Before the CTS: Cadillac's First Competitors to the 3-Series

The Cimarron and Catera

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After the success of Cadillac's smallest (but definitely not small) model, the Seville, Cadillac dealers requested a compact model that would compete with the BMW 3 Series, Audi 4000, and Saab 900. Development of that car, the Cimarron, would begin in the early 1980s, but the finished product would appear in early 1981. This rapid creation was possible because it used the J platform, which was used by the Chevrolet Cavalier.

Furthermore, the Cimarron used many of the same parts as the Cavalier and was built alongside it in the same factory. Bizarrely, the car was initially launched as the Cimarron by Cadillac and featured no Cadillac badges. Also, the Cimarron used the same 1.8-liter 88-horsepower four-cylinder engine found in the Cavalier.

Although the engine allowed for 25 MPG in the city and an impressive 41 on the highway, acceleration was anemic. 0-60 occurred in 15.8 seconds, the quarter-mile took 22 seconds at 65 MPH, and it took 7.5 seconds to go from 40 to 55 MPH. On the bright side, MotorWeek complimented the Cimarron for it's quiet, good-quality interior and smooth ride. However, for a car that costs over $30,000 (£22,000/€24,000) in today's money, the acceleration is especially unimpressive. 14,600 were sold in 1981 and 13,774 in 1982.

For 1983, the name was switched to "Cadillac Cimarron", Cadillac badges were added to the vehicle, and the styling was updated. The big news was that the old 1.8-liter engine had been replaced by a new 2.0-liter unit; the new engine produced the same 88 horsepower, but featured 10% better torque, a 1.2-second-faster 0-60 time, and a 1.7-second-faster 40-55 MPH time. On the downside, MPG had fallen to 23 in the city and 37 on the highway. 19,188 were sold in 1983 and 18,014 in 1984.

For 1985, the Cimarron gained a 2.8-liter V6 as an option, but the option's success made it standard equipment in 1987. Thanks to it's 125 horsepower, it brought the car's 0-60 time down to 9.9 seconds and brought sales to their peak in 1985 (23,754 cars sold). 23,435 were sold in 1986, but sales halved in 1987 and halved again in 1988. Although the Cimarron had a decent interior and a smooth ride, it had bland styling, anemic acceleration, too high of a price, and nothing that stood out against it's rivals. In total, 131,184 were sold.

It wouldn't be until 1996 that Cadillac would try again at a 3 Series rival, this time with the 1997 Catera. Thanks to the fact that it was a rebadged Opel Omega, it was guaranteed to be a much better vehicle than the lackluster Cimarron, and it's 208-horsepower V6 meant that it was over a second faster from 0 to 60 than a V6 Cimarron.

Though the Catera wasn't bad, the advertising campaign arguably was. In the commercials, it was described by a purple duck named Ziggy as "the Caddy that zigs". Cadillac said that, "like Catera, Ziggy was hatched in Germany and has the sole mission of bringing fun to the luxury of Cadillac. He was one of six mythical, beakless, footless martins or 'Merlettes' in the Cadillac Crest before we gave him big feet, a giant beak, and turned him around. He's quite a departure from his five brothers who have been part of the Cadillac Crest since the days of the crusades when the crest was the proud symbol of Le Sieur Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac Family."

Unfortunately for Cadillac, 1997 was the best year for the Catera, with 25,411 sold. An update in 2000 increased sales slightly, but sales halved in 2001 and the extra Cateras didn't sell out until 2003. In total, 94,994 were sold.

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Comments (10)

  • We had a Cimarron when I was in high school. It was a really really nice Cavalier... but an embarrassing Cadillac.

      9 months ago
  • Neither were a real 3 series competitor

      9 months ago
  • It also didn't help for the Catera that it had severe reliability issues. Specifically timing chain and water pumps going out and transmissions made out of fiberglass and bubblegum. But then the 90s were a bad time for Cadillac, mainly because of their insistence on the Deathstar motor.

    Fun Fact: Many a Cadillac executive has a picture of the Cimmaron in their offices. With a caption underneath it saying "Lest we forget". At least they acknowledge what a dumb decision it was.

      9 months ago
  • We in my family always laughed at the Cimarron growing up since it was so obviously just a Cavalier with a higher priced logo.

      9 months ago
  • honestly the Cimarron (later ones at least) is not that bad a car for the standards of the time. more masterful badge engineering than some of the garbage we saw even into the 2000s from the big 3. distinctive from other J cars inside and out. I know the bar was set low with the cavalier underpinnings, but it differs more from the cavalier than does the escalade (pre 07 at least) from a high end tahoe or yukon

      9 months ago
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