1965 Cadillac DeVille

The first Cadillac DeVille was a styling exercise shown by General Motors at the 1949 Motorama held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. A production DeVille pillarless coupe soon followed and by the late 1950s, enjoyed a prominent place within the Cadillac range.

1965 introduced the third generation of the DeVille, wearing designs by Bill Mitchell and available in two- and four-door configurations.

Major design changes were applied throughout the 1965 Cadillac lineup, described as 'So new…so right…so obviously Cadillac.' The rounded look of the early 1960s was now more distinct, with a sharper and more modern appearance. The tailfins were turned slightly downward, the horizontal lamps were now vertical, and the grille widened.

The Deville was the company's mainstream model and its new design was met with delight by consumers, though it took second place to the companion four-door hardtop Sedan de Ville. In total, 43,345 Coupe de Ville and 19,200 De Ville convertibles were sold in 1965. Models 68357-J to 68367-F, the 2-door De Villes carried manufacturer retail prices ranging from $5,419 to $5,639 for hardtops and convertibles. An additional price of $121 was applied to vehicles that received a padded vinyl roof on the hardtop models. All four-door DeVille models had small script nameplates on the ends of their rear fenders, just above the chrome side molding.

Power was supplied by the overhead-valve, 429 cubic-inch V8 engine with five main bearings, hydraulic valve lifters, a Carter four-barrel carburetor, and delivered 340 horsepower at 4,600 RPM. The long list of optional equipment included air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, power windows, remote control lock, Twilight Sentinel, leather upholstery, pushbutton radio, and six-way power front seats.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2012