Not only did you find one of these still on the road, but one with 2 0 liter four cylinder in it. When the 2.8 V6 became avalible in '85, nearly all the Cimmirons went out the door with one in it per dealer requests until the end of the model run. In order to get a four cylinder in one of these from '85 onwards, you basically had to specially order it which makes this car very rare.

This man is gonna review every car still running

Crazy you found two cimarrons. It should have been released in 85 to give it more development. A turbo four would have given it a unique approach more in line with the Saab 900

i love your videos ive been sub for a while only thing i wish you would do is maybe do a POV drive for maybe just 1 min of the vid so we can get a feel of driving all these rare and interesting cars that we prob will never get a chance to drive in real life thanks man

The same front seats were used in the '82-5 Eldorado Touring Coupe.

Back in '92 I had an '85 Cavalier for about 3 years. I was a mechanic for a large city fleet department (just retired from there last year) Mine was a base model, but had a V6. The 60 degree 2.8L V6 was one of GMs most reliable engines. Due to it's 60 degree layout, it had less of a V6 sound than most V6s. I knew how this one had been treated, so I had a friend buy it for me at auction. We had a lot of Cavaliers in the fleet back then, also Celebritys, Luminas, and Corsicas. The Cavaliers were the most reliable of all of them. I had no problems with mine. They did have a bumpy ride, and they all had what sounded like a muffled rattle from the front end. We never found where it was coming from. After 3 years I moved up to a Crown Vic. I'm still driving one.

Please keep reviewing old GM cars! its honestly just so wholesome!

It's too bad GM rushed this to market. If they could have just waited and released it in '83 as an '84 with all the same improvements it had in '88, I think it would have been a different story.

I bought mine from the original owner 10 years ago. One of the most reliable cars I've owned. It's a beautiful little car

Don't know if anyone else is familiar with the show Motorweek, but Zacks enthusiasm, candor, knowledge and overall demeanor reminds me a lot of that shows host John Davis. Which is a good thing because there's a reason that show is so popular and still on TV.

I purchased new in 1985. It was a Chevy Cavalier. Period. Even the dealership didn't want to deal with it. My wife thought it would be a great little car to run errands. We traded it off in 1986 for a Audi 5000. By the way we had no issues out of that car whatsoever.

Can’t believe you found one! Most of these made it to the crusher. I haven’t seen one in like 30 years

HOLY SHIT thats MY old 1985 cadillac Cimarron LMAO, the American flag on the windshield, Broken mirror controls, the headliner and the small grandma dent in the rear quarter...That used to be mine lmao i have videos of it on my channel I bought it off the original owner with 43,000 miles on it.

What's amazing though, is that the EU J cars (Opel Ascona/Vauxhall Cavalier), were way much better than all of the J cars you had in the States/Canada. Actually the EU J car, not only was a better car, but it was used worldwide as a rebadged car, just like what GM did for the divisions there. So the Holden Camira/Isuzu ...somethin'/Opel and Vauxhall were J car's best variants.

Looks like it has the Delco stereo with the secret radio presets.

I remember WHY the Cimarron was such a disappointment. It was a Chevy Cavalier-- meaning GM's entry level American-built car- tarted up a bit and slapped with the Cadillac name. And they didn't even but much effort into improving the interior over the basic Cavalier interior. Then to add insult, they cost something like $10k to $20k more than the top of the line Cavalier.

It wasn't just fuel economy, the dealers were wanting a smaller Cadillac to compete with the European imports. Like BMW and Audi. It was initially proposed as an X-car (Citation) but the production capacity on those cars was already maxed out. So it got shifted to the J-body. And yes, someone in a suit at GM thought this was "basically a BMW right? It even has a hofmeister kink!"

Totally remember when those came out. Everyone hated them. I still never figured out why. You're right about the heater!!!

A nicer dash, center console from dash to armrest would have helped a lot. Not enough change and upgrade from a cavalier interior. The exterior is nice-ish.

I had an 85 Cimmaron, loved it. Adequate power fun to drive, fairly thrifty, comfy suspension. One thing that was EXCELLENT this little front wheel car would go anywhere in the snow. I had a good size tree limb crush the car while I was driving. This car was solidly built structually, it saved my life.

Oh that dash is a peach. No cracks in a cavalier dash just makes me happy. I'm okay with some bubbling, that doesn't rattle going down the highway.

I'm gonna call all auto headlights "twilight sentinel" now

I owned a 1982 Cimarron, what a POS it was, it was incapable of getting out of its own way even going downhill and off a cliff. The 1982 had a 1.8 Liter carburated 4cyl engine. Please note it was not a "Cadillac Cimarron" but rather a "Cimarron BY Cadillac"

I noticed the Don Massey Cadillac sticker on the back. My parents bought their 81 Fleetwood Brougham diesel from that dealer. Back in the day, they were great to work with.

Great review! These cars are not as bad a people think. I currently own 2 Cimarrons and love them both. My '83 has 56k on it and my '87 has 36k on it. They are mint condition, all original and dealer serviced. I enjoy driving them and always get positive comments when I take them out.

