1996 Cadillac Fleetwood Review: The Final Fleetwood

[Music] n [Music] hello everyone and welcome back to the channel for a car review today we have a 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood brome to review this is such a good looking car that I just couldn't wear my normal clothes I had to look a little bit more Dapper than I normally do so I could at least try and match the car a little bit cuz my regular look certainly would not do it but I am very excited to review this car because it is such a special Cadillac within their lineup in the 1990s and in the modern era and I truly can't wait to show you guys all about this vehicle but before we get started I would like to thank all of my subscribers for subscribing we have now reached well over 14,000 subscribers nearing 15,000 which is a big number and I want to thank you all however only about 7% of people who watch my videos are actually subscribed so if you could subscribe it would be a huge help and you can always unsubscribe later also I am now selling merchandise if you're in need of any new hats jackets or shirts you can click on the link in the description below also on that website is a bunch of General Motors merchandise which I have been very pleased with also in the description are links to gmcar club.org and the Cadillac lell Club these groups are full of people who are interested in keeping excitement around these cars alive so if you're interested you can feel free to join those groups also this video is sponsored by John Abrams and Associates Insurance Agency John Abrams is a car Enthusiast who has turned his love for cars into a special offering within his insurance agency John has been in the insurance business for nearly 40 years and he has earned the Hagerty Top Gear award for years in a row so if you're interested in having John Ure your classic automobile please click on the link to his website in the description below now let's start talking about this 96 Fleetwood but first let's talk a little about the history of the Fleetwood as as well as this 1996 Fleetwood the Fleetwood name was first derived by the Fleetwood metal body company which was purchased by the Fisher Body Company in 1925 Fisher body was a massive coachbuilder for multiple Automotive manufacturers including General Motors and some Cadillacs ended up being designated as Fleetwood bodied cars but the Fisher body company was fully purchased by General Motors and the Fleetwood name became more prominent within the the Cadillac lineup and eventually became a full-fledged model however 1996 was the final model year for General motors' full-size rear wheeel drive sedans including the Chevy Caprice the Buick Roadmaster and this Cadillac Fleetwood although the Fleetwood name did make one more appearance in 1998 and 1999 with the superior coachbuilt Fleetwood limited 1996 was the last of the true rear wheeel drive fleetwoods that were built by Cadillac next let's start off the review by taking a look at the front end of this Fleetwood up here we find a really Sleek front end it's really not over styled or too gudy we find massive headlights up here a really large chrome grill in Cadillac style as well as a huge chrome bumper up front with these handy bumper guards you can actually nudge people out of the way of parking spots without damaging the Chrome and I'm really glad that this Fleetwood came with a traditional Cadillac hood ornament up front it does move so it can then protect pedestrians if you happen to crash into one of them and also in traditional fashion is a Cadillac script on the chrome grill itself and I specifically really like the design of the grill itself because of the way it is angled if you look at it from the side the top of the grill is angled more forwards compared to the bottom which is kind of different from just about any other car on the road and I think it's a really neat design feature of this era of fleetwoods now taking a look at the side of the wood there are plenty of things to point out here firstly are the cornering lights just like many other Cadillacs from this time before and Beyond these lights will turn on when the turn signal is on so it will light your way when making a turn at night time and just like many traditional fleetwoods from Cadillacs past there is a Cadillac wreath and Crest in the light behind the cornering lights there are also some really large chrome wheels on this car which look fantastic it was an option for the this vehicle you could get regular aluminum looking Wheels but it just does not look nearly as good as the chrome wheels and it also has large white wall tires which is a very nice thing to see and on the top of the front fenders of this car is one of my favorite things that these fleetwoods came with and that was the fiber optic cables for the front lights as you can see there are several housings on the top of the front fender this is where the Fiber Optic Cables would run to from the high beams the headlights and the turn signals indicating if they were working the blue light would be for the high beam the white light would be for the regular headlights and the orange light would be for the turn signals this reminds me of older Cadillacs that would also come with this same thing however this Fleetwood was the last model year of Cadillac to have it and there is also a Fleetwood script on the front doors of this vehicle which is showing off the Fleetwood name just a little bit and I really like how Cadillac helped to make the side of the fleet would look very special by adding lots of chrome including a very small strip of Chrome that runs all the way from the front fender of the car all the way to the back as well as Chrome on essentially the lower third of this car all along the bottom it wraps around the entirety of the Fleetwood and looks absolutely fantastic no other car from this era or since has had truly this much Chrome on it and it really sets off the look of this Fleetwood I also really enjoy that there is a red pinstripe beneath the small line of chrome it looks very beautiful and also makes the car look just a little bit more special and luxurious and also on the roof of this Fleetwood in true Classic Cadillac fashion is a vinyl top most Fleetwood bromes would have come with this however there was an option delete to remove the vinyl top to have a regular metal roof however the vinyl top just looks nicer with this style of a vehicle it also really brings back the heritage of the