There’s not a person you can find (on the planet) who doesn’t know what a Cadillac is. Aside from the isolated pockets of indigenous tribes that you watch on those “geographical” shows – we’ve all grown up watching images of those beautiful, sleek saloons; seeping pure-luxury from the very seams of the sheet metal. When you think of Cadillac, you “should” be thinking of prestige and stateliness to the highest degree. Sure, Ferraris and Bugattis are nice. Lamborghini has its own prominent history. Austin Martin is the licensed Bond car. But when you think of the pinnacle of august car building – the name that should pop into your head first is a little closer to home than you might think.
European cars are amazing machines with a lot of rich history to their credit, along with a resume of recent achievements that have blown the seals clear-off conventional wisdom. But, sometimes we get so enamored by all the staggering innovations littering the modern-day supercar, we almost forget where it all came from.
Cadillac is responsible for more than their fair share of innovations; innovations that changed the entire game. They’ve literally been setting the bar since their first foray into car building; enclosed cabins, independent suspension systems, front-wheel drivelines with transverse-mounted engines – many things you take for granted can be traced directly back to some of the very first Cadillacs. Depending on who “you” are, however, the ones you actually remember may vary; but I’ll bet you there’s at least one or two in here you’ve never seen before.
20 1918 Type 57
Anybody that remembers how ground-breaking the Type 57 was is probably close to their final, ground-breaking decent to the bottom of a six-foot hole. The last thing they care about is a car that they can’t even drive. However, this car, in its day, was jam-packed with technology; it had an electric starter and a superlative lighting system for starters. In it was also installed the first mass-produced V-8 engine. We’d never really find a need for more than eight cylinders really; eight cylinders has proven to be enough to beat world-speed records at the salt flats and our transition to an eight-cylinder V-type engine was monumental for the automotive industry. (As you can see, the storm of horsepower has been brewing for decades before unleashing on the streets.)
19 Cyclone
Believe it or not, there was a lot more innovation and technology floating around in the formative beginnings of “car tech.” If you can believe it, designers were actually far-braver with exuberant styling – boundaries were pushed a lot more (and they pushed back, most of the time). My point is – you know you’re bending the envelope when turbo-jets are being installed into road cars. (That’s one of those boundaries that pushed back, thankfully). The cyclone wasn’t jet-powered, but that didn’t stop it from looking like it was. And rightfully so, even though many of the systems weren’t fully developed yet, the Cyclone featured rudimental versions of radar-based guidance hardware meant for the inevitable integration of “the grid.” A little before it’s time, it never got the chance to shine long enough to even be a glint in our memory.
18 Cadillac ELR
Here’s something that you wouldn’t even care to forget, provided you remembered it in the first place. The Cadillac ELR, if you remember, flopped about as hard as Free Willy. A whale analogy may not seem fitting at first; but when you really think about it – it’s perfect. The ELR has two very-distinct traits in common with your average killer whale; you see the same number of them in driveways across the nation (zero) and you want the ELR in your driveway just about as bad as you’d want a whale laying there. The car is just about as useless as a whale; and you can buy the same number of the both of them at your local Cadillac dealership – zero.
17 Mirage (Literally)
Don’t be scared that it will disappear; as unlikely as this Mirage is, it won’t vanish as you get closer. In fact, there’s just about nothing you could do to move this massive-6,000lb monster on your own – you’d need the cooperation of the gargantuan-8.2L V-8 Cadillac stuffed between the front fenders. Although it could only pony-up about 200hp, 400ft/lb made sure the acceleration was authoritative. The throaty rumble of the tailpipe sounds more like a huge Chevelle, rather than a classy Cadillac. It seems that nobody has ever heard of these things before, and meet the knowledge of its existence with bewilderment. With only 216 produced from the factory in total, you’ll probably never see one either.
16 Cadillac Sixteen
Here we go again – remember that thing old people are always saying about history repeating itself? Well, I’m here to tell you, they are right. You’ll become your parents (for better or worse), there will be many more phases of global unrest in the future, and some Cadillac models just can’t stay gone. The Cadillac Sixteen was legendary – as gimmicky as 16 cylinders sounds (honestly, it’s highly unnecessary), it was the thing to do back in the pre-war days. Supercharger technology hadn’t been advanced by the soon-to-boom aviation industry. When you wanted more power, you had to add more cylinders – or bigger ones. This is not the case in today’s day, and the “new” (2003) concept Sixteen never made it mainstream like its 1930s exemplar.
