Cadillac Cimarron

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Cadillac Cimarron

Manufacturer	General Motors
Production	1982–1988
Assembly	Janesville, Wisconsin, United States South Gate, California, United States
Class	Compact
Body style(s)	4-door sedan
Layout	FF layout
Platform	J-body
Engine(s)	1.8 L OHV I4 2.0 L OHV I4 2.8 L 60° V6
Transmission(s)	4-speed manual 3-speed automatic
Wheelbase	101.2 in (2570 mm)
Length	177.8 in (4516 mm)
Width	66.3 in (1684 mm)
Height	54.0 in (1372 mm)
Related	Buick Skyhawk Chevrolet Cavalier Oldsmobile Firenza Pontiac J2000 Pontiac 2000 Pontiac Sunbird

The Cadillac Cimarron was a compact car built by Cadillac based on the GM J platform. It was first introduced in 1981 for the 1982 model year, and sold through 1988. 132,499 were built.^[1]

The Cimarron was one of Cadillac's least successful models,^{[citation needed]} its noticeable economy car roots were seen by many automotive writers and critics^[who?] as doing much to tarnish Cadillac's image of prestige along with the V8-6-4 engine of the same era. According to Car and Driver, current Cadillac product director John Howell has a picture of the Cimarron on his wall captioned, "Lest we forget."^[2]

History

1982 Cadillac Cimarron

Cadillac's first foray into smaller cars, the 1975 Seville, intended to answer the sales threat from Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, was a relative success, but the political and economic climate of the 1980s suggested a need for something smaller. A crucial factor was the advent of CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) requirements from the U.S. federal government, which severely penalized automakers if their fleet average fuel economy dropped below the minimum. Another was the success of imported compacts from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi. Although Cadillac had intended to introduce the Cimarron later in the 1980s, it was rushed into production early. The result was the smallest and, in many opinions,^[who?] least-distinguished Cadillac model produced to date.^{[citation needed]}

GM had just introduced the J platform, an economy car platform shared across all passenger-car divisions. Each rode the same 101.2 in (2,570 mm) wheelbase and had the same basic MacPherson strut front suspension and torsion beam rear suspension, and all shared the same engines. The cars were mostly identical, however differed in styling details, features, and price. The basic body/frame structure used a unibody with a front subframe that carried the lower front suspension, engine, and transmission. This was refined for the Cimarron with the addition of hydraulic dampers between the subframe and the body in the interest of improving the ride and handling of the vehicle.^{[citation needed]}

Pete Estes, GM's president at the time, warned Ed Kennard, Cadillac's general manager:

^[3]

The Cimarron, introduced on May 21, 1981, was initially advertised as "Cimarron, by Cadillac" and sales personnel were instructed by GM to not refer to the car as a Cadillac and to inform customers that it was, technically, not a Cadillac. This strategy failed, and it became the Cadillac Cimarron for 1983.

Rear of a 1982 Cimarron showing Cavalier style taillights

The new compact Cadillac had the unconventional, for Cadillac, I4 engine (the first 4-cylinder Cadillac since 1914) and a four-speed manual transmission (Cadillac's first manual since 1953), with a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic automatic optional. Power steering and air conditioning were standard. The high level of standard equipment pushed base price to US$12,181 ($30,279.96 in 2007, adjusted for inflation), nearly double that of its J-body siblings.

While some motoring press critics^[who?] had high praise for the car, it was coolly received by Cadillac buyers, and first-year sales were only 25,968, about a third what Cadillac anticipated.^[3] The Cimarron's compact dimensions did not appeal to traditional Cadillac buyers, while its humble origins and barely competitive performance did little to appeal to the buyers of European imports. Consumers^[who?] were also unwilling to pay twice as much for what essentially was a well-equipped Chevrolet Cavalier with Cadillac emblems, and thought General Motors should have developed a compact model specifically for Cadillac. Even though its interior materials were generally^{[weasel words]} better than other J-cars, these differences were too subtle^{[weasel words]} to truly differentiate the Cimarron. The standard four-cylinder engine was also roundly criticized for its lack of both power and refinement. Although a V6 engine arrived in 1985 and became standard in 1987, these shoehorned additions were also widely criticized^{[by whom?]} as, at best, too little, too late.

1988 Cadillac Cimarron

Even though the Cimarron had grown comparatively more refined by the end of its production run with more Cadillac-like styling to further distinguish it from other J-cars, buyers stayed away, and the car was discontinued after 1988 with a production run that year of only 6,454 units. The Cimarron's failure was part of a series of events throughout the 1980s and 1990s that left the brand a shadow of its former self and from which it has only recently begun to emerge.

Legacy

Even years after the model was discontinued, and better-received "smaller" Cadillacs were introduced, the Cimarron's legacy was felt^{[by whom?]} in a negative sense. For instance, CNN Money noted the car was, "In all important respects, a Chevrolet Cavalier. It also added thousands to the price tag. In all, it was neither a good Cadillac nor a good value. Even GM executives will readily admit today that this was a bad idea."^[4]

References

External links

• Derek Kreindler's Autoblog article on the Cimarron