Cadillac fleetwoods also on the roof is a massive sunroof which is of course power opening and closing and towards the back of the roof is another Cadillac badge and a brome badge signifying that this is the topof thee line Fleetwood and while we're at the side of the Fleetwood I would like to mention that this is quite possibly my favorite angle to look at this vehicle just because of all the Chrome it has on it the black paint the vinyl top it all just meshes so well together and looks very much like a classic Fleetwood but built in a modern era and I think it's one of my favorite looking Cadillacs from this time period And since it just looks so classic and luxurious now taking a look at the back end of the Fleetwood I very much like the design here the trunk is nicely squared off we have Classic Cadillac tail lamps and a massive chrome bumper similar to the front of the car and I really like how the reverse lights blend into the bumper because they're kind of a similar color and just beneath the black paint here and there's also a catalac script and brome badge on the back of the trunk and there is more pin striping on the trunk leading you to the Cadillac wreath and Crest in the middle there and just like many other Cadillacs we've reviewed the fuel door is the license plate bracket back here all you have to do is lower it down and that's how you get access to the gas tank a very cool feature however this was the last model year for Cadillacs to receive this particular feature and once you're ready to get into the trunk all you have to do is push the Cadillac badge off to the side and it reveals the keyhole and all you have to do is stick the key inside twist and the trunk will open like so and inside of the trunk is roughly 21 cubic feet of space which is certainly a lot of room can fit plenty of suitcases bodies or whatever else you might have to put in the trunk and there is a dut spare tire in the back of the trunk as well however this does take up a lot of space which is a bit of a shame and you could also option a fullsize spare tire but this car did not come with that particular option back here here there is also a storage net to hold smaller items and there is also a lever in the back of the trunk here which is a little bit mysterious this lever is actually used to lock the fuel door in the back of the car and this can be used either manually or automatically with the lock button on the key fob and the only complaint I have about this trunk is that it has a high liftover unfortunately this lower section does not move out of the way so if you have something heavy you're going to have to lift it pretty high up to get it into the trunk however once you are done with the trunk all you have to do is very slowly lower it and the trunk pull down takes care of the rest one of my favorite catalac features ever is the trunk pull down so it is nice to see at least that this Fleetwood did come with that feature next let's take a look underneath the hood of the Fleetwood to see what is powering it so the good thing is this hood is pretty easy to open up compared to many other Cadillac fleetwoods and older classic Cadillacs I've reviewed and under here we find the 5. 7 L LT1 V8 engine this is a motor that is derived from many other GM performance cars such as the Camaro Z28 the Pontiac Firebird and even the C4 Corvette however in this application it makes less horsepower compared to those cars but still respectable power it makes about 260 horsepower and 330 lb feet of torque definitely enough to get this boat of a car moving and these lt1's seem to have a CT like following the later model ear were especially known to be very reliable they were well engineered with an advanced design and it of course makes enough power to move these big cars and get decent gas mileage while doing it so overall I'm really happy to see this LT1 in this Cadillac Fleetwood next let's start up the Fleetwood and hear how it sounds before we take a look at the interior of this Fleetwood I would like to show you guys the keys that came with this vehicle I very much like these keys because these are the gold ones that would have come with the Fleetwood there is also another set of silver ones that came with it this is very traditional Cadillac with a squared off key and the round key the squared one being used to start the car and the round one being used to unlock the doors and the trunk and this did come with a key fob with all the usual buttons on it you'd expect and there is a Cadillac script on the bottom which is pretty special however I will say this key fob is pretty low quality it's um not exactly made in any sort of luxurious material just very flimsy plastic that does kind of feel like it's going to break if you press on it but I am glad that this did come with a key fob it's very handy and I really like the keys themselves now that we've taken a look at the exterior of the Fleetwood let's go ahead and check out the [Music] interior [Music] n taking a look at the interior of this 1996 Fleetwood I am really blown away I really love all the leather in here the leather stitching on the door the plush leather seats the beautiful wood used on the doors and the dashboard and I even think that this maroon interior looks better than what a black interior would have looked on this car just adds a little bit more color and pop to it so let's take a seat on the inside and see what it's like okay on the interior of the Fleetwood I absolutely love it in here these seats are extremely soft and comfortable maybe even more so than other '90s Cadillacs I brought to the channel I just love how they feel it's so soft and plush the leather is of really high quality the headrest is in the perfect spot and speaking of the leather these seats in the bro are a little bit different than what would have been in the non brome versions of the Fleetwood it's actually with the pattern of the leather as you can see these seats have vertical stitching in the middle of them versus the horizontal stitching that would have been found in other fleetwoods from the time it's an interesting change that Cadillac made for the brome I'm not really sure if one seat is really more comfortable than another because of that change but it's kind of neat that Cadillac did change the look of the seats with the brome version and these seats do have lots of controls most of them are found on the door panel there are many switches here to move the seat forward backwards up and down