Cadillac Cimarron History

The Cimarron was Cadillac's rushed entry into the entry-luxury compact segment, built on GM's front-drive J-platform shared with the Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac J2000/Sunbird, Oldsmobile Firenza, and Buick Skyhawk. Cadillac had minimal time and input — the program reached the division barely a year before the J-cars launched.

Too obviously a dressed-up Cavalier, underpowered at launch with a four-cylinder, and badly overpriced, the Cimarron became a byword for cynical badge engineering — routinely listed among the worst cars of all time and blamed for lasting damage to Cadillac's image. About 132,499 were built over seven model years before it was dropped after 1988.