1991 Cadillac Sedan de Ville: Margaret’s Caddy
I miss the Cadillac of my youth. Who would have guessed, even ten years ago, that virtually all manufacturers would snub the traditional, four-door sedan? But they have. For the majority of 2024 vehicle choices it is truck/SUV/crossover, and little else. But once upon a time, not only did people buy sedans and enjoy sedans, they were the car companies’ bread and butter—especially at Cadillac.
The 1989–93 Cadillac Sedan de Ville was—and is, in your author’s opinion—”just right.” It was a good size but not huge. It had excellent interior room, excellent glass area, and … elegance.
Remember elegance? When not everything had to be a super turbo sports machine? In this day and age, even Rolls-Royces look more like armored Pullman cars than the elegant Silver Clouds, Silver Shadows, and Silver Spurs once available.
But we’re talking about Cadillac, aren’t we? In 1991, all Cadillacs were cars, and with the exception of the Allanté, the Fleetwood Coupe, the Eldorado, and the Coupe de Ville, all were four-door sedans. By 1991 the de Ville series consisted of the $30,205 Coupe de Ville and the $30,455 Sedan de Ville.
Both the de Villes and the front-wheel drive Fleetwood and Fleetwood Sixty Special had a new nose with a power-dome hood and larger grille. And under the hood was the new, 4.9-liter V-8, an upgraded version of the previous year’s 4.5-liter V-8 (itself an enlarged and enhanced 4.1-liter engine that originated in 1982).
Featuring sequential port fuel injection, the 4.9 produced 200 hp and 275 lb-ft of torque, impressive figures for 1991. The EPA average fuel-economy figure for the new engine was 26 mpg, also respectable in its day. Smoothness was still the watchword; the hot-rod CTS and CT5-Vs were still many years off.
Today’s featured car is extra special, as it is a virtually flawless example with extremely low mileage. It is owned by my friend, Ryan Lockhart, who is a fellow Cadillac fanatic.
As he related: “The car originally was sold to Mrs. Margaret Gutzmer of Oakbrook, Illinois. It was sold by Heritage Cadillac, as indicated by the original, new-in-the-box, Heritage of Ownership medallion. It was her third new Cadillac. She took delivery of the car March, 27, 1991, with 12 miles on the odometer.
“She eventually relocated to be closer to family and the car was located in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was inherited by her grandson when I bought the car from him after he owned it a few years. It had 16,400 miles on it when I picked it up. It was in need of a slight mechanical refresh. It now has 18,600 miles on it, nearly three years later, and is superb.
“The Cadillac factory paint is Slate Gray with Dark Slate Gray lower accent and Slate Gray Leather interior. The MSRP new is $32,551. It has De Ville option package C, as well as the digital dash, leather and illuminated entry options.”
I remember these cars so well in my late grade-school and early junior-high years. They were immensely popular in my Midwestern city: Tidy on the outside and roomy on the inside, with front-wheel drive for those rough Illinois winters.
My inaugural experience with one was when my Grandma Ruby was in a slight fender-bender with her 1987 Continental. She got one of these, a then-new ’90 model while the Lincoln was being fixed. And she knew I wanted to check it out, so one day she stopped by and took me to lunch.
Ten-year-old me loved it. It was Carmine Red with a silver lower tone on the cladding, with the same dove-gray leather interior as this one. It was so smooth and quiet. I enjoyed it thoroughly! And years later, I test-drove several, thinking about maybe buying one as an extra “fun” car. But I was still in college then with no place to put an additional car.
And they were elegant! Not a front splitter, rear spoiler, or low-profile tires to be seen anywhere! My folks were members of the Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club and so many of these were in the parking lot back then, along with Park Avenues and Town Cars.
I miss that era. I’ve never been much of an SUV or truck guy. I’ve always been a “car” guy. And with all the seemingly indifferent manufacturers axing four-door sedans left and right, I might just have to find a nice one of these someday, instead of buying a crossover or SUV I know I won’t like!
Reading this makes me miss my 1991 again! Of all the cars owned the 1991 Cadillac was the best by far. It did everything right. The 4.9 engine is incredible. These Cadillacs were a tough act to follow. This one is gorgeous. Great article.
I so agree with the author of this article.
What happened to the cars ?
Why the craze for boring, look alike Crossovers, most people don’t need , or pickups , not for work!
Thank goodness Toyota, Honda, Nissan , of course the Germans , and Hyundai have not abandoned cars !
May they sell well , and are .
I loved Cadillacs since a boy.
All big cars , but especially them .
This Cadillac was a vast improvement over the malaise hangover early 80s ones .
Nimble, and plenty of power.
Tge designer interpretation of the Cadillac spiritual legacy excellent.
They had that sweeping swag.
Anyone who can, must preserve these excellent machines, and lead , not follow.
