http://autos.yahoo.com/news/12-cars-that-define-cadillac-at-age-110-.html?page=1 Ok, that was a good read, but I can tell the writer drives a Honda or some other such boring modern car from a lot of his comments…..especially about the 59 Caddy, which while wildly styled, was still the standard of the world at the time, defined the 50's excess. and is an icon from new to present day. .....oh and I LIKED my Catera a lot!
Thanks for the link. Nice to get another look at the early Caddies from before they started looking like Mazdas (no offence to Mazda lovers). mike
If you are 'Defining" Cadillac, why would you omit the glorious V-16 models? They did miss some pretty spectacular cars.
...and there's only 10 cars on his "12 cars that define Cadillac" list.... Missing: '57 Eldorado Brougham. Production vehicle, but virtually hand-built. Stainless steel roof panel.
hi, i like the catera, we called them vauxhall omegas here, the one with the 3 liter engine was a fav police car here for years, i had the prev model known as the vauxhall carlton in the uk,opel rekord in germany, mine had a 2.2 4 pot lump , went ok, the bigger engine were known as senators ,and there was a 2 door coupe known as the monza, that was a great looking car
I liked my Catera a lot too. Was told they were a re-badged Opel Omega MV6, built in Germany, but the transmission came from the UK. The V6 engine was also used in Saabs and Saturns, and is the basis for the 3.6 V6 engine used today the Camaro and Caddy CTS today. Mine was a somewhate-rare '99 Sport model, so it had black leather Recaro seats, rear spoiler, special wheels, stiffer suspension, and the wood inside was replaced with brushed silver trim, and it had every option in the book. It handled like a go-cart and had a lot of room for it's size. Those cars all had issues with timing belt tensioners (GM moved from a belt to a chain on the updated 3.6 in the Camaro), leaking valve covers, and the worst issue was the oil cooler was mounted under the intake manifold in the V of the engine, and those coolers leaked, mixing oil and coolant. If you ever come across a Catera with "blown head gaskets", it most likely just the internal oil cooler leaking. Bypass it and change the oil, and the car will be fixed. My car's oil cooler had been bypassed and an external cooler added in front of the radiator, and the valve covers and timing issues had been addressed, so it was very reliable when I had it. I really miss that little car. NOBODY knew what it was. The Catera structure was later used as the basis for the 2004-06 GTO, and many parts interchange. -Mike
thats a clean car,, i know of one sat in a dealers lot, its a 2.2 auto, i like it, but its heavy on road tax here and with gas at over £6 a gallon, i do too many miles, the exhust manifold gaskets were a funny set up on the 2.6 engine, the right one could be changed easy , the left one required a near top end strip down at a lot of dosh, the 3 litre engined one were used a lot as unmarket police cars,and motorway cars, nearly all bmw now, a great car, i like yours alot
Well the RWD gives me some respect for it, but I still think it's no more than modern vertion of....we have some extra caddy emblims, so lets stick them on a....... Sorry Mike, please don't kill me........
Hey, those Cadillac Cimerons were not all that bad. If you keep in mind the state of the market, they were pretty good with the V-6. I know one person bought several used, and drove them for years. He said they were a real bargain, being less money than a comparable Cavalier, but much, much more comfortable. he never got rid of one before 500,000 kms, which is a quite respectable 300,000 miles.
My old Catera just popped up for sale on Craigslist. Still has my plate on it. http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/3348136722.html
I've said all along that GM made the Cimarron off of the wrong platform. They should have used the A-body:
