Cadillac Fleetwood

Background (1916–1924) Lawrence P. Fisher was one of the seven brothers most closely involved with Cadillac in its early years. In 1916, he joined the Fisher Body Company, which had been formed by two of his brothers in 1908. Larry (as people knew him) was instrumental among the Fisher brothers in bringing the Fisher enterprise under the General Motors umbrella in 1919. In May 1925, Alfred P. Sloan, then the head of General Motors, appointed Fisher as Cadillac General Manager, an office he retained through 1934. Fisher immediately went to work adding exclusive, custom bodies to the Cadillac range. Thus, he oversaw the purchase of the Fleetwood Metal Body Company by Fisher in September 1925. The Fleetwood Body Company of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, was founded by Harry Urich in the nineteenth century. It began as a small community of craftsmen founded by Henry Fleetwood, Esq. of Penwortham, near Lancaster, England (the Fleetwood family flourished in England in the 17th and 18th centuries). The traditions of 300 years of coach-building that Fleetwood applied to its work on cars secured it a high reputation in automobile circles worldwide by the 1920s. Fleetwood-bodied Cadillacs (1935–1985) After 1934, Cadillac became more selective in offering Fleetwood bodies for its chassis. By 1938, the only way to obtain a Fleetwood-bodied car was by buying a Cadillac Series 75 or 90, as even the Cadillac Sixty Special had a Fisher body in its inaugural year. The Fleetwood script and crest would not be on the exterior of any Cadillac until the 1947 model year when it appeared on the rear deck lid of the Sixty Special. By 1952, it also appeared on the rear deck lid of the Series 75. In 1957, the Cadillac Series 70 Eldorado Brougham joined the Sixty Special and the Series 75 as the only Cadillac models with Fleetwood bodies, although Fleetwood script or crests did not appear anywhere on the exterior of the car. This was the first time in 20 years that a Fleetwood bodied car was paired with the Brougham name. The Eldorado Brougham featured Fleetwood branded wheel discs and doorsill moldings when production was shifted in 1959 from the Cadillac Fleetwood plant in Detroit to Pininfarina in Turin, Italy. The identification was included presumably because of the design work since the final details for the car were still being done by Fleetwood. Production of the Eldorado Brougham ended in 1961, but in 1963 the Eldorado Biarritz became Fleetwood bodied and acquired Fleetwood crests on its rear quarters and rocker panel moldings. == Front-wheel drive (C-body; 1985–1992) ==

}} In 1985, Fleetwood models used a new front-wheel-drive C-body platform, sharing the wheelbase with GM's other C-body cars, the DeVille, Buick Electra, and Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight. The Fleetwood Brougham continued to use the RWD platform, (which was redesignated as "D-body" for 1985) through 1986. As had been the case since the 1977 model year, there were little more than trim differences between the Fleetwood and the DeVille. For 1985, the Fleetwood was actually a de Ville trim option, rather than a separate model. The optional '''d'Elegance''' package, added tufted-button seating among other niceties for the FWD Fleetwood sedan. The Fleetwood coupe had been dropped after the 1986 model year, but returned in 1989. The Fleetwood coupe for 1989–1992 was not popular with model year production in 1989: 4,108, 1990: 2,438, 1991: 894, and for 1992: a mere 443. Cadillac offered the Fleetwood Sixty Special for model years 1987–1988, using a stretched version of the new C-body platformas well as the Fleetwood Series 75 for model years 1985–1987, using a stretched version of the same platform. The aluminum 4.1 L HT-4100 V8 was replaced by the 4.5 L HT-4500 for 1988. The engine displacement was increased for 1991 to the 4.9 L HT-4900. The Fleetwood line was redesigned for the 1989 model year to include skirted rear wheels. The Fleetwood coupe remained on the wheelbase, while the sedan's wheelbase increased by . The slightly revised Fleetwood coupe, with extended front and rear styling, was sold from 1989 and ended in 1992. Power was increased to from the same 4.5 L engine for 1990 through the use of a dual-stage intake manifold and other changes. It was replaced by the 4.9 L HT-4900 for 1991. The Fleetwood nameplate departed the front-drive lineup for 1993 (as Fleetwood was transferred to the new rear-drive replacement for the 1992 Brougham). Instead, the Sixty Special nameplate was used on the front-wheel-drive model for 1993. A total of 5,292 Sixty Specials were built during 1993, including 688 with the optional "Ultra" package that featured “22-way” adjustable front seats, designed in Italy by Giorgetto Giugiaro. This seating package had been standard on the Sixty Special since 1989, but in 1993, it became a $3,550 option. While it was based upon the DeVille, the Sixty Special included eleven items as standard equipment, while those eleven items were optional at extra cost on DeVilles. There were options for the Sixty Special, that were unavailable on the DeVille, such as "Memory Seat" for the driver with two recall settings, an "Exit" button" when pushed automatically powered the driver seat all the way rearward, and dual front seat power recliners. Both the Fleetwood and DeVille were coded as C-bodies in the fourth digit of the VIN. The fifth digit coded the DeVille as "D" (with the later Touring Sedan becoming "T"), the Fleetwood as "B", and the Fleetwood Sixty Special as "S". The Sixty Special became the "G" code for 1991, and switched back to "B" for its 1993 run. Transmissions included the THM440 T4 (1985–1986), the 4T60 (1987–1989), and the 4T60E (1990–1993). == Rear-wheel drive (D-body; 1993–1996) ==

