Chassis No. 6S69B8Q500327

The avid motorcar collector will occasionally encounter an automobile that, while outside the typical realm of their collecting, is simply too interesting or too good to deny. Such was the case with Jim Taylor and this 1978 Cadillac Seville. He found himself seeing it at virtually every local show that he attended in New York's Capitol Region, driven by its owner, Ralph "Bud" Kildoyle of Rotterdam, a veteran of World War II, Bronze Star recipient, and volunteer firefighter. According to Mr. Taylor, Mr. Kildoyle had bought the Gold Firemist Cadillac in Las Vegas when it was only a year old, drove it back across the country to the Empire State, and then began showing it. Immensely proud of his car, Mr. Kildoyle maintained it absolutely meticulously. Perhaps stunned by the level of love and care given what was then still a 'used car' to most, show organizers usually sent the Seville home with a trophy.

Mr. Taylor, too, was impressed with the Seville, and when it came time for the 88-year-old Mr. Kildoyle to part with his prized car, he arranged to buy the car. With it came boxes and boxes of all those show organizers' largesse – literally a lifetime of trophies, hundreds, which have occupied a ten-foot span of wall in the Taylor Collection ever since.

Now recording 33,835 miles, the Seville's lifetime of good care is evident from stem to stern. Mr. Kildoyle noted that the car was kept original except for tires and battery; late in life, he has forced to repaint the rear deck lid, but the work was nicely completed. Paint meter readings elsewhere on the entire car read 3.0 to 3.5 mils. Otherwise, the Seville remains immaculate, including an extremely tidy and all-original engine bay around the fuel-injected V-8, all the usual power accoutrements within the velour-swathed interior, crisp stainless steel wire hubcaps, and body trim still in extremely impressive order, with only the most minor deterioration around the bumper fillers.

Accompanied by its 'wall's worth' of trophies, as well as a framed window sticker and its owner's manual, this is most certainly one of the finest original examples of a Seville available today, the perfect acquisition for the connoisseur of modern Cadillacs. It is also the testament to one man's passion for his car, a love of the Seville that was years ahead of its time.