1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville: Gregarious in Garnet

Thomas Klockau

It’s always funny how certain cars trigger certain people. Like folks who go into conniptions whenever a Cadillac from the ’80s is mentioned. Cimarron, shrunken ’86 Eldorados and Sevilles, and the like. All certainly questionable decisions, but I still don’t understand the vitriol when there are equally, or perhaps more questionable new cars today.

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville side
Thomas Klockau

Fortunately I’m not the only one with a soft spot for one of these Caddy’s. A friend of mine, Ray Flynn, actually spent his own money on an example of today’s subject, the 1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville. So unlike some folks who haven’t been within thirty feet of an ’86 Caddy, he has some direct experience and observations.

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville rear three quarter
Ray Flynn

Flynn says: “From the ‘Ask The Man Who Own(ed) One’ department, I have had many Cadillacs (and Lincolns) in the past. Shopping for another car in the mid-1980’s, I checked out the 1986 Cadillac. 

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville rear three quarter
Thomas Klockau

The major downsizing and FWD of the de Ville/Fleetwood series in 1985 was somewhat of a shock to many owners (including me), but ‘The Cadillac of Tomorrow’ was here. I went to the dealership and decided to try one out. It was a 1986 de Ville in Academy Gray with gray leather. 

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville headlight
Thomas Klockau

“The car was loaded with options.  Before pulling out to the street the first thing I noticed was how well the car was put together in fit and finish. It was just as comfortable as the previous generation and interior room was not lacking. 

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville interior
Thomas Klockau

“Being front-wheel drive the car handled much better than expected – and it was quiet. After driving for 15 minutes I was impressed how well it still retained the Cadillac feel but in a contemporary way. I made the deal and bought the car.

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville interior rear seat
Thomas Klockau

“The only negative was that the HT4100 was not the most powerful Cadillac I ever had, but it was acceptable for its size. Had absolutely no issues with anything during the time I owned it. Also, the car was always maintained ‘by the book’ and always by the dealership.”

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville front three quarter
Thomas Klockau

Another friend of mine, Jayson Coombes (who you may recall has generously provided pictures on many of my previous columns), had a Briar Brown/Woodland Haze ’84 Seville Elegante. It too, naturally, was HT4100 powered, and yet it never blew up.

vintage Cadillac Sedan de Ville rear three quarter
Jayson Coombes

As a member of the CLC, he took it on several tours throughout Texas, and while at times it was a little leisurely, especially on hills, it carried on in fine fashion, usually with the climate control set on Max Freeze.

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville front
Thomas Klockau

But getting back to 1986, I spied this very tidy example on a detour. I was planning to go to my favorite local Mexican restaurant when I encountered lots of construction equipment that had backed up traffic, so I instead headed home for a sandwich.

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville side
Thomas Klockau

I spotted this Garnet example on the way, parked at a golf course. I had previously seen it in traffic a couple of times and noted how nice it was. So it was great to finally find it parked, so that I could gawk at it, ha ha. You never know when a change in plans will result in seeing a cool classic car!

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville interior
Thomas Klockau

I loved the color-keyed interior too. This is the new-for-1986 Royal Prima Cloth interior trim, which was standard in de Villes. Leather seating, of course, was an available option. Base price for the ’86 Sedan de Ville was $19,990; the Coupe de Ville started at $19,669. While the front-wheel drive de Ville was all-new for 1985, ’86 models gained a new, plusher seat sew style, and broader bright rocker moldings, previously seen on ’85 Fleetwoods only (the ’85 Fleetwood Brougham was rear-wheel drive and a totally different animal.)

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville interior rear seat
Thomas Klockau

And yes, they were powered by the infamous 4.1-liter V-8. But while they were rather overmatched for the 1980-style rear-drive de Villes and Fleetwoods, they had less mass to haul around in the new, tidier front-wheel drive models. The ’86 version had 130 hp and 200 lb-ft of torque. All were backed up by a four-speed automatic transmission.

