1988 Cadillac DeVille, Abandoned for 21 Years, Hides a Surprise in the Trunk

The sixth generation Cadillac DeVille arrived in 1985. General Motors completely redesigned and downsized the model, switching from rear-wheel drive to front-wheel drive in the process. The automaker also came with the world’s first supercharged V8 engine in series production.

The new generation of the time was smaller in every respect compared to the previous generation of DeVille. It was also light and non-greasy. Just like this treasure trove of wheels we have here, sitting on flat tires, behind a closed garage door, for 21 years. But what is behind the thick layer of dust that completely covers it?

There’s a car with only 33,000 miles (53,108 km) on the odometer, the distance it traveled over 15 years. That’s exactly 2,200 miles (3,541 km) a year. So, it’s obvious that the 1988 Cadillac DeVille was the queen of the garage.

As dusty as the DeVille’s body is on the outside, the interior is unremarkable, as if the car had rolled off the assembly line of Orion Assembly in Orion Township, Michigan.

The 1988 Cadillac DeVille is a rat victim

The owner refused to appear in the video, preferring to stay in the shadows. The experts who found the car could not believe their eyes. This 1988 dust collector is actually a time capsule that belongs in a museum, not in the middle of nowhere, tucked away from prying eyes, covered in dirt.

Photo: WD Detailing | YouTube

This 36-year-old Cadillac has power seats, power windows, and everything that should have been turned on in the late 1980s. The ivory leather on the seats and door panels show no signs of normal wear, despite its age. respected of DeVille. Remember that we are dealing with a car that is almost four decades old!

The burgundy leather, which looks the best, covers the dashboard and the two-tone steering wheel of the cars which is very well characterized. The floor is covered in a burgundy carpet that has held up well for all those years. Under the dirt layer, the paint color is also burgundy, and so it is high smooth. perfect match!

The way everything looks right now proves that the garage DeVille has been sitting in for years was a fire. But that was a long time ago. Later, rats took over.

The Cadillac doesn’t run and it doesn’t have a car. Therefore, the team will have to make room around it and pull it out of the garage. Once they start working around the car, they discover that the place was occupied by raccoons that left a disaster behind them. A very smelly disaster, that is!

Photo: WD Detailing | YouTube

The team finally inflated the tires, hauled the car onto a trailer, and took it to the shop. Once the car is on their lot, they can’t believe how much raccoon poop they find. Animals also ate a lot of plastic. Cables, pipes and wires are infested with rats.

21 year old Mountain Dew cans in the trunk

Cleaning is the stage at which the cleaning process begins. The car needs a lot of power before the washing step.

A technician working on a car finds something unexpected in the trunk. There’s a can of Mountain Dew from 2003 there. All are popped open, and it must probably spill on the carpet in the trunk. Therefore, they will need to remove it and clean it properly. The faces are sticky there, but everything seems fine.

They put the car on the air, remove the wheels, separate them from the tires, and start cleaning them. They also scrub the wheel wells, because there is mud there.

Photo: WD Detailing | YouTube

As soon as the team begins to power wash the body of the Cadillac, the shade of burgundy emerges in all its glory from under the dirt. But it will still need light polishing because oxidation spots are visible almost everywhere. Blame it on the raccoons! Somehow, all the dirt that covered it protected the paint all these years.

The same shade appears on the dashboard, making an interesting contrast with the corners of the seats. After encountering brushes, sponges, and wipers, the chrome on the car also shines like in its good old days.

Once the DeVille is clean, the WD Details team tries to activate it. But with a new battery, the car still gives no sign of life. Blame the raccoons for that, too!