Monday, September 12, 2011

1988 Cadillac Brougham and 1985 Chevy El Camino

I checked out a few old cars last weekend.  The owners love them and use them daily.  These two cars truly represent the state of the American auto industry in the mid-1980s, for better or worse.

According to Wikipedia, the word "bling" was invented in 1988, the same model year as this land yacht.

5.0 liter, how very metric.



This couch is comparable to the back seat of a Citroen DS.

Weathered landau top.



Electronic climate control!

This is neat.  The Off-Auto switch for the rear view mirror automatically adjusts the mirror's angle, depending on whether it's night or day.  I think the Distance gadget to the left is for parking.






This iconic sunshine plate epitomizes 1980s California.

I rode shotgun for a ride around town.  My legs were stretched out, my right arm was on the windowsill, and my left arm dangled on top of the wide bench seat.  It was literally like riding in a living room.  The opulence!  The decadence!

The owners of the Cadillac also own two El Caminos and a 1964 T-bird (which I will cover tomorrow).  This 1985 unit has a 4.3 liter V6.







3 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2011 at 4:07 PM

    "Decadence", in a good way, is something American cars always had and should exploit today to.

    Nothing wrong about a little bling.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MaxichampSeptember 12, 2011 at 4:58 PM

    @Viva: It's definitely decadent in a good sense.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AlanSeptember 14, 2011 at 9:39 PM

    My first ever experience with opposite lock happened in my friend Spike's '88 Brougham. We were loaded up, about 6 or 7 teenagers in spacious comfort, on a muddy access road after a heavy rain - I floored it and tossed a couple of (hundreds upon hundreds) of degrees of lock on the pencil-thin yacht steering wheel and we slid sideways for a hundred feet or so, spraying mud and water in our wake for a long way.

    Everyone was rightly pissed off at me that day.

    ReplyDelete