Welcome one and all to what is the best surviving '82 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham De Elegance in the world.  This highly optioned De Elegance has the very rare and valuable Astroroof.  As a matter of irony and humor I have thought about offering the Astroroof without the car on E Bay as we all know the Astroroof is 40% of the value on these cars.  Not that I totally agree with that but the market has spoken and we must keep our egos in check.  This ALL ORIGINAL PAINT, 1 owner car from Beverly Hills, Ca. has been garaged all its life.  How do I know that?  All the original emblems are in excellent condition without any fading of the factory Cadillac crests.  Even good paint and vinyl top Cadillacs can have poor crests due to sun, but this lucky Cad has no such issue.  This stunning Fleetwood has the very rare crushed velour, multi button, pillow look, De Elegance interior that was only offered from 1980 to 1982.  Some refer to it as the coffin interior and I find it incredibly more pleasing than leather.  Why?  Because the leather wears out quickly and gets rubbed raw on the bottom pillow seat seams in the De Elegance interiors.  Hell folks even Kias and Hyundais have leather now so please lets get over this fad, ok?  The cloth feels better, looks better, and gets more compliments from genuine car aficionados and novices alike.

 

Diesel.  Did I just say that or did you peek and see the emblems?  Oh yes, this is a 5.7 Cadillac! But its a 5.7, 350 cu. in. diesel.  I have been told by other serious Cadillac collectors through the ages that the diesels actually drive better than the HT4100s.  Well damn if they weren't right all along.  The massive torque and effortless movement make the diesel a better drive than the torque deprived HT4100.  Plus Cadillac diesels were also given extra sound deadening, more structural braces, and the turbo 400 transmission and big differential.  Not the light duty hardware of a 4100 car.  Add all this together and you have a Cadillac that drives very close to as good as a same period Mercedes S class.  Really.  I have owned many Mercedes too.  So nice to have a Cadillac that has the drive qualities to match the unparalleled good looks.  Did I mention that in 1982 GM revised the 5.7 Liter Diesel?  This is actually a Second Generation diesel that quelled all the issues this power plant had previously.  Examples of the second generation have been known to go 300k miles all the while getting an EPA proven highway 30 MPG!  You fill this Cadillac up and that is it, you will hardly ever have to visit the gas, err diesel pump!  Weird.  

 

This Fleetwood also has the rare memory seat option (Cadillac offered this feature first in 1957)  as well as Symphony Sound (decent even by today's standards, and don't start with me as being silly as my current STS4 V8  has the Bose 5.1) and all the usual De Elegance power equipment that were always hard loaded.  I had to add the Vogue Tyres as the original Goodyear Polysteels were just a little to old to use.  I kept the original hubcaps as they are perfect.  Really.  No dealership moron ever tried to pulverize and pound these caps back on the car, or tried to pry them off without releasing the locking mechanism behind the crest.  Rare.  Sorry no wire wheels but these are 7" wheels under the hubcaps vs the factory 6" wires that are entirely too narrow for a car this size.  I have several Cadillacs with the factory wires and the cars drive better without them, however the larger aftermarket vintage wires like the Cragar Stars, TruSpoke, or Appliance 7" are the ticket on these cars and can still look factory.  If I run into another vintage perfect set of those, this car is next on the list to get them.  Last perfect vintage set I had to give 4K for, so you see the dilemma. 

 

This Fleetwood sports 9k original miles.  This car has no surface rust issues anywhere as those from the north typically do regardless of miles and of never being snow driven as that salt blows in the air up there as well as acid rain and attacks all the chassis and under hood areas.  This car has NO road rash on the front end as the original owner must have never taken it on the highway.  Heck even the plastic molded body side moldings are perfectly white and chrome where they should be.  Dash chrome is excellent and all accessories work as new.  Electo Luminescent opera lamps are bright, clear, and free from any condensation.  Although this car is not a "0" mile car plastered with the window sticker as many cars you have seen from me, this however is a bonafide shoe in Cadillac Grand National first place winner.  I will prove this again soon as well.  The car is simply a scraming #1 car that is everything then some.

As many know, I have sort of been saving this car for a big block transplant like my 80.  Being a diesel with the good hardware makes it a perfect car like an 80 Carb 6.0 is.  However, this Diesel is so nice and does everything so right, I have not brought myself to transforming the car.  Its really too nice to do that with and its rare to see an 82 car that gets 30+MPG and is as new.   One of a kind unique machine here. Well that is this Cadillac in a nutshell.