you can adjust the Tilt all the kind of usual stuff and there are also buttons here for the memory driver's seat and there are a few more switches here for the windows and the window lockout as well as the mirror controls and I really do like this row of buttons on the door here because they're all made of metal and extremely satisfying to use they have a really nice click to them and just feel very luxurious even more so than other Cadillacs from this time and also on the door is a very large pole handle it's made out of wood and feels very luxurious and it has a little bit of padding on the back side of it and there's a classic looking button for the door box and a nice metal lever to get in and out of the vehicle and there are a few more buttons and switches for the seat by my left thigh there's one to adjust the recline of the seat another for the heated seat and another for the lumbar controls and a really neat little Quirk about the door is that there is a little hole in the wood above the door handle itself and this hole is actually here to light light in at night time there's a light bulb in there and it'll shine on the metal switches so you can see what you're doing when it's dark out and because the metal switches don't have lights within them to be able to see what you're touching this light then gets around that issue so you can see what you're pressing at night time and in front of me is a large leather wrapped steering wheel it has a tilt function to it and this wheel is also very similar to other Cadillacs at the time and behind the steering wheel is the turn signal stock it's very similar to other GM products from the time and unfortunately just like those products it's also very low quality it feels very cheap to use and is made completely out of plastic there's also a very tradition gear lever it is also made out of plastic but fortunately does feel a little bit better and behind the steering wheel are the gauges there's a speedometer there a tripometer and an odometer and our fuel gauge honestly not much information there very simple very easy to read and it's actually kind of nice because it gives you basically only the information you need to see and doesn't give you anything more than that it's very similar to other fleetwoods even from the' 70s it doesn't really give you any more than what those cars gave you however it it is all encased in this nice glossy wood there are also some warning lights along the sides and two buttons in there one of them is used to change between the Imperial and the metric system and the other one is used to reset the tribometer on the left side of the dashboard are the controls for the headlights as well as the Twilight Sentinel and on the center of the dashboard are the climate controls all the buttons are very simple to read and easy to use however there is not dual climate control on this Fleetwood which is a bit of a shame and also on the dashboard is the radio there are lots of buttons here but overall it's very easy to read what they do and easy to use them and there was an optional CD player that came with this particular Fleetwood and there's also a tape player for you to play your cassettes and of course being a Cadillac from the 9s this did come with a massive ashtray in the center of the dashboard all passengers up front would have to share this one ashtray though which is kind of a shame and on the dashboard towards the passenger side is a very beautiful looking brome script which is inlaid into to the wood and beneath that is the Cadillac script the passenger can then read both of these Badges and see that this is the top end Cadillac and as far as storage goes in this car there really isn't a whole lot there is a decently large center console and a large glove compartment however there is no storage inside of the doors which is a bit of a shame and inside of the center console itself there is a coin holder there as well as a few slots for you to put your cassettes and CDs and there's also a very flimsy cup holder which kind of folds into the armrest when you're not using it and then it also folds out of the center console when you do need it it's honestly very much an afterthought because it's very cheap feeling and just kind of lays out in the open but it is nice to have cup holders and inside of the glove compartment is a yellow button to open up the trunk just like many traditional Cadillacs had and there's also a switch to turn off the traction control and this Fleetwood did come with an automatic dimming mirror but what's really strange about it is that it has lights and switches for those lights on the bottom of the mirror kind of a strange place to put interior lights but that's where Cadillac decided to put them also on the roof are sun visors as well as mirrors for both the passenger and the driver and there is a switch for the power sunroof as well as the garage home link switches and what's strange is that because this car did come with the sunroof they had to remove the sunglasses holder which would have been here in the center of the roof I'm guessing there just wasn't enough room to have the sunroof and the sunglasses holded there at the same time and also on the roof are more interior lights that can be turned on and off as well as grab handles for all the people inside of the car to make it easier to get in and out and overall the interior on this car is very clearly made for an older clientele not to say that that's a bad thing it's just a more traditional sort of luxury car in here not much technology not too much information that could just be overwhelming it's all very simple and basically gives you everything that you need to have but also a luxurious interior to go along with it all right I am now in the back seat of the Fleetwood and these seats are just as comfortable as the front ones they are so soft it's like sitting on a couch in your living room it's just such a nice place to be you can fit three people back here just like you can in the front actually so this is a six passenger car and I really enjoy being back here not just because it's really comfortable but also because there's plenty of room and the seat also has a really cool Cadillac wreath embroidered into it which which is very luxurious there's also a really large armrest in the middle of the seat which is leather wrapped and very soft and it also has a cup holder as well as a cubby area the cup holder is a bit more sturdy than the one up front which is