I have a different approach to looking at cars currently for sale based on the platform. With Craigslist, I usually default to “manual transmission” as that filters out most of the cars I’m not interested in. Facebook Marketplace is a mess, so I usually let it guess what I want to see and enjoy being amused by the response. With eBay Motors, I like to select the “modern classics” section, which brings in a lot of ’70s and ’80s cars, and today we’ve got two very different views of modern classics.
There’s this theory I have that Malaise Era cars are super cool again, which is somewhat related to the Radwood effect, but skews towards early ’70s and mid ’80s cars, whereas Radwood always feels more late ’80s – ’90s to me. If Radwood is Saved By The Bell, then Malaise is CHiPs, or maybe The Fall Guy.
Arguably, neither car from yesterday would have fit, as the Celebrity is too new and the XC70 is a decidedly Bush Era car. Even with the potential transmission issue, the Volvo captured most of the vote by a Texas mile.
That Volvo is uncomfortably close to my parents, and I’m slightly tempted to have them go check it out, so if anyone wants an E39 manual with high miles, let me know. My goal would be to get enough for it that I could get an older XC70 and set some money on fire inside of it.
But onwards to today. I probably couldn’t convince anyone in my family to buy either, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see the promise in both.
1985 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham D’Elegance – $4,200 OBO
Engine/drivetrain: 4.1L V8, RWD, 4-speed automatic transmission
Location: Arlington Heights, IL
Odometer reading: 64,000 miles
Operational status: runs and drives “beautifully”
Oh boy, this is going to be fun. I love these mid-80s Cadillacs and Lincolns because they remind me of my wonderful, amazing grandfather. I was his only grandchild, so he understandably focused in his attention on me, but I get the sense that if I had a brother or sister, he’d somehow just double the amount of attention he could give.
The earliest car I remember of his was a mid-’80s Ford Crown Victoria LTD with a plush blue interior that matches what’s inside this Cadillac. I’m pretty sure my mom was driving the car because something had happened to one of our vehicles, but it was definitely grandpa’s car.
This specific model is interesting, and I’m sure Mark would be able to tell you more about it. The 4.1-liter V8 is, of course, the much-discussed HT-4100 V8. I’m not into ’80s GM products in general, and I had to squint to remember if this was the RWD model or the weird, transverse-V8 FWD version. It is, thankfully, the RWD one.
According to the seller, it’s been gone through mechanically, and so the biggest improvements are all going to be aesthetic. In addition to fading paint, it’s missing some body trim around the trunk. The headliner is sagging because even a low-mileage car is subjected to gravity. A little paint and body work, and this thing would be a slow but fashionable way to get around town.
1984 Dodge Colt – $4,950 (OBO)
Engine/drivetrain: 1.4L inline-four, FWD, twin-stick manual transmission
Location: Pasadena, CA
Odometer reading: 237,820 miles
Operational status: Was a daily driver in the early 2000s
What is the exact opposite of that Cadillac? Probably this Dodge, which has a little inline-four, a manual transmission, and puts its power down via its front paws. It’s also a captive import, as it’s actually a Mitsubishi underneath all of that. One of Chrysler’s many experiments in selling other cars under its various brands.
These things aren’t particularly powerful, although they are light. I am a little curious who might win in a drag race between the V8 Caddy and the little Dodge. It would be close and, also, extremely boring. There’s only one big question to ask when looking at a Colt, and it’s “Twin Stick?”
The answer, I think, is yes. That’s a good sign, even if the interior also needs work. As Mark explained in the past, the “Super Shift” transmission was a four-speed manual with a two-speed final drive, which is most notable for having two reverse speeds.
As you can tell, this one needs work. It was a daily driver before it was garaged, which was roughly around the time the Ted Danson vehicle Becker went off the air.
Which end of the Malaise Era spectrum appeals to you?
Top photo: eBay Motors
Where is the option for how about neither???
I used to own a 1991 Brougham D’Elegance. You DO NOT WANT a HT4100 car. Unless it was eff it money, under $1500, then drive it till it blows up or the trans slips. The 200R4 isnt that great either. The years you want are 77 to 81, which still had big block Cadillac motors, the TH400 trans and a beefy rear axle. Or a 90, 91 or 92 with the optional 350 Chevy TBI. Or a 91-92 with the base 305 Chevy TBI. The 86-90 with the 307 Olds is okay, still pretty gutlass and has that silly electronic feedback carburator. That means you get a check engine light with a carburetor. GM was just horribly managed back in the 80s, they were using tbi or multiport injection on all their other cars in those years.
