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“There really are two ways to look at the 1986 Cimarron,” a Cadillac publicity brochure from 1986 proclaims. “First, the luxury aspect, then there’s the sports sedan side.”
Either way, the motoring public was not in the mood to purchase the thinly veiled Chevrolet Cavalier masquerading as a bona fide Cadillac. It’s not that the Cimarron was a bad car – it wasn’t – but it was not a “real” Cadillac.
What Cadillac was trying to foist on the public was a gussied-up Chevrolet Cavalier labeled and priced as a Cadillac. And since the Cimarron was about twice the price of the similar Chevrolet, sales of the Cadillac were less than spectacular.
However, an elderly Florida woman found one of the new Cimarrons at a Delray Beach dealership appealing. The car was white with an abundance of optional equipment, including a blue vinyl top stretched over rooftop ribs to give the appearance of a convertible top. Other extra cost optional equipment included a Rolls-Royce style grille at the front of the 14-foot, 5-inch-long car while ornamentation at the rear was a faux “Continental Kit” and five ribs across the trunk lid.
She purchased the Cimarron and drove it sparingly for several years. When not in use the car was parked under cover to protect it from the Florida sun. Eventually her nephew inherited the Cadillac. Soon thereafter he offered the Cimarron for sale. That is where it attracted the attention of Jeff Malo in Virginia.
Everything about the low-mileage Cimarron sounded good, but to be on the safe side Malo enlisted the aid of a mechanic in Florida who inspected the 1986 sedan and discovered no major problems. It had been driven only 24,000 miles. Malo bought the car in August 2015 and had it trucked home.
Malo reports the Cimarron had no rust, an immaculate navy blue interior and near perfect white paint with the original pin striping. Under the engine hood was the base 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine ready to deliver 88 horsepower.
Cadillac engineers didn’t balk at incorporating power equipment when the Cimarron was being designed. Power-assisted features included seats, brakes, steering, windows, door locks, trunk lock and radio antenna.
The five-passenger Cadillac is cozy with a 52-inch height and a 65-inch width. Even so the occupants are given a comfortable ride in the 1986 Cimarron with 13-inch wheels supporting its 2,583-pound weight on a 101.2-inch wheelbase. Dressing up the exterior are the aluminum alloy wheels.
Malo is pleased with the like-new appearance of the 1986 Cimarron, but he isn’t surprised because of the exceedingly low mileage accumulated over 30 years.
One alteration Malo has made is common to many owners of antique cars, that of updating the air conditioning to R134 coolant. The instrumentation in the dashboard is digital. A Bose sound system provides quality music while the driver is assisted by the cruise control feature near the steering column supporting the two-spoke steering wheel. On the console between the front bucket seats is the gear selector controlling the automatic transmission. Embedded in the rear window are a dozen horizontal red lines identifying the presence of a defogger.
Malo describes his Cadillac as a cream puff but admits, “Take the trim off and you’ve got a Chevy Cavalier.”
– Vern Parker, Motor Matters
Copyright, Motor Matters, 2016
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