These are cool. Thanks to the owner it was the first time I’ve seen one since the late 90s

Cadillac could have been successful in the compact market if it wasn't so obvious that they rebadged a Cavalier. If they'd developed a new platform that was a little sportier and RWD they could have competed with the BMW 3-Series. They had the ability, even though the later Allante was FWD and had the Northstar it still compared favorably with the Mercedes-Benz SL. It's not a bad looking car and the interior looks decent, it's just clearly based on a car that cost half as much. In the old days, Arab oil sheiks would drive Cadillacs instead of Rolls-Royces because Cadillac used industrial-sized AC compressors. Rolls-Royce, being from a cool wet country, used tiny air conditioners that couldn't keep up with the desert heat whereas Cadillac had generous capacity.

Zack please always try to review old cars.. never stop this 🙌🏼❤️ ❤️ From Bangladesh 🇧🇩

The three speed auto is easily the worst thing about these cars. It might not stand out in a quick review, but when you live with one they sap out what little power and fuel efficiency that 2.0 has. Also the torque converter likes to not unlock so you get a nasty bucking stall when you get off the highway unless you manually downshift them. I would imagine even a four speed manual would be a world of improvement.

I had an '86 which had the '85 face with the 2.8 V6. Also had the vacuum fluorescent (digital) dash. I actually loved and miss that car. Sold it to a good friend. And replaced it with an '85 Pontiac 6000 STE. Also with a 2.8 V6 and digital dash.

CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) The Cimarron was never meant to be a huge seller nor fool consumers with its Cavalier base gussied up. The government told auto producers that if your fleet did not average a certain MPG then you would pay gas guzzler type of tax. Rather than shrink your whole fleet add in a small car and your good to go and can keep the big ones. Lincoln did the same with Versailles that was a Ford Granada, Mercury Monarch. The funny thing is people actually bought a few and were willing to pay a premium for a Cavalier. We still have CAFE today in one form or another.

in 1987 the GM caviller was sold in Europe with a 2 litter as the SRI 130 that had 128 Bhp almost the same power as BMW 320I 129 BHP. It was also a lot cheaper than the BMW

Skyhawks were the best looking J Body imo if you can find one to review and complete the J Body lineup....

Your verbal excellence has actually managed to put a bit of shine on that old turd. My kudos indeed.

I still don’t know why the Cimarron didn’t receive the GM Family 1 2.0L OHC TBI 4 used in the Skyhawk (some models) and Sunbird. I would think it would have a higher redline.

I had a co worker long time ago in the early 2000s who drove a cimaron to work. It was the strangest Cadillac I've had ever seen.

Can’t wait for the new videos in 2023!

I think that's the only J-body ever offered with chrome bumpers. Other than that it looks to me like what a Buick J-body would have looked like and that might have been a better idea. That grille definitely reminds me of my dad's old '89 Century.

The Chevy Cavalier/Caddy Cimaron were sold here in Brazil from 1982/1996 as "Chevrolet Monza". I have one very similar to the Cimaron cause it's four in line with a 3 speed automatic transmission. It's a very nice car, even for today. A lot of people like theese cars in Brazil.

Have had Cadillacs for decades - everything from a Cimarron to deVilles to an Eldorado. Had a 1985 Cimarron back then. I liked it. It was the perfect urban Cadillac for the times. NO complaints. It was fun to drive and easy to park. (also was the best car ever in the snow) I enjoyed it for what it was - Cadillac's version of the J body. Every single division of GM had one back then.

Happy New Year, Guy! Can’t wait to see what new vehicles come this new year!!! Hope you’re smoking on that Illinois ZAZA!!

Despite the rebadge. I like the looks of this Cadillac.

I don't know if it's because they simply don't exist here in Australia (unless someone's imported one), but I've always like them 😅 regardless of whether it's a 4 or a 6, plus they certainly looked better than most J platform cars I've seen

Not only a fast food burger at a 4 star restaurant, but one that costs $30 and comes on the plate with the Burger King wrapper still on it!

Well I could see why it failed. Cadillac is supposed to mean something when you drive one. This is a cavalier. No one felt special driving in one of those.

My father bought the 1985 Cadillac Cimmaron in May of 1985. That car lasted about 11 years or so, but the body rusted out badly over time. Rust sort of bubbled out from large spots all over the body. The steel used on this vehicle must have been really low-grade.

My uncle had a 87 Cimarron with the 2.8 v6 and a 5speed manual. I thought that was nice car. It was a navy blue two-tone fully loaded.

6:03 Don Massey, now Suburban Cadillac was a Cadillac dealership in Plymouth Michigan (metro Detroit). For a while they also sold Rolls Royce and Bentleys. I wonder if this car comes from that dealership....

I think the first gen Seville was a much better product. It was a Chevy Nova underneath. The other one that got bad press, but was actually a decent product with much more technology and quality than its lesser stablemates, (Ford Granada/Mercury Monarch) was the Lincoln Versailles.

