Guest Post: The '75 deVille

On this Valentine’s Day, let us celebrate a love that is stronger than that between any man and woman — namely, the love of grown men for proper luxury sedans! Lynn Gardner has a story to tell. Please give him a warm welcome — jb

In the late summer of 1974 a sales consultant from Lindsay Cadillac on Kingwood Avenue in Alexandria Virginia called Mr. Howard Schotter at his office on K Street in Washington DC and asked if he had received the color and interior samples that had been sent. Mr. Schotter must have responded in the affirmative before telling the representative of Lindsay Cadillac he had decided that this year’s car should be Jennifer Blue with White Interior and a White Vinyl top. You see, Mr. Schotter had a standing order for a new Cadillac each fall at model introduction, and the sales consultant was just preparing to submit the order. He just needed to know what color Mr. Schotter wanted for the new Cadillac. In mid-September the sales consultant called again and let Mr. Schotter know his new car had arrived at the Lindsay dealership on Kenwood Drive in Alexandria; he could come by and pick it up at his convenience.

Base price: $9,265

Factory Options:

Dual Comfort Front Seat – 40/60 ($133)

Passenger 6-way Power Seat Adjuster ($131)

Leather Upholstery ($235)

AM/FM Stereo Radio Signal Seeking with Automatic Power Antenna ($147)

Door Edge Guards ($11)

Tilt & Telescope Steering Wheel ($102)

Remote Control Trunk Unlock ($68)

Carpeted Rubber Floor Mats ($47)

Twilight Sentinel ($47)

Guide Mastic Headlight Control ($54)

Rear Window Defroster ($77)

Cruise Control ($104)

Mirror – Illuminated – Vanity Passenger ($44)

Mirror – Left Side with Thermometer ($18)

License Plate – Front Mounting Bracket (NC)

Options Total: $1,218

Destination: $220

MSRP: $10,703

On September 28, 1974 Mr. Schotter drove his 1974 Cadillac Sedan deVille from his office to the dealership where his new car was waiting, the necessary paperwork was completed, and Mr. Schotter drove his brand new 1975 Jennifer Blue Sedan deVille to his home on Kingston Avenue, an upscale section of Alexandria. (Editor’s note; it would cost you north of a million dollars now to buy a small home there.) In the fall of 1975 the process repeated itself and Mr. Schotter came back to Lindsay Cadillac to pick up his new 1976 Cadillac Sedan deVille, leaving the 1975 Jennifer Blue Sedan deVille which had accumulated a total of 7,156 miles in his 12 months of ownership. After the transaction had been complete and Mr. Schotter was on his way, J R Lindsay, the General Manager and owner of Lindsay Cadillac instructed his brother C J Lindsay, the Assistant General Manager to have a new set of Uniroyal PR 6 Steel Belted Radials installed on the 1975 Jennifer Blue Cadillac as the factory original tires had 7,156 miles on them, to service and wash the Sedan deVille, and to put it on the Used Car Lot across the street from the showroom.

On a beautiful day, August 22, 1975, Mr. Thomas Coleman of Camp Springs, Maryland had stopped by the Lindsay Cadillac dealership to have his 1970 Sedan deVille serviced. While he was waiting he was walking around the dealership when he stopped to look at recently traded in 1975 Sedan deVille. Larry Butterworth, a sales consultant at Lindsay, asked if he had any questions and Mr. Coleman most likely responded that he was just looking around while his car was being serviced. Mr. Butterworth commented that the car Mr. Coleman was looking at was just like new and was just traded in by a regular local customer; he would get the keys and let Mr. Coleman get a closer look.

Mr. Coleman must have liked what he saw because after a short drive around the Park Fairfax neighborhood of Alexandria, Mr. Coleman sat down with Mr. Butterworth to see what kind of deal could be made. Mr. Butterworth explained that the Jennifer Blue Sedan deVille had stickered new for over ten thousand dollars and only had 7,000 miles on the clock. Mr. Butterworth noted she was barely broke in and that they could let him have her for only $8,795 which was well over $2,000 less then sticker and that there were still some new 1975 Cadillacs on the lot that would cost him over $10,000. Mr. Coleman then wanted to know what his 1970 Sedan deVille would be worth. Mr. Butterworth went out to examine the 1970 Sedan deVille as it was now out of the Service Department and waiting for Mr. Coleman to pick it up. Mr. Butterworth came back and said that they could credit him $1,200 dollars for the 1970 Sedan deVille as it had accumulated 68,349 miles in Mr. Coleman’s five years of ownership.

(Editor’s note: In today’s degraded dollar, that would be about forty-five grand for the ‘75 deVille and about $6200 for the trade-in.)

Mr. Coleman apparently agreed and sat down with Mr. Butterworth to finalize the deal. As the 1975 Sedan deVille was just out of its 12 month new car warranty period even though the mileage was less than the 12,000 covered by the new car warranty. Mr. Lindsay included an additional 12 month 12,000 miles Cadillac Value Protection Plan to cover the car during Mr. Coleman’s first 12 months of ownership or 24,000 miles of driving pleasure. With a sales price of $8,795.00 and taxes, tag transfer (Maryland tag DAV713), fees of $422.30 the total sales price was $9,217.30. As well, Mr. Coleman did not have to pay for the oil changes and services performed on his 1970 Sedan deVille he had just traded in. Mr. Coleman had come in for a service and oil change on his 1970 Cadillac and left with a 1975 Cadillac.

When Mr. Coleman arrived at his home on Hope Drive in Camp Springs he hastily wrote a note on a page from his week planner that says: “Just got a Cadillac, the deVille made me do it” and placed it on the refrigerator in the kitchen. He then settled into his easy chair in the den with the afternoon paper and his pipe.

