It's amazing just how huge the Fleetwoods, Continentals & Imperials were in the seventies!!! I miss those big tubs!!! 😁

This is one car who’s front end styling actually improved in the mid-70s thanks largely to the square lamps. But I agree that the fins on the earlier models were nicer and those flexible fillers always looked a little wavy even when new.

I got my driver license in 1976. My parents were comfortably middle-class but not of the Cadillac crowd until a few years later. I remember this car well and "lusted" for it. I eventually got a 76 Eldorado convertible but to this day I look at this Fleetwood Brougham D'Elegance with a certain envy.

I have a 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. When I go for a Sunday drive or on vacation, I leave my XTS, CTS4, and DeVille at home. It floats down the highway like no other car being built today. By the way, there are lights in the fins. They illuminate when the lights are on. I average just 9.9 MPG on mine. Another thing, I can actually get my brother's 10-speed bicycle in the trunk of this car and close the trunk lid.

These cars look best in black or dark blue metallic -- the D'Elegance interior was quite something, I agree.

Daddy drove a '76 D-Elegance for years. He had the optional CB radio built in too.

Honest to god, your show is like I died and went to heaven! All my favorite cars and I can’t get enough of the obscure Cadillacs from the 70s and 80s. 1971 thru 1996 are my all time favorites 🙌

We had a 1975 that I learned to drive on. I did take my test in the Fleetwood and also parallel parked it with a perfect score.

The 1971 - 1976 Fleetwood. The best 70's land yacht! The bumper fillers on this car are replacements and they did a good job installing them. I know someone that had them made in sheet metal and they look terrific. The Fleetwood 75 Limo had an interesting roof. It was higher above the top of the doors and it had that cut into the roof for the rear doors.

Lovely road car. Imagine driving from S.F. to Vegas for a fun weekend with friends back then.

I miss over the top! I like poofy pillow seats and suspension that absorbed bumps and rough roads. I wish we could still have this. With the vehicles today we've gone back in time to the horse and buggy riding on a buck board.

Back in the late 70’s I was working for a used car wholesaler. We bought a 1976 Fleetwood that was 2 years old. What a beautiful car it was. The owners wife had to use it one day and said that it was just the right size!

We bought one for my friend about 30 years ago. Lovely motorcar!

The Wreath on the headlight knob amuses.

I loved the 76 Fleetwood formal series 75 - factory built formal limousine.

The standard Fleetwood seats had big buttons, too, in '76, and IMO looked nicer than both special editions, but they dropped the bordello velour from '75. I had a '74. The footrests are quite functional. It's surprising how sharply these boats could turn, which made them easy to parallel park-- if you could find a 21'+ space.

Wow what a sweet car the epitome of elegance!

Brother, I’m amazed at the detail of your knowledge. Who else could remember something as detailed as the position of a spark plug wire hats off to you.

Love the long 70s Caddys. My grandfather had a 73 Coupe DeVille in dark blue with a white vinyl top and white leather interior. Remember as a little kid in the early 1980s taking rides to the shore reclining in the back seat. No seat belts, just wasn't allowed to put down the rear quarter windows because they would get stuck.

I had a 1974 Miller-Meteor Criterion ambulance, which was built on the Cadillac Commercial Chassis. As soon as I brought it home I put it on the scale at our local metal recycling place for curiosity, and it weighed in at 7160 pounds. On my trip from Denver to NJ I wrote down the odometer reading and number of gallons of gas at each fill-up, and it got 14.5 mpg every time. It floated down the road too. That was over 25 years ago though. Oh, and when I got it, it only had about 67,000 miles on it. It ran and drove like new. But the driver's area was very un-Cadillac like. It had manual high-back bucket seats, and air conditioning delete. But that's okay. It was an awesome car. I enjoyed this video.

I was just lucky enough to get a 1975 two weeks ago with 20k miles out of Palm Springs California it is one neck of a car!!! The weather here in Florida has been terrible and I won't drive it in the rain. I can't wait!!. If you can find one get one you won't be disappointed!!

This video was another opportunity to be pleasantly entertained and educated!

When I was a teenager in the mid 90s, a friend bought a '75 Fleetwood in MINT condition. It was white with a light blue crushed velour interior and looked like a new car inside and out. Even the trunk was spotless. It only cost a couple thousand at the time. He loved that car, but it still killed me to see him daily drive it in the Minnesota winters. It didn't stay that nice for long.

