There was a time once when a gas-guzzling, full-size, American luxury SUV would have looked out of place on a European street. Today, a Cadillac Escalade no longer looks so incongruous in Europe. No, it’s not because its dimensions have gotten more manageable or its styling more international. Instead, the European automakers have caught up.
If you want a truck that makes a visual statement, the Mercedes G-Class is as popular with wealthy Europeans as it is with wealthy Americans and Australians. And it actually has had even sillier engine options available, like the 6.0 twin-turbo V12 in the outgoing model. Mercedes-AMG actually put a V12 engine, producing 621 hp and 738 ft-lbs, in a 1979-vintage, boxy, body-on-frame SUV originally developed for the military. Against that, an Escalade seems almost sensible.
Then there are the big, modern German SUVs like the Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class. That three-row SUV is as long as a regular-length Escalade and offers two different twin-turbo V8 engines as options. There’s a new, big BMW on the way – the three-row X7 – which is as large as the GLS. And don’t forget the glut of other large, luxury SUVs like the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
So no, an Escalade doesn’t exactly stick out like a sore thumb in Europe nowadays. Americans may have popularized the luxury SUV (along with the Brits) but the rest of the world is now on the bandwagon. Or band-SUV, if you will.
Third-generation Escalades photographed in Old Town Prague, Czechia; fourth-generation Escalade photographed in Potsdam, Germany.
I can remember a time when it was an oddity to see a Cadillac in Europe. It was usually in front of a posh hotel in Rome, Paris or some other capital city. Back in the days when Cadillac produced only cars, these rarely sighted vehicles drove around Europe with black wall tires, when all stateside models wore whitewalls. Now, almost all vehicles have black walls, and they blend into whatever scenery prevails. I noted almost ten years ago a proliferation of Tahoes and Ram pickups. It seems that trucks have indeed conquered the planet, and we started the whole ball rolling.
I recall reading that, in past years, many Europeans thought that the only people who drove Cadillacs in Europe were mobsters and prostitutes.
Same for Japanese, too. The excellent satire film, Minbo, poked fun of yakuza and their extensive collection of Cadillac Fleetwoods.
Indeed, I wonder if “A Fish Called Wanda” were made today if the joke about the American characters driving around London’s narrow streets in their giant Lincoln and constantly running into things would still work.
It looks like a Chevy Suburban wearing a chrome lobster bib to me.
I always thought that the Escalade in “Art & Science” form had a passing resemblance to an Art Deco steam locomotive. Especially the current generation model where the taillights are roof to bumper.
Because that is what it is.
A “GG” (Gross-Gerau, home of Opel’s Ruesselsheim) plate on any GM car in Germany makes me wonder if it’s a company or press-fleet car.
These cars’ image has shifted in the last few years to “looks like someone called a *fancy* Uber” as it seems the old-money horsey set prefers their big GM SUVs with the traditional Chevy/GMC truck branding while rappers and the McMansion crowd have gone over to European big SUVs.
Wouldn’t that be a Peugeot press car now? 🙂
Yes, you are correct about GG numberplates. About 90% of Cadillacs I saw running around in Munich in the last ten years have that prefix.
Nice pics and story, William.
This is a fun car review by Thames Television in the UK from 1973. Reviewer Tony Bastable seems to show general contempt for large American gas guzzlers from the era, ultimately comparing them to dinosaurs. Fun watching him lift the hood on the Eldorado. The clip was recorded on videotape, so the image quality and sound is excellent.
The British motoring press had a chip on their shoulder about American cars for decades. Ridicule and contempt replaced objectivity and understanding as a rule. This disingenuous attitude went hand in hand with the decline of Britain’s auto industry. As things got worse, the journalists , in fits of insecurity, directed derision at American cars. I’m embarrassed for these journalists, feeling pressure to support a domestic industry that eventually destroyed itself due to disgraceful mismanagement. It’s ironic they heaped scorn on American cars , and conveniently ignored worse shortcomings of their own.
BTW, I’ve got nothing against Britain otherwise, as I used to live there. Motoring in Britain was miserable in the 60’s through the 80’s where affordable cars were poorly made, cramped slow and primitive. The luxury, comfort smoothness and reliability of even a modest American car like the Mustang II exceeded anything affordable in Britain. Much of this derision is simply envy.
Interesting points! On the US it seemed the auto mags were more critical of the home market’s offerings against the Japanese. Once they got burned by touting the merits of the Pinto, Vega, and Volare, etc, anyhow. When I was a kid, I remember reading about Japan this and Japan that. I always rooted for the US cars in tests and was annoyed they usually lost. My third car was an SR5 Corolla and then I understood.
