I will.

Thanks a lot i love it!! what do you mean by downsized? it is a low trim level one? i still dont mind, its still nice

And about the Caprice how nice, just the one i love (not that i dont love the others too) as Antoine says i wouldnt mind to buy one neither if they were as easy to find here and as cheap as there, its very to keep as a "weekend" car or any other Cadillac, some day...

All right, now this is a little complicated but I'll try to explain anyway. I had quite a bit of trouble grasping this at first too (stupid GM with their constant name juggling and model switching )
I'll try and add pictures to better help you understand

Ok, so for 1977 GM "downsized" all their full-size cars, which basically means they redesigned them and the cars were much smaller than they were before (about a foot shorter and 800 pounds lighter).
This "downsizing" resulted in the "box-body" Chevrolet Caprice we all know and love, along with it's Buick, Olds, Pontiac, and more importantly, Cadillac siblings.




The new downsized Cadillacs were known as Deville or Fleetwood, depending on the trim. But the more important part is that at this time both the Deville and Fleetwood were THE SAME CAR, minus a few options that differed from model to model.




This continued until 1985, when GM downsized their cars AGAIN, making them even shorter and lighter than the preveious "downsized" models.

"downsized" Olds 88


Unfortunately, these TWO rounds of downsizing (the first in 1977 and the second in 1985) resulted in tiny "full-size" cars that were about the same size as the compacts of only a few years ago! Keep in mind that even though I call them "tiny" they are still very large by European standards

The Fleetwood I took a picture of is an example of one of these "tiny" full-size cars that were "downsized"


Ok, now I get to the complicated part, the naming of the cars

Now, when GM downsized their full-size cars again in 1985, they decided to keep around some of the older, bigger models to sell alongside the new downsized, smaller ones.

The only big, old models they decided to keep were the Caprice, and the Fleetwood (both of which continued until 1996, with a redesign in 1991, but of course you know about that ). Also note that GM decided to keep around station wagons models of the big, older full-sizes, one for each division (Buick, Olds, Pontiac, Chevy)

So, Cadillac decided to swith the names Deville and Fleetwood to the newer, downsized model (the one I took a picture of).

However, they decided to name the older, bigger model that they still kept around the Fleetwood Brougham which in 1987 simply became Brougham (leaving all the Fleetwood nameplates to the newer downsized model)

So, in summary, between 1987-1992, if you wanted a full-size Cadillac you could purchase one of two models:

-The smaller "downsized" Fleetwood/Deville (like the one in my picture)




-Or the bigger, traditional Brougham (like the one the guy bought in the Top Gear American Special)




Keep in mind these are VERY different cars, and much more than just trim differences

Gosh, thanks a lot for the explanation, indeed, funny that you call them small, they are very big for the European market, i think i got it all right, so when you said about the Fleetwood you took a picture of that it was the small downsized model you just mean that there was a different model bigger than him or an exact same model bigger than him (i guess you mean there was a different model bigger since i never heard of a Fleetwood LWG, no?, hence your last line saying "Keep in mind these are VERY different cars, and much more than just trim differences")?

I saw a nice Land Rover Defender with UK license plates today.

That is exactly what I meant





I assume you meant LWB as in "longwheelbase" (the "G" key is close to the "B" key I notice )
But it is actually more than just a wheelbase difference, though. They were on different platforms entirely.

The Deville/Fleetwood (I'm referring to the 1987-1992 models mind you) had front-wheel-drive, the Brougham had rear-wheel-drive.
The Deville/Fleetwood had only a V6, the Brougham had a V8.
The Deville /Fleetwood was 198 inches long, the Brougham was 221 inches long.
Very different cars indeed

Sure i knew they were different but since i dont know everything about Cadillac perhaps you were saying someting new, but ok then, thanks again, and sure i meant LWB

@CCF: now I'm a bit wondering - you were sitting this night in front of the computer? No party? Isn't it too loud outside?

Let's see, who will have a noisier neighbourhood next Sunday

Yes Ingo people were out yelling and very happy, i live near a roundabout with a fountain in the middle and when there is an important match and Spain wins many people always go to it and have a bath

Nice place for living
I'm sure, the majority of the forum-members would rather like to see pics of splashing Madrilenian cuties in that fountain, than of the cars, going around that roundabout.

I must admit, that I belong to that majority.

Ingo Ingo Ingo... i wish i'd liev in Madrid, but sadly i dont i live in a small region in the northern coast called Cantabria, nothing compared to the big Madrid

I wish some day i happen to live there, at least for a small period of time, i'd be happy with that, but for the moment this is it...

I thought, you've wrote, that you a living in a big town (Madrid) and like the living over there very much?! Sorry, this was a misunderstanding.

You probabaly saw me saying that i'd love to live in a big city like that, ive said this in another thread, so perhaps you missunderstood me, but as i said, i wish some day

You also posted few Madrid photos, if I remember well, that's maybe the reason of the misunderstanding.

Ah yes, from my last trip to there

I was driving the other day when I saw this beautiful circa 1976 Mercury Marquis (Ford LTD) in a parking lot.




Also my dad spotted this Taurus taxi... with Ohio plates??? This thing must be at least 100 miles from home, I can't imagine what it's doing way up here??

I saw a Volvo XC-90 with European license plates today.

It's a German plate in US-size. The two letters on the top line are looking like "HK". so it's a privte car of a member of the US-Army in Germany.

As I know "HK" is always in US-size for cars, the brought from home to Germany. Cars, they bought here, have "AD" and "AF" as first letters. That plates have the usual German size.

Quite new is the combination "IF", I don't know, in which size this is.

I saw my first car with a plate of the new system: "606 AAA" (previously it was letters then numbers, I think I mentioned that on this thread or another one recently).
I also saw a "V 0000" on a Lexus, that guy paid 820 € just for that.

This afternoon I've seen in the town of Bottrop (one of the roughest and poorest locations in the Ruhr-area) a brand new Ford Mustang.
I was wondering about the missing front plate and the black tinted window's of the driver's and passenger's door (illegal in Germany), then I saw that it has a Florida license-plate.