American cars
Who would not remember the legendary red and white car of Strasky & Hutch or the famous “General Lee” from the Hazard series? How many times did you see a big Cadillac explode or be chased by the police in a hollywood film? But, is this what the “Made in USA” cars really are? Do you think it is enough to be a cinema lover to know them or is there something more to it? We advice you to study this subject more in depth as there are some really astonishing facts waiting to be discovered…
Cadillac
Imperial del 1960: iThe 50’s and the years that followed
Since the 50’s, the most representative american cars have always been luxury sedans or coupè. These cars were usually really confortable and solid and had non-racing engines that are very reliable and generously powerfull. These engines were not designed to work at the edge of their possibilities but they worked always and in whatever conditions.
These cars layed down the foundations of a modern car. Comfort, security and reliability were not at all unknown words to the best american designers who were rather the first to use many of the systems and gadgets that make these cars prestigious and luxurious today.
In Europe and particulary in Italy, there has always been a stereotype vision of american cars; a vision that often reflects, and hugely inflates only the most striking or negative aspects of these cars.
This vision can be put into proportion with one simple example. If we strip a modern german sedan of all the gadgets and devices that were for the first time used in american cars, no one will spend a single euro on it any more, for a simple reason: there won’t be even a starter left!
Survivors of the depression and of the war
If you already know the subject a bit, you must know by now that we are going to talk about Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial. These three names have nothing to envy to the most famous European brands as they were already in the 20’s producing beautiful cars of exceptional quality.
While some legendary names such as Duesemberg or Packard (that were technically on the same, if not higher, level as Rolls Royce) have disappeared soon before or soon after the war, others like Cadillac and Lincoln have survived. It wasn’t only for their ability to compromise and for the economical support they were receiving from General Motors or Ford but they also had the capacity to evolve and were employing men with remarkable planning farsightedness who were able to interpret and satisfy the needs of the customers and keep dreaming at the same time.
There is not much more to say as some of the best American cars of the 50’s are, compared their European contemporaries, the real 4 wheel dreams, the masterpieces of design and engineering. Just take as an example the Cadillac Eldorado in its various versions. Look at its enormous dimensions and a showy figure full of excess that reached its peak in the incredible rear fins of the model 1959 that carry inside the remaining of the war as they were inspired by a combat fighter.
“The timing was perfect. Because the Cadillac ’59 is the archetype of uselessness, it is the anti-functionality par excellence... these tons of chrome ready to explore in your eyes, these curtains made of plate, they marked such a flourishing age, which we will not have a chance to see again. Grandeur and decadence! Only the rich societies can afford these two words”
Jean-loup Nory, “The styling years. American cars in 1950-1960”
But the Eldorado is not just this. The Cadillac “Eldorado” exist since 1953 and many of its models can be considered real masterpieces of design because, apart from being spectacular, these cars are first of all beautiful, “sensual” and much better proportioned then it is generally thought. And above all, their lines spread an almost liberating message of enthusiasm and optimism that contrasts with the calmness and sobriety of many European cars of the 50’s and 60’s.