1971 Cadillac Calais: A Series 62 by Any Other Name…

For folks of a certain age, say “Calais” and many will probably think of the small Oldsmobile of the mid-1980s. But well before the GM N-body Calais, later renamed Cutlass Calais and sharing a platform with the Pontiac Grand Am and Buick Somerset/Skylark, the Calais was the first step in Cadillac ownership.

Well, at least since 1965. Prior to that year, the least expensive Cadillac (please don’t call it the cheapest—it was still a Cadillac, after all) was the Series 62. Of course, it had the same body, dimensions, and excellent engine and transmission as all the other Cadillacs, but the interior was, if not spartan, definitely less flossy than, say, a Coupe de Ville.

But it was popular. Indeed, it was the primary go-to Cadillac for many years. In 1953, 47,316 four-door sedans, 14,353 coupes and 8367 convertibles were built. While the pillarless Coupe de Ville first appeared in 1949, by the early 1950s it was sharing its basic body with the Series 62 two-door hardtop, but had a much more luxurious interior.

Then in 1956, the first Sedan de Ville appeared—one of GM’s trio of the all-new C-body four-door pillarless hardtop body style. At $4698 it was about $450 more than the pillared ’56 Series 62 four-door sedan—and not near as swoopy. As a result it sold about 15,000 fewer copies.

It was still a Cadillac staple, though, and in 1960, 26,824 six-window Series 62 sedans and 9984 four-window sedans sold. Then in 1965 the Series 62 was, in keeping with a completely new body (and missing the signature fins for the first time since 1948), renamed the Calais. It held the same spot in Cadillac hierarchy. Available body styles included a two-door hardtop, four-door hardtop, and a four-door sedan.

By this time the de Ville series was passing the Series 62/Calais by in popularity. Just in four-door sedans, the Sedan de Ville outsold the equivalent Calais 15,000 even to 7721.

In 1971 Cadillacs were once again all new inside and out. And the Calais returned. It turned out that this would be the last all-new Cadillac Calais, ever.

The ’71 de Ville and Calais were only 0.8″ longer than the 1970 models, but looked much longer and lower in person. They were also perhaps a bit less opulent and excessive interior-wise as previous versions, but your author, having once sat in a navy blue ’71 Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham owned by my friend Andrew Bobis, would respectively disagree.

The slick-top Sixty Special was no more, with the Fleetwood Brougham, with its padded roof, remaining as the top “owner-driven” Cadillac. But Cadillac marketers, hedging their bets, renamed it the “Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham” for ’71. All had the padded top. This designation would continue through 1972, then be quietly retired and “Fleetwood Brougham” became the norm again.

But we were talking about the Calais, weren’t we? As always, it was at the opposite end of the Cadillac line compared to the Brougham, but was still a looker with its new sheetmetal and smooth lines.

It was even smoother as the Calais was the only Cadillac in which you could not get a vinyl roof from the factory. Though of course many enterprising Cadillac dealers would put one on if you asked nicely.

But really, that’s a plus these days if you’re lucky enough to find a ’71 Calais. Those vinyl tops looked good, but let’s face it, over years they’d deteriorate and unless you lived in Phoenix, they’d trap water and rust the top from the inside out. Lots of trouble. At least now, 50-odd years later.

For 1971, the Calais came in just two models, a two-door hardtop and the four-door hardtop. There were, for the first time, no convertibles on the standard Cadillac body, with the final de Ville convertible coming off the line at Clark Street in Detroit in 1970. No, the convertible was moved to the Eldorado this year, and a baroque beauty it was, but I’m digressing again! Another time.

The Calais four-door hardtop had a base price of $6075. Remember I said that the Calais’ popularity was going downhill? It was very apparent in 1971. Even with an all-new body, only 3569 were built. And this was the most popular Calais. The two-door hardtop, despite being slightly less expensive at $5899, sold even fewer, to the tune of 3360 units.

Meanwhile, the $6498 Sedan de Ville sold over 69,000 copies, though it must be said the Calais was rather plain when parked next to a Coupe de Ville or Sedan de Ville. They had almost no exterior chrome other than on the front and back ends; a thin side molding was the only adornment to its ample flanks.

I imagine folks walking into a Cadillac dealer showroom looked at a Calais, then at a de Ville, and thought, “I think it’s worth the extra four hundred bucks.”

As the ’71 Cadillac brochure confided, “The Calais is the easiest step to experiencing the pride and pleasure of Cadillac ownership. The brilliant new Cadillac styling and elegant interior appointments, the long wheelbase, the big Cadillac engine and increased-capacity brakes—these and other outstanding features mark the Calais as a true luxury car.”

It was certainly Cadillac priced. Despite looking perhaps a bit plain compared to a Coupe de Ville or Fleetwood, the four-door Calais’ sticker was still more than a Buick Electra 225 Custom ($5093) or Oldsmobile Toronado ($5449) and was within spitting distance of a Chrysler Imperial LeBaron two-door hardtop ($6044).

This may explain why sales for each body style failed to even hit 5000. It was the bridesmaid, not the bride. It just didn’t look as snazzy parked at the country club as, say, a red Coupe de Ville with white top and white leather. And you couldn’t get leather on a Calais anyway.

The two Calais interior upholstery choices included Darlington cloth, a “satin-finish fabric tailored with vertical piping and a horizontal vinyl insert,” again referring to my brochure, which is what our featured car sports. It would be my pick. This choice came in six different colors; the other option was an all-vinyl interior, available in two colors.

But at any rate, the Calais continued through the late 1970s as the easiest choice into joining the Cadillac family. The final year was 1976, which was the final year for this generation. Come 1977, the Calais was no more, and the least expensive Caddy became the Coupe de Ville.

I heard about our featured car before I saw it: My friend Dave Mitchell, who we visited at his shop the day before a car show, told us a friend of his from high school owned it, and he’d stopped by less than an hour before we arrived. I vowed to find it at the show, and the result is the photos you see here. I just adored it—especially the Adriatic Turquoise paint with matching interior! It was the first ’71 Calais I’d seen up close, ever.

And she was a beaut!

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