That is definitely one fascinating review of the pre-facelift Cadillac Cimarron! Also, Happy New Year to you and your family from Indonesia, Zack.^^

Bubbly , failing headliner reminds me of cancer lumps on my old dog just before we had to put him down

This would've been great if imported to Europe as a luxury trim of the Opel Ascona C with the 2.0 150hp engine. And not being badged as Cadillac of course. They ride the very same platform so probably a lot of parts and underbody structure is the same

one major reason people hated the Cimarron was that it was nothing more than a tarted up version of the Chevrolet Cavalier and it was way underpowered for being a Cadillac 125HP though a Sedan Deville of the same year had the same horsepower though 35 more Ft LB of torque and the Deville weighed 699 LBs more than the Cimarron did the Cimarron weighed 2,630 LBs while the Sedan Deville weighed 3,327 LBs and you can always tell when a Luxury car door shuts as opposed to an import commuter car of the same vintage shuts and you hear the tinny sound because the Steel is thinner and there's also less sound deadening material used then there is in most American cars a Toyota Celica is comparable in weight to a Cimarron the only difference is the Celica was sold in the US for 35 years as opposed to 7 due to its popularity as a low budget sports car and was also popular as a race car in SCCA group 2 and Indy cup series

85,lol. When Nissan came out with the redesigned Maxima with a V6 that was the same or cheaper price then the Cimarron.

Don Massey! Did that car have an original Michigan registration? We had Don Massey Cadillac in the Detroit area!

I like the Cadillac Cimarron, preferably the V6. Things were different back then as technology was just taking baby steps and companies were charged big fines for poor fuel economy. I would love to buy a Cimarron to drive. My daily driver now is my 1887 Pontiac Grand Prix with the 4.3 V6 with fuel injection. Peppy and economical. I hope to drop a 700r4 tranny in it eventually if it will mate up to the motor

To add insult to injury this looked a lot like a Cavalier. Other than leather inside it looked like Cavalier. Badge engineering in its worst shape. Amazing to think there was a time GM had more than 50% market share in America in 1970s and 1980s and lost all that because of junk like this.

Don Massey Cadillac….outside of Milford Michigan!

This is an object lesson in why GM doing things on the cheap ultimately brought them to bankruptcy.

Cadillac really should have used the A Body instead. I liked the Cavalier in the 80s. They were good little cars but they were way to econobox to be a prestige brand.

Cool, My Great Uncle Bob had an ice Blue 1989 one. A nice car. Hurricane Hugo made a tree fall on it, totaled.

Low water mark for Cadillac. They should've just made this as a trim level for a Cavalier you could buy at the Chevy dealer.

Always when I see this car mentioned somewhere I think what it could have been. I imagine a E30 3-series style RWD Cadillac. Perfect blend of sportiness and comfort to pull in all those import buyers. Facelift Cimarron styling with RWD proportions. Cadillac comfort and luxury in BMW 3-series size. What a unique car it would have been. Too bad there was no chance they could have made anything in that nature.

the upload king strikes again 🎉 happy new year!

chevy el camino and ford pinto please !!!

MY NEIGHBOR HAS ONE in his garage with 1,018 miles with White exterior and Red interior (SITTING right next to a LINCOLN DIAMOND JUBILEE he says has real gold & diamonds)

Now I see why Doug doesn't just review any car.

My bf is giving me a dodge stealth and an 06 Escalade…. debating submitting them for a review when I get them lol

The Cimarron is the only Cadillac that is accepted by the Opel Gang. To the bitter end!!

They should have at least kept the Opel interior and suspension

See you next year!!!

Those Thunderbird-ish tail lights looks insanely cheap.

Is the tape on the corners the new fangled 0 MPH bumper replacement for a rotten 5 MPH bumper?

To 2023 the new year is going to be better for me.

Cadillac should have called this the Cinnamon.

They wanted a fuel efficient car, we gave it to them, then they cried about it!

Let’s count all the screws we see in the interior!!!

I kinda want one. Maybe next year.

J series introduced me to Honda. Thx. Really thanks

LOVE the Cimarron, HATE Caddy SUVs!!!

Yes subscribed to you man! Lol you take care too man!!

Happy Belated New Year's !! I warmed up to your videos and love the older cars. You're doing an awesome job !!! Thanks. :-)

ShootingCars is gonna go deaf pretty soon from releasing too many bangers

For what one paid for this still 5 digit ODO, when competition like the Cressida had 6 digit lol

I like it 👍🏽

A fancy looking Chevy Cavalier

Upscale Cavalier

Is the owner's name spelled "Erin" or "Aaron?"

nice car.

It's not a bad car. It's a bad Cadillac.

It took them a year to slap some Caddy badges on a J car?

The dashboard is very ugly, makes Skyhawk/Firenza interior almost luxurious. But Ascona/Cavalier (UK) dashboard is so much better than US-made one. As well as the exterior to be honest.

My grandpa had one of these, it was sad cause he thought it was a real Cadillac. 😢

This car was straight up junk