New project cars are exciting, but they can also be a bit intimidating. Even a thorough inspection before purchase won’t necessarily reveal every issue a vehicle might have. But that’s part of the game, as seen in the following video detailing this 1987 Cadillac Cimarron.
Recently posted to YouTube by GM enthusiast A Rural Vermonter, this video catalogues the acquisition and shakedown of a new Cadillac Cimarron project car. This particular example has just 37,000 original miles on the clock, and was listed on craigslist for $1,500. However, after some negotiation, the Cimarron was acquired for a mere $600.
The question is – is it worth the effort?
Indeed, the Cadillac Cimarron isn’t exactly the most beloved Caddy of all time. Introduced for the 1982 model year as the brand’s first entry into the compact segment, the Cimarron is notorious for being little more than a “badge engineered” Chevrolet Cavalier. Production ended in 1988.
Nevertheless, for $600, this 1987 Cadillac Cimarron doesn’t look all too bad. Sure, it’s definitely rough around the edges, one of the brake lines was cut, it’s a bit rusty underneath, and there are weird stains in the back seat.
That said, the 2.8L V6 LB6 engine starts right up, connecting to the front axle by way of a three-speed automatic transmission. The leather upholstery looks decent without any rips in the front seats, and the original radio works too. The automatic windows roll right up. Beyond the faulty brakes, the only other thing that doesn’t work seems to be the tachometer.
After doing a quick walkaround, the video host offloads his new 1987 Cadillac Cimarron, bleeds the front brakes, tops off the transmission fluid, and takes it for a test drive. All told, it performs surprisingly well for a $600 vehicle with more than three decades of age under its belt.
The new owners plan on fixing the car up and selling it for a profit, and we’ll certainly be interested to see how the new project progresses.
How much would you pay for this 1987 Cadillac Cimarron? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Cadillac Cimarron news, Cadillac news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
While a lot of people in the media made fun of Cadillac’s Cimarron because it is essentially still a Chevy; publications don’t point out how the Cadillac Escalade borrows from the Chevrolet Suburban or how the Chevrolet Blazer borrows from Cadillac’s XT5 CuV.
Yeah but this car MAKES me think of a Cavalier
“…reports also confirm that the $500 in a duffle bag in the trunk that came with the vehicle were in fact small bills.”
A candidate for Jalopnik’s “Nice Price or Crack Pipe?” competition.
Worth having as a time capsule because I remember the spring of ’82 when, as a hopeful sign coming out of a recession, the brand new J-Body Chevrolet Cavaliers were debuting. A hopeful sign. Stockburger Chevrolet in Newtown, Pennsylvania, had about a dozen Cavaliers on display at their in-town (right on State St.) dealership. I’d pass by Stockburger’s on my way in to the Fisher Body automotive hardware plant located on Parkway Ave in Ewing Twp., New Jersey. Our plant made a number of components for GM’s vehicle brands. In my memory the trees were beginning to blossom.
Needs a 5.3L small block wedged between those front wheels
The problem with the Cimmaron was Rodger Smith.. Cadillac wanted to properly trim the J-Car into a “small Cadillac” like the Nova was turned into a Seville in the 70’s but Smith ordered it to launch too soon with Cadillac against it, Smith won and here we have Cimmaron. By 88′ (like Feiro, GN, Turbo T/A) by the time they got it right it was dead..
The problem with GM was Roger Smith!
It starts so it’s already ahead of an 87 MB or BMW!
A little extreme, maybe a 2.0 LTG would be better.
My mom had a 1987 Burgandy Cimarron. Sold it after 20 years had 97k miles. Never had a problem. A woman in New Mexico bought it.
Thanks for this super great article and video. I understand that I may be one of the few (very few in fact), but I have always liked the Cimarron. Yes, they rushed it out to market too soon. Even if they would have waited and introduced it with the changes they made to the 1983 model, that would have helped a lot. In fact, there’s a cool old video from AutoWeek where they do a test on the new updated 1983 and the differences were very noticeable over the 1982. Anyhow….
There is just something I’ve always liked about this car. Maybe it’s the fact that so many others just hated it. But if you actually drove one, the upgrades from the Chevy were vast. Unfortunately, I started selling the Cadillac’s in 1988 which was the same year they dropped it. Like someone above said, that’s when they really had this little Caddy improved so much, but it was kind of too late and they killed it. To this day, I keep my eyes out for a clean 1984 to 1988 or any year for the right price. These guys in this video got this car at that right price.
Having driven several of these cars I can be pretty specific to what is went wrong here.
GM was in the move to a bunch of FWD cars on shared platforms and was trying to save money as yes they had already started to go broke.
The issue here was Cadillac was directed to do a small car but was not really give much money to do it right. This was a case they were given a low cost Chevy and really only could afford to put a leather interior in and add some extra trim. The engine was just a Z24 and the body panels really did not break any new ground from the Cavalier.