15 M24 Chaffee
Bet you didn’t see this one coming! (Neither did Germany.) Cadillac takes it commando with a light-armor edition to their pedigree that’s hard to argue with (especially when staring down the business end of the “lightweight” 75mm gun). This was a joint-venture between Ordnance Corps and the luxury carmaker. Wartime meant manufacturers buckled down and traded in the chrome and clear coats for olive drab camo and machine guns. The Big Three also had extensive roles in the production of heavy bombers, among other, noteworthy things. Although the battle tanks didn’t get to the lines until later on in the war, they did get to participate in the legendary Battle of the Bulge.
14 Al Capone’s 1928 Town Sedan
Rappers and local sack-pushers in your neighborhoods can only dream of a level of infamy as prolific the commissioner of this Cadillac. Al Capone’s notoriety followed him around in places that he’d rather them not follow, and notoriety means problems. When normal folks like us have problems, we do what anybody would do, we dial 9-1-1 – after loading a magazine. Al Capone had a different idea of solving problems, and he liked to get ‘em on the fly. This Cadillac Town Sedan was custom-modified with 1 ½ tons of armor; one-inch thick, bullet-proof glass – and best of all – a drop-window in the back. If he didn’t like the way your face looked as you tailgated him – you were only a flick of a switch and a canister magazine away from your maker.
13 Model K Runabout
The Model K was a game changer, to say the least. Prior to this, Europeans had very little respect for the various marques produced on domestic soil. They felt that their designs were far superior – that their engineering was a supersession of anything that could be produced by domestic designers. This was circa 1910. They had yet to weather two major wars, and hadn’t the slightest clue what a locally-built machine could actually do. Two world-wars and an automotive revolution or two later – they’ve learned. Simon Cowell can keep his Bugatti (and his opinion) – our Challenger will smoke ‘em both like a sausage (and you can buy 25 of them for the same price). Suck it, Simon!
12 V-12 452A Fleetwood Sport Phaeton
The formative years of the horseless carriage passed judgment much more liberally than today, in regards to propulsion methods. More accurately stated, the number of positions contained within the engine’s cowling spoke volumes to its prestige. It would only be natural then, that Cadillac would venture to tuck a mighty V-16 between the fenders of their bigger cars, but even the V-12 model was a pinnacle of automotive excellence. Prominent headlights confidently ushered the next 19’ of America down the road and the open-cockpit design let everybody know who the big man was. These massive tanks weighed 6,000lbs and the estimated fuel economy was, “whatever it took.”
11 Series 355D
It was the early-‘30s and despite the depression, the auto industry pushed forward. Cadillac faulted none in their ability to deliver rolling elegance at a premium. The fast-evolving models quickly phased out old technology as cutting-edge innovations pushed them out into obscurity. The quick life cycle of “current technology” extinguished almost as quickly as the very next models would roll off the assembly line. By 1934, the 355D Series had already employed a revolutionary, independent front suspension system that allowed the monster-Cadillacs to nimbly bob and weave around the potholes that prevalently-littered the roadways of the time. This was a big advancement not only for Cadillac, but the very concept of the car itself.
10 Bill Boyer’s Custom ’52
Authority does come with its privileges, and when you’re the plant manager for General Motors, you tend to have a little more weight to throw around than the average Joe. Actually, you can throw around the whole plant, if you wanted to. (Maybe not in contemporary times, but in 1952, if you wanted to bend the dies of that machinery to your very-will, all you had to do was snap your fingers. Boyer did just that – he commissioned his plant workers to create a Cadillac “sports car” by shaving 10” from a hand-picked unit straight from the assembly line. Imagine that – zero miles on a brand-new custom that you literally craft from your own mind’s eye. (You KNOW it had a big motor.)
9 Cadillac Sixteen
When you’re the boss, you don’t need a stream of fancy wordplay to express that authority in your title. You exert it through your demeanor. Staying consistent with this methodology, Cadillac didn’t find a need to adhere a fancy moniker to the new line of premium that began pumping from the plants in the early-‘30s. They simply needed an accurate word to describe the exclusivity of their offering. One word – Sixteen. It was the number of cylinders that were punched out into the massively-long, cast iron blocks. It was a number that designated your station in life, one being that of prestige and stateliness.
8 Series 80/85
It was sometime during the mid-‘30s that the V-12 line needed a distinguishing title. The V-12 and Sixteen were exemplars of the Cadillac nameplate, but the buying populous needs new and innovative gimmicks. The same, boring names and tired designs would have to continually evolve if they were to keep a premium slot in the market share. The 80/85 Series had seven inches of body differentiating them, and all V-12s would eventually feature a turret top and a Fleetwood body; smooth fenders accentuated the round, encapsulating canopy as the ragtop faded in popularity in favor of a closed cabin. The definition of luxury, it seemed, was defined by Cadillac Motor Corp.