Which brings back memories of my first trip to England, late summer 1979 for the World Science Fiction Convention in Brighton. My (then) fiancée and I rented a car for a couple of days to head down to Hastings and Battle (I really wanted to see the battlefield and abbey).
We got lucky in being issued a black with gold striping (JPS colours) brand new (something like 50 miles on it) Ford Fiesta S. I had an absolutely wonderful time on the B routes learning to slide the first front wheel car I’d ever driven . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . while the car desperately tried to fall apart around me. While I was already embittered with my father brow-beating me into buying my Monza Kammback (worst POS I ever owned), when I really wanted a Fiesta S, the abysmal build quality compared to the Monza just floored me.
Four years later, I finally got my own (used) Fiesta S. And rapidly learned why all the American imports came from Germany.
Then, there was my (eventually) brother-in-law’s Austin Marina . . . . . . .
Well said, Team Obsolete. May I add in a few Antipodean observations?
I’m thinking the decline in respect for American cars started after World War 2. While there may have been an element of jealousy and wounded national pride (stuff still being rationed here years later while Americans can buy this?) there was also the element of conspicuous consumption which was alien to many non-American nationalities.
In Australia when I was growing up, a Ford Customline or equivalent Chev or Plymouth was a perfectly rational car choice for a large family – if you could afford to run one. While you wouldn’t see them everywhere, they were common enough that you’d think nothing of them. Come forward to, say, 1959 and it would have been harder to defend – they were so much bigger, flashier looking but also harder to drive on narrower roads and harder to park in confined spaces. My high school principal ran a 1956 Chevy; he never upgraded to a later model. In a conservatively-minded country, late-fifties American cars’ size and exuberant styling became, yes, an embarrassment. They did not convey the same image of well-off respectability as they had. A Rover P5 would have been a better fit for his station in life; the deputy principal had one. And that’s before you get to the road manners – let’s just say cornering and braking abilities matter more in some countries than in others, and leave it there.
Different countries have different expectations. What suited late-fifties America didn’t necessarily work overseas. American cars were truly a sight to behold whether on the road or at the curbside, the kind of thing for little boys to ooh and aah over (and us, decades later!), but not necessarily the kind of thing a successful non-American family man might want to buy. Through the sixties styling became more conservative (a plus), but sheer bulk remained an issue. Uncle Ted was a successful butcher. He bought a ’66 Bel Air. That was impressive for its sheer size, passenger-carrying capacity (four abreast on both seats!) and effortless acceleration with four adults and four children on board. And that huge trunk. I’ve no idea of its cornering or braking abilities, but as a passenger I was in awe that he could wheel such a large car through the streets. Dad was polite, but privately derisive. Ted was showing off, buying a car like that. Ten years earlier he wouldn’t have thought that.
Australian cars got bigger, and eventually supplanted American ones. While I have seen and ridden in a few seventies American full-size cars, I was not impressed. The glitz was there though toned down somewhat, but the interiors seemed cramped, especially in relation to the overall size. We had become more aware of efficiency in packaging. And ornamental filigree that impresses during a short ride was no substitute for material quality and long-term integrity.
Oh there were other influences – decline of the British car industry certainly, the unpopularity of the Vietnam war, anti-American feeling increasingly whipped up by agitators during the sixties, the rise of the Japanese showing the world what quality really meant, and doubtless others. But the “If you’ve got it, flaunt it” attitude behind the growth (bloat) and showiness American full-size car from the late fifties on went against the national psyche of many other countries.
It’s not as simple as that and it didn’t start right after WW2.
American cars had always been held high regard around the world, but their sales were always stronger in certain countries and less so in others. Switzerland and the Netherlands and Sweden and a few other countries bought American cars in much higher proportions than other countries, quite possibly because the Swiss and Dutch had little or no auto industry of their own, and possibly for other reasons, a key one being taxation. Some countries penalized large cars much more so than others. Also, the Swiss were always quite affluent. American car sales stayed quite high there until the 80s or so.
Great Britain probably had the lowest percentage of US cars, for two obvious reasons: they had a very strong domestic industry, including lots of upscale/luxury brands. And RHD didn’t help. Also their taxation was brutal on large displacement cars.
American cars were still held in high regard generally until two things happened simultaneously in the late 60s and 70s: American cars were not improving much in terms of their dynamic qualities (brakes, handling, etc.), and their quality was generally decreasing, especially in the early 70s. Meanwhile, the Germans started to build ever more and bigger cars; Mercedes was on a huge march forward, and came to quickly have more prestige than a premium American car, and BMW started making bigger 6 cyl cars. And Audi started pushing into that segment more and more. The Germans were on their ascendancy, and American cars started looking cheap and flashy and junky compared to them. Their image really changed.