For 1993, the Cadillac Fleetwood was reintroduced as a rear-wheel-drive sedan, replacing the 1987–1992 Brougham as the largest Cadillac sedan. As Cadillac revised its model range, the Fleetwood nameplate was no longer the companion model to the de Ville, and was dropped from the flagship Sixty Special series (itself retired after 1993). In contrast to many luxury-segment competitors, the 1993 Fleetwood had not only grown in size from its downsized predecessor, but was the first American vehicle line to shift from a rear-wheel-drive layout to front-wheel drive, reverting back to rear-wheel drive. Far larger than the Chrysler Imperial (and the later Chrysler LHS), the model line competed primarily against the Lincoln Town Car. After the 1996 model year, Cadillac retired the Fleetwood model line, as General Motors ended production of its full-frame rear-wheel-drive sedans. The Arlington Assembly facility that assembled the Fleetwood and its Chevrolet/Buick counterparts was retooled to assemble full-size SUVs, later including the Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV. Body design At the time of its production, the Fleetwood was the longest-length production car marketed in the United States, at 225 inches (5,715 mm) long. Shared with the Chevrolet C4 Corvette and the Chevrolet Camaro/Pontiac Firebird, the LT1 engine used for full-size cars was detuned in horsepower output and fitted with cast-iron heads. Towing capability While the previous-generation Brougham was offered with a factory-designed towing package, the option for the 1993 underwent a major capability increase; for the first time since the 1976 Sixty Special, a Cadillac sedan was factory-rated to tow . Shared with the Buick Roadmaster station wagon, the RPO V4P package included heavy-duty cooling (RPO V08, which consisted of a seven-blade mechanical primary fan, a heavy-duty electrical secondary fan, and an extra capacity radiator), RPO FE2 Suspension System Ride Handling, HD 4L60 transmission, RPO KC4 Cooling System Engine Oil, RPO KD1 Cooling System Transmission Oil, RPO KG9 140 amp alternator, and RPO GT4 3.73 gears with an 8.5-inch ring gear. In 1994–1996, the V4P package was revised with RPO GU6 3.42 gears with the new more powerful RPO LT1 V8, and HD 4L60E transmission with revised accumulators to shift smoother with the shorter rear axle gearing. Sales Though more popular than Buick, Oldsmobile, and Chevrolet full-size station wagons, the Cadillac Fleetwood is the lowest-produced 1990s D/B-body sedan. The model line largely struggled in sales against the Chrysler LHS and Lincoln Town Car (the latter, more closely matching the sales of the de Ville). Cadillac Commercial Chassis In its return to the D-body, the Fleetwood again supported the commercial chassis, an incomplete vehicle designed primarily for limousines and funeral coaches (hearses). The variant differed from the standard Fleetwood sedan as antilock brakes, traction control, and dual front airbags were not standard features. Following the discontinuation of the Fleetwood as the final full-frame Cadillac sedan, Cadillac continued to supply the de Ville (and the product lines that replaced it) chassis to funeral coach manufacturers through second-party conversion. As of current production, the only body-on-frame Cadillacs produced since the 1996 Fleetwood are the Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT. Presidential State Car (1993) , on display in Clinton Presidential Center In 1993, after president Bill Clinton took office, a then brand-new 1993 Fleetwood would become his state car that he would use throughout his term until 2001. Following a long tradition of Lincoln-based sedans, this was only the second Cadillac since the 1983 Fleetwood built for the Ronald Reagan administration. Along with advanced security and safety features, the limousine featured communication devices such as phones, satellite communications and the Internet. After Clinton left office, the car eventually was displayed at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. To prevent third parties from learning classified details about the protection and security features of the vehicle, the Secret Service keeps the doors secured at all times. This Fleetwood would also prove to be the last presidential car derived from a regular production passenger car. The production 2001 Cadillac de Ville (built for George W. Bush) was not regarded as suitable for conversion, so the final vehicle was constructed using the chassis and powertrain of a heavy-duty GM SUV, using little more than the front and rear bodywork of the de Ville. == References ==