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville front three quarter
Thomas Klockau

There were still plenty of people interested in a Cadillac, as 281,296 models of all types were built for the model year. ABS was a new option, a Teves system. It was also available on Buick Electras and Olds Ninety-Eights.

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville emblem
Thomas Klockau

Production of this model is a bit hard to pin down, as GM lumped sales together for both the de Villes and FWD Fleetwood models. All told, 36,350 Fleetwood coupes/Coupe de Villes and 129,859 Fleetwood sedans/Sedan de Villes were built. It is safe to say, though, that the de Ville series garnered the majority of those sales.

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville rear
Thomas Klockau

Of course many options were available—it was a Cadillac after all. Selected items included an Astroroof ($1255), cruise control ($195), digital instrument panel ($238), an integrated cellular telephone—new for the year (at a princely $2850!), memory seat ($235) and an anti-theft system ($200).

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville rear three quarter
Thomas Klockau

While these did look small next to the ’80-’84 de Villes, they had remarkable interior room and glass area. Remember when you could see all around without obstruction (or the need for a camera)? While I never drove an ’85-’88 de Ville, I drove many, many 1989-93 versions, and always marveled at the great visibility and stretch-out room. It’s a shame neither Cadillac nor Lincoln offer anything comparable today. But at least Cadillac still offers sedans!

1986 Cadillac Sedan de Ville badge
Thomas Klockau

Read next Up next: Rarer Than an L88, This 1967 Corvette Sold for $1.7M at Kissimmee

Comments

    The reason these Cadillacs take a hit is they were really a big mistake for Cadillac and they are still trying to recover from the all FWD downsize move.

    It was not just a Cadillac as it killed Olds literally and damaged the other GM brands to a degree.

    I’m glad collectors save these as they should not be forgotten.

    I remember when these things were everywhere. I am often surprised what survives in Illinois considering the salt spray in the winters that I don’t see here in Texas now that I am here.

    I had the HT 4100 engine in an ’83 Coupe deVille and it was still going strong when I sold it at 72,000mi. The 4100 was actually developed for a much lighter car, which finally came out in ’85-a little late. Meanwhile the 4100 had to drag around the big heavy 80-84 rear drive deVilles which seemed to over-tax the little engine to the extent that it resulted in poor performance and longevity. My big Caddy was SO slow, but it got the best gas mileage for a big Caddy! Additionally you had to maintain the 4100 strictly by the book for it to even have a chance of surviving to 70k. Cadillac and others were really experimenting in late ’70s and ’80s to get low emissions and high mileage but failed more than succeeded during that era. Can you say “8-6-4”?!

    I worked at a Cadillac dealership from the mid 1980’s until the mid 1990’s and I had the opportunity to experience the HT 4100 in all of its glory. HT 4100s suffered from leaking intake manifold gaskets causing most all of the mechanical problems they had. Unfortunately, it took until 1989 for them to come up with a fix. After that, the engines were extremely reliable. If you updated an older HT 4100 with the new intake manifold gaskets and the special bolts, it would last forever as long as it was in good shape to start with. Another fly in the ointment with the 1986 model in the article is that it used the new 440 T4 automatic transmission and it took a few more years before they became dependable transmissions. We repaired transmissions from the other models such as the 200 R4 but we always replaced the 440 T4s with GM remanufactured units with updated internals.

    I like how these Caddys maintained interior space in a smaller package. However, their full-size passenger cabin was paired with smaller front and rear ends that looked to be 4/5 scale. The result was a bit awkward stylistically, but the traditional Cadillac virtues were present and accounted for.

    Good move, having a sandwich instead of Mexican food; much easier on the digestion!

    I always liked the great visibility in these mid-to-late-1980’s full-size GM cars. My dad bought a 1987 LeSabre coupe new, and it was a revelation driving it – great handling (it had the Gran Touring package), a light feel, and great visibility. And, the MPG was SO much better than his 1976 Regal coupe (350-4V) that he sold me, as well as a bit quicker. And, he loved how the FWD got him around in the snow. As mentioned by other commentors, though, that 4-speed automatic was not so great, needing rebuilt at about 85,000 miles, and again at about 160,000.

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