Last year for Coupe Deville?

[franbev]

I'm told that 1993 was the last year for the CDV. Is that true? If so, how many were built? Were any available with the Northstar engine?

[Rusty Shepherd CLC 6397]

1993 was the last year for the Coupe de Ville.  All had the 4.9L OHV 16 valve aluminum block/cast iron head 200 horsepower engine. The only 1993 Cadillacs with the first-year Northstar engine were the Allante', Seville STS and Eldorado Touring Coupe.  I don't know what the production figure is on them.

[TJ Hopland]

Numbers I saw were just under 5000 coupes and something like 125,000 sedans.   Guess thats why the dropped it.  20 some thousand eldos and 5000 ish allantes (also dropped that year).   Thats 30,000 2 doors though....

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

When I was selling Cadillacs and Buicks, we had a 1993 CDV on the lot. Very sharp, Triple burgandy. I don't think I showed it once. We finally dealer traded it for something we could sell.
There is one thing about coupes. When I held the door and assisted a lady out of the back seat of an Eldo, I had to deliberately look "somewhere else" than at the woman, for if she had a skirt on, well, you get the idea. Should the act of a woman getting out of a coupe be called, "pulling a Britney?"

[Rusty Shepherd CLC 6397]

When I was selling Cadillacs and Buicks, we had a 1993 CDV on the lot. Very sharp, Triple burgandy. I don't think I showed it once. We finally dealer traded it for something we could sell.
There is one thing about coupes. When I held the door and assisted a lady out of the back seat of an Eldo, I had to deliberately look "somewhere else" than at the woman, for if she had a skirt on, well, you get the idea. Should the act of a woman getting out of a coupe be called, "pulling a Britney?"

In addition to the problem Barry (very humorously) described, I think the length and weight of the doors is a major reason that coupes fell out of favor.  Even in a normal parking place, it's hard to get one of those doors open wide enough to get out easily and if you come back to your car to find someone has parked over the line, you have to either walk sideways to the front seat or, if there's not room to do that, come in on the passenger side and crawl over the console. And if you have to open the door uphill, you need to be sure your legs are out of the way before you let go of it or it's likely you won't be driving again without hand controls. Since it's been about twenty years since the bottom fell out of the luxury coupe market, it's hard to believe that the Coupe de Ville used to be (by far) the largest selling Cadillac model. For the 1975 model year, 110,218 Coupes de Ville were sold compared to 63,352 Sedans de Ville.

[Johnny F #662]

When I was selling Cadillacs and Buicks, we had a 1993 CDV on the lot. Very sharp, Triple burgundy. I don't think I showed it once. We finally dealer traded it for something we could sell.
There is one thing about coupes. When I held the door and assisted a lady out of the back seat of an Eldo, I had to deliberately look "somewhere else" than at the woman, for if she had a skirt on, well, you get the idea. Should the act of a woman getting out of a coupe be called, "pulling a Britney?"

In addition to the problem Barry (very humorously) described, I think the length and weight of the doors is a major reason that coupes fell out of favor.  Even in a normal parking place, it's hard to get one of those doors open wide enough to get out easily and if you come back to your car to find someone has parked over the line, you have to either walk sideways to the front seat or, if there's not room to do that, come in on the passenger side and crawl over the console. And if you have to open the door uphill, you need to be sure your legs are out of the way before you let go of it or it's likely you won't be driving again without hand controls. Since it's been about twenty years since the bottom fell out of the luxury coupe market, it's hard to believe that the Coupe de Ville used to be (by far) the largest selling Cadillac model. For the 1975 model year, 110,218 Coupes de Ville were sold compared to 63,352 Sedans de Ville.

Also continuing with the discussion of why coupe's fell out of favor with the general buying public, I like to add my opinions.  First of all I agree with everything that has been posted so far.  What I like to add is that this is just another example of how the taste of the buying public has changed over the years.  Basically people have begun to be more practical when choosing a car/truck today then in days gone buy.  In the past a 2 door was perceived to be more sporty and youthful, and 4 doors were for "old people", that had problems getting in and out of 2 door cars.  This situation got even worse in the mid 70's when the manufacturers started downsizing their cars, and the space allowed to get in the back seats was even smaller.  I would suspect that the popularity of Coupe deVilles from that point was due to their great styling.  With the introduction of opera windows on the coupe's, and other styling features, Cadillacs enjoyed record sales. 

[Rich S]

I can appreciate the comments made in this discussion, although I know my sister, who is 52 years old, and has had three Cadillac Coupes since 1989 but now has a Sedan, often complains to me, "when is Cadillac going to make a two-door?" As most of her driving is done alone and in the city, she said she feels "much safer" with a two-door car, and especially misses being able to pop the door open to reach back for her purse on the back floor, without getting out of the car (i.e. at a drive-in window). She also misses being able to open the door and toss the purse on the back floor "all in one motion" as she gets into the car. Therefore, maybe some other consumers share this perspective, after having switched to a Sedan from a Coupe? All of her Coupes also had consoles, so there was not an easy place to lay the purse up front, if a passenger was there or expected there. Incidentally, she liked the looks of her Coupes much better than her Sedan, and it shows in how clean she kept them versus her current car!

[Johnny F #662]

I can appreciate the comments made in this discussion, although I know my sister, who is 52 years old, and has had three Cadillac Coupes since 1989 but now has a Sedan, often complains to me, "when is Cadillac going to make a two-door?" As most of her driving is done alone and in the city, she said she feels "much safer" with a two-door car, and especially misses being able to pop the door open to reach back for her purse on the back floor, without getting out of the car (i.e. at a drive-in window). She also misses being able to open the door and toss the purse on the back floor "all in one motion" as she gets into the car. Therefore, maybe some other consumers share this perspective, after having switched to a Sedan from a Coupe? All of her Coupes also had consoles, so there was not an easy place to lay the purse up front, if a passenger was there or expected there. Incidentally, she liked the looks of her Coupes much better than her Sedan, and it shows in how clean she kept them versus her current car!

Being the owner of a  '85 Eldo I can appreciate your sister's comments concerning coupes vs sedans, but don't completely agree with her reasons.  I really don't think a 2 door is that much safer then a 4 door especially with a luxury car, as usually when the car is started all four doors lock automatically.  When she is alone why don't she put her purse on the front floor, since it's healthier.  "Reaching back" to the back seat is an unnatural act for the body, and could cause some pain in the shoulder.

I suspect that if she did more driving with others in the car, she would feel a little bit different about having only 2 doors.  One thing I do agree with her about is that 2 doors are more attractive.