If you're going to steal, you rob a bank not a grocery store, so I'd rather go after a Rolls..." That was General Motors' design chief Bill Mitchell talking to Autocar back in December 1975. Blatant and provocative those words might have been, but they were also a statement of intent. For years Cadillac, GM's halo brand, had looked like the definition of excess to European eyes, as Mitchell conceded: "We've overdone things - lots of sheet metal, thick doors, overhangs. [But] we're doing a better job now." And if the new Seville was anything to go by, he was. What's more, this pretender to the 'world's best car' throne was coming to Britain.
The audacity! You uld almost hear the bone china being dropped in Crewe's boardroom when Rolls-Royce's management received the memo. There clearly was a whiff of Roller in the way the Seville looked, too. It aped the new Silver Shadow II's key dimensions, being just half an inch shorter, at 203.9in, and less than half an inch wider, at 71.8in. More than that, its restrained and elegant lines, combined with a modest 5.7-litre small-block V8, made it, so Cadillac believed, a proper challenger for Rolls-Royce's freshly revised Shadow.
The Seville was no 'grey' import, either. Lendrum & Hartman of Hammersmith, west London, was given a quota of 150 Sevilles by GM in 1977 to satisfy British demand. L&H took 60 hours to prepare each car for buyers in the UK, including a conversion to right-hand drive. That brought the total cost of each fully loaded Seville to £14,888, and L&H would guarantee delivery within three months. In other words, £10,000 less than the Shadow II, and with 15 months less wait for your new car.
Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
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Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
RAY HILLIER
Double-chevron oddity proves a break from the norm for this Crewe specialist
SHORT BACK & GLIDES
Eccentric enthusiast Captain RG McLeod's series of Manx-tailed Bentley Specials reached its zenith with this unique S2 Continental.
People's choice
The diminutive but multi-million-selling Fiat 850 packed a remarkable diversity of form and function into its compact footprint
PLASTIC BREAKS FROM THE NORM
Glassfibre revolutionised niche car-body production, but just occasionally strayed into the mainstream.
A SENSIBLE SUPERCAR
The cleverly conceived four-seater Elite secured Lotus a place at the big players' table, but has it been unfairly maligned since then?
"I had a habit of grabbing second place from the jaws of victory"
From dreams of yachting glory to the Le Mans podium, via a stint at the top of the motorsport tree, Howden Ganley had quite the career
Still going strong
Herbert Engineering staked its reputation on the five-year warranty that came with its cars. A century on, this Two Litre hasn't made a claim
One for the kids
General Motors was aiming squarely at the youth market with the launch of the Pontiac GTO 60 years ago, and its runaway success popularised the muscle-car movement
A NEW BREED OF HERO
Launched at the turn of the millennium, the GT3 badge has already earned a place alongside RS, CS and turbo in Porsche lore.
Brits with SIX appeal
The straight-six engine is synonymous with a decades-long legacy of great British sports cars. Six variations on the sextet theme convene for comparison