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However, after enjoying the car for less than two years Mr. Coleman in 1977 experienced a medical emergency and passed away. His wife Mary Coleman kept the car at their home on Hope Drive in Camp Springs, Maryland (later to be renamed Temple Hills) for the next 24 years, using it only to attend local church services and the occasional trip to Safeway and People’s Drug Stores. The Jennifer Blue Cadillac accumulated just 23,421 miles on the odometer.. That 24,000 mile warranty that Mr. Lindsay had sold Mr. Coleman a quarter century early still had not been used up. When Mrs. Coleman joined again with her husband in the spring of 2001 she left the 1975 Jennifer Blue Cadillac to her nephew in her will.

On July 18, 2001, Jim Pulchine of Rixeyville, Virginia titled the 1975 Jennifer Blue Sedan deVille with the Virginia DMV. Mr. Pulchine kept the car for five years and had only accumulated 25,169 total miles on the odometer when on March 28, 2006, he happened by Country Chevrolet in Warrenton, Virginia, Mr. Pulchine was in need of a pickup truck and had seen one on the lot he liked. He went home, got the 1975 Cadillac and brought it to Country Chevrolet to see if they would give him anything for her in trade.

The Sales Manager went out to look at the car and said they usually don’t deal in 25 year old trade-ins but told Mr. Pulchine to wait and he would see if Mr. Andy Budd, the owner of County Chevrolet would be interested in accepting the car in trade. Mr. Budd not only is the owner of County Chevrolet but several other dealerships in Fauquier County Virginia but is a nationally known country music star and maintains his offices at Country Chevrolet. He happened to be in the office and came out to look at the Jennifer Blue 1975 Cadillac and said — yes, we will take it on trade. So on July 18, 2001, Andy Budd of Warrenton, Virginia took ownership of a 26 year old, 25,169 mile Cadillac.

On July 13, 2006, Vern Parker, a nationally syndicated automotive writer for the Washington Times, published an article about a 1975 Jennifer Blue Cadillac Sedan deVille with 25,250 miles on the odometer in his weekly column in the Washington Times. That same day a GS-11 Contracting Officer with the Department of Defense Education Activity went out to lunch and picked up a copy of the Times at the newsstand as was his habit in order to see what Mr. Parker was writing about in his weekly column. After reading the article, Lynn Gardner — that’s me! — kept that page of the paper and filed it away.

In February of 2010, I returned to the Washington Area from a two year assignment at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP). While at the CDP I had purchased a new 2008 Extended Cab Silverado during the height of the financial crisis for a pretty good price after my Cadillac SLS died a painful mechanical death. However, upon returning to Washington I discovered that the Silverado would not fit in the parking garage at his condominium so it was left to be parked outside. It was also during my first month back in the Washington area, that the region experienced a 4 foot snow fall and everything shut down for approximately a week.

It was during this time that the I thought it would be a good idea to clean out some old files. While performing this necessary but burdensome task, I ran across an old newspaper article that had been filed away years earlier.

On March 1, 2010, the roads had cleared and the weather was cold but sunny. I drove out to Warrenton Virginia in my Silverado that still had a foot and half of snow in the bed, with the old newspaper article in hand. Arriving at County Chevrolet, I asked if Mr. Andy Budd was in and the receptionist asked why I needed to see Mr. Budd. I handed her the article and said it was in reference to the 1975 Cadillac. I was invited back to meet Mr. Budd in his office which was decorated with a number of classic Gibson guitars and Chevrolet Motor Division Awards.

Mr. Budd is a very personable and nice person; he said that he still had the car, it was parked in his airplane hangar at the Faulkner County Air Park, and that he did not drive it very often Mr. Budd then went on and explained that he had found his mother’s 1959 Mercury convertible and was in the process of restoring it and that was occupying a lot of his spare time So he said he would arrange to have the 1975 Cadillac brought over to the dealership and we could meet again on March 8, 2010 to do a deal.

On March 8, 2010, I set out for Warrenton Virginia in the Silverado with a cashier’s check made out to Mr. Budd for $6,900 and the paperwork for the Silverado. I gave Mr., Budd the cashier’s check for the Jennifer Blue Sedan deVille and in a few minutes the Used Car Manager came around with a check for the Silverado. Tags were removed and installed but as I went to start the 1975 Cadillac, she would not turn over. The battery was dead, Mr. Budd went to the Part Counter and had a new Delco battery installed in the Cadillac and she fired right up. Thus closes one small circle; in 2006 Mr. Pulchine needed a pickup and took the Jennifer Blue Cadillac to trade it in, and in 2010 I had a new pickup that would not fit in his garage, but wanted a classic Cadillac.

Epilogue: From 2010 to 2020, I have driven the 1975 Jennifer Blue Cadillac 17,000 miles attending three Cadillac Grand Nationals and dozens of CLC Potomac Region, CLC Valley Forge Region, and CLC Central Pennsylvania Region club events. She has won Best of Show Post War, multiple First, Second, Third Place Awards at Regional Shows, and multiple First and Second Place Touring Awards at National CLC Events. She has even attended the Concourse Event at CLCMRC and most importantly she has not ended up as part of a Chinese refrigerator as so many wonderful American full size cars of the 1970’s have.

Oh and one day while vacuuming under the front split bench seat a piece of paper got caught on the brush. I pulled the paper off the vacuum, unfolded it, and found a small refrigerator magnet. It read “Just got a Cadillac, the deVille made me do it.”