Junkyard Find: Big Sexxy, the V8-6-4-powered 1981 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham
Finding a Malaise Era Cadillac in a self-service wrecking yard is interesting, especially when it has Cadillac’s not-so-successful first attempt at a cylinder-deactivation engine. Those cars don’t make me sad, though.
A nicely customized show-car Cadillac with metalflake paint and pro-applied airbrush work in a junkyard — that makes me sad, even if it did suffer from the wretched V8-6-4 engine. I found this once-glorious Cad in a Denver-area yard last summer.
A car like this needs a name, of course. Meet Big Sexxy!
Sorry about the beschmutzified images; I had touched the camera lens with greasy fingers after removing an Integra shifter. Don’t try that at home.
Big Sexxy is covered with quality airbrush work. If I had to guess, I’d say this car was customized during the 1980s, then entered a long-term downward spiral.
Under the hood, the V8-6-4 engine. GM never could get this engine to work correctly, and most owners simply unplugged the connectors for the valve de-actuators (located on the valve covers).
The interior has been gutted pretty thoroughly, so we can’t tell how much tuck-n-roll used to be there.
Rest in peace, Big Sexxy.
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I'm late to this one - vacation and all that - but the old man had one of these during his brief love affair with (used) Cadillacs. He bought a used brown '81 Fleetwood with the 8-6-4 engine, which, oddly enough, my uncle designed some of the machinery that made the parts. The car came with a switch - from a previous owner - that made the engine 8 all the time. In that mode it was actually a pretty nice car. But once I accidentally turned the switch off and wondered what the heck was wrong with the car.
Even Honda had troubles with variable cylinder management necessitating a recall in 2011. Search on Honda Technical Service Bulletin 11-033. This seems to be an idea that doesn't work in the real world.