Every so often we must revisit the Standard Of The World brand here at CC. Today, we’ll do so again with the help of a series of vintage images of the cars and their people back in the day.
Keep in mind that there’s no way for me to know if all the folks in these shots owned Caddys. A number just seem to be admirers, happy to be captured next to them. All the same in the end; what was important was the brand’s allure, as these images prove.
The shots include models from the late ’40s to the mid-70s, in quite a variety of locales and attitudes.
#7: Girl with red stockings
My best guess is mid-60’s based on the rust on the Cadillac and the mid-60’s full size Chevy in the right hand of the photo. Guess it belongs to grandma.
License plate , screwed into the grill adds a certain “panache”.
Welcome to “The Land of Lincoln”
These photos show what older folks like me think of Cadillacs .
Success and having finally “made it” .
Some of the back drops too are nice .
Narrower roads in neighborhoods , I remember those, a few still here and there in So. Cal. .
I hope all had a nice thanksgiving, I had a wonderful mid day dinner with three beautiful ladies .
-Nate
I’d love to see an article like this but with pics going through the current Cadillac owners. That would show just how badly people dress today as well as showing the (bad) transition of Cadillac from being a car company to being a warmed over Chevy SUV that they are today.
My 1988 Cadillac Cimarron is more Cadillac than any of these SUV today are. And that’s not saying much.
The same could be said about the 1980-85 Seville “Bustleback”.
From my understanding, the 80-85 Seville was on it’s own platform shared I believe with just the Eldo and maybe the Toronado and Riviera. However, nobody would ever mistake that vintage Seville for anything else.
On the flip side, the Cimarron was a fancier Cavalier. The Escalade is just a fancier GMC or Chevy SUV. The XT4 is garbage and the XT5/6 are just revamped Chevy’s. So why don’t we hear all the crying from people about that like we did on the Cimarron? Personally, I love my 1988 Cimarron. But at least I admit what it really is. But today people pay stupid prices for these glorified Chevy SUV’s and think they are actually driving a real Cadillac.
If I were ever to consider a Cadillac XT6, I would buy a Chevy Traverse High Country. I would essentially have the same vehicle for thousands of dollars less.
Brands that were once considered “prestige” have sunk to the level of economy brands. Cadillac, Lincoln, Jaguar, and even Mercedes-Benz are not special anymore.
Jaguar is now the car for Teletubbies and other colorful whack-jobs.
Men wore vast “britches” back in those days.
Yep!
Wonder if the black one in pic #1 is longer, or the red one in the final pic?
The white “Merc”, in pic #1 is looking well.
The couple standing in front of the 1955 Cadillac with the Arizona license plate appear to be mom and son, or some age inequity?
My yellow 1941 convertible cabriolet and white 1954 convertible coupe would certainly fit into this sequence of shots.
Got to look up the “41”. Bet I’ve seen one in an old movie or two.
Look at the jewel-like quality of that ’63 in pic 1. These still were the Standard of the World, beautiful design and materials, real quality, and superlative functionality. For most purposes, at that time Cadillac still was truly the best car in the world.
Our across the street neighbors in Towson bought a new white with blue interior model 62 4 door hardtop in April of ’64. It was, and remains, in my mind one of the most impressive family cars I’ve ever seen. A childless attorney in Baltimore, his hobby was maintaining that car to perfection and it was never driven in winter, he bought a new lower-caste sacrificial Chevy every few years for that. Every week he hand washed it, chamois-ed it dry, and wiped down the engine compartment with an oily rag. And it was always garaged of course.
When I stopped to visit him 10 years later, the Cadillac still looked literally new. He told me that Chesapeake Cadillac wanted to buy it back, but he took it to Florida the next year. That is one car still I kick myself for not owning. A truly magnificent automobile.
We’ll never have enough of these Cadillacs and here more thanks to IMCDB.
-a 1973 Fleetwood 75 limousine shown in Banacek. https://imcdb.org/vehicle_232383-Cadillac-Fleetwood-75-1973.html
-a 1965 Coupe DeVille shown in the beginning of the movie “Across 110th Street”. https://imcdb.org/vehicle_128930-Cadillac-Coupe-DeVille-68357J-1965.html
-a 1965 Calais shown in the animated series “F is for Family”. https://imcdb.org/vehicle_875983-Cadillac-Calais-1965.html
-a 1951 Fleetwood 60 Special in the French movie Fantômas. https://imcdb.org/vehicle_2928-Cadillac-Fleetwood-60-Special-1951.html
We drive cross-country and folks are amazed that we’re not afraid to get on the road.
Our Cadillacs were built to drive and we do as often as club events and personal responsibility allows.
The license on the grille in pic 7 puzzled me. Why not use the mounting on the pseudobumper below the grille? Pic 5 answers the question. When mounted down there, the license IS the bumper.
The car in the first picture conveys a certain elegance. Otherwise – there will be no spark for me.
Generally speaking, just based upon the appearances of most of the people seen here, the Cadillacs look too ostentatious for the owners. If these are the owners.
Not sure what you mean. Cadillacs weren’t “ostentatious”(def:characterized by vulgar or pretentious display). Keep in mind that Cadillacs were consistently rated as the objectively best car in America for many years. And had the best resale value. They were bought by a wide swath of Americans as these and other pictures we’ve had show. And yes, these are the owners. My fifth grade teacher was a farmer’s wife and drove a Cadillac.
