For the 1985 model year, the de Ville switched to GM's new FWD C-body platform. A Fleetwood sedan variant was added to the mix at the start of production and shared the new front-wheel-drive platform and most dimensions with the de Villes (the "Fleetwood Brougham" nomenclature remained on the rear-wheel-drive chassis through model year 1992). Production of the new C-body commenced December 1983 at the Orion Assembly Plant in Orion Township, Michigan. A Fleetwood coupe version of the new FWD C-body joined the lineup later in the production run. The front cover of the brochure advertised the new cars as the "Cadillac of Tomorrow". These new models were smaller externally yet kept almost identical interior dimensions as their predecessors. This change also brought nearly the entire Cadillac line of cars to front-wheel drive, leaving only the Fleetwood Brougham as the rear-wheel-drive holdout. Cadillac's HT-4100 V8 remained the only engine, mounted transversely and coupled with a 440-T4 automatic.
Of GM's front-drive C and H bodies, Cadillac was the only line to offer a V8 engine. Other GM vehicles were equipped with a Buick-derived 3.0 or 3.8 V6 engine, or - for 1985 only - Oldsmobile's 4.3L V6 diesel powerplant.
The 1985 de Ville was still available in sedan or coupe form. The d'Elegance package - an optional interior dress-up package featuring assist handles and button-tufted seating among other niceties - was no longer available on de Ville, but now offered solely on the Fleetwood sedan. Thanks to an extended model year (starting April 1984), sales of the downsized 1985 de Ville and Fleetwood models reached nearly 200,000 units.
For 1986, few changes marked the new de Ville's second year in production. An anti-lock braking system, developed by Teves, became available. The electrochromic inside rear-view mirror,A factory-installed cellular telephone joined the option list at an astonishing $2,850. The standard space-saver spare tire now sat horizontally in the trunk, doing away with the small covered storage cubby in the spare tire well from last year. The optional aluminum wheels had new flush-fitting center caps (last year's design featured exposed capped lugs), and bumper rub strips changed from black to gray. Borrowed from the front-wheel-drive Fleetwood line, the narrow lower body side molding from the 1985 de Ville was replaced with a considerably wider one, and the trim surround from the rear window gave the formal appearance of a smaller window opening. Inside, a more tailored look was applied to the seat trim. Coupe de Ville's popular cabriolet option, featuring a padded vinyl covering over the rear half of the roof, was priced at $698. Along with the exterior changes made to 1986 de Villes, adding the Cabriolet option made it difficult to distinguish a 1986 Coupe de Ville from the 1986 Fleetwood Coupe. Pricing for the Coupe de Ville was $19,669, with Sedan de Ville at $19,990. The transverse-mounted Cadillac 4.1-liter V-8 continued from the previous year, but with 5 more horsepower.
The 1986 Cadillac had: Type: 90-degree, overhead valve V-8. Aluminum block and cast iron heads. Displacement: 249 cu in (4.1 liters) Bore & stroke: 3.47 x 3.31 in Compression ratio: 8.5:1 Brake horsepower: 135 hp (101 kW) at 4200 rpm Torque: 200 lbf·ft (270 N·m) at 2200 rpm Five main bearings Hydraulic valve lifters TBI VIN Code: 8
Introduced in 1986, Cadillac's Touring Sedan and Touring Coupe were based on the standard De Ville but included extras such as a subtle rear deck lid spoiler, body-color tail lamp bezels, front air dam with fog lamps, rear seat headrests, leather upholstery, and a performance enhancement package among other features. The package was available for $2,880. In addition, the Touring Coupe had removable decorative louvers on the rear edge of the side opera windows.
1987 saw a new front-end design including revised cornering lamps in front and one-piece composite headlamps flanked a trapezoid-shaped grille with a bold egg-crate texture. Elongated fender caps were in back - upping the overall length by an inch and a half, but much more dramatic in appearance with new wrap-around tail lamps. This new 3-sided tail lamp style was inspired by a design used on the 1977 de Ville. Unlike the new one-piece headlamps, the changes to the rear-end in 1987 had little to do with engineering, but rather, feedback from Cadillac's customer base who felt the 1985-86 car looked too short. Although the 1987 revamp was still quite similar to the 1986 model (so much in fact that it still used the previous year's deck lid), the design was more in-tune with the look that traditional Cadillac buyers were used to.
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