When did Cadillac lose it's prestige?

[audiman08]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

The Buick Grand National wasn't bad, but handled like a greased pig on a frozen linoleum floor.

lol, that's good stuff...

[john walker's workshop]

gotta go back to when they had style. here's a few of mine.

[widgeon13]

When I was a kid our neighbor who had 8 kids, bought an 8 person stretch Caddy limo from a funeral home and used it to travel around town, great car. Had the jump seat and all the bells and whistles.

[pwd72s]

John...love the torque thrust wheels on the red one...a '49?

[tabs]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

gotta go back to when they had style. here's a few of mine.

Where are the 53 & 59 Eldorados...

[RWebb]

I'd say after the 1950's - basically as soon as a Caddy buyer discovered BMW & MB the prestige was gone for him.

I agree it greatly accelerated in the 1970's.

[tabs]

Cadillac lost its prestige the same day America started to go downhill.

Up until the begining of WW2 Cadillac, & Lincoln were also rans to Packard. Packard, Pierce Arrow & Dusenberg/Cord were all top of the heap American automobiles. Those marques could and did hold their own with the likes of Rolls Royce for luxury and prestige. The Depression killed Dusenberg and Pierce Arrow, after WW2 Packard realiabilty and styling dealt it a death blow. Leaving only GM's Cadillac and Fords Lincoln as survivors. Also after WW2 the Custom Bodied cars were a thing of the past giving way to mass marketing and production. There were only 2 efforts made in the postwar era that harkened back to that custom era and they were the Lincoln Mark II Continential which cost about 15,000 a copy back in 1955 and a couple of years later the Cadilliac Eldorado Brougham for $12.5K. Other pinacles of automobile making in the 1950's were the 53 Cadillac Eldorado and Buick Skylarks.

Cadillac in all probablity reached the pinnacle of success with the 59 and 60 Caddys. I also am partial to the 63 and 64's. But where did the decline start? One could say that by the early 60's Cadillac lost exclusivity, where anyone in the middle class could own one. In all probability the decline in quality started in the late 1960's. However it took a few years for the decline in quality to be quite noticable. .

[tabs]

Originally Posted by rwebb

i'd say after the 1950's - basically as soon as a caddy buyer discovered bmw & mb the prestige was gone for him.

I agree it greatly accelerated in the 1970's.

not true!

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

I think when they started to make SUV's. It's no longer an elegant car, just another gangstamobile.

+1
That and the Cimmaron diluted the brand. It became an expensive Chevy.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

I think when they started to make SUV's. It's no longer an elegant car, just another gangstamobile.

Gee, another "prestige" car maker went the SUV route some time back. Do you suppose????

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

+1
That and the Cimmaron diluted the brand. It became an expensive Chevy.

They started basing the Cadillacs on Chevys well before the Cimarron. It went back at least as far at the late 70s with the Seville.

But yes, that type of cheap "badge engineering" helped kill Cadillac "prestige" (what was left of it by 1980).

[kaisen]

The Cimarron was a nail in the coffin, not the first nail, not the last.

They're still in their re-birth. It will be a while, but some of their new stuff is great. The last 'old' front-drive POS (Deville, DHS, DTS, et al) is getting replaced soon, and the STS was never really a contender. The XLR was an okay car, but no SL. The SRX is still weak. They need every model in their lineup to be as strong as the CTS and Escalade.

[audiman08]

I disagree with the idea that the last good Caddys were in the 1950s, or early 1960s. I think 1971 was when the trim/body styles were cheapened after Cadillac restyled their full-size cars. Then, when the 472 and 500 were replaced with the 368 and 425 (and other under-powered motors)...it was all over. So...I would say the last decent Cadillac was probably a 1970 model. Although I still like the STS-V and CTS-Vs of today.

[cbush]

I think we had a 77 sedan. It was a nice car- great ride, lots of power, real leather, plush interior. My last experience with them was in the early 90s. The thing that turned me off of them was the fake plastic stitching on the plastic dash. What a POS. There was no comparison to the Mercedes and BMWs. Amazing the brand survived at all.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by audiman08

I disagree with the idea that the last good Caddys were in the 1950s, or early 1960s. I think 1971 was when the trim/body styles were cheapened after Cadillac restyled their full-size cars. Then, when the 472 and 500 were replaced with the 368 and 425 (and other under-powered motors)...it was all over. So...I would say the last decent Cadillac was probably a 1970 model. Although I still like the STS-V and CTS-Vs of today.

I said the "PINACLE" or highest point was in 59 or 60...I remember the 59 was panned as being too over the top. People just didn't like the over blown thing. It was only several decades later that people started thinking the thing had charm.

I would agree that 1970 was an inflection point, as it was in 71 that Nixon took the USA off the Gold Standard. I think that one can trace the begining of the US's decline to when Cadillac went into decline, or let us just say American cars started getting eclipsed.

So the real question is not when did Cadillac start to lose prestige but when did America start to lose. The two are tied together.

[Scuba Steve]

I disagree with the idea that the last good Caddys were in the 1950s, or early 1960s. I think 1971 was when the trim/body styles were cheapened after Cadillac restyled their full-size cars. Then, when the 472 and 500 were replaced with the 368 and 425 (and other under-powered motors)...it was all over. So...I would say the last decent Cadillac was probably a 1970 model. Although I still like the STS-V and CTS-Vs of today.

The restyling was around 1973. I owned a '71 Fleetwood and it's virtually identical to both the '70 and '72 models. Even though it was a total boat I wouldn't mind having another one someday. It would be the ultimate cruiser.

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by RWebb

I'd say after the 1950's - basically as soon as a Caddy buyer discovered BMW & MB the prestige was gone for him.

Apples and oranges....

[dad911]

They were done by the 70's. My parents had a mid 70's 4-6-8 that almost killed me, accelerator stuck.

[Zeke]

Cadillac probably should never have made the Seville. But when they made the Cimarraon, I figured it was over for them. I'm not all that knowledgeable about the mechanics over the years, but Cadillac has always had something going on with their engines. The cars of today are hot rods, for sure, but do they sell to the Cadillac demographic?

I guess you have to know what the demographic is, I sure don't. But, if I look at a wealthy neighborhood, I see Lincoln Navigators and not Escalades.

Now here in the ghetto.....

Yeah, 30" wheels rule, baby.

[HardDrive]

I think the death of Cadillac came somewhat from newly affluent black people identifying with the brand in the 70s. White people did not want to drive the same cars as black people. Combine this with a deterioration in brand quality....it was the end.