A certain segment of the European population still was attracted to American cars simply because they were now so different. These are folks for whom the American culture, especially car culture, was still appealing. But these were now much lower on the income scale. The rich folks who bought Buicks and Cadillacs in the 40s and 50s had moved on to Mercedes and other German premium brands.
It’s not about conspicuous consumption; the folks that bought luxury cars wanted to make sure they bought the one that made it clear to others they were affluent; a Mercedes did that a lot better than a Cadillac after about 1965 or so.
These are generalities and as I said, some countries still bought American cars in higher rates than other for more time. And now big American SUVs and pickups are in again, and have been for some time. They’re big and flashy and make a strong statement, everywhere. And there’s not a lot of competition.
That´s something of a mis-representation. I´ve trawled through Car magazine and Autocar from the 1970s and 1980s. Considered as products for the US, in the US car was quite positive towards US vehicles. Considered as products for the Europe market,, Detroit cars got a harder reception because they were mostly inappropriate, sometimes wildly so. Just as a Texan would not accept a Fiat 123 or Mini (rightly so), the vast majority of Europeans have no use for a 5.7 litre car when a space efficient, 2.0 litre four was available.
The UK industry had a lot of problems, that is true. To write off European cars as poorly made cramped and slow is as wide of the mark as saying US cars were poorly made, cramped and slow (though this is true of the 12 mpg, 90 mph cart-sprung sedans of the 1970s, wide but short cabins).
Horses for courses. The car industry will often serve up mediocrity tailored to be acceptable to the market. US mediocre differed from Euromediocrity. Take your pick.
I understand. But just to correct you, I was critical of affordable British cars, not European cars in general . There’s a significant distinction. Europe obviously was building many fine car at the time. The expensive British cars were also well done But these were not affordable by the vast majority of the British public.
Contrast that to North America where the industry produced far better affordable cars. Not great mind you, but much better than Britain.
I read a lot of British car magazines during the 2000s – including back issues from the 1990s – and there was definitely a lot of snark towards American cars. Granted, what was good for the UK market was rarely what was good for the US market and some American imports to Britain were rightly criticized (e.g. the fourth-generation Camaro and the Blazer) but it seemed like it was impossible for an author in CAR to compliment an American car without it being back-handed.
Hell, I found the snark against anything not European to be utterly overbearing. The writers in CAR would often be overtly critical of Japanese and Korean offerings, too. Often lukewarm praise and some aspersions cast about the type of person who’d buy said car.
It’s an axe I have to grind with some British automotive writers. It’s like they feel this need to be snarky, like that’s the only way they can entertain readers. And the less said about those wretched “worst car” books like Crap Cars, the better. At least the magazine journos fact-check…
Ah, but here’s the thing William: for much of it’s history, CAR has been edited by Australians (including Angus MacKenzie, who went on to edit Motor Trend). So the source of the snark may be closer to home than you think….
I’ve said here before that Australian motoring journalism has arguably had a huge influence on such journalism in Britain and thence worldwide, after a beach head infiltration of cheeky, disrespectful colonials was established in the ’60’s. Read an Autocar review from the late ’50’s to mid ’60’s – they’re milksop rubbish.
The great cheek, if sometimes over-cooked, has had a direct role in the dynamic and safety qualities of the cars we now enjoy. To this day, if something not good enough is served up, the press will rightly disparage it, and the manufacturers know it.
As for US cars, as I’ve said below to tonito, they were always tiny niche players in the UK, often unsuitable, and the criticism was largely just the on-going performance of a (perhaps wearying) joke.
Team Obsolete – The idea of the British motoring press feeling pressure to support the home team vs the Yanks doesn’t really hold water as American cars weren’t remotely significant competition in the UK – it was European and Japanese cars they had to worry about.
They also would have higher expectations of large engined cars, which in their market were “prestige” vehicles – the typical privately educated English motoring journalist would have been amazed to learn what sort of horny-handed peasants Ford could rely on to buy Mustangs stateside. They would be mentally comparing it to some mildly exotic European GT, when it might be fairer to compare it to a 1275cc Marina coupe or a non-sporty Escort – if home market affordability is taken into account.
I see your point. But I lived there and read the motoring press at the time, and saw this. A video has just been posted, demonstrating this phenomenon. As you suggest, it wasn’t rational, because the American cars were not a competitive force there. But it existed, American cars were ridiculed for mean spirited entertainment purposes. And who finds joy in that kind of abuse of any kind? Honestly, it’s the resentful and the envious.
If you want me to make a huge and probably baseless leap (thanks, don’t mind if I do) and say the aforementioned boys’ school alumni (I always think it’s telling that Clarkson and his producer met at some Yorkshire Hogwarts) of that generation disliked Japanese cars and only grudgingly accepted the qualities of German ones in part due to WW2, and that their Glee in trashing American cars is rooted in what one could call a folk memory of the British Empire, and a distaste for Americans.
