarted up with better seats and passed off to unsuspecting buyers as a luxury performance machine. Detroit had done sporty for years, and even pseudo Euro sporty had been done with cars like the Pontiac Sprints in the 60’s, Grand Am in the 70’s as well as the aforementioned Seville. The regular grade 2.0 Isuzu Aska was sold in New Zealand as a Holden Camira handling was like being on tip toes and nervous they were not much of a drivers car my father totalled his one on the way to work the body shells were very strong it went end for end down a 20 metre bank backwards he climbed out of the wreckage grabbed his briefcase and thumbed a ride to his morning job unhurt except for a cut on the wrist. 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