|
|
|
|
20/06/2010
Story and images by MURRAY HUBBARD
|
|
|
To me there's always been something mysterious about Cadillac. One moment you have a car so outrageous it starts a design trend that lasts more than a decade – then it moves the other way to ultra conservatism. As perhaps America's premium luxury brand, Cadillac is both innovative and an anachronism. During the 1950s and 60s it sent out messages to buyers that were conflicting and confusing. Yet, through it all, the brand powered on.
There's no argument that Caddy, through designer Harley Earl, started the phenomena of tail fins. That was when Earl authorised Frank Hershey's 1948 Cadillac design and culminated in the most famous fins of all, on the 1959 Caddy. In between, fins caught on almost world-wide. The English took them up in a conservative way with Sunbeam's Alpine and the Vauxhall Cresta. In Australia were late into the fin fray and started subtly with the 1956 FE Holden and ended with the 1961 EK Holden.
The fact that Uncle Sam's premium luxury maker had fins almost dictated that the rest of the US industry should follow. And, they did. The most famous fins – although they may not have been the biggest – belong to the 1959 Caddy. It was as though this was the last hurrah for fins. A final fin fling.
Yet, during this decade or so the Cadillac remained easily identifiable with the basic DNA remaining. Adding to this marque's mystery was the amount of innovation. At a time in Australia when items like power steering, power mirrors, air conditioning, cruise control, heaters, car radios, power windows were either not available or optional extras - if you were lucky - they were mostly standard fare on Cadillac.
From 1960 on, Cadillac design withdrew into itself, as if embarrassed like some hippie teenager who finally gets a job and has to conform to community standards. The fins shrunk back into the mudguards in the same way in which hair is cut from shoulder-length to just brushing over the ears. Yet, while this arch-conservatism was happening on the surface, under the facade Cadillac was undergoing a revolution.
In the heartland of rear wheel drive the unthinkable happened. Cadillac released a front wheel drive. At that time a large front wheel drive car was almost unheard of and certainly not at the luxury end of the street. In fact GM had a dummy FWD run with Oldsmobile Toronado, launched 12 months before the Cadillac Eldorado. Toronado took off like a rock in water. Sales were ordinary.
Yet, in it's first 12 months the Eldorado coupe sold more than 17,000 units in 1967, three times the number of Toronados sold in 1966. In the following three years around 100,000 of these innovative coupes were sold. Maybe Cadillac forget to mention they were FWD. Contemporary reports state the FWD cars drove like no other Caddy – they were much better, more enjoyable to drive.
In Australia Cadillac were best known for de Ville and Fleetwoods. Our featured car is a 1970 de Ville convertible. By 1970 Cadillac had gone to the conservative extreme, highlighted by the stunted fins and squared-off, angular shape of this fifth-generation (1965 – 1970 ) de Ville example. The last of the 4th generation de Ville still had fins, but these were shrunk to minor bumps on the first of the 5th generation.
The big Caddy's engine had grown to 429 cubic inches – some 7.0 litres – run through a three speed auto shifter. In 1968 this engine was deemed not large enough and replaced by a 472 cubic inch (7.7 litre) V8. One thing that masses of cubic inches does is provide power and torque in bucketloads without using a turbo charger or supercharger. This engine puts out 275 kW of power at 4400 rpm and a massive 571 Nm of torque at 3000 rpm with just a single, four barrel, quadrajet, Rochester carby atop to the block.
More than 15,100 examples of the 1970 de Ville convertibles were produced, selling for just a tad more than US$6000. A 1971 Holden Statesman de Ville sold new for $4660, so the Cadillac was pretty well priced, given it's status. There were four variants of the de Ville in 1970: a four door sedan, two door Coupe de Ville, four door sedan de Ville and two door convertible. Note: There is a review of the 1959 Cadillac also on the mister-cars.com website. |
|
|
|
|
|
Print Article
Submit Feedback
Email This Article
