Cadillac de Ville series For the body style, see Sedanca de Ville. intended for use in the town or city (de ville). An (un- shortened) limousine or (in the United States) town car has a division between the passenger and driver compart- deVille and Deville redirect here. For other ments and if the driver’s seat is outside it may be called a uses, see Deville (disambiguation). sedanca de ville or town car.[1] The first Cadillac “Coupe de Ville” was shown during the The Cadillac de Ville was originally a trim level and later 1949 Autorama.[2] It was built on a Cadillac Sixty Spe- a separate model produced by Cadillac. The first car to cial chassis and featured a dummy air-scoop, chrome trim bear the name was the 1949 Coupe de Ville, a prestige around front wheel openings, and a one-piece windshield trim level of the Series 62 luxury coupe. The last model and rear glass.[2] The interior was black and trimmed to be formally known as a De Ville was the 2005 Cadil- in gray leather, including the headliner, to match the lac DeVille, a full-size sedan, the largest car in the Cadil- roof color.[2] It was equipped with a telephone in the lac model range at the time. The next year, the DeVille glove compartment, a vanity case and a secretarial pad was officially renamed DTS (an abbreviation standing for in the rear armrest, power windows and highly decorative DeVille Touring Sedan, itself a trim level on earlier mod- chrome interior trim.[2] The prototype “Coupe de Ville” els). was used by GM President Charles E. Wilson until 1957 when he presented it to his secretary.[2] At some time dur- ing this period it acquired a dark Vicodec roof.[2] The 1 Early history prototype “Coupe de Ville” was still in use as of 1976.[2] The Cadillac Series 62 Coupe de Ville was introduced late in the 1949 model year.[3][4] Along with the Buick Roadmaster Riviera, and the Oldsmobile 98 Holiday, it was among the first pillarless hardtop coupes ever produced.[3][4] At $3,496 it was only a dollar less than the Series 62 convertible, and like the convertible, it came with power windows standard. It was luxuriously trimmed, with leather upholstery and chrome 'bows’ in the headliner to simulate the ribs of a convertible top.[3][4] In its first year the Series 62 Coupe de Ville only sold 2,150 units.[3][4] But 1950 sales more than doubled to 4507, and in 1951 sales more than doubled again to 1950 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe de Ville 10,241 exceeding the sales for the Series 62 Club Coupe that year.[3][4] Also, in 1951, Coupe de Ville chrome script appeared on the rear roof pillar for the first time, to further distinguish it from the Series 62 Club Coupe.[3][4] In 1956 the Series 62 Coupe de Ville was joined by the Series 62 Sedan de Ville, Cadillac’s first standard produc- tion 4-door hardtop.[3][4] Similarly to the Coupe de Ville, it was also more expensive and more luxuriously trimmed that the standard 4-door Series 62.[3][4] With 41,732 sold, it also easily outsold the Series 62 sedan in its very first year.[3][4] Given their sales success, it was only natural 1956 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan de Ville that the Coupe de Ville and Sedan de Ville were moved The name “De Ville” is derived from the French de la to their own separate series in 1959, the Series 6300, be- [3][4] ville or de ville meaning “of the town”.[1] In French coach ing joined by a De Ville convertible in 1964. building parlance, a coupé de ville, from the French couper (to cut) i.e. shorten or reduce, was a short four- wheeled closed carriage with an inside seat for two and an outside seat for the driver and this smaller vehicle was 1 2 3 1961–1964 shared the same 130 in (3,302 mm) wheelbase. Engine output was an even 325 hp (242 kW) from the 390 cu in (6.4 L) engine. The De Ville Series had script nameplates on the rear fenders. Standard equipment included power brakes, power steering, automatic transmission, back-up lamps, windshield wipers, two-speed wipers, wheel discs, outside rearview mirror, vanity mirror, oil filter, power windows and two way power seats. Plain fender skirts covered the rear wheels and 4-doors were available in ei- ther four-window or six-window hardtop configurations. Over 53,000 De Villes were sold in their first year as a separate series, accounting for roughly 37% of all Cadil- lacs sold. The 1960 Cadillacs had smoother, more restrained 1959 Cadillac Sedan de Ville rear styling. General changes included a full-width grille, the elimination of pointed front bumper guards, increased re- straint in the application of chrome trim, lower tailfins with oval shaped nacelles and front fender mounted di- rectional indicator lamps. De Villes were distinguished by special script nameplates on the rear fenders. Four- window and six-window hardtop sedans were offered again. The former featured a one-piece wraparound backlight and flat-top roof, while the latter had a slop- ing rear window and roofline. Standard equipment in- cluded power brakes, power steering, automatic transmis- sion, dual back-up lamps, windshield wipers, two-speed wipers, wheel discs, outside rearview mirror, vanity mir- ror, oil filter, power windows and a two-way power seats. 