1979 Cadillac Fleetwood Seville Brougham Wagon
Provided by Hemmings

Now wait a minute," you might be saying to yourself, "Cadillac never built a station wagon!" And you're right - sort of. In what could be viewed as a return to the days when Cadillac offered a variety of custom bodies through coachbuilders like Fleetwood, Murphy, Ghia, Pinin Farina and others, during the late '70s and early '80s one could get a custom-built Cadillac wagon. That is, if one knew the right dealer and were willing to shell out an ample amount of greenbacks. This particular example, based on a 1979 Fleetwood Brougham d'Elegance sedan, is one of about six or seven custom wagon-bodied Caddies built that year. If you're familiar with the story of Heinz Prechter and his American Sunroof Corporation (ASC), (responsible for everything from the sunroofs in the '68 Mercury Cougar XR-7s to specialty vehicles like Mustangs and turbocharged Grand Am's in the 1980s), then you may recognize the workmanship evidenced by the flawless integration of a station wagon rear half into the traditional Cadillac sedan body style depicted here. However, rather than being a product of ASC, these particular conversions were carried out by one of ASC's former employees, the talented Steve Harper.

Though not visible, when viewed from the rear, all the trademark Cadillac styling cues are present. The tall, vertical taillights of the period are proportionally correct to the extended quarter-panel, the roof-back and bumper are identical to the production versions of the sedan, and even the C-pillar incorporates the opera window found on the Brougham d'Elegance. Given that a fully-optioned 1979 Brougham d'Elegance four-door sedan carried a sticker price of just under $20,000, it is understandable that only a handful of these conversions were carried out, as they pushed the sticker price over the $37,000 mark. Talk about sticker shock! Just imagine the husband and wife out shopping for a $7,000 '79 Caprice Classic wagon and stopping by a Cadillac dealership to give one of these the once-over!

Over the years, about three dozen Cadillac station wagons were constructed. The level of craftsmanship displayed in these conversions is befitting of the car known as the "Standard of the World." Now just try and find one!