• All Cadillacs again had a 17-symbol Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), stamped on a metal tag attached to the upper left surface of the cowl, visible through the windshield.
• Some of the coding changed this year.
• The number begins with a "I" to indicate the manufacturing country (U.S.A.), followed by a "G" for General Motors and a "6" for Cadillac Division.
• The next letter indicates restraint system: "A" manual; "B" automatic.
• Symbol five denotes car line and series:
  • "S" Seville;
  • "M" DeVille;
  • "W" Fleetwood Brougham;
  • "F" Fleetwood limousine;
  • "L" Eldorado.
• Digits six and seven indicate body type:
  • "47" 2-dr. coupe;
  • "69" 4-dr. sedan;
  • "23" eight-passenger limousine;
  • "33" formal limousine with center partition;
  • "57" Eldorado coupe;
  • "67" 2-dr. convertible coupe.
• Next comes the engine code:
  • "P" L4-121 TBI;
  • "8" V8-250 FI;
  • "N" V8-350 diesel;
  • "9" V8-6-4 368 FI.
• The next symbol is a check digit.
• Symbol ten indicates model year ("E" 1984).
• Symbol eleven denotes assembly plant.
• Last is a six-digit production sequence number.
• As before, engines carried an identifying number and bodies held a number plate.

• Introduced: September 22, 1983.
• Model year production: 300.300 (not including early '85 DeVille/Fleetwoods).
• The total includes 2,465 diesels.
• Calendar year production: 328,534.
• Calendar year sales by U.S. dealers: 320,017 for a 4.0 percent market share.
• Model year sales by U.S. dealers: 327,587 (including 46,356 early '85 front-drives).
• Sales rose 13 percent for the model year, but Cadillac's market share declined.
• (Figures are a bit distorted because both front-drive and rear-drive DeVille/Fleetwood models were sold at the same time.)
• On the other hand, all the GM divisions experienced a drop in market share.
• Rising demand, though, kept plants working overtime during 1984.
• Cimarron continued as Cadillac's weakest seller, largely because it offered little more than the related J-car Chevrolet Cavalier gave for far fewer dollars.
• Best performers in terms of increased sales were the big DeVille and Fleetwood Brougham.
• Research had shown, however, that over three-fourths of Cimarron buyers had never bought a Cadillac before; and that many of them had previously owned an import.
• Late in 1983, a modern new plant at Orion Township in Michigan had begun production of the new front-drive DeVille, to be introduced for 1985 after early production delays.
• Also late in 1983, Cadillac became part of the Buick-Cadillac-Oldsmobile group.
• In January 1984, John O. Grettenberger became Cadillac's new chief.
• Cadillac had offered the last American convertible in 1976, but wasn't the first to return with a ragtop in the '80s.
• Already on the market were Buick Riviera, Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac Sunbird, Chrysler LeBaron, Dodge 600, and Ford Mustang.
• Cadillac's version was, of course, the most costly of the lot for '84.
• The convertible was actually a conversion done by ASC Corporation in Lansing, Michigan, after the car was assembled in New Jersey.
• The work included reinforcing inner rockers, radiator support cross rods, and many body braces.
• Front and rear anti-roll bars and tougher suspension components were added along with the vinyl convertible top.
• All told, the convertible weighed 179 pounds more than the coupe from which it evolved.

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