Clueless Classics: Those Deadly-Glamorous Seville Conversions
The Seville left quite a legacy, as recounted here. But it also inspired a host of bizarre and tasteless conversions, like this Seville Grandeur Opera Coupe (the name alone says it all). But before you hit the jump, spend a good minute or two and really take this car in. And you think America is in decline now?
Before we move to the others, let’s just feast on its frontal view, which seems to feature a Lincoln Mark III “radiator shell”. Or are my dazzled eyes deceiving me?
If you’re looking something for a bit more parking lot friendly, let me show you the brilliant Seville Milan Roadster. Who needs a Mercedes SL anyway, when there’s a genuine home-grown alternative available?
That top is a weee bit crude compared to the SL’s, so let’s just drop it and feast our eyes on the delightful proportions that the Milan’s cutting torch-wielding builders afford us.
If opera is not your thing, you might want to stick to the more traditional Grandeur Formal Sedan.
There’s also this shorty coupe, the Seville Tomaso Coupe. BTW, hacking off the rear passenger compartment had the effect of doubling the price of the Tomaso over a plebeian Seville. But what price for true prestige?
It wasn’t all bad. The San Remo Convertible actually managed to improve on the Seville, softening up its harshly squared-off roofline. I remember thinking at the time that Caddy really should have built a convertible like this, and a coupe too, with a more rounded roof. It really changed the whole feel of the car. Price: $46k ($123k adjusted). Good taste didn’t come cheap in the seventies.
More by Paul Niedermeyer
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The Grandeur Formal is so hilarious by today's standards that I kinda want one... BTW, the problem with Hummers is not the H1 or H3, its the H2 - most of which are basically the macho version of these Sevilles.
As I was scrolling through the pictures, remembering seeing these in the mags in the late '70s, I was thinking, "there was one good, only one, the convertible...ahh, the San Remo!" And there it was, at the end. Looked good then, looks good today. There was a really nice Gucci version, but I'm not sure if it had any special bodywork.