Now, this is a Cadillac! Even fifty years since it first debuted anyone could recognize it for what it is. This had a strong design language that was understood by almost everyone, at least in America. How could the company squander that? The Classic Coupe de Ville. One of my all time favorite models. Oh how I miss this type of car.
I agree. An Escalade is just a Suburban with a little more bling. No thanks. There’s nothing special about an Escalade, but a Coupe de Ville of this vintage was distinctive…something to aspire towards.
That’s a Cadillac. There’s no confusion. For years you knew what a Cadillac looked like, and there was no need to look for a badge or logo. You just knew. Sadly, no longer the case.
Imagine an alien landing on earth in 1965 and looking for our leaders. They have little knowledge of our planet, so they’d have to look for visual clues as to where to find those leaders. I suspect they’d naturally gravitate to Cadillacs such as this first. These cars just have that certain kind of presence that suggests importance.
I had an uncle, now deceased, who worked his way up the hierarchy at work and at the same time worked his way up the GM hierarchy. One of his stated ambitions was to someday own a Cadillac; he was the type of person who felt that having the money wasn’t the only criterion, it was important to be at the “Cadillac level” at work as well. I can remember him having a 1962 Chevrolet (his first new car), a couple of Oldsmobiles and then a Buick of two before he felt it was time for his Cadillac. Unfortunately for him this was the same time that GM first downsized their big cars and the Cadillac, while still a fine car, no longer felt special or superior to other GM offerings. He never really talked about it that much but you could tell he was disappointed with the car. As it happened the local Buick dealer lived just down the street so my uncle went back to driving Buicks. Eventually something GM did irritated him and he bought a Mercury Grand Marquis (silver. of course) which he kept forever.
In my opinion, this is what Cadillac should have produced two years earlier. The ’63 and ’64 models looked obsolete by then.
Whether or not they were obsolete by 1963 is open to dispute, but the ‘63 and ‘64 Cadillacs sure look nimble compared to this cumbersome beast.
Successful stacked headlamps! (see the Pontiac from a few days ago for further details)
I like!
Now, this is a Cadillac! Even fifty years since it first debuted anyone could recognize it for what it is. This had a strong design language that was understood by almost everyone, at least in America. How could the company squander that? The Classic Coupe de Ville. One of my all time favorite models. Oh how I miss this type of car.
Dignity, refinement and class. Compared to an Escalade, a work of art.
I agree. An Escalade is just a Suburban with a little more bling. No thanks. There’s nothing special about an Escalade, but a Coupe de Ville of this vintage was distinctive…something to aspire towards.
Oh yeaaaaaah!
That’s a Cadillac. There’s no confusion. For years you knew what a Cadillac looked like, and there was no need to look for a badge or logo. You just knew. Sadly, no longer the case.
When you got behind the wheel and got it moving, it felt like you were piloting the Queen Mary!
Imagine an alien landing on earth in 1965 and looking for our leaders. They have little knowledge of our planet, so they’d have to look for visual clues as to where to find those leaders. I suspect they’d naturally gravitate to Cadillacs such as this first. These cars just have that certain kind of presence that suggests importance.
Folks often talk about the limited palette of car colours today. In 1978, the two most popular colours on GM cars were silver and light silver/blue.
Silver/grey has been a popular luxury car colour for decades.
I had an uncle, now deceased, who worked his way up the hierarchy at work and at the same time worked his way up the GM hierarchy. One of his stated ambitions was to someday own a Cadillac; he was the type of person who felt that having the money wasn’t the only criterion, it was important to be at the “Cadillac level” at work as well. I can remember him having a 1962 Chevrolet (his first new car), a couple of Oldsmobiles and then a Buick of two before he felt it was time for his Cadillac. Unfortunately for him this was the same time that GM first downsized their big cars and the Cadillac, while still a fine car, no longer felt special or superior to other GM offerings. He never really talked about it that much but you could tell he was disappointed with the car. As it happened the local Buick dealer lived just down the street so my uncle went back to driving Buicks. Eventually something GM did irritated him and he bought a Mercury Grand Marquis (silver. of course) which he kept forever.
Just another reason why 1965 was the pinnacle of the American automobile…
OK, OK…I get that most cars in 1965 were inefficient, ill-handling beasts. I don’t care. I like them anyway. 🙂
A “Don Draper” car.
Is there anything that needs to be said while viewing these pictures?
In honesty. Do we really need to?
This old Deville answered all your questions immediately.
I’ve owned so many Cadillacs it’s hard to keep track of, but this is something I’d definitely want to trade the garbage I’ve got now for.