1976 Cadillac Fleetwood
The Fleetwood name started as a body manufacturer, and was acquired by General Motors in the purchase of Fisher Body in 1929, who purchased Fleetwood in 1925. From 1925-29 Fleetwood Body built Cadillac bodies exclusively, offering them as an option from 1927-1934. After 1934 Fleetwood bodies were only available on the exclusive Series 75 and Series 90 Cads. By the 1950s it was used as an umbrella to designate more expensive, exclusive Cads, and also as the body manufacturer for the Fleetwood Brougham from 1957-1961. With the addition of the Eldorado Biarritz in 1963 Fleetwood was the body manufacturer. The Eldorado, Sixty Special on the extended Cadillac chassis, and high end Series 75 models were placed under the Fleetwood banner, but there was no separate Fleetwood model. Bare Fleetwood chassis were used for professional coach builders. In 1977 the Sixty Special Brougham and Series 75 were renamed “Fleetwood Brougham” and “Fleetwood Limousine” respectively. In 1985 the Fleetwood name was used on the new front-wheel drive GM C-body platform, while the Brougham became a separate make on the rear-wheel drive GM D-body platform for a single year. In 1986 it became a DeVille option package, before becoming part of the Fleetwood Sixty Special on the stretched C-body platform, and the Fleetwood Series 75 used an even longer stretched C-body chassis. In this period there was a lot of back and forth with the Fleetwood designations and other models. In 1993 the Fleetwood name landed on the rear-wheel drive C-body four-door sedans. When this platform was retired in 1996 the Fleetwood name was as well.
1976 Fleetwood Brougham/Series 75
The 60 Special moniker was dropped for “Brougham” for this one year. After 1976 the Brougham name would not return, while the Sixty Special would be back as a special front-wheel drive model in 1987. Fleetwood plaques were introduced for the first time, and Fleetwood nameplates were placed on the front fenders. This was the last year Cadillac produced a limousine and nine-passenger sedan. 1,815 Series 75 sedans and 834 limousines were produced.
AVAILABLE MODELS:
1976
- Body Style
- 60-Four-Door Sedan
- 75-Four-Door Sedan
- 75-Imperial Sedan
- 86-Commercial Chassis
- Engine Options
- 350ci-Fuel Inj, 170hp
- 500ci-Fuel Inj, 215hp
1976 Cadillac VIN Decoder:
First Character: GM Division
Second Character: Series
- B ~ Fleetwood 60 Special
- F ~ Fleetwood 75 Four-Door
- L ~ Fleetwood Eldorado
- Z ~ Commercial Chassis
Third and Fourth Characters: Body Style
- 23 ~ Four-Door Limo, Aux Seat
- 33 ~ Four-Door Limo, Center Window
- 69 ~ Four-Door Sedan
- 90 ~ Commercial Chassis
Fifth Character: Engine
- S ~ 500ci V8
- R ~ 350ci V8
Sixth Character: Year
Seventh Character: Assembly Plant
- Q ~ Detroit, Michigan
- E ~ Linden, New Jersey
Eighth-Thirteenth Characters: Production Code
- Production number sequence.
Holiday Bonus