SPRINGFIELD — Ours is the Cadillac of cities, businessman and former Springfield councilor Tony Ravosa says.

But one where discerning motorists have not been able to buy a new Cadillac for 16 years since General Motors pulled three Cadillac franchises from the Pioneer Valley in wave of Great Recession downsizing spurred by General Motors’ 2009 bankruptcy and federal bailout.

“I think a lot of Cadillac owners are tired of going to Hartford for service,” he said in a phone interview. “Going back to my father, we’ve had a number of Cadillacs. I’ve been loyal to the brand.”

He spoke by phone Wednesday, 16 years to the day after he read in The Republican that Orr Cadillac was losing its franchise, ending a 100-year-old family business that once had a glittering showroom in the South End.

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