AaronHHI

In 1979 import dealers were few and far between and European cars were astronomically expensive. A 240D Mercedes was $23,000 while a Cadillac deVille was $11,000. If you really shopped the market and test drove several cars you would have bought an Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency. More luxurious interior than Cadillac, same kind of comfort and ride, and $2,500 less.

mmarshall

Agreed.......and that also included the Buick Electra/Park Avenue. Buying a Caddy over a 98 or Electra meant paying for the Cadillac nameplate and little else. In fact, in some cases, with the Caddy, it actually bought WORSE and more unreliable engines, like the V8-6-4.

SW17LS

The nameplate and the style matters though. Nobody would rather have had an Oldsmobile over a Cadillac.

Striker223

I would say that depends, in those days and especially back in the 60s/70s the olds car can be equipped with some serious firepower that caddy never offered and could be me direct/aggressive. I know what I would pick back then and honestly nowadays stuff like the V series used to be olds domain

Margate330

Back in the day, driving a Cadillac was a symbol of success.

Oldsmobile seemed to appeal to sporty drivers.

Buicks were for style and comfort.
Not cheap but not a symbol of success.

​​​​​​At least that's how I remembered it. 🤓

Toys4RJill

and what was Pontiac ?

Margate330

Dammit!

You threw me a curve ball. Haha

I have to think where Pontiac fits in with how I remember stuff, not sure yet. 🛸

JTMav

Well if I remember correctly both Olds and Pontiac had sporty/muscle cars in the Olds 442 and the Pontiac Firebird during the late 60’s and beyond. I don’t remember Buick or Cadillac offering anything like that but again just going by memory. I know personally in the late 60’s I owned both a Triumph and Volvo and they were challenging to take care of. Back then I did a lot of the maintenance myself, spent as much time under them as I did in them. Independent repair shops working on those brands were not as plentiful. There was a local DIY shop where you could rent a bay with a lift by the hour. I remember replacing the exhaust system on that Volvo there.

LH1

In 1979 I'm taking the Ramcharger. Looks so damn good!

AaronHHI

The scenario described here is the exact situation my parents faced in 1977 when buying my Mom a new car. I was ten and very much a car enthusiast having read every car book and magazine in the library. My parents are very thorough and detail focused making it a point to look at almost every brand of car being sold. I vividly recall the couple of weeks when we went to on this odyssey. At first they set out to buy a Chrysler Cordoba, until it was discovered it was crap. Many others were viewed and instantly dismissed and a dozen or so were test driven, including outliers like a Checker Marathon and Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. BMW 320i was weird and not worth a test drive although an equally small Toyota Celica was tested. It not practical as a family car. A Mercedes-Benz 240D in the new 123 body was rejected because it didn't seem to have enough power to climb Pittsburgh's hill and was stupid overpriced plus my Dad was in the business of selling coal mining equipment so an import would send a bad impression. The interior appointments of an Olds Regency were better than Cadillac. Oldsmobile was something like the third best selling brand at the time. A Cadillac said success, and it also said "I think I am important, look at me." In most cases a buyer of an Olds or Buick Electra could buy a Cadillac or Mercedes-Benz but was smart with their money and didn't need a car to validate their self worth. Just like the buyer of an LS400 in the early 90s could buy a Mercedes or BMW but had the good sense not to.

mmarshall

Buick offered the GS350 and GS400 muscle-cars in the 1960s, which were competitors to the 4-4-2 and GTO.

mmarshall

The Olds Cutlass, at the time, was the best-selling car in the U.S.

I had an older Buick Electra when I was in college. Absolutely loved it.....although, unfortunately, at the time I could not afford a new one. But the Electra was indeed a bargain in many ways....drove smoother than a Cadillac, for less money. Until 1967, Buick used different (and smoother-shifting) 3-speed automatic transmissions than the other GM divisions.

JTMav

That’s right, I remember those now, big coupe and ragtops. Thanks

SW17LS

Theres a lot of virtue signaling going on here...

mmarshall

I got a chance, back then in the late 60s, to sample both new Cadillacs and a new Lincoln Continental. The Continental, IMHO, was actually a better car for pure luxury on the road. The Cadillacs had a somewhat better and more ornate interiors and upholstery, and better air-conditioning, but the Continentals were ultra-heavy, cocoon-like, and massively smooth and quiet....driving one was like piloting the Queen Mary down the road. Just don't try any sharp cornering LOL.