1976 Cadillac DeVille
The DeVille was a trim level above the Series 62 coupe. “DeVille” means “of the town” in French. It was applied to carriages made for in-town or in-city riding. The first Cadillac using the name in production was in 1949 for their hardtop Series 62 Coupe DeVille, the first pillarless coupe/sedan GM produced. It was meant to be like a convertible with a hard top. For their first four-door hardtop in 1956 Cadillac named it Sedan DeVille. This was also a higher-optioned version of their standard Series 62 four-door sedan. Hardtop sedans were very popular, easily outselling their pillared counterparts in some cases, so that by 1959 the coupe and sedan DeVilles became their own “Series 6300”. This new series accounted for almost 40-percent of all Cadillac sales in 1959, and fell between the lower-end Series 62/Calais models and the higher-end Sixty Special/Eldorado. In 1964 a higher-optioned DeVille convertible was added above the standard Cadillac convertible. As Cadillac tried appealing to as many tastes as possible, by 1963 they offered 143 options in the 6300 series. Throughout this period DeVilles were identified by distinctive Deville script on the C-pillar or rear body. By 1964 almost two thirds of all Cadillacs sold were DeVille models. A major redesign occurred in 1965, with an extensive facelift in 1967 and again in 1969. The fourth generation DeVille debuted in 1971. Trim variations and the DeVille script identified them from other Cadillac series. In 1972 a facelift changed the design and also ushered in the federally mandated five-mph bumpers and other safety and emissions regulations. With the fifth generation debuting in 1977, we saw the first DeVilles without rear fender skirts in its history. DeVille sales held fairly steady through this period, with four-doors in the 80-100,000 range and coupes selling around 50-65,000 per year. In 1985 a completely new front-wheel drive Cadillac debuted, downsized significantly from previous generations in an ongoing effort to improve gas mileage. A new “Deville Touring Sedan” (DTS) package was introduced. For 1989 Cadillac saw significant changes made to the sedans, and also a longer wheelbase—up to 113.8-inches. Sales for Coupe DeVilles started to slide in the late-1980s, with steadily declining sales signaling dropping Coupe DeVille after the 1993 model year. Only DeVille and DeVille Concours were produced after 1993. Sharing the all-new K-body GM platform (sharing with the Seville) limited development to a single four-door sedan. This series of DeVille ran through 1999. The 2000 DeVille would be the final version. Introduced in 2000 on the new G-body platform for the past several years the d’Elegance package was the higher-optioned package for DeVille. The DTS package had remained popular, and to that end Cadillac renamed the DeVille as DTS with the new design introduced in 2006. This ended DeVille production.
1976 Cadillac
This was the last year for the big C-body cars as 1977 saw the C-body platform downsized. For 1976 only minor changes occurred including a finer texture grille, padded vinyl tops, and slightly revised taillights. A limited-slip rear end, and “Track Master” which was a ECU-controlled anti-skid system was introduced. 15 standard and six optional “Firemist” paint colors were offered this year. The big news was the addition of the mid-size “Seville”. Available only as a four-door, its severe notchback and heavily arched wheel openings brought a new chapter to Cadillac.
AVAILABLE MODELS:
1976
- Body Style
- Deville Sedan
- Deville Coupe
1976 Cadillac VIN Decoder:
First Character: GM Division
Second- Fifth Characters: Series
Third and Fourth Characters: Body
- 47 ~ 2-Door Hardtop Coupe
- 49 ~ 4-Door Hardtop Sedan
- 67 ~ 2-Door convertible Coupe
- 69 ~ 4-Door Pillar Sedan
Fifth Character: Engine
- S ~ 500ci-V8
- R ~ 350ci-V8, Seville only
Sixth Character: Year
Seventh Character: Assembly Plant
- Q ~ Detroit, Michigan
- E ~ Linden, New Jersey
Eighth-Thirteenth Characters: Production Sequence
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