14th Jul 2014, 19:02
In regards to your 73 Coupe Deville, I used to own a 72 Sedan Deville for 3 years, and by the early 70's, Cadillac's quality dropped off considerably compared to the mid-late 60's. Everything was still very heavy like the doors and hood, but the interior was much more plasticky and didn't hold up. My 72 door panels had cracks in every door, the pull straps were coming loose and the trim felt cheap. The interior was also very bland and boring for a Cadillac. The car rattled over bumps and the body vibrated when hitting the smallest pot hole.
Not sure why it was so bad, but for a Cadillac, that was unacceptable, and I didn't understand why. The car literally felt like a Chevy, the thick leather seats and the 472 engine were probably the best things about that car however. Lincolns of the same vintage did and do hold up much better than the Cads. The bodies and interiors are especially good on the Lincolns. You rarely see a 70's Continental with trim and door panels falling apart, faded, or with any sort of splitting or cracking, and that's because the vinyl and plastic material that Lincoln used was much different than what Cadillac used. It's softer and more pliable, and of higher quality..
The 70's Lincolns feel more isolated on the road, and ride smoother. Cadillacs also ride smooth and float, but the feeling is that you're more planted in the Cadillac, and do feel slightly more of the bumps in the road, while in the Lincoln you hardly feel anything and they're ultra quiet inside. Plus the body feels very tight and solid in a 70's Lincoln. No squeaks, or rattles.
Lincolns in the 70's were definitely still at their high point in terms of build quality, while Cadillacs fell off around 1970-71 model year. Cadillacs were bought heavily during that decade because styling took them there, they offered tons of options and different trim levels, and the name "Cadillac" was cool and sounded much more expensive than "Lincoln", so this is why Cadillac always outsold Lincoln by a huge margin, even though the Lincoln Continental was the better luxury car of the day.
They just didn't appeal to be cool or hip by young people. LOL.
14th Jul 2014, 11:01
Ride quality and deadened noise insulation from the road was more the appeal than handling. Owning one of these always was a way of showing success. My favorites were the Mark I in 55 and a 58 Biarritz. Back then close to 10k. We are talking nowadays with a used Lincoln in this review under 5k. I suspect the gas mileage is a big factor; more so than the vehicle cost. I would find a mid 70s Eldorado Convertible for 10k as my pick today. A nice summer car.