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Automotive News & Views Can GM make Cadillac the standard of the world Again?
6098 messages, Last post on Aug 14, 2009 at 4:43 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: louiswei (Jul 17, 2008 12:19 pm) |
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Replying to: circlew (Jul 16, 2008 6:46 pm) In the middle of the twentyith century Cadillac's advertising made people percive Cadillac to be something more than it really was. After WWII Cadillac was probably the leading near luxury make in production, with Lincoln and Chryslers Imperial prime competition. Those who wanted true luxury bought Rolls Royces, but right after WWII a Rolls was probably in very short supply. In the thirties, the Cadillac V16's, with custom made bodies probably were true luxury cars. The depression wiped out most of the true luxury cars, with Packard on its death bed after WWII. Those of you who think Cadillac was somehow the "Standard of the World" at some point in the past, surpassing all of its competition, have bought the "advertising hype" hook, line and sinker so to speak. I think that Cadillac has always been a good value for a near luxury car. For a short time Cadillac did have some high end models, but this was during the depression. Since WWII Cadillac has only produced the lower end of the models it had before WWII.
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Replying to: sls002 (Jul 18, 2008 6:20 am) GM's reputation for building high quality luxury passenger cars is ruined forever anyway, until every last person who bought a Caddy in the 70's and 80s is dead!  Regards, OW
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Replying to: circlew (Jul 18, 2008 6:29 am) As he said, prior to WWII, it was. That died with the death of custom coach builders. BTW, I don't think that MB or BMW were luxury standards in the post WWII era either. That has only come into play in the last 30 years or so. I do remember reading how Cadillac in the '50's tried ( and succeeded) in "mass marketing" luxury cars, based on the fact that by the mid '60's they were selling over 125,000 deVilles, and by the early '70's, that number climbed to over 200,000 EACH YEAR. Now, if you want to argue that luxury and exclusivity should go hand in hand, OK. Fine. But in many ways, as people back then would retire, get their gold watch, a comfy LaZboy, and then "splurge" on a deVille and ride off into the sunset of their lives, it WAS a gold standard of sorts, in that people aspired to own one. Now, as far as the new CTS goes, if this is any indication of how the brand is going, now adding a coupe and wagon variant, they WILL be a player for years to come. Maybe not the "standard", but a player. You could also argue that with competition from both sides of the world as strong as it is, the true "standard bearer" is the one with the best current product, whether that be Caddy, MB Lexus, or whomever, and that title won't last more than a year or two.
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Jul 18, 2008 6:58 am) Not a global standard. Regards, OW
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Replying to: circlew (Jul 18, 2008 7:09 am) http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___Amazing-original-unrestored-Cadilla- c-V16-f-Hyman-Ltd_W0QQitemZ370069641576QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZ- ViewItem?hash=item370069641576&_trksid=p3756.m14.l1308 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___Great-restored-1932-Cadillac-Twelve- -V12-f-Hyman-Ltd_W0QQitemZ370069634997QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZV- iewItem?hash=item370069634997&_trksid=p3756.m14.l1308
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Jul 18, 2008 7:14 am) Because there are these... link title link title Regards, OW
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Jul 18, 2008 7:14 am) Rolls even had a factory in the US during the roaring 20s, so it must have been enough of a standard to warrant such an expense. MB was virtually unknown in the US before WW2, save for a few movie star types in Hollywood and eccentric east coast , but the custom bodied supercharged cars ranked up there with RR in Europe. Caddy was exported then and was a highline car, but did not trump RR or MB in those markets when it came to prestige or period luxury. It could have been equal in many aspects, but was not an overall standard.
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Replying to: fintail (Jul 18, 2008 7:58 am) Rolls-Royce of America, Inc., founded nine years later with U. S. capital, and British control, began producing cars in 1921. Even before Depression, the makers found that many a well-to-do U. S. businessman, financially able to own a Rolls, hesitated to buy one for fear of appearing unduly swanky in so luxurious a car (average price: $18,000). Rolls-Royce hastened to blast away this sales resistance with advertisements boldly captioned: To the Man Who is Afraid to Let His Dreams Come True. But during Depression the number of such fearful men grew so great that Rolls-Royce sales since 1931 fell off over 50% to $926,000. "Last week, after four years of Depression deficits, Rolls-Royce hit upon a brand new idea. President John S. Inskip put on display in Manhattan a hybrid 'luxury" car, the Brewster "Cabriolet de Ville," with which he hoped to develop a new market. It had a Brewster body, a Ford chassis, a Ford V-8 engine. Price: $3,500. President Inskip had wangled a contract out of Henry Ford to supply engines and chassis in bulk. At the Springfield, Mass. plant of Brewster & Co. Inc., onetime famed carriage makers, now wholly owned by Rolls-Royce, the chassis were to be lengthened and partly reshaped to fit Brewster bodies." Not to mention, RR used coachbuilders extensively, just like Cadillac did. Considering the difference in prices, I guess you would have to say that RR was (and is) in a class all by themselves. The article says that the avg price of a Rolls was $18,000, whereas those V-16 Caddies were between $6-9,000 (unknown if that included coachwork).
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Replying to: circlew (Jul 18, 2008 7:30 am) |
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