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Cadillac DeVille. The name, derived from the French de la ville (“of the town”), seems to elude style, grace & elegance. Built on a Cadillac Sixty Special chassis, the 1st Cadillac with the DeVille monicker was shown at the 1949 Motorama. Later that year, the Cadillac Series 62 Coupe de Ville was introduced; along with the Buick Roadmaster Riviera & the Oldsmobile 98 Holiday, it was among the 1st pillarless hardtop coupes produced.

The 1st official generation of the Deville family (Coupe & Sedan) was 1959-60, with the 1959 models remembered for their sharp, huge & long tailfins with dual bullet tail lights. Then, along with other GM models, Cadillac received a restyling & re-engineering for 1961; this 2nd generation continued through 1964, with each year receiving a slight facelift to be easily distinguished from the prior year. The 3rd generation followed suit, with minor revisions in each year, 1965-1970. Many people may also recall this as the generation of Boss Hogg’s famous Caddy convertible from the TV series “Dukes Of Hazzard”. The TX Junkyard Jewel seen in the accompanying image (05/10/2017 photo by OC,SHer JAY B) is from the 4th generation, 1971-6. Interesting generational tidbit: November 1971, a 1971 Coupe de Ville placed 3rd in the annual coast-to-coast Cannonball Run, while posting the highest average speed of 84.6 mph, averaging 8.9 mpg. Cadillac’s 75th anniversary ushered in newly-downsized models for 1977 (along with other GM full-size models like the Caprice Classic). This 5th generation spanned 1977-1984.

Then, while the “Fleetwood Brougham” nameplate remained on the full-size rear-wheel-drive Cadillacs, the Coupe & Sedan Deville names were placed on GM’s new front-wheel-drive C-body platform, starting in 1985. That 6th generation remained until 1993, becoming the last generation of DeVilles to include a Coupe model. The 7th generation (1994-1999) dropped the 2-door version in favor of the 4-door sedan. While comparable to GM cousins like the Buick Roadmaster, the Cadillac DeVille remained front-wheel-drive, now sharing the K-body platform with the Seville. The 8th & final generation of the DeVille was 2000-2005, before the new DTS took over.