Anyone heard of a Talisman edition of the Sedan DeVille?

[franbev]

Saw an ad locally for a 1990 Sedan DeVille "Talisman". I drove by it and its got a padded vinyl roof that alters the roof line somewhat, a bunch of Talisman scripts around it and 16" wheels. Anyone heard of these? I'm guessing it was some sort of dealer/aftermarket addon.

[Jack McClow CLC #15840]

I have never heard of a car such as you describe.  The only Talisman edition that came from the factory was an option on the Fleetwood model for 1974, 1975, and 1976.  There weren't many produced, and very few seem to have survived.  There is a Yahoo! Talisman group listing just a handful of cars that have been located and registered.  I saw a fully optioned, including sunroof, Talisman in a junk yard a couple of years ago in Georiga ........ too far gone to be saved I believe.  Frank's Cadillac Corner in LA had one for sale a few years back as well ......... I don't know what ever became of that car.  The interiors, if not maintained under almost ideal conditions, seem to attract every strange smell imaginable; not sure why they do that, but I've opened a few doors and soon wished I hadn't.  I have a 1975 model I bought from the original owners, who had used it only for special events, and the interior has held up well ...... I was very lucky they had taken good care of the car from day one as I suspect it would be very difficult to replace the interior back to original specifications.

[Johnny F #662]

Saw an ad locally for a 1990 Sedan DeVille "Talisman". I drove by it and its got a padded vinyl roof that alters the roof line somewhat, a bunch of Talisman scripts around it and 16" wheels. Anyone heard of these? I'm guessing it was some sort of dealer/aftermarket addon.

You guessed it right.  Dealers do these add ons to get bigger profit margins.

[Richard Sills - CLC #936]

My best guess is that this was a package of appearance items produced by E & G Classics in Maryland (website "www.egclassic.com").  Their packages often carry nostalgic Cadillac names such as "LaSalle" and "Biarritz".  They offered a Vintage Edition package a few years ago, which included "V and crest" emblems on the front and rear, and side script moldings that were flattened at the bottom like the mid-50s style Cadillac script that typically appeared right above a horizontal chrome side molding.  Some Cadillac dealers are distributors of their products, so you will see cars equipped with these appearance packages on the showroom floors of new-car dealerships.   

[Johnny F #662]

Most times, I find these dealer add ons, not very attractive. It just don't look right when they try to make a Cadillac look like something it isn't, such as the case of adding the talisman name to a basic DTS.  Of course being a Cadillac enthusiast's I know it takes more then just a badge on the side of the roof to make a Cadillac a talisman.  Ironically I do like many of the so called "pimp mobiles".  They didn't try to be something they really weren't and many used styling features found on Classic Cadillacs of the 30's.