I bought a donated 1993 Coupe deVille from Copart in Martinez, California in July. The final selling price was $225. It has 64,564 miles and only needs the interior reupholstered. The 4.9 V8 is an amazing engine. I know, because I still own my 1985 Eldorado with a GM replacement 4100.
Well people love what they love but these were pretty dreadful cars….
My 1993 DeVille was serviced at Heritage Cadillac in Lombard, Il, where Margaret bought hers. I Inherited mine from my Step-mother in 2006 with 31,000 miles. I drove it back to Illinois from Santa Barbara by myself and had blast. Like cruising in your living room. We used it for many trips up to McKellar, Ontario about 3 hours north of Toronto. The greatest driving vacations ever.
This was the car GM tried to recover from the even smaller FWD model. It was a disaster in sales.
So to fix it they rushed out bigger quarter panels to make the car look larger.
This is what drove Lincoln Town car sales as they retained size and RWD.
It took GM years to recover the sales and direction. Quality was poor and these cars were just corporate platform Models with Cadillac cues.
It was not till the Fleetwood arrived did they get back some direction and sales.
GM should never have forced Cadillac to FWD.
100%
Chevy quality with a Cadillac price.
Sadly many under estimate the CT5 today. It is a good solid car and it does not need to be a V series. These are damn good cars.
Totally wrong on all counts, it’s obvious you know nothing about Cadillac’s, or the history of the marque.
The ’89 refresh on these C-body cars absolutely fixed all the marketplace and customer concerns, the 4.5L and for 1991, the 4.9L powertrains were bulletproof with excellent reliability. The 4.9L powertrain was the lowest warranty claim powertrain G.M. ever produced, they were just very well built and quality cars. The interior finishings were refined for ’89 with superior quality, and you see the ’89-93 cars with 250k, 300k miles and more.
I will agree the ’85-88’s were a bit of a disappointment in initial quality and reliability, but not at all the case here as these were extensively improved in all respects.
The ’89-93 C-body Cadillac’s really were a beautiful car, and truly improved the reputation of the brand while sales soared for these models.
I usually like to know what I’m talking about before I make a comment, it’s evident you don’t.
“Remember elegance?” Yes, I do…not only in cars, but in dress, language, manners, and a host of other manifestations of our culture which are sadly missing today.
I’ve always been a GM man – like many, for years I dreamed of owning a Cadillac. How ironic that some years back when I was retiring and had the wherewithal to purchase one, they had nothing to offer that even vaguely interested me! I may have to look for a vintage one myself…
This series for me is not very interesting. This one is a beauty though and good for your buddy to get it out and use it. Aim that crested hood ornament at the center of the road, pop a cassette in and enjoy the day.
Tom, the 1989-1993 SDVs are a great package, good size and very roomy. Your friend appears to have a place at The Sporting Club at The Greenbrier. Great car and even greater place to have a house. 👍👍
Onle of my favorite cars was a 92 Coupe DeVille. I was 32 years old and some people my age made fun of my old man car until they rode with me. One actually went and bought the same car and they loved it too. Today at 64 I am driving a Cadillac XTS and it’s just as elegant as the coupe.
Aside from the Eldorado, I wasn’t much of a fwd Caddy fan. These cars never seemed to get the proportions right. I grew up on late 70’s-early 80’s full size Coupe and Sedan de Villes. My mom had a ’78 Coupe de Ville de Elegance…which I loved saying in a Shakespearian voice. Two tone brown/beige with beige leather. 425 cubes. It was like riding on a cloud.
I will say though, the 91 shown here is in exceptional condition. Keep it clean and enjoy it.
I remember Heritage Cadillac in Lombard, IL. The Sedan DeVille of this time period felt very plasticky to me, not the Cadillac of years past. The Lincoln Town Car was a better car at the time.
We still have our 1991 Sedan Devile. Still looks new with 60,000 original miles. It’s light metallic blue with darker blue leather. We maintained it by the book.
I owned a 1991 Sedan DeVille and I want another one. I bought it used, but it was as new as I could hope for for 10k. It is a shame that Cadillac allowed itself to lose the Prestige it established. Hopefully, they will regroup and refresh the general public’s expectations.
95 Fleetwood, rear wheel drive. Corvette motor. More my cup of tea. Though all older maintained Cadillacs are missed!
The Cadillac finally grew into its skin in 1991 with a nod to classic Caddy styling in the front and smooth edges all around. First ones of this smaller size that I liked. I rented one on business in Detroit that year and drove over to the old Clark Street plant to photograph it. As a kid in the 70s, I had the Clark Street address memorized, often typing letters to them asking for literature…and they always replied! Seeing a package from Cadillac in the mailbox was my favorite thing after school. Think they still do that?
Sadly 2019 was the last year they produced new car brochures for Cadillacs. The only ones available now are “digital brochues” on their website. They don’t even produce pdf versions anymore unfortunately. I’ve been collecting for decades so I know that feeling you got when a package came in the mail.