Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

The Last of my Dream Cars. 1994 Cadillac Seville STS

The STS was the first Cadillac since 1977 that car guys could take seriously.

When do dreams die?

There was a time in my life as a young adult when I still lusted after certain cars. I would read all the magazine road tests and my head would swivel like a parrot's when one would pass by on the street. I even did a little daydreaming about them. I was still naive enough that I thought that the ownership of a certain car would make a statement about who I was. My success, and my prospects for a successful future. It would be a sign that I had made it. Maybe.

Now it wasn't just that I was a status conscious person. I was also a very serious Cadillac fan. Of many years standing. I had owned many older models from the '50's and '60's. My previous dream car had  been my 1977 Coupe de Ville. Up to that time, the '77 was the realization of the perfect Cadillac. These were the downsized models that proved that Cadillac's concept of the luxury automobile still had validity. I had purchased a '77 when it was three years old, it was 1980 and I had finally graduated from college.

I drove that car until 1984 when I was working down in southern California. I was now married and my Wife used the car for her daily commuting. She did a good job of it. I had owned the car for four years and though I really hadn't had many problems with it I was making frequent trips back home to the Bay Area. I was new on the job and did not want to have a breakdown, miss work, and call attention to myself. So we ended up buying our first new car, a 1984 Mercury Cougar. A nice car but no Cadillac.

                                    


                                            My Wife and I really liked this commercial.


Twelve years later it was 1996 I had been back in the Bay Area for several years. We had owned our current home for seven years and our three kids were still young enough that I wasn't worried about paying for college any time soon. This is a great time in family life, and while not flush with cash, money wasn't as tight as it had been.

While I was still involved with motorcycles, I had gotten the itch for a hobby car. I had bought a couple of older Honda Civics. These were small inexpensive little cars and I did have fun with. On a day off I had been driving my little Honda wagon and had stopped at a used car lot to check out a first gen Prelude as I was getting the yearning for something a bit plusher than that Civic. When I got home I was surprised that my wife had passed by that lot on her way to lunch, and had seen me.

What really surprised me was the question that she asked. "Do you ever feel poor driving that little old Honda?" I couldn't say that I did. I mean it was just an old car, it wasn't like I couldn't afford anything better. Besides I still had my Harley Sportster in the garage. My self image was still tied up in being a Harley rider.

Again my Wife surprised me by telling me that I should look around for a car that I might like.

Of course there were already several cars that were already on my radar.

One was the Mercedes SEC coupe.

photo source: benzworld.org

This is a car that I still find very attractive and would still like to own. I found several examples that were pristine, and were priced less than the Cadillac that I would ultimately buy. I love coupes and this one is just the right size. I always found the immensely fashionable SL a little too cramped.

Another Mercedes was the S class sedan. The 560 SEL was quite the impressive sedan and Mercedes was becoming the status standard. I had been enthralled by the earlier 450 SEL and even more by the 450 SEL 6.9.

What counts is that little badge on the trunk.

I had become infatuated with the Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9. Everything  that I had read about it described the performance as incredible. Also incredible was the amount of specialized maintenance and repair that would be required. There was that amazing hydraulic suspension system for one thing. All the articles warned about avoiding one that had important work neglected or came without any kind of service history. I guess I dodged a bullet on this one. I waited many years before I dived into that pool!

I was at a used car lot that specialized in pristine European luxury makes looking at SEC coupes. There happened to be a very nice Jaguar E type coupe parked next to the Mercedes, and it was substantially less expensive. I barely gave it a glance, I mean who would ever take a car like that seriously?

Being an avid reader of Car and Driver magazine I learned that an American competitor to the 6.9 was in the wings.

It came in two flavors, the Eldorado ETC and the Seville STS. Both were powered by the high performance version of the new Northstar motor. Performance exceeded that of the 560 SEL and matched the 6.9. Plus it was a Cadillac!


Although I had always preferred coupes and would have liked to have the Eldorado I also had a family to consider. There was plenty of room in the back of the Eldo, but getting the kids in and out would be easier with the sedan. I promised my young son that "he could have a door of his own." This was the first time that I had ever chosen a four door as my special car. Up to this time I had always considered a sedan as an old man's car. Or even worse, a family car.

