1975 Cadillac Seville Engineering

Testing the lab, on the road, winter driving, suspension tests and with customers. The Seville became the smallest and most expensive model in the lineup, turning Cadillac's traditional marketing and pricing strategy upside down.

Initially based on the rear-wheel drive X-body platform that underpinned the Chevrolet Nova (a unibody with a bolt-on subframe, common to both GM X and F bodies), the Seville's unibody and chassis were extensively re-engineered and upgraded from that humble origin and it was awarded the unique designation "K-body" (rather than "X-special" following the format of the A-special Chevrolet Monte Carlo/Pontiac Grand Prix and B-special Buick Riviera). Cadillac stylists added a crisp, angular body that set the tone for GM styling for the next decade, along with a wide-track stance giving car a substantial, premium appearance. A wide chrome grille flanked by quadruple rectangular headlamps with narrow parking and signal lamps just below filled the header panel, while small wrap-around rectangular tail lamps placed at the outermost corners of the rear gave the appearance of a lower, leaner, and wider car. The wrap-around taillights might have come from a design sketch of a rejected Coupe DeVille concept.

Seville engineers chose the X-body platform instead of the German Opel Diplomat in response to GM's budget restrictions—GM executives felt re-engineering an Opel would be more costly than the corporate X-car.

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