Cadillac offered the Eldorado, Fleetwood, Calais and DeVille in 1969.
The Cadillac name is one of the oldest in automobile history. Originally formed in 1902 from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company after Henry Ford himself deserted it along with several partners, the Cadillac brand has come to mean style and luxury all over the world. As of 2010, the Cadillac Motor Company is owned by General Motors, and has released various makes and models of automobiles for over a century. In 1969, Cadillac was focusing on luxury coupes like the Eldorado as direct competition against cars such as the Chrysler Imperial.
DeVille
The 1969 DeVille was a rather large town car, considered Cadillac's most mainstream car. It had an overall length of 224.7 inches and weighed about 4,600 pounds. Like the Calais, the DeVille had a wheelbase of 129.5 inches. In 1969, the DeVille came with a 472-cubic-inch V-8 engine. An automatic transmission came standard. The 1969 DeVille had an axle ratio of 3.94-to-1. The car came with power steering, unusual for the time, and had a 45.8-foot turning diameter. Power disc brakes were optional. In addition to the four-door sedan, you could also get the 1969 DeVille as a two-door coupe or convertible.
Eldorado
The Eldorado was technically a Fleetwood, but most car enthusiasts put it in a category all by itself. The Eldorado had an overall length of 221 inches. It had a wheelbase of 120 inches and weighed around 4,500 pounds. In 1969, the Eldorado only came as a two-door hard top coupe. The car got a new grille design in 1969, as well as a dual tandem booster for better stops at high speed. The Eldorado wheels had special wheel covers, and the front seat now came with a seat belt storage receptacle. Options for the 1969 Eldorado were leather bucket seats, automatic climate control, cruise control and rear defroster. You could also get your Eldorado with power door locks, whitewall tires and a padded vinyl roof. The Eldorado's engine was also the 472-cubic-inch V-8, with a bore and stroke of 4.3 inches and 4.1 inches, and a maximum torque of 523.7 foot-pounds at 3,000 rpm.
Fleetwood
Other than the Eldorado, there were two models of 1969 Fleetwood. The Sixty Special was larger than the Calais and DeVille. It had a wheelbase of 133 inches and weighed almost 4,800 pounds.The Fleetwood Seventy-Five was larger still, with a wheelbase of 149.75 inches and a weight of around 5,500 pounds. A four-door Fleetwood limousine was also available this year. Fleetwoods had the standard 1969 V-8 engine, as well as options like tinted glass, cruise and climate control, leather upholstery and an AM/FM stereo.
Calais
You could buy the 1969 Calais as either a coupe or as a sedan. Both weighed approximately 4,600 pounds and had a wheelbase of 129.5 inches. The 1969 Calais shared the same V-8 engine all the other models had that year. Horsepower of the V-8 was 375 at 4,400 rpm, with a compression ration of 10.5-to-1. The Calais was not the most popular of Cadillacs; its sales decreased by almost 6,000 in 1969, by far the biggest drop of all the Cadillac cars offered that year.
Tags: wheelbase inches, 1969 DeVille, 1969 Cadillac, Calais DeVille, came with
