There's something about celebrities and
their cars.
Right now in Hollywood it's the done
thing to rock up at the Oscars in a hybrid. The rest of the time they
cruise around in gas guzzling Hummers or the like. But, that's Hollywood. It's about
perception. Which brings us to the point of what happens to the
wheels of choice of the celebs when they are finished with the fad
car of the day and move on to the next one. Back in the 1920s there
was no one bigger in Hollywood than Gladys Louise Smith.
She was America's Sweetheart ...
despite the fact she was Canadian. And, oh, that's not her real name.
She was best known as Mary Pickford. Star of the silent movie era and
with Douglas Fairbanks became a darling Hollywood couple. Until
they divorced in the mid 1930s. Pickford, Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin
also started up United Artists. Pickford passed away in 1979, but she
had a long association with cars. Not just any cars but the best of
the best from this magnificent period of automobile history.
As we have said before you never know
what you will come across at car displays. This 1941 Cadillac came to Australia in
1991 after being purchased from the Mary Pickford estate. It was
converted to right hand drive and a major restoration undertaken in
Ballina, northern New South Wales. The current owners purchased the car in
1998 when it had just 61,400 miles on the clock.
The year 1941 was a watershed for
Cadillac. The decision was taken to concentrate on one engine, a 346
cubic inch V8, and removal of the LaSalle and super-luxury V16. Cars produced by Cadillac in 1941 were
known as the Series 62 and more than 24,000 were built including
around 400 prized convertibles. The 1941 model is dominated by a number
of attributes. The egg-carton grille sits under a large bonnet, not
unlike the 48-215 (FX) and FJ Holden. That's not the only similarity
with `Australia's own'.
Take a look at the bonnet emblem. The
FX and FJ featured a similar emblem on the grille of the FX and on
the tip of the bonnet nose of the FJ. The main difference between the
two is the Holden emblem features the Egyptian style lion under the
wings ... the lion emblem that has evolved to what it is on today's
GM Holden products.
The Caddy's V8 engine produced 150 hp
and had an optional Hydra-Matic shiftless transmission. Performance was impressive: 0-100 km/h
in around 14 seconds. At this time Cadillac enjoyed buoyant
sales and was running neck and neck with Packard as transport for the
rich and famous. Production halted on February 4, 1942 just after the
attack on Pearl Harbour. The V8 as used in the 1941 Caddy was
put to good use during the war, in US tanks.
Cadillac started using V8s in 1915, and
to this day it is still using V8 engines. The 1941 Cadillac featured all-new
styling which, we can see be comparing the car to our own 1948 FX
Holden, was contemporary and well ahead of time. The car was lower,
with clean, elegant lines and the headlights integrated into the
mudguards, not perched on top.
The genesis for the 1941 was the 1938
Caddy which started the smooth trend for the brand. So the 1941 was
really an evolutionary car using the 1938 model, penned by GM
designer Bill Mitchell, as it's design base. For Cadillac, 1941 was a great sales
success with more than 66,000 units sold, a record broken only in
1949.
Cadillac remains an American icon and
even with GM's recent financial troubles is one of the four brands
out of eight to survive the global financial
crisis – and GM's asthmatic administration - along with Buick,
Chevrolet and GMC.
GM had plans to introduce Cadillac into
Australia, but these have been put on hold until GM's immediate-to
mid term future is clearer. In the mean time we like looking at
classic Caddies formerly owned by Hollywood starlets.
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