The Idiots of Seville

I was surfing through my music library the other day, when I came across, "Love is Life" by a Brit-Club music band called Candyflip. The music lives up to the band's name, and has a very trippy-sounding, semi-House feel to it.

It's not really what I'm into anymore, but throughout 1990-1992 year, my friend Vinnie and I used to play that album constantly!

We loved it because the bass used to travel throughout the interior of Vinnie's car, and we'd put the windows down and crank up the music wherever we went. In hindsight, it's no wonder neither of us got laid back then.

So while our music wasn't particularly appealing, the third part of our trio was - a 1976 Cadillac Seville.

Vinnie had assumed ownership of it during his Sophomore year in high school. It had belonged to his grandparents, who had purchased it brand-new in 1975 and loaded it with every option. It was finished in white with a blue vinyl top and plush blue Velour interior. Once his grandmother became too old to drive, she passed it along to Vinnie. It had a grand total of 31,000 miles on it when Vinnie got his hands on it, and had probably never traveled over 40mph. Vinnie and I changed all that.

In 1976, Cadillac released the Seville model as a top-of-the-line model (it actually cost more than the 1976 Eldorado) aimed towards the impending fuel and emissions problems that plagued American carmakers in the mid-'70s. Nevertheless, GM stylist Bill Mitchell (famous for the initial look of the Corvette Sting Rays and 1960s-era GMs) designed a wonderfully-proportioned 4-door sedan that gently sloped towards the rear, arguably later copied by the current Rolls Royce Phantom.

It featured an Oldsmobile-sourced 350ci small block V8 with a Bendix electronic fuel injection, all backed up by a TH400 automatic transmission and either a 2.56 or optional 3.08 rear end. The whole thing was good for 180hp and 275 lb-ft of torque just off idle. The torque came in handy, as it was required to lug around two idiots, a CD player, and 4300lbs of vehicle!

Despite its seemingly lack of performance numbers, Vinnie drove all four doors off that car. We'd hustle it down narrow, twisty back roads like it was a sports car. It would cruise from stoplight to stoplight like it was it's job. And we discovered that it would glide along for many, many miles of highway at speeds that buried at least one gauge needle in the process.

It's certainly a good thing that neither one of us knew anything about cars, because we'd sit and fantasize about fiberglass body panels, a roller cam, and some wicked twin-turbo setup we'd somehow find on a junked Callaway Corvette. We could dream with the best of them!

Unfortunately, it was a bad thing that neither one of us knew anything about cars, because the car proved to be very unreliable. The aging electrical system seemed to throw fits, whether it was an oddball accessory that was shorting out, or the alternator burning out again.

After a few years of investing a small fortune into the Seville, Vinnie's parents suggested he get rid of the car. He ended up with a used, 4-cylinder '92 Mustang notchback (ironically in the same color combination as the Seville). We both cried when he traded in the Caddy.

I still occasionally come across one of those boxy Sevilles, and the memories of those days of my youth become numerous enough to have filled the car's ginormous trunk. I just don't think anyone who owns one ever plays anything as cool as Candyflip.

Photo from OrlandoClassicCars.com

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