Cool. In their day, when they were new, they were magnificent. How some see them now, 47 years later, a little different perhaps. The low HP 8.2L engine - it didn't feel bad at all, quite torquey, especially the FI version. Smooth quiet power.

Interesting that your example was sold by Bob Moore Cadillac which was a downtown dealership in Oklahoma City , which started life as a Greenlease Cadillac dealership I believe in the 1920's (see Greenlease kidnapping case) and subsequently it was Darby Everest Cadillac before becoming Bob Moore which is still in business today.

Literally my dream car! With velour of course! I think I like the 1973 model the best.

Im always on the lookout for those seat belt guides at junkyards, 90% are already faded and broken!

Took my drivers license exam in my Dad’s 73 version. It was a nice car in navy blue, but I liked his 71 Sedan de Ville better. It was light blue with a great multiple hue blue interior. The car that showed me interiors could be more than black spaces.

Great video. These cars were impressive to see and ride in. At 16, I took my driver's license test in a 1968 Pontiac Bonneville. It was longer and wider, than almost every SUV sold today, except for a Chevy Suburban.

Gorgeous. And stately. While the overall length changed somewhat over the years, the Fleetwoods had the 133" wheelbase as a standard...my '58 Fleetwood has that wheelbase although is about 8" shorter

I own a 76 Fleetwood which I have added dual exhaust to as well as 10.5:1 compression pistons a mild cam and some cylinder head porting. It’s got more than enough power. Hit the gas at 80 mph and you’re at 100 in the blink of an eye.

I took my road test in my Dad's 76' Sedan DeVille !!!!!!! Big ol' boat !!!!!!!

The fuselage Mopars are my favorite dreadnoughts but these Cadillacs are a strong second. Warm up the 500 V8 with a bit more CR, heads and roller cam and drop in a 3.08 or 3.23 posi rear, and you'd have quite a cruiser! Would love to do that some day.

Do you think GM ever did market research to find out whether people would pay to get real wood - or other improvements in quality?

Back when cars were actually comfortable👍👍👍 nowadays even expensive cars have seats made out of concrete it seems like. I will never understand that trend.

Love this series you are showing. I loved those 4 reading lamps as part of feeling like a king driving this car at age 17. I forgot to mention my Uncle bought the car new and had that Huge Chrome hood extension with the Flying Goddess. Which made the hood so much classier and heavier. :)

This and the Lincoln Town Car were the ultimate in American luxury cars of the 70s

I loved these big boats back in the day. As long as you were going in a straight line on a interstate, you were in heaven, just don’t ask it to change direction too quickly… Cadillac coined the term “Road hugging weight” for a reason!

Those seats should be in large cars today,they are so comfortable and great for long distance driving. My dad had a ford galaxy coupe and i remember the seats were so comfy like sitting in sofa.

Cadillac, Cadillac - long and dark, shiny and black! Open up your engines let’em roar, Tearing up the highway like a big ol’ dinosaur! 🎶

I don't know how Adam provides Such GREAT car reviews and SO many! wow, these are all very insightful and interesting. This is my favorite channel and I watch streaming on my TV so dont have the opportunity to press the "like" button but I am doing that on my computer now, so Im doing this for all the videos Ive seen lately haha

My grade school music teacher had one of these, in this exact color scheme. It had a bumper sticker on it that said MAFIA STAFF CAR.

LOVE this car!! 👍✨

This is the Official Boss. It’s as near ‘70’s Cadillac perfection as it got. I’d give a body appendage for this one.

I recall someone where I grew up that owned this car. It was dark blue. I used to think that car is long. I now know why. I often wondered what the reading lamps on the doors were. I now know why. They used to pay so much attention to detail in the interiors. Just looking at the dials and knobs they have a rich look. You compare the 1993-1996 Cadillac Fleetwood to this Fleetwood, you can see something was lost in the interior in terms of luxury. The 1975 new front end styling was preparing for the 1977 model year. The 1989-1992 Fleetwood was trying to recapture what this car had. I will say the 1989-1992 Sixty Special had better seats. You are correct these car moved. This was not a bad looking car at all. I laughed and appreciate the Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight story as well. Score one for Oldsmobile. I just do not understand why interiors go so cheap looking over time. That is a big factor. Thank you Adam.

