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:''See also Cadillac DeVille.''






The 'Coupe deVille' (sometimes spelled Coupe Deville or Coupe DeVille) was a model of Cadillac from 1949 through 1993. The name has become famous through pop culture, with references in pop songs, movies, and other media.

Contents

Model history

Gallery of 1954 Cadillac Coupe deVille

1974

1977

1985

Popular culture

Coupe de Ville songs

External links

Model history

The 'Coupe deVille' was introduced by Cadillac late in the 1949 model year. Part of the Cadillac Series 62 line, it was a closed, two-door coupé, Cadillac's first pillarless hardtop. Intended as a prestige model, at $3,497 it was one of the most expensive models of the Series 62 line. It was luxuriously trimmed, with leather upholstery and chrome 'bows' in the headliner to simulate the ribs of a convertible top. The first-year Coupe deVille sold 2,150 units, but 1950 sales were more than double, and 1951 more than doubled those of the previous year. By 1961 it was one of the company's most popular models, with annual sales above 20,000.

Gallery of 1954 Cadillac Coupe deVille

In 1956 the Coupe deVille was joined by the 'Sedan deVille', a four-door hardtop sedan. The Sedan deVille would ultimately outlive its two-door predecessor. In 1959 the DeVille line was separated in a distinct 'Series 63'.
The Coupe deVille, like other Cadillacs, grew substantially larger and more powerful from 1949 through the early 1970s. By 1973 it was 4 in. (101.6 mm) longer in wheelbase, 17 inches (431.8 mm) longer overall, and more than 900 lb (408 kg) heavier, and its standard V8 engine had grown from 331 in³ (5.4 L) to 472 in³ (7.7 L).

1974

The Coupe deVille remained a pillarless hardtop through the 1973 model year, but for 1974 was restyled as a pillared two-door with then-fashionable opera windows behind the side windows. The Sedan deVille remained a pillarless four-door through 1976. New rectangular headlights with wraparound turn signals appeared in 1975, and the grille was no longer recessed. The 472 in³ engine was discontinued for 1975, leaving the 500 as the sole engine.

1977

When General Motors initiated the redesign of the B-body and C-body for the 1977 model year the DeVille (and all other full-size GMs) shrank by 9.8 in (249 mm) and about 750 lb (340 kg). The new standard engine was a 425 in³ (6.9 L) V8, with the 350 in³ LF9 diesel becoming an option for 1978.
All GM fullsize lines received a facelift for 1980. Along with the facelift, the 425 engine was replaced by the 368 in³ V8-6-4. This engine's reliability was worse than expected, so the all-new aluminum-block HT-4100 V8 was introduced for 1982. It put out 125 horsepower at 4200 rpm and 190 foot-pounds of torque at 2000 rpm.

1985

In 1985 the DeVille was downsized again, this time dropping some 26.2 in (665.5 mm) in length and another 800 lb (363 kg). It also adopted front-wheel drive, moving to the new C-body platform.
The declining popularity of full-size coupes eventually led to the discontinuation of the model in 1993. For 1994, The DeVille (now identified on the car with a capital " D") series was comprised of the four-door Sedan DeVille and (Sedan) DeVille Concours. Starting in 1997, it was known simply as the Cadillac DeVille for several years, although the Concours version was available through 1999. Subsequently, Cadillac added a 'DTS' model to the Deville series, an abbreviation for Deville Touring Sedan.

Popular culture

50's models with their extravagant fins are probably the best known versions of the car. Models from this era have commonly appeared in movies and music videos and also on postage stamps.
A movie of this name directed by Joe Roth appeared in the early 1990s.
In the 2006 animated film Cars, The minor character "Tex" (voiced by Humpy Wheeler) resembles a 1975 Coupe de Ville
It sometimes seems that songwriters know no other kind of car. The Coupe de Ville is simply pre-eminent among cars referenced in American popular music, whether rap, country, pop or blues, and this process is still going on some ten years after the model was discontinued.

Coupe de Ville songs

Neil Young has a song of that title, and the car figures in songs by:

★ Ray Stevens - "Butterfly Inside a Coupe de Ville"

★ Joe Nichols - "Brokenheartsville", "Size Matters (Someday)" and "I'll Wait for You"

★ Suzy Bogguss - "The Other Side of the Hill"

★ Joe Diffie - "Pickup Man"

★ Fred Eaglesmith - "Alcohol and Pills"

★ Steve Earle - "Cadillac"

★ Afroman - "Crazy Rap"

★ OutKast - "We Luv Deez Hoez"

★ Bachman-Turner Overdrive - "Just for You"

★ Robert Plunkett - "Sweet Tooth"

★ Meat Loaf - "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad"

★ Nanci Griffith - "Ford Econoline"

★ Ludacris - "What's Your Fantasy?"

★ Chuck Berry - "Maybelline"

★ Ice Cube - "A Gangsta's Fairytale"

★ Beastie Boys - "Hey Ladies"

★ Nelly - "Pimp Juice"

★ The Hooters - "Satellite"

★ Dr. Dre - "The Next Episode"

★ Chris Ledoux - "Cadillac Cowboy" and "Cadillac Ranch"

★ Cherish - Do It To It

★ Snoop Dogg - "Gz & Hustlas" amongst others

★ Chuck Berry - "No Money Down"

★ Tone Loc - "Cheeba Cheeba"

★ Jeff Howell of The Monsters In The Morning - "Burnt out Cadillac"

★ Kings of Leon - "Knocked Up", the first track on third album "Because Of The Times"

External links

★ '59 Cadillac images, including Coupe deVille