Grun, from what you describe, I don't think you even know what you're talking about. I run into so many people like you, who talk about things they know nothing about.
I drove a 1990 Cadillac Sedan Deville for 6 years so I am intimately familiar with Cadillacs of the late '80's. Have you driven one for 6 years on a daily basis? Have you ever driven any Cadillac ever?
My Cadillac was the most beautiful car to come out of the '80's. It had chrome bumpers, a canvas-covered roof, two-tone blue/gray paintjob, whitewalls, skinny pseudo-fin taillight housings, and overall was an extremely attractive and stately automobile. No modern car can match that look. My Roadmaster (generally a superior vehicle) looks like a beached whale by comparison.
Far from being heavy, its curb weight was just over 3400 pounds. Huge? Overweight? Dude, you're clueless.
Far from handling badly, it would out-handle any Honda or Toyota from that same era. Its steering had no play and was feather light; I could maneuver it around a tight parking lot with ease using just my pinky finger with absolute precision. It was front-drive so it drove like a snowmobile in bad weather. I used to drive through 2-3 foot snowdrifts at 50-60 MPH just for fun. Try that in your beloved Honda and you wouldn't stay on the road.
The 1990 had a 273 V-8 which gave it a mid 16 second 1/4mile time; not bad for that era. '91 to '93 had a 300 cid V-8 which supposedly dropped that by about another second. My car always got over 20 MPG and I drove it commuting in a city.
Far from being a clunker, I mistreated it like you wouldn't believe and it always took the pounding. I even used it as a tractor for pulling out tree stumps. I drove it through creeks. I pushed other cars with it and got hit several times and the bumpers never had so much as a scratch. I changed the oil maybe once every 20K miles and it barely used any. Once when I got stuck I used my father-in-law's winch truck to pull it out....attached a J-hook to the bumper to pull it. Try THAT with your Honda and you'll tear the car in half.
Its back seat had more space than most car's front seats. Of all the cars I've ever driven it had the most comfortable interior...it fit me like a glove. As far as I'm concerned, its interior was perfection.
And for durability....when a Honda Accord pulled out in front of me last January, there was no avoiding the colision. After the wreck, the Cadillac would still start and could still move under its own power even with the right front tire ripped apart and the wheel was just hanging. Both headlghts still worked despite one being all cracked to heck. As for the Honda? It lost the entire front end; tires, engine parts, radiator, everything was strewn around the road. I completely ripped his front end off--I went through him like a knife through butter; my car didn't change course at all. It wasn't even much of a jolt. My nice thick slab steel bumper did its job and was still intact--abeit bent up--on the front of my car. If the guy in the Honda was 4 feet farther foreward, he'd be dead.
The only downside to that car was its rear visability was sort of limited (the back window was only 4 inches wide on the inside)...but that's why God invented bumpers that actually work.
Sorry, Grun, but in this case you're completely wrong. The late '80's Cadillac was a superb car--and was the best selling luxury car in the US--which you might want to note, the current overpriced ugly Cadillacs are NOT.
The Northstar engine is pretty nice though. I would have almost killed to have one of those in my '90 (the torque steer would have been awful though).
J_A_B