Man that's a nice car. I could live in that thing.

Hey, don't knock those rear-seat footrests, that's a CADILLAC you're talking about! :) For me this is absolutely the epitome of what true excessive and yet glorious American luxury is all about, this 76 is the true epitome body style for me of what it meant to be successful in America during my childhood. I adore it in all it's opulence! And PS: I have always adored that dash, I love that steering wheel, the idiot lights hidden above the cluster, the gas gauge in the middle of the dash, as well as the fiber optics on the front fenders. It's just everything I remember as being special as a kid (my uncle had one) and it STILL looks special and rich! And finally I even like the wiper control - yes, I'm nostalgic, what can I say.

Perhaps THE most comfortable cars ever built.

Great video Adam! This was one of my favorite cars. My parents had a 1972 Fleetwood Brougham, and it was awesome.

Hi Adam, in my Aussie RHD '74 Fleetwood, there are little lights in the "circular bulge" in the outer rear reflectors units, AND, if these reflectors are unscrewed and kept 'factory" clean they are quite bright, they are strange little "bottle" bulbs and you can buy brighter ones. If this is done the whole reflector unit works to project quite a bright red glow, again I feel this was to appease the ADR (aust design rule) authority. As the Aussie delivered GM-H Aust cars have a unique brochure, AND service manual, as we have an entirely different wiring harness, there are many differences. eg, the Aussie low/dip beams legally to be ADR compliant are brighter that the US high beams, additionally at the rear from May 1974 we needed to have an amber turn indicator at the outer edge of the car, so the Aussie rear lights have amber panels at the outer ends of the light units, and NO clear reverse lens, as the rear amber units were standard fitment to all cars from July 1959. Reverse lights could be amber or clear. Rear Turn indicators 1959 mandate ONLY AMBER. So our GM-HAust built cars have Hella Aust cast rear light units to be compliant. As an aside, some friends in the Aussie Cadillac La Salle club were unaware the outer reflectors actually illiminated with little lights, as due to age, dead bulbs, filth ingress and bad earths they were not working . However I had cleaned up a few guys cars so they now work, plus have fitted brighter little bulbs & now you can get little LED ones that are even brighter. ALSO, the wiper mechanism, if it suddenly starts raining, kill 2 birds with 1 stone, just push WASH, as wipers start IMMEDIATELY on medium speed, and both commence eradicating the rain, and wash any crap of the screen too. Here in Australia the GM pulse wash system was not deemed acceptable by the federal Aust' Design Rule authority (for cars) so our GM Holden, Aust built RHD Fleetwood's also have an second additional normal type full pressure pump including a whole separate water bottle, an additional set of final left & right-side nozzles with twin jets apiece, the fluid bottle is from Holden Torana from the early '70's, and the twin nozzle jets from the Holden Statesman's, so EIGHT jets of water flush the screen, quite impressive. This is the same on both my 1972 & 1974 RHD Fleetwood's SO when you hit wash you get the US pulse action, and the Aussie pressure squirt action, there is so much pressurized water hitting the screen any crud is gone in moments AND, no glass scratching due to so much bulk water. New passengers to my 1972. or my 1974 Fleetwood's are amazed at the "show". 20years ago a cousin in the states bought for me a new set of 5 rear body filler panels, hermetically sealed in a box , never opened in sealed plastic bags ALL the new ones were useless, even in the dark in a box in a warehouse they were commencing self-destruction. Disappointed, as a keen surfer when young I was used to fixing mates surf boards , so I made quite a good temporary set, then in 1995 in a Hemmings magazine there was a COLOR two page spread by a company with GM's approval who was making them in super dark grey resin with some kind of agent in the mix which gave a reasonable amount of flexibility also they were prepped in some kind of special undercoat to allow the flexibility factor. Upon receipt, I wondered how they would fit. They were PERFECT 100% & I was seriously impressed, I painted them black to match the car, and now in March 2023 28 years later they are still perfect, all the holes were drilled, or, cast in them in entirely the correct spot and lined up perfectly. That company made ALL the GM fillers, even the giant nose cones for some Pontiacs & the Stingrays with the flexible nose cones. A mate bought one of the Corvette Stingray ones and again it was perfect, I saw it fitted & it was stunningly correct.