Pontiac also was tasked with making a new Bonneville at the same time and was give the Le Mans to change the trim on and make it a Bonneville. Pontiac at this time was on life support as GM was considering shutting it down. It was not till the Firebird and Fiero came to draw attention to the line and then the new Grand Am that sold in volumes that moved the target to Olds.
GM had at this point seen a series of poor leaders like Smith but he was not the only one.
The Fiero program was under funded and division rivalry killed the car. Pontiac never had the money needed to make it right and then once the 88 arrived with the original suspension they wanted it was killed by the Corvette people point the plant was under capacity. This was due to the poor planning of a FWD GM 80 F body replacement.
This is the same things that are killing Cadillac today. Their cars are still lacking in details though closer to where they need to be but yet they never close the deal. The Escalade is only an exception to the rule. My hope is with the EV line it will finally give Cadillac for a while vehicles that are only Cadillac and will help establish a true independent identity. For way too long Cadillac has been discount Luxury and too much Chevy and not enough Cadillac.
Imagine if Cadillac has the same support as the Corvette team got on the C8?
Cadillac need to bring in more to the table. If you use the same engine as a Chevy then bring some different tuning or more power. Also bring more than a plastic cover over the top of an engine. Even Chevy finally gave the Corvette its own steering wheel. How bad it looked that the ZR1 had a HHR SS steering wheel. Optics like this are small but add up to poor impressions.
As I was reading these comments, I thought of the Cadillac Catera.
Please correct me, but as I recall it was rear wheel drive, 3.0 and built in Germany by Opel.
And, I remember parking next to a Catera and the roof line looked like my Chevy Lumina
built in Oshawa, Ontario.
The Chevy Lumina was a great trouble free car with a 3.1 V6.
Wow! You folks sure share a lot of insight and information.
Yes you are correct about the Opel but it had noting yo do with the Lumina. One was fwd the other was RWD. . It also was a Saturn too.
They were trying to sucker 4N buyers but no one bought it.
A friend of mine was selling Cadillacs when the catera came out, said you really had to warm up that engine in that car. My friend didn’t like those at all
Catera…the Caddy that zigs!
I got an 82 eldorado for 400 and know of a 81 birritz for 500 so like this isnt that cool
Cadillac wishes they could sell as many CT4 sedans as the Cimarron averaged–about 25,000 per year.
It wasn’t just Roger Smith who rushed it. Cadillac dealers were begging for a small car to sell after the 1979 gas shortage and the more than doubling of gas prices that followed. Oil prices dropped sharply in 1985, one of the things that helped end the Cold War.
Also at the time it was the only real small luxurious car out there, ran a Heck of a lot better than the Cadillac 4.1 engine
After about 2 years of the Cimaron, they were pretty good cars, at the time no one was doing a small loaded with extras and leather interior. After the V6 it was much better. A friend had one and loved it. It actually had a better engine, and ran better, than the other Cadillacs between 82-87. I like myself
Also at the time it was the only real small luxurious car out there, it ran a Heck of a lot better than the Cadillac 4.1 engine
Isn’t that always the way with GM? By the time the bugs were worked out of the Corvair and the Fiero, the same thing happened: they were discontinued.
The Fiero story is much deeper than just getting it right.
It was underfunded and it took time I get all they wanted. But then the. Orvette team was concerned about not getting the C5 approved if they lost more sales. The 1990 Fiero was slated for 220 HP DOHC V6 at 2/3 the price of a Corvette.
Pontiac put the Fiero in a plant the GM 80 was expected to go to but when Ford killed the FWD Mustang GM killed the FWD GM80. This left a plant with a capacity of 250-300k units making 30k cars. Pontiac took a risk and lost.
The problem on the Corvair was the Mustang. It was more powerful and cheaper to build. GM went to the Camaro V8 as it was cheaper to build than a Corvair.
Also emissions were going to kill the air cooled engine.
Many people leave out the many things that make up these stories.
I recently purchased a 1998 Cadillac Eldorado for $2,700 with 78,000 miles. Literally not a scratch on the metallic blue paint, though it does have a few small door dings. So far I’ve installed new front rotors and brakes, fixed a cooling system leak, and replaced the aftermarket rims with chrome Cadillac rims and center caps running on Bridgestones. I’ve owned alot of vehicles in my 56 years, but this is by far the smoothest ride. I enjoyed your video and am looking forward to seeing your progress. Every car is a cool car once you write the check!
Hi there. My YouTube channel is BruisersBeaters. I purchased this car from A Rural Vermonter and he drove the car here over 1000 miles and put a video on YouTube detailing his trip to deliver the car to me. I’m detailing the restoration of this car on my channel now. I have a 1988 Cimarron for parts, almost the identical car so all the parts directly exchange.