7 Enclosed Model 30
In a religious-like vendetta against falling behind their competitors, Cadillac knew they had to push hard to stay in the lead. Perhaps they were driven by the nay-saying, European counterparts whom had little respect for their work; perhaps it was a clearly-defined vision of unparalleled elegance, being actuated by the churning tides of the Industrial Revolution. Whatever it was, Cadillac was dead-set on making a name, a prominent one, too. The Model 30 may look like a luxury phone booth on little-girl’s bike tires, but it was the first enclosed-cockpit design. The prototype was truly cutting-edge, despite the apparent lack of consideration to the principles of aerodynamics. Fun fact number two – this model marks the first, precision-manufactured automobile with the incorporation of interchangeable parts. It would soon start a revolutionary trend in manufacturing over the course of automotive history.
6 La Salle Series 303
We’ve seen many bad things come out of automotive focus groups in the longstanding history of the automobile. What would seem to be a home-run in a think-tank would hit the market to a cold reception (and a DOA release, in retrospect). Cadillac’s subdivision, La Salle, could have just as easily gone that route. Cadillac was trying something nobody else had ever done before; they had developed the world’s first in-house styling department, and it was responsible for some of the most fascinating and quality line of automobiles of the day. Unlike other luxury lines, Cadillac’s were meant to be owner-driven – an intent made apparent by the judicious application of shiny trim and accenting, scattered along the car.
5 1908 Model K
The innovative history behind the bent-wreath badge extends all the way back to 1902, where the first Cadillac boasted a sassy-little single-cylinder that burned the axles up with a blistering-10hp. Not a decade later, an even grander-bravado was unfolding. Three new K models were selected at random, disassembled and their parts mixed up with each other. The three cars were then rebuild with a mixture of the parts each car; and then raced – 500 miles. With this stunt, Cadillac became the first domestic automaker to win the Dewar Trophy – a prestigious British award for significant automotive advancements. They also became a benchmark – the standards for interchangeability now set with a preceding reputation for precision and quality.
4 1953 El Dorado
Horsepower and body lines sold cars in the ‘50s; General Motors knew this, and kept the heat on high in the automotive design labs. It was the late-‘40s when the first wings started to prominently evolve from the folds of the rear fenders; engines were getting more and more powerful, and at one point, the Cadillacs were some of the fastest cars of the day. These cars, in part, were responsible for a few key-events that would ignite a horsepower war of the likes the world has never seen. If guys weren’t racing them, the El Dorado was found at the finest of red carpet events with the biggest stars.
3 1948 Series 62
The car lived long before the muscle car era, but its prominence is still as vibrant today as it ever was; the car was already on its sixth generation by the time the ‘60s rolled around. By then, the public was itching for new designs – faster, sleeker, dominating designs. We quickly forgot about the bold styling of the 62 Series’ fenders. Its elegant silhouette became obsolete in a matter of years. Being frozen in time like this possibly preserved its stature, however; by transitioning polygonal body styling so quickly, we left a bookmark in time that would still captivate designers for the next half-century.
2 1967 El Dorado
The 50th anniversary of the front-wheel-drive conversion for the El Dorado also marks a distinctive styling change that took place in the design lab. No longer was the El Dorado to feature curves and waves along its massive length. The angular geometry was very polarizing – while most people remained enthusiastic about it, there were many more “traditionalists” who rightfully-saw the foreshadowing of decades of famine. Horsepower was going the way of the dinosaur – in favor of fuel economy – and there wasn’t much anyone could do about it. The ’67 El Dorado denotes the phasing-out of a 50-year automotive tradition – one that we wouldn’t return to until well into the ‘90s.
1 CTS-V
Cadillac has had its hands in racing, in one form or another, since about as long as racing has even been a thing. They’ve seen the inception (and proliferation) of NASCAR and watched as its popularity spurred countless other sanctioned-racing events of all types and classes. They have worked hard to stay at the forefront of the cutting-edge of innovation. There was a point in time, however, when Cadillac’s public offerings in the race-department were far from desirable. With the introduction of the CTS-V in 2004, General Motors showed us that the OHV V-8 with a wreathed-grille is still a formidable getter, on the track and elsewhere.
Sources: motor1.com, hemings.com, howstuffworks.com, jalopnik.com, gmheritagecenter.com.