Maybe Cadillac had a different image in Canada?
I want to see more of the 1968 Monaco wagon parked behind the white 1968 Sedan Deville.
Maybe the Crossroads Restaurant was a high end place (there in 1968) with valet parking. Or maybe the well-dressed lady in the hat just took a moment for a photo while waiting for the Dodge family to come out and move their damn car.
The lady withe the white 1959 reminds me that many people just automatically bought a new Cadillac ever year, every other year, etc. I am guessing that she was appalled by the tail fins but her husband went ahead an bought the car because that is what they always did.
Third picture down, B&W with the dude with the pipe–that guy is dripping with style
Ii real enjoyed these photos, it amazing to see how Cadillac transitioned it just over 10 years through the 1950s.
geum
I’m guessing that the yellow ‘55 with Arizona plates is in Mexico. There may be an interesting story there …
I wonder about the red Cadillac in picture 11. Who was the owner? I’m betting on the taller serious woman with her hand on the door handle 🤔
I have always liked Cadillac’s. I rarely choose favorites on much of anything as I like variety, but the Cadillac is always near the top of my list. That is, before they got out of the large sedan business.
#1 A beautiful new or close to new ’63 Fleetwood Sixty Special with a vinyl roof and leather from California. Across the street on the right is a ’57 Mercury Monterey Phaeton Sedan, and on the far left is a red ’50 Chevrolet Styleline.
#2 A gentleman posing with a ’49 sedan with not enough showing to ID the trim. Going by the grille it looks like it has been around a few years. This may be this man’s first step into Cadillac ownership.
#3 In contrast to #2 this man looks like he is a veteran Cadillac owner with his ’48 Fleetwood Series Sixty Special that could use a wash. On the side street facing away to the right is a ’42-’48 Mercury 2 door sedan on the right and perhaps a ’42-’48 Chevrolet Fleetline Aerosedan to the left.
#4 A well but casually dressed man feeding the wildlife in front of a ’53 model with Vermont plates dated either ’54 or ’56. That may be his watch dog looking out the passenger window.
#5 An interesting looking couple posing in front of a ’55 model with Arizona plates that were issued from ’56-’58.
#6 A sharp looking ’59 Fleetwood Sixty Special Sedan out for a windows down cruise on a warm day. It is wearing a New York plate used in ’60 and ’61.
#7 A teenager with perhaps her grandmother out on a rainy day in a ’55 Series 62 Sedan with a ’65 issue Illinois license plate. The car is a bit rusty but not too bad for a ten year old. Across the street right to left is a ’65 Impala Sport Sedan, a dark red Volvo PV series in the driveway, and further down to the left is a blue ’61 Ford Ranch Wagon or Country Sedan.
#8 A stylish lady with a matching ’59 Sixty-Two Coupe in a southern locale. On the right is a ’56 Pontiac Star Chief.
#9 A casual looking fellow with a nice and shiny ’64 Sixty-Two Series or Coupe de Ville from New Jersey.
#10 A warmly dressed lady at a meal break with a ’68 Sedan de Ville sporting a vinyl roof. Parked behind it is a ’68 Dodge Monaco wagon, and to it’s left looks like a black ’66 Chevrolet Biscayne or Bel Air 2 door sedan.
#11 This bright red color seems too flashy for either of these ladies, but you never know. A more sedate color at least on the outside would still look good on this ’73 Coupe de Ville.
Thanks for the photos.
Cadillac resale values would hit the skids by the mid-’70s. I remember a story on Car and Driver back then, that chronicled the ten best and worst used American and foreign car values. Cadillacs dominated the worst resale list–Sedan deVille, Coupe deVille, Series 75, Fleetwood Brougham… across several years. My parents’ car, a Plymouth Fury, also made the list.
Not surprising. It seems to be a kind of law of nature that high-priced new cars lose value faster than medium-priced or most lower-priced cars.
We kept our “73 Fury” till summer of “80”. Had about “68k” on the odometer. Got next to “nada” for trade.
The Yellow sedan with lic fasten to grill is about ‘rotted’ with rust… what year could that be ?
Mid “50’s” car in about “1965”.
Dad was classic Greatest Generation guy who “moved up” from Chevy in 1950s to Olds in 1960 to our first Caddy in 1964. Beautiful blue Sedan de Ville. (Mom still had Olds wagon) Traded in every four years and the 72 (year I graduated high school) was the last of the Real Caddys from the glory days. Went downhill in the 80s and 90s. In 2001 I got into O’Hare with family for Christmas visit and I knew he’d finally given up on “General Muddlers” when he met us in … a Lexus.
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Had a 74 Coupe De Ville when I got married in 1978. Felt like magic carpet on the highway, handled surprisingly well for it’s size on NYC streets. Loved it!
If I could have any of the cars in the photos, my first choice would be the beautiful tan ’59 Fleetwood followed by the black ’63 sedan in the first picture.
I grew up with ’70s Cadillacs and I love the red ’73 coupe, but it probably has white leather, which I absolutely hate. I once had a red ’74 coupe with white leather and it was a hassle to keep the front seat clean and looking new.
Drove Toyotas for years but the road noise, poor turn radius and defroster are terrible! Not to mention skidding sideways after hitting bumps, no thanks I love those Caddys!