Boat, whale, behemoth; in the end we settled on "Titanic." Of course these were words of endearment. Surely an '82 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham of huge-by-large dimensions was out of place with the fast (read: smaller) company it was keeping at the '02 Real Street Eliminator. Heck, even Terry Stevens' Caprice looked, dare we say, "svelte" next to Jeff Schwartz's Caddy. But in the end, we had to call him The King (sorry Matt, you're going to have to relinquish the title on this one) as the Cadillac took on all comers. After seeing this portly performance machine place Second in the Autocross portion of our competition, we were prepared for a rough time on the Ride & Drive. Such was not the case, as Jeff's Cadillac rode like, well, a Cadillac. In fact, the only complaint we had was the relentless resonance produced by the exhaust system. A lot of thought went into making this Caddy handle like a sports car, including moving the stock A-arms back a half an inch. Nothing radical, just sound engineering. After scattering the Olds motor that previously resided between the fenderwells, Jeff decided his Fleetwood deserved genuine Cadillac motivation and put together a mild, reliable powerplant with enough torque to move a house. A nitrous plate system only adds to the fury. It seats six comfortably, handles like a full-scale slot car and runs in the 11s. To say that we were impressed with Jeff's creation would be an understatement of epic proportions. Though the competition was tight, the Cadillac prevailed in what may be the greatest RSE shocker of all time.

--Marko Radielovic

Basic Specs

Car: '82 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham D'Elegance coupe

Engine: 500ci Cadillac

Heads: Ported cast-iron '73 factory castings Induction: Edelbrock Performer intake, Holley 850 DP, NOS 150hp nitrous oxide unit

Camshaft: Comp Cams/Maximum Torque Specialties hydraulic flat tappet, 230/236 degrees duration at 0.050-inch lift, 0.567/0.567-inch lift

Transmission: GM TH400, TCI shift improvement kit, TCI 2,800-stall converter

Rearend: GM 8.5-inch 10-bolt, 2.73:1 posi

Front suspension: Stock, upper A-arms moved back 1/2-inch, stock springs with one coil removed, KYB gas shocks, 15/16-inch sway bar

Rear suspension: Stock, upper and lower control arms boxed, stock springs, KYB gas shocks, 1-inch sway bar

Front brakes: Stock 12-inch disc with Performance Friction pads

Rear brakes: '94 Corvette 12-inch front rotors, '87 Monte Carlo front calipers, homemade brackets

Wheels and tires: Centerline 17x9.5 Billet Rhino with Nitto P275/40R17 drag radials, front; Centerline 17x11 Billet Rhino with Nitto P315/35R17 drag radials, rear