These 1961 Cadillac ads are deeply imprinted in my memory, as they were brand new in the fall of 1960 when we arrived in the US. It seemed a bit odd to pair these cars with backgrounds of exotic fabrics and fine jewelry; I much preferred the K&F Pontiac renderings and such.
At the time I did not bother to read the fine print to learn what these fabrics were, so here’s a chance to go back and and do that. This splendid one behind the Coupe de Ville is a matador’s cape from the Brooklyn Museum. The jewelry is by Harry Winston. If only that fabric were available as an upholstery option.
Here’s a couple more:
This fine Fleetwood 60 Special is paired with French embroidery from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Jewelry by Black, Starr and Gorham.
I have a fond spot for these ’61 Sixty Specials, as my father’s cousin, who was a traveling salesman of fine Austrian optics (cameras, binoculars, microscopes, telescopes, etc.) came to visit us in Iowa City in one. The trunk was jammed full of his wares, and he gave my older brother and I a telescope. Of course that means it was essentially his, but that’s how things like that worked, especially with my older brother. I do remember gazing at the moon on a fine summer evening.
Last but not least, this six window Sixty-Two sedan is paired with fine 17th century brocade from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Jewelry again by Black, Gorham and Starr.
Compared to the greytone pallet of today’s vehicles, this reminds me of the movie Pleasantville.
Hindsight being 20/20, this is just GM selling the sizzle and not the steak. If Cadillac was truly the standard of the world as claimed, and given GM’s massive profitability at the time, it shouldn’t have shared anything with a lesser Buick or Olds.
Cadillac contributed to those massive GM profits of the time and much of that profit stemmed from sharing the basic GM body. Cadillac did that for many, many at this point.
And why not? Few buyers would care and in my opinion, 1961-1963 were peak years for Cadillac. They had superb interiors.
It’s kind of like hating your VW CC because it shares the same structure as a Golf.
Few buyers would care then, but the tide was turning, and those profits weren’t used wisely.
Morning I had the 61 in a convertible with a/c in the early 70’s one of the most funniest thing was at a traffic lite in Brooklyn ny I had black walls & the guy next to me in a 71 CDV with what I would call bozo white walls ! lol & the look I got lol I always hated WWs as it did not portray performance ! as eventually the sport eldo came along in 85 last boxy body I think ? as I always was stuck cleaning the WWs on my father’s 34 Packard ! also compared to the 60 Lincoln I worked on the 61 Caddy was a sports car !! wish I had it today & re-power it with the 500 & a 6 or more speed trans 4 wd & an up-grade suspension ! on the weak points the lower A-frames I just love the upper & lower fins & the 61 CDV was a 1 year roof line ! **Happy Holidays** to all
So whitewalls don’t portray performance? Well, neither does a 1961 Cadillac.
well till you drive both the 60 Lincoln & then the 61 caddy you would see / feel the difference and get stuck srubbing 3” plus WWs as a kid along with our then modern cars is hated it !! if it was good enough for Mercedes & Dusenburgs over Caddy & Packard at the time it was good enough for a kid in his 61 Cad 12 year old car at the time that sport Eldo with grand touring package has no hood ornament mag wheels with black walls the first factory black wall tired one less part to fuss over and don’t worry my other car at the time was a 56 chevy with a 409
Don’t judge me, but the first thing that came to mind when I saw the lead-off photo was this scene from “Valley Of The Dolls”. It is what it is.
Same here.
Now out of its way. That Caddy has a man waiting for it!
LOL – Yes!!
Joseph: not to worry – you have plenty of fellow travelers here;-)
In my opinion, this generation of Cadillac was the best ever built. I especially like the 1963 model, with its more restrained styling.
It must have been a lot of fun factory ordering a 1961 Cadillac.
I agree, 61 was my favorite year for Caddies.
Oh, how I remember reading those ads in National Geographic. Lots of people subscribed, and so many people never threw them out. They would get donated to schools and such, and wherever there were bookshelves there were NGs, and wherever there was NG there were great car ads.
I will join the chorus of folks here who are slathering praise on these cars. Once you have spent some time in a Cadillac of this era it is hard to take newer models seriously as quality cars.
My grandparents had theirs stacked by year in an old closet in the basement, going back to the 1930s. Asked for them when we cleaned the house out in 1976 but we already had too much stuff.
Those profits went to GM’s stockholders, supporting widows and orphans and smart investors. Those profits built the American middle class, which is disappearing today with the advent of companies with no product, no profits and no production.
Indeed. Instead of US Steel, GE et al, we have Facebook and Google. Billion dollar companies that produce nothing. Not passing judgment, but things have changed.
For Cadillac, it never got any better than this. Until 1970 or so, this was indeed the Standard of the World. Then a long, slow decline into the irrelevance the brand is today.
I loved those ads when I was a kid. They were in a lot of different magazines and I cut them out and put them in scrapbooks, along with other car ads I collected. The 1961 Cadillac (and the other new GM cars for that year) was such an improvement over the preceding models and I agree with others that it was a peak year for the make. I thought the 61 Cadillac and 61 Lincoln Continental were really beautiful cars. The Imperial not so much; the idea of merging “classic” features with modern design and those enormous tailfins didn’t work for me. The language in that first ad comes awfully close to what Chrysler used for the Imperial: “America’s Most Carefully Built Car” though Cadillac takes it even farther and goes global.
Back when a Cadillac was a Cadillac. When you’re at the top of the hill (and they were the top American car) and represent having “made it” to many people, you want to associate yourself with the “finer things” in life. Great advertising.
I question the color choices: green car with a green background, pink car with red. Look how much better the blue car stands out.
My favorite Cadillac is the 1961 Sedan de Ville in black with the light blue interior. The quality and ride of this car was superb. At this time, Cadillac was the standard of the world as advertised. Cadillac manufactured an excellent product that increased the American standard of living. In doing so, great wealth was created in our economy that created and sustained a middle class lifestyle that was affordable to both those in management as well as those working in the trades.
The fact that America now imports 85% of what we buy because we no longer produce durable goods will gradually erode the middle class and compromise our technological standing as the leader of the world.
We have a great challenge and opportunity to lead again in developing net zero carbon free climate change mitigation technologies to rebuild our economy and lead the world once again.
I’ve always wondered what happened to these jewelry pieces. Given to GM or Cadillac execs or star dealer’s wives?
And the crest at its widest and flattest.
The first time I drove a 61 Cadillac, I was amazed at how well it steered and handled, felt like a much smaller lithe car behind the wheel. Cadillac was really on top of their game for 1961.
At this time, the engines and transmissions were among the best in the world and they delivered world-class performance. While the suspensions were tuned to delivering a soft ride, the handling was not bad. The quality was good and the cars were reliable and fairly easy to maintain. They really were the standard of the world.
Small quibble. I always preferred the ’62s over the similar ’61s. They all shared the same lower sheet metal, but the ’62s had more conservative and squared-off rooflines.
I used to love the car ads in old National Geographic magazines as well. If I came across one, I’d read it cover to cover – including the ads. That said, the Cadillac ads were the best. Very few words…and that’s all they needed. They were Cadillacs, and that’s all you had to know. Make mine an early ‘60’s model – 1961-1964. The epitome of automotive class and elegance.
I agree, in many ways ’61-’64 Cadillacs had a jewel-like quality and superlative build plus a butter-smooth and powerful drivetrain coupled with all the power conveniences that made them in many ways the best luxury cars in the world, Sadly just a few years later they declined into just plastic and kitschy parodies of what a great car should be.