As for the condition of this Cadillac, $4200 is a joke cause its going to need paint, vinyl top and has at least some rust being an Illinois car. Great car for loose couch cushion $$$ as a beater, but yeah $1500 tops, maybe less than that if it isnt mechanically flawless with good tires
Going with the little car because…why not. I have more need for a cheap run-about than living large in 70’s-80’s levels of luxury.
One word: Brougham. A word which … I don’t know what it even intends to mean.
If the interior wasn’t fubar, I would have gone for a two sticks Colt anytime!
I haven’t driven either of these models that I remember, but I’ve driven enough 1980s big GM things to know that the Cadillac isn’t fun and enough small 1980s things to know that the Mitsubishi isn’t fun either. I guess I’d go with the Cadillac because if I had enough imaginary dollars to fix it up it’d at least have presence and be a good highway cruiser? Realistically I don’t want either of these. Also, what the hell is it with those trim bits between the bumper and the trunk? I haven’t seen one of these with those intact since the early 90s. What were they made out of?
That Dodge looks like the Cadillac beat it up because it didn’t pay its protection money on time.
Well played.
1984 Dodge Colt – $4,950 (OBO)
OBO indeed! $4.95, take it or leave it.
(I’ll kick in an extra $5 if you put the battery back)
Takes me back to my dad. He always had a 4 door Cadillac usually purchased from my uncle who had a few less kids so a lot more money. He bought new and when he did sold the gently used one to dad. His were usually brown or blue but the missing vinyl between the rear fenders and the tail lights Sooner or later happened to all of them.
The Colt is crackhead priced. Caddy for sure.
Caddy for sure. That twin-stick would make for an interesting conversation piece, but I like having conversations on comfy couches, so we’re back to the Cadillac anyway.
OBO sounds like a $3K might buy it, and overall it doesn’t look bad – filler panels, paint and top are all things I can do out in my own garage. Not a fan of the 4100, but if it bites the dust, I think a TPI 350 would fit in there easily enough. Good bones make for fun projects!
Ha – an LB9 305 or an L98 350 would be a barrel of laughs in this barge.
The Colt is not worth what it would take to make it street worthy. The Caddy at least is running. Talk them down to 3500, invest the 700 in polishing discs and a new headliner and you will have a decent 10 yard looking car. Wouldn’t want to put gas in it but the rolling couch is the better buy imo.
I like the Colt, but that much money for a base Colt with a trashed interior is bananas.
I have an irrational love for this Cadillac body style (various names), but this is an “in-between” era where you don’t get the late Olds/Chevy small-blocks, nor do you get the big block Cadillac motors in the early models. I’ve heard of 4100’s lasting, but you need to go very easy on them, maintain religiously, and even then it’s a crapshoot.
Luckily, SBCs grow on trees. Hey, that rhymes!
The Cadillac is alarmingly close to me.
*checks bank balance*
Oh, nevermind.
I think I’ll star in the John Hughes movie set in Illinois with the Cadillac, not the horror movie set in California with the Colt, thanks.
Given your handle, I expected you’d opt for the colt, but that interior is more penicillin than tetanus shot.
Cadillac. I’m not particularly interested in a Colt anyway, let alone one in that condition.
That Colt needs to be put out to pasture or have the first digit removed from the price.
In this case, Dodge isn’t a noun, it’s a verb. Best offer? $49.50.
I like these Colts and dislike land yachts, yet I picked the Caddy. That Colt has to be just about exhausted mechanically and the trashed interior is a huge deterrent. Get the poor Caddy some finish panels and ooze around town like an 80-year-old retired banker circa 1990.
“Ooze around town”
I like that description.
A Cadillac with the HT4100? No thanks. Those engines were shit. Not efficient, not powerful and parts/service is more difficult on them.
Twin Stick Colt FTW!!!!
Yep… I’d rather have that rough Colt over a Cadillac with that POS HT4100.
The Dodge, just because it’d be fun to figure out just how to drive the bloody thing.
(I’ve had a big-ass GM car–it was my first-ever, a $300 Chevy wagon, although my parents’ Olds 88, also ridiculously overlarge, is what I learned on–and have no desire to pilot one ever again.)
These are both headed for the crusher.
Gun to the head? Probably the Colt.
Going with the Fleetwood (mainly for the name), but can’t say that I’m thrilled about it. Wanted to like the Colt a bit more than I did, but it’s just a bit too hammered up to like.
In addition to four cigar lighters, these cars had four polyphonic horns, which made it sound like something that should say Union Pacific on the side.
We have to be close to the end of crack pot pricing. Maybe an old caddy in il that isn’t a pile of rust is worth something. But both of these really would have been no more then $1k reasonably. They both suck and for the money it’s just insane. I guess there are some Cadillac guys obsessed with brougham so maybe something there. For $5k go find some kind of funny little kei car or other import.