RARE 1982 CADILLAC COUPE DE VILLE ONLY 26,000 ORIGINAL MILES.ORIGINAL PAINT

Enter the LC4. While the Buick-sourced LD5 3.8-liter V6 was already the standard engine in almost half of everything General Motors was building at the time, the 4.1-liter LC4 would be cast in the special role of standard engine in the maker's more upscale vehicles.

As such, the bigger engine—made bigger by extending the stroke of the 3.8—found a position as the standard mill in such near-luxury and luxury rides as the Buick Riviera and Oldsmobile Toronado. At 125 horsepower, that 4.1 represented a decent step up from the 100 horses the 3.8 was cranking out in most applications.

Underscoring just how desperate the times were, the 4.1-liter V6 also found a home at Cadillac, albeit under strange circumstances. In 1981, the 4.1-liter V6 was not actually the standard Cadillac engine, but a credit-delete option. This meant that if you ordered your Cadillac with the V6, you received a $150 discount on the car. Note that Seville, then sold standard with the 5.7-liter diesel engine, came with a $490 discount if you were to opt for the V6.

At 125 horsepower, the 4.1-liter engine did a decent job of standing at least gently above the standard-engine fray. It's worth noting that one of GM's shrunken V8s of the era, the Oldsmobile 4.3-liter V8, could muster but 100 horsepower in its least-impressive applications.

The LC4 had a decent run, seeing production through the end of the 1984 model year. By that time, the 3.8-liter V6 was being massaged for long-term duty. Becoming stronger and less in need of a big brother, it would soldier proudly on through 2009, seeing use in an astonishing 35 million cars.

CURRENT HAGERTY VALUES

• #1 $16,800
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  #2 $10,800ExcellentEEE
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  #3 $5,400
• OOD
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  #4 $3,400
  
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