I can thank the '08 financial crisis for me learning about these cars. At the time I worked for a contract engineering firm, usually assigned 100% to one or another local construction equipment manufacturer, but due to the turmoil there were suddenly gaps in my usual work. One of the gap-filling projects had me looking into requirements for a bumper-hitch car trailer to be made of aluminum, and my thought process went to something like "my dad's collection of Austin-Healey Sprites are quite small; the '72 Ninety-Eight my grandfather had when I was a kid was quite large. What are the biggest and smallest cars someone might want to put on this trailer?" and it led me to cars like this, the Series 75s and the Imperial on the larger end.

I have one of these cars; the D'Elegance model. Ironically, it, too came from Bob Moore Cadillac in Oklahoma City. I bought it off the original owners nephew who had inherited her estate and she lived in Oklahoma. It has 38,000 original miles. These are awesome cars. I remember them when they were new. My 6th grade teacher had one and I remember asking her to sell it to me when I was in college, but she would not. So I had to wait close to 30 years before I got one! LOL The '73 Chrysler Imperial may have been the longest car by an inch, but this Cadillac had the largest post war production engine ever put in a passenger car. 500 cubic inches, or, as he said, 8.2 liter. I'm not sure what he meant about the fins not illuminating. They do! On the sides. They function as the tail lamps. You got good mileage on yours. I never got more than around 10/11 MPG on the highway with mine.

5:30 One interesting video topic would be an early-production 1977 Fleetwood, made when they were still installing footrests. I assume the footrests made it a little more comfortable for very short people in the rear, but from what I've read, owners complained that the new body, now lacking the 3" wheelbase stretch, didn't have enough legroom to justify the footrests, and that they just got in the way. I've always thought GM should have delayed the downsized Fleetwood and given it a higher roofline, slightly higher seats, and power adjustable thigh-bolsters in the rear (instead of the footrests) to differentiate it from the Deville and preserve its reputation as a car with room for 6 large adults.

I had owned a 73 sedan Seville, a1970 Imperial, and a 73 Lincoln,paid a 100 dollars for the Lincoln back in1993 sat in a garage for many years,had it towed home got it running and the ac still worked

My favorite car of all time! Love the Black!

One of the best Cadillacs ever in my opinion. I grew up with these cars and currently have 2 of them, both d’Elegances.

This car is fitting for any mob boss. It's got that La Cosa Nostra vibe

It might be the longest but it's still probably half a ton lighter than the modern Escalade.

Adam, do you think the rear lamps were mounted inboard in 1974 to more easily meet the 5 mph rear bumper impact standard?

Adam, have been following you for quite some time. but this is my first comment post I beleive I have seen all of your videos, some several times. Really appreciate the detail you provide as well as the inside scoop. Your voice is very easy to listen to and I find your presentations relaxing to watch. Keep em coming. I am such a fan of vintage cars, especialy 60's and 70s when it was possible to distinguish between makes and years unlike today.

Enjoying you're teaching me of these beautiful cars I grew up with!😊

I remember the reading light on the front passenger door of my 1974 Fleetwood d'Elegance, but not the driver's door. I wonder if that is reflective of a model year change or fading half-century-old memories. Regardless, it was wonderfully special car.

I miss velour seats 😢

Adam, While your on "longest" car kick I wish you could please set up a chat with Wayne about GMs longest 4dr hardtop ever produced (1975/76 Buick Electra) Which was even longer than Cadillacs own 4dr hardtop at the time. The Sedan Deville. Especially since Wayne was chief designer for those particular years of Buick Electra

Another great presentation...

This was something that was well worth having even when the masses were lusting after all the Toyotas, Nissans and Mazdas of the world!

Absolutely beautiful automobile!!! ❤🇺🇸

My grandfather had a 1976 Brougham and it was very luxurious. I will say that I always felt that the interior room was not totally reflective of the overall size, especially in the front seat. He had previously had a 1960 and 1965 Cadillacs and they for some reason felt much more roomy. My favorite among my families vehicles for room was my other grandmothers 1963 Electra 225 6 window sedan which I later inherited from her in the late 70's.

Epic sized classy car. Hard to believe it actually existed but it did. Nice..