Having said that, I think it is logical that they would have a long list of genuine complaints about American cars, especially of that era – something like a Mustang II would be a bizarre choice for anyone in Britain at the time.
I’m married to an American and I would add that what my family see as affectionate teasing is seen as mean mocking by my wife, or at least was until she lived in the UK for a few years. I live in the US now and there is a difference in what it is considered acceptable to say, in many contexts and subjects.
I reckon your last paragraph is key. The Australian sense of humour is very close to the English one, acerbic and ironic, and it rarely translates in American. The cars reviewed were usually just unsuitable to conditions, and the rest of the “criticism” just what we call taking the piss. And lest someone here takes offence at THAT, it means “not to be taken seriously.”
When I was 7 years old we spent 6 months in England. Some things I loved, other things (school, and most of the food) I hated and I was pretty homesick. The local public library had Autocar and The Motor magazines, which I devoured (figuratively) and I got some relief from seeing pictures of the Galaxie “saloon” car driven by Jim Clark beating Lotus Cortinas and Jaguars, as well as the Falcons doing well in rallying. I think the British maybe had a bit more respect for the Yank Tanks after Ford started competing there.
Nice write up! I am a huge Cadillac fan and Escalade as well(don’t care for the obvious it’s a chevy in a tux crap)i agree with Team and Dman. Brit-mobiles can’t hold a candle in build or reliabilty as pretty much any from there breaks down constantly. They are idiots that can’t say a good thing about Americans or American products. Thats why when Dan Gurney took a nearly stock 1961 Chevy Impala to go after the Jags he beat them silly and was blocked when they saw a big American boat beat one of there top tier cars. If it wasnt for a rear tire coming off on the Chevy they would have no place to hide thier faces.
Actually the very best thing to come out of Britain……………………….was Benny Hill!!! He was the absolute best!!!
I vote Tracy Ullman and the entire cast of Monty Python (minus Terry Gilliam, too American.)
I saw this Escalade in the older part of Bratislava in late 2015. Can’t remember now what the license plate is, but it’s not Slovakian.
Escalade has Slovakian temporary import numberplate as it starts with C and five digits.
Eh, I donno. Big American vehicles have been a look-how-wealthy-I-am* thing in Europe for the two and a half decades’ time I’ve been paying attention. Nowhere near as prevalent as in North America, to be sure, but Tahoes and Explorers and Yukons and Expeditions and Escalades and Suburbans and Excursions and a relative lot of Grand Cherokees and the odd Aspen, yes. In some places more than others; I’ve seen more of them in Frankfurt than in Paris, and a whole hell of a lot of them in Geneva—no big surprise, given the amount of money flushing around—though strictly speaking that’s only on Europe, not technically in Europe.
*Or sometimes look-how-eccentric-and-bloodyminded-I-am; I’m thinking of the Caprice wagon I watched make a 39-point left turn from one narrow London street to another in 1995
An Aspen?! I could understand the others, but who on earth would go through the trouble of owning that POS in Europe?
Your guess is as good as mine; I literally cannot even.
Someone living in central London has a black Escalade, which is usually parked one street over from my home. But it’s a hybrid so that makes it OK, right?
That makes it old.
I’m curious to hear what our resident Bimmer expert, Brendan, thinks of the new X7.
I think these days he’d likely offer the kind Sir an opportunity to partake in a new Range Rover, clearly and obviously the best Four by Four by Far… 🙂
Speaking of American elephants in Europe: there’s this one (just listen to those excited Parisians! More views of same elephant here) and this other member of the same herd.
Three cartoons from Russell Brockbank, doyen of UK car cartoonists, from 1950s Punch magazines:
Parking in Grosvenor Square…
Finally, a trip to the countryside.
Even now, the average UK parking space can barely accommodate an Accord.
A Suburban or Expedition would need minimum two spaces, and a lazily or inexpertly driven Suburban might need four.
Bravo! Thanks for posting these.
Thank you! One more, this time from cartoonist David Langdon.
I have taken three trips to Europe in the last 6 years and the number of American cars is growing, both classics and late models. Suburban’s and Tahoe’s abound in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Many Ram and F150/250’s pulling caravans and work trailers in Italy, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Holland, and of course Iceland loves Excursions, Expeditions, jeeps and Ford pickups. Mustangs/Camaro’s too. Not to mention rebranded Chrysler 300’s, Fiat Fremont’s/Dodge Journey’s. Anyway you get the idea. They love classics too. I drove a Peugeot 3008 turbodiesel 5speed and was passed by all of the above in different countries.