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville Technical highlights were finned rear drums and an X- frame construction. Interiors were done in Chadwick cloth or optional Cambray cloth and leather combina- tions. 3 1961–1964 Interior of 1960 Coupe de Ville 2 1959–1960 The 1959 Cadillac is remembered for its huge sharp tail- fins with dual bullet tail lights, two distinctive rooflines and roof pillar configurations, new jewel-like grille pat- 1961 Cadillac Coupe de Ville terns and matching deck lid beauty panels.[5] In 1959 the Series 62 were moved from the Series 62 to their own se- Cadillac was restyled and re-engineered for 1961. The ries, the Series 6200. De Villes and 2-door Eldorados new grille slanted back towards both the bumper and became the Series 6300 and Series 6400 respectively, the hood lip, along the horizontal plane, and sat between though they all, including the 4-door Eldorado Brougham dual headlamps. New forward slanting front pillars with (which was moved from the Series 70 to Series 6900), non-wraparound windshield glass were seen. The revised 3 1962 Sedan de Ville 1964 Cadillac De Ville convertible now the sole power choice and dual exhaust were no longer available. A new short-decked four-door Town Sedan hardtop appeared mid-season. A mild face lift characterized Cadillac styling trends for 1962. A flatter grille with a thicker horizontal center bar and more delicate cross-hatched insert appeared. Ribbed chrome trim panel, seen ahead of the front wheel hous- ings in 1961, were now replaced with cornering lamps and front fender model and series identification badges Short-rear-decked 1963 Cadillac Sedan de Ville Park Avenue were eliminated. More massive front bumper end pieces appeared and housed rectangular parking lamps. At the rear tail lamps were now housed in vertical nacelles de- signed with an angled peak at the center. A vertically ribbed rear beauty panel appeared on the deck lid latch panel. Cadillac script also appeared on the lower left side of the radiator grille. The short-deck hardtop Town Sedan was moved from the De Ville series to the Series 6200, being replaced by a short-deck Park Avenue.[6] In addition all short deck Cadillac models went from being 6-window sedans in 1961 to 4-window sedans in 1962 and 1963. Standard equipment included all of last year’s equipment plus remote controlled outside rearview mir- ror, five tubeless black wall tires, heater and defroster and front cornering lamps. Cadillac refined the ride and quiet- ness, with more insulation in the floor and behind the firewall.[7] De Ville sales as a separate series exceeded 1963 Cadillac Coupe de Ville their sales level as a trim level for the first time ever at 71,883 units, or nearly 45% of Cadillac’s total sales. backlight treatment had crisp angular lines with thin pil- In overall terms 1963 Cadillac was essentially the same lars on some models and heavier semi-blind quarter roof as the previous year. Exterior changes imparted a bolder posts on others. De Ville models featured front series and longer look. Hoods and deck lids were redesigned. designation scripts and a lower body “skeg” trimmed with The front fenders projected 4.625 inches further forward a thin, three-quarter-length spear molding running from than in 1962 while the tailfins were trimmed down some- behind the front wheel opening to the rear of the car. what to provide a lower profile. Body-side sculpturing Standard equipment included power brakes, power steer- was entirely eliminated. The slightly V-shaped radia- ing, automatic transmission, dual backup lights, wind- tor grille was taller and now incorporated outer exten- shield washer, dual speed wipers, wheel discs, plain sions that swept below the flush-fender dual headlamps. fender skirts, outside rearview mirror, vanity mirror, oil Smaller circular front parking lamps were mounted in filter, power windows and 2-way power seats. Rubberized those extensions. A De Ville signature script was incor- front and rear coil springs replaced the trouble prone air porated above the lower beltline molding near the rear of suspension system.