Overview:
This 1999 Cadillac Seville STS has always been a favorite for me. For those of you who follow my column, you may recall I’ve owned eight Cad’s in my life and have loved them all. Cadillac remains the symbol of excellence the world over. It cracks me up to hear that Ferrari is the Cadillac of sports cars.
And now Cadillac is reaching out to the world. The 1998 Seville was debuted in Frankfurt Germany and the 2000 will be the official pace car for the 58th running of 24 hours of Le Mans. You may know that is the third endurance race referred to as the Triple Crown. Price Cobb who does Point CounterPoint with me won that race in 1990 for Jaguar.
Cadillac seeks to achieve the goal of capturing the luxury market in Europe and Asia. And for those of you who travel the globe, you know there aren’t too many Cad’s out there. Fact is there aren’t too many American cars of any kind. But the future may find exports growing. Ford and Cad are big in Germany where both have production plants. I visited the Ford plant in Koln, Germany, which is close to the French border, and perhaps someone can tell me where the Cadillac plant is. They build Catera’s there. Cadillac is obviously getting more aggressive by going after Mercedes and BMW with the STS. And if you test drive all three I think you’ll agree that Cad does a great job representing American technology abroad.
The Seville is a 4-door sedan offered in two trims: the luxurious SLS and this sporty STS. The Northstar System powers both. The Seville shares the Oldsmobile Aurora’s G-platform, but the Seville models exported to Europe and Asia are slightly shorter than those sold in North America, where space is not such a rare commodity.
This car comes highly recommended.
The Competition:
Acura RL $41,900, BMW 5-Series $38,900 – $53,900, Infiniti Q45 $48,200 – $49,900, Jaguar S-TYPE $42,500 – $48,000, Lexus GS 300/400 $37,305 – $45,505, Lincoln Continental $38,880, Mercedes-Benz E-Class $42,400 – $69,100, Volvo S80 $36,000 – $40,500.
Good News:
It’s a Cadillac, great ride, elegant styling, Northstar performance, whiplash acceleration, luxury features that are user friendly (in contrast to its German competitors),
Bad News:
I couldn’t find any bad news so I read some other reviews and knew I was right. Anything said would be nit picking.
Standard Equipment:
4.6-liter V8 Northstar engine, 4-speed auto trans, four-wheel anti lock disc brakes, traction control, front and side air bags, rainsense wiper, theft deterrent, climate control, power tilt and tele steering wheel, Zebrano wood and leather trim, power front seats, Bose stereo system, with cassette and CD.
Gas Stats:
17 City and 26 Highway MPG.
Pricing:
MSRP $48,050.
