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

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

The then-new generation was smaller in every direction compared to the previous generation of the DeVille. It was also lighter and more fuel-efficient. Just like this treasure on wheels that we have right here, sitting on flat tires, behind the closed door of a garage, for 21 years. But what is behind the thick layer of dust that covers it entirely?

There is a car with only 33,000 miles (53,108 kilometers) on the odometer, a distance that it covered in 15 years. That's exactly 2,200 miles (3,541 kilometers) per year. So, it is obvious that the 1988 Cadillac DeVille was very much a garage queen.

As dusty as the body of the DeVille is on the outside, the interior is impeccable, as if the car has just rolled off the production line of the Orion Assembly in Orion Township, Michigan.

The 1988 Cadillac DeVille is a victim of the rodents

The owner refused to show up in the video, he prefers to stay in the shadow. The detailing experts that found the car can hardly believe their eyes. This 1988 dust collector is actually a time capsule that belongs in a museum, not in the middle of nowhere, stored away from the eyes that could otherwise admire it, covered in dirt.

This 36-year-old Cadillac is equipped with power seats, power windows, and power everything that was to be powered back in the late 1980s. The ivory leather on the seats and door cards shows no sign of the usual wear and tear, despite the venerable age of the DeVille. Keep in mind that we are dealing with a car that is almost four decades old!

Burgundy leather, looking just as perfect, covers the dashboard and the two-spoke steering wheel of the car that features an incredibly nice spec. The floor is covered in a burgundy carpet that held up so well over all those years. Underneath the layer of dirt, the paintwork is also burgundy, and so is the soft top. A perfect match!

The way everything looks right now confirms that the garage the DeVille has been sitting in for ages was once heated. But that was a long time ago. Later on, rodents took over.

The Cadillac does not run and does not drive. So, the team will have to make room around it and drag it out of the garage. Once they start working around the car, they realize the place was once full of raccoons that left disaster behind them. A very smelly disaster, that is!

The team eventually inflated the tires, dragged the car up on a trailer, and took it to the shop. Once the car is on their territory, they can't believe how much raccoon poop they find. The animals also ate up so much plastic. Cables, hoses, and wires have fallen victim to the rodents.

21-year-old Mountain Dew cans in the trunk

Vacuuming is the step that the cleaning procedure starts with. The car is in desperate need of it before the power washing stage.

The specialista working on the car find something they did not expect in the trunk. There is a box of Mountain Dew cans from 2003 in there. All of them are popped open, and they must have probably spilled on the carpet in the trunk. So, they will need to take it out and give it a good cleaning. The surfaces are sticky in there, but everything seems fixable.

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

Once the team starts power-washing the body of the Cadillac, the burgundy shade emerges in all its glory from underneath the dirt. But it will still need some light polishing because oxidation spots show up just about everywhere. Blame it on the raccoons! Somehow, all the dirt that covered it protected the paint over all these years.

The exact same shade shows up on the dashboard, making up an eye-catching contrast with the ivory of the seats. After an encounter with brushes, sponges, and wipers, the chrome on the car also shines like in its good old days.

Once the DeVille is clean, the WD Detailing team tries to fire it up. But with a new battery, the automobile still gives no sign of life. Blame the raccoons for that one, too!