1948 Cadillac

Following World War II, most of the manufacturing that had switched over to building for the war was a bit slower in switching back. Much of Detroit's automobile manufacturers had kept some of the car making lines open but were turning out vehicles for the Army and Navy. Those lines were easy to gear up but the Big Three at first concentrated on making entry and mid level cars to sate the needs of the country's growing prosperity and the desire of returning G.I.s to have the American dream of a house in the suburbs.

Luxury cars such as Cadillac didn't really start rolling out new models until 1947 and 1948. Some older models began driving off the lots by the end of 1945 but these were essentially the same as what they had manufactured prior to the war.

Cadillac had the Series 61 as its mainstay car. The Sixty Special was a more upscale version with a very similar look. The Series 61 first saw the showroom floors in 1939. Its 126 inch wheelbase sported a Fisher body and was powered, as were all Caddys at the time, by a 346 cubic inch L-Head V8 that generated 150 horse power.

In 1947, after a few years of not being manufactured, the Series 61that Cadillac showed was essentially the same vehicle that was being sold prior to the war. But the following year, 1948, the car got a substantial make over and was re-labeled the Series 62. The example shown here highlights the tailfins that were inspired by the Lockheed P-38 fighter that had help win the war. This was Cadillac's first all new design after the war.

The new cars featured two different powertrains. There was a 346 cubic inch Monobloc V 8 and a 331 cubic inch OHV V 8. Standard was a three speed syncromesh manual transmission with an option four speed Hydromatic. No matter the option, the car was filled with luxury and quickly returned the marque to the status symbol it had been in the years prior to the war.