This car looked great from either direction.

Very supportive but comfy seating.
This was not your Grand Dad's Caddy!

The interior was spacious front and rear. Those seats were so comfortable and did that leather smell good! The STS was trimmed with real Zembrano wood, gorgeous! The Seville was a very good handler and could cruise at ridiculous speeds. There was plenty of room inside. With a large trunk it was a comfortable and practical family vehicle. The first five or six years of ownership was spent driving everywhere in comfort and style. I felt like we were one of those lucky families portrayed in those old Cadillac advertisements.

This was the engine that replaced the notorious HT 4100.
In 4.5 band 4.5 configurations. It was proven to be a worthy motor.

The '92 Seville had debuted with the 200 hp. 4.9 OHV V8. This was a smooth and reliable powerplant. It was a massive improvement over those awful 4100 engines. I test drove a couple of Sevilles with the 4.9 and they were quite competent.

But the STS came with the Northstar, and almost 50% more horsepower!

It was truly a marvel at the time.

The 4.6 DOHC 16 valve all aluminum V8 was the stuff of dreams. In STS form it produced 295 hp. with an even 300 lbs. ft. of torque. It may not sound like much now, but the Corvette, and the turbo 300ZX had the same output. This car was tested by many automotive mags and it attained 145 mph. on the top end.

I had a custom license plate frame made that read; "Northstar, Make a Wish!"

My car was a low mileage '94 example that had been treated to a set of '96 chromed alloy wheels. This made it look like a brand new car. It made it appear that I was driving a brand new Cadillac.

This caused me some mixed feelings. On one hand I was proud to drive such a prestigious automobile. Then conversely, it made me feel a bit self conscious. Like I was a poser. My Wife thought that after I bought this car that I would be happy, if only things were that simple! I became fixated on keeping the car immaculately clean. I decided that the best thing to do was to keep it in the garage under a cover except for the infrequent times that I chose to drive it. This was how I kept my '71 Rivera so clean. My Wife asked me why I was keeping it in the garage. She was not so sympathetic with my concept of preservation. Especially since we still had several years of payments to make.

So she said, If you're not going to drive it, then I will. So she did.

That put an end to any special feelings that I had towards the car. It was now "just a plain family car."


My poor Wife just couldn't understand my feelings about the car. She thought that my buying the car would satisfy me. But unless I could keep it perfect, and solely under my control, it just didn't do anything for me. It seemed that after it was no longer my sole possession that I lost interest in it.

My Wife has come to the conclusion that there is no "magic" car that can transform the "sturm and drang" of my automotive passions into some kind of placid Eden. I have reluctantly also come to realize this.

To this day, whenever my Wife hears me talking excitedly about some dream car that I would die to own, (which actually still goes on incessantly) she realizes that this is all just talk. For me, there is never just that one special car that would fulfill all my dreams. There is no car that I could own and cherish for the rest of my life.

There has been a lot of complaints lodged against the reliability of Northstar motor. There weren't any complaints about the performance. The acceleration was ferocious. Even at high freeway speeds, flooring the throttle would push you firmly back in your seat while the speedo needle rapidly spun to over 100 mph.

Still not everything was perfect in paradise. There were some actual shortcomings. Primarily blown head gaskets and shallow spark plug threads that blew out. That was not my experience. Although mine went through three starter motors while I had it. Since the starter was located under the intake manifold it was not an easy or cheap repair. Plan on it costing a grand for a replacement. It also developed prodigious oil leaks in it's later life. These could not be cheaply or easily fixed. My mechanic recommended just installing a new or rebuilt motor.

In all honesty it wasn't until the mileage exceeded 100,000 miles that the troubles really started. By that time I didn't think the car was worth fixing, and I sold it at Wheels and Deals for 1,600 dollars. Since then the luster on the hallowed crest of Cadillac has faded like my memories of this car. I just don't aspire to own anything with the Cadillac name anymore.

There was a time though, when I drove in glory.