Great video Adam! This was one of my most favorite cars back in the day. It was like a personal limousine.

This was the car in which I learned to drive in 1979. From that experience I can parallel park anything! And it was soo comfortable on our yearly trips to FL. This was my mom's car, as my dad drove an Old's 88 (which was large too). Ours had a leather interior which in the summer was grossly hot!

The 1969 Cadillac was also a restyle of the rear appearance, squared-up, bulkier. The '69s had a one year only taillight, a red plastic lens, visible on three sides. They sold, but the rear quarter had an unfinished look. That, combined with the less-than-luxurious plastic dash panel, sent Cadillac back to the drawing board for 1970. The taillights returned to a more traditional look.

Saying that the plastic/rubber bumper fillers on these vehices "tended to crack" is quite an understatement. "Tended to completely disintegrate" would be a lot more accurate. The same could be said of all the GM vehicles of this era which utilized these dubious bumper fillers.

This Cadillac was so long that it had to also come with a long name.

Probably one of the best automotive channels on KZfaq

I would love to drive those again. Beautiful car!!

Loved the lincolns caddys and imperials used to see it on mannix and mission impossible.ah! The 70s.

I remember this one! The heyday of the American automobile.

Great video Adam. Love this last generation of real Cadillacs except for the rear end styling. Had thoughts of putting a 1973 bumper on instead. Looks like it might almost work. Maybe.

This rivals the contemporaneous Lincoln Town Car in size, but the Lincoln still seems closer to being a limousine than the Fleetwood Brougham.

Drive In's must have hated cars like that, think of how many friends you could get in that trunk --- and snaks..... Thanks Adam for your time and work.....

It's got a 6 body trunk

11:34 - EIGHT point two litre??? That's 4 times the size of the 4 cylinder under the hood of my 2010 Honda!

Very cool!!!!! 😎 👍

My parents had an all gold (paint, vinyl top, interior) 1973 version of this. I was the designated car washer. And waxer. Yay me. I don’t recall it being fun. Lol.

My brother raced a 70's Sedan de Ville on a 1/3 mile dirt track in the 90's. He won his division, The Hales Whales division, min 118" wheelbase.

I have a 1973 fleetwood and it is a enormous car. Good Video

Don't know if this qualifies? Owned a Mint 1983 Fleetwood Brougham D' Elegance Black/Red Leather. Bought it in 1985 w/only 30,000 miles. Gorgeous w/all the comforts of home.

I had one of those in NY back in '91, ALL 5213 LBS of it! 😆

We had one. I grew up getting toted around in the car. I would love to drive one some day.

Stunning Caddy, yet the longest production passenger car ever was the owner-driven '74-'76 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 75 Sedan - if the divider window equipped Limo version is too formal(?) - while the most luxurious production Cadillac was the Fleetwood Talisman of the same vintage. Except for the Chevy Nova-sized Seville, all '75 and '76 Cadillacs came w/the biggest standard V8 ever, the 8.2L 500

Having spent a fair bit of time in the back seat of one of these - acres of room, but those footrests were completely superfluous. (And the latching mechanism went out). Never through the front seat travel was quite enough however, given how huge these things were. Guideamatic (and similar systems at Ford, probably Chrysler too, but never drove one with that) was popular but felt like a gimmic. Occasionally tricked by streetlights, but more to the point, who tools around with their brights on? Maybe on a country road, but even around a blind corner you'd the see the other guys lights in the trees and switch down. I liked the old button on the floorboard :) Presumably my present cars have something similar, but I've got 130k on one of them and have never knowingly used it. I do however love the delay off and interior illumination feature.

My grandfather owned the twin to that car. So huge and luxurious, but guzzled so much gas. Great car.

Nice I had a 72 sedan Deville with the 472 ci v8 back in the day, I remember about 8 mpg from that.

Adam,I enjoy your informative posts.The automotive knowledge you have is off the charts.I would have loved to see the trunk in this video.Obviously it's enormous. Other than that great video.

Nice car and a thumbs up.

Now, THAT'S a Cadillac! Beats any Chevy Tahoe in drag with a wreath and crest tacked on any day! 😊👍

A Fleetwood BRO-HAM of elegance! Yessirree Bob! They don't make'm amywheres like that anymore!

Bring back "The Hog"

Very enjoyable episode!