No question what the superior car was, but they sold the hell out of those Caddys.... Americans liked them.

But yes it's commonly known Caddy bought an LS400 (every high end brand did I bet) and took it apart, marveled at the engineering and flat admitted they could not produce a car like that with their current means/technology/engineering.

 

That comparison, though, is somewhat misleading. The original 1990 LS400 started at 35K, whereas Cadillac DeVilles and Lincoln Town Cars started at 27-30K depending on the trim-version. So Lexus could afford to spend more on its design and engineering.

 

GM was largest automaker in the world then IIRC and had plenty of money. A fully tricked out Sedan De Ville was only a few grand less than an LS400, not far off price wise. Hell a Park Avenue Ultra was 27k in 1990.

The point is… GM flat admitted they lacked the engineering ability to produce such a car like an LS400.

 

Yuck at the first pic. Lol the LS was so superior it wasn't funny. Yeah it was an unknown at the time, I get it, but it had Toyota's backing so everyone had to have known they were going to be pretty reliable. Maybe not to the extent they ended up being but still pretty solid.

 

With all due respect, I don't think that is a very effective argument. Toyota (Lexus's parent corporation) had been a huge force in the world auto-market since the 1970s.


In the 1960s, among mass-produced vehicles, GM produced what were arguably some of the best cars on the planet (and a couple of duds like the Corvair and Vega). The company went seriously downhill, though, after the early 1970s, for a number of reasons, and did not start producing what I would call well-made vehicles again until about a decade or so ago.

 

IMHO the Cadillac had a far more elegant-looking dash, but there is no question the LS400 was better built.

 

The LS400 was the clear winner but maybe the Caddy was the value play and more availability, I don't know.

I'm guessing they sold more Caddys but just a guess.

 

Respectfully it wasn’t an argument. I’m well aware of Toyota’s resources then.


I agree with some of this, however GM always made excellent trucks IMHO.

We also had several very solid GM cars from the 80s 90s and 2000s. But I absolutely agree at one time they really were the best, that is until Mercedes came along and blew everyone off the map.

 

Well, once again, we get back to the issue of cost. You didn't get into a new Mercedes for what a typical GM product cost.

In the 1960s, Ford knew how to do excellent power disc/drum-brakes, paint, sound-insulation, and reasonably durable engines, Chrysler knew how to do super-durable engines/automatic transmissions and good torsion/leaf-suspension handling, but, overall, GM was the best, particularly in bodywork, fit/finish, interior quality, and power steering.

 

The LS400 may be the "better" car.

But I think the Caddy kicks it's butt up and down the highway on interior and styling.
Liking that Caddy's thick pile carpeting.

 

I thought it was Toyota and, probably to an extent Honda and Nissan/Datsun, that forced all the other automakers into building reliable, well-built cars. Didn't the Accord, Civic, and Corolla begin in the 70's and change the automotive world?

 

Yes they did.
Killed it on reliability and miles per gallon.

Their achilles heal was they rusted while a I watched in real time.

I'm exageratting a little but they rusted fast. Lol

 

I have limited experience with Cadillacs. I had the misfortune of needing a job right badly out of college and ended up as a management trainee at a rental car company in 1994 (it wasn’t the one that says we’ll pick you up lol). We had 2 Sedan DeVilles in our immediate fleet. When one came in, I would always take it to pick up or drop off customers. One day, we had both Caddys there. It was wet out back and we allegedly put a little bleach down and had a little front legged, one wheel drive burnout fun. I allegedly won it because I rolled a lot more throttle into the brake stand. At the time, I thought a front wheel drive V8 was weird and I still do.

The Caddys were nice in the fleet, but it was among Cavaliers, Corsicas, and Luminas, so it wasn’t very hard to be the best. The Caddys had nice, cold a/c, so those were the cars I wanted when I had to be out and about. Also, if someone was a jackass on the phone, I would pick them up in a Caddy and they would ask, “is this the car I’m getting?” Um, no. You get the Cavalier with the square rear tire. Enjoy?

 

LOL

Actually that Nissan was surprisingly not bad. Rode nice, 63 db on the highway which is like ES quiet, seats were comfy, responsive.


Thats not the case in the slightest for those Northstar Cadillacs. They had a fatal flaw in that when they blew head gaskets the job was so expensive that it often totaled the car. That’s why you don’t see hardly any around, they’re in junkyards. That happened to people with as little as 60k miles.

You’re not serious. That interior of that 1990 Caddy was terrible, 70s design and crappy plastic exposed screws…

 

I know, but I'm talking about the best, forget cost. Mercedes was the best when they came over here. Rich people (who could afford a more expensive car than a Caddy) flocked to Mercedes Benz and the rest is history.

About that Caddy interior I do agree with you there, I like the dash a lot, and that signature Cadillac steering wheel.