Cadillac: The Tailfin Years

A must book for caddy fans and esp those big and beautiful ones from the '50'sThese cars truly live up to the logo - an American standard for the worldI own a 1950 caddy convertible and it has power start, power windows and seats and a power top- all very advanced for a 1950 car.It's very hard to miss at 18' 6" and it's why when it drives by, people say that's a cadillac.By 1959, the excess had gone maybe too far , but those fins are iconic to the era.

This book is great for the 1st time reader of Cadillac's.I bought this as a gift for my 13 year old niece who has expressed a deep interest is old cadillac's. The pictures are wonderful and the details are staright forward. I'm sure this read will lead her into the bigger picture of the industry.

Great pictures of some of the best years of Cadillac. The ads give a sense of what it would have been like to have these vehicles come out when they were new. It takes you back to a time in history.

The other reviews of this book are accurate: Illustrations are old Cadillac archive illustrations; descriptions are gleaned from old Cadillac ads. There is nothing new in this book. That's what makes it so enjoyable. Sure, one could search the internet for the exact same information, but why bother? The author has done it for you and compiled it all in one affordable book. It is a wonderful addition to anyone's Cadillac library.

good Cadillac info

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"American's Most Distinquished Motor Car", "The World's Most DIