Last August, or to be precise, a few weeks ago on August 22, Cadilac reached a milestone in it's production run, making cars for 110 years. That's a long time, especially since very few automakers have been able to survive 100 years in the automotive industry. With 110 years comes both great ideas and awful ideas for a luxury car. Here is a list of some great ideas, a few bad ones, and some ideas that never made it into production.
Cad
illac V-16. In 1930, Cadillac created what has become the ultimate classic luxuary car. This car was the only car ever to be powered by a V16 engine. This put Cadillac on the board as the "Standard of the World." Customers who wanted this car could have it handbuilt to their choosing, ranging from different body types. Unfortuately, the Great Depression and World War 2 slowed hurt car sales and production on the V-16 ended in 1937.
Cadillac Cimarron. By the 1980's the J-car design had come along and ruined all the great luxury car brands in America. After dealing with the awful deisel cars, Cadillac went back to producing regular fasoline powered cars. If only they put in a bigger engine instead of the slow 88hp four cylinder engine, maybe things would've been better. In the end, all this car tuned out to be was a slow economy car with a Cadillac badge on it.
Cadillac Brougham. The 70's and 80's weren't a good time for Cadillac. After the public showed their hatred to the slow Cimarron, Cadillac created the Brougham. Chrysler took out the slow 88hp four cylinder and replaced with a huge 5 liter V8. Too bad the enormous engine only produced 140-170hp. Not only was this car still pretty slow, it now sucked up a lot more fuel as well. Of course you probably wouldn't want to go fast, becuase the suspension on it was pretty much non existent. Everytime you sped up, slowed down to a stop, or even got out of it, it would rock back and forth for about 10 minutes. Not only that, it was like driving inside a boat. You would have to be careful not to bump into anyone when you tried to park it. Cadillac really had lost their way in te luxury business during the 70's and 80's.
Cadillac XTS. With the 80's gone and quickly forgotten, Cadillac has finally figured out how to make a luxury car again. Forget about the luxury, they even remembered how to make a car again. Cadillac has come back to the luxury car design it was once famous for with a digital dashboard, ambient lighting, and an innovative CUE driver interface. The suspension has been greatly improved to take on corners at high speeds. The brakes have been improve to create faster stopping. The V* option is still available, but with the 304hp V6, you might not need it. This is what Cadillac is all about; a smooth, luxurious car that feels like a sports car.
Cadillac Sixteen. The last model unfortunately never got made, it's just a concept vehicle. In 2003, Cadillac decided to bring back their V16 engine and tune it to produce 1000hp. They then stuck it into their sedan model and made the hood longer to fit the engine in. What they had now was an unbelievably fast luxury car. The engine even had had Active Fuel Management, which shut off half the cylinders during slow speeds. This saved fuel and gave the sixteen an amazing 20mpg. The inside was loaded with luxury including a Bulgari clck on the wooden dashboard and a steering wheel made out of solid crystal. This is the ultimate in luxury cars and should be built into a production car. With 110 years on thei belt, Cadillac has come a long way. If they continue to build what they are now, the next 110 years will be amazing.
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