really nice and it even has a little slot in it so if you have something like a mug with a handle it can still fit inside of there without falling out the doors are also very luxurious with the same leather wrapping in the top of the door and the wood as well as the nice metal switches and buttons here and I do also like how the rear doors have cash trays so everyone back here can continue to smoke if they wanted to there are also grab handles and lights back here as well as more fiber optic cables in the roof for the rear tail lights and turn signals it's also in the perfect spot for the driver to see them in the rear mirror but there is something that is missing in this brome that would have come with many other bromes and that would be the rear vanity mirrors unfortunately because this brome was optioned with the sunroof they had to remove the vanity mirrors which would have been here in the roof because it would have been in the way and honestly I'm okay with it because I would have preferred having a sunroof than the vanity mirrors but it is a shame that Cadillac couldn't figure out a way to still keep the vanity mirrors and have the sunroof at the same time and something that I really wish Cadillac would have included with this Fleetwood when they built it would have been rear writing tables and footrests for those in the back seat that would have really have made it much more like a Fleetwood from the 6s or earlier however they did address this with the Fleetwood limited when they built that car but I really wish they would have have added it with this Fleetwood because it was the final sendoff for the traditional Cadillac built fleetwoods now that we've taken a look at the exterior and the interior of the Fleetwood let's go ahead and take it for a [Music] drive all right we are driving the 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood so as uh many of you probably already know if you've been uh followers of the channel for quite some time the second video I ever made was on a 1996 Fleetwood limousine and that was one that my family had owned but anyways it was the second video I ever did and I really had no idea what I was doing as far as making videos goes not that I know now but I only had a like 30 second long driving portion to the video I didn't really talk much about how the car actually drove and rode so ever since then I'd been wanting to drive a traditional sedan to actually get the experience of that car but also to really hopefully explain to you guys what this car is all about and why it's just such a good riding vehicle and that's just the thing it's such a brilliant riding car it's definitely not as floaty and baty as like the traditional 19 70s and ' 80s Cadillacs it's a lot more controllable it's a bit more drivable it finds a good balance in the Middle where it's still very comfortable but it's not like you're driving a barge down the road so I do very much like that about the 9s Cadillacs especially this particular Fleetwood and just looking over the hood of this car it is definitely a lot longer than any other Cadillac from this AA that I've driven longer than the uh Fleetwood limited longer than the El Dorado of course it's just such a big feeling car compared to the those and I really kind of forgot what that experience was like and it really does handle the bumps well the suspension does a good job of softening everything up as expected the steering feels good and confident I just love love the feeling of this car and I think it's really the best riding car that I've driven from the 9s that a Cadillac had to offer is just so so good and it's of course very quiet in here very relaxed the seating makes everything even more comfortable and relaxed this car is also bringing back a lot of memories of uh of that limousine which is very enjoyable it's just been so long since I've been in one of these uh mid90s Cadillac fleetwoods all right everybody let's see if you can do a 0 to 60 run to see what the Fleetwood is all about here we go a little bit of wheel spin there there's 30 40 50 60 holy cow what oh that's a lot quicker than I would have expected man the LT1 really does have some power to it oh it was screaming and it feels maybe even a little bit more uh powerful off the line than some of the Northstar Vehicles I've reviewed that's something that I really like about traditional Cadillacs is that they're just extremely luxurious but they also are very powerful so they have have plenty of power to uh overtake someone or to merge onto a highway or uh have a little bit of fun when moving in a straight line and I also really wish that more Cadillacs would have had the Fiber Optic Cables I think that's something that just looks awesome at night time and it would be cool if Cadillac somehow found a way to bring that back into their modern cars throughout this video I've compared this Fleetwood a lot to more traditional Cadillacs rather than other Cadillacs in the 1990s the Seville the El Dorado and even the devil to some extent was becoming more sporty and futuristic in their styling and Technology to compete with the German and Japanese luxury brands that were starting to take over however the Fleetwood never got that same treatment with how this car looks and how it drives it's very much more a classic traditional Fleetwood rather than being some futuristic vehicle and I think that's what made this car very different from anything else that Cadillac was making at the time and I think this was the very last C Cadillac to offer purely a luxury experience rather than a Showcase of futurism or sportiness or technology this is quite simply a big car with bold looks and traditional luxury that is unlike anything else that has been built then or since then and it's the final example of a bygone era within Cadillac and the American automotive industry [Music] a well I hope that you guys enjoyed this video about the Fleetwood as much as I have like I said before I'd been wanting to drive a Fleetwood sedan for a very long time just to experience it but also to really show you guys why this car is so special and one of the final greats within the Cadillac lineup as far as the traditional cars go so please remember to comment like And subscribe and to come back again soon for more videos [Music]

Channel: JW Reviews

Views: 213,371

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Id: 80OryVEnIbE

Length: 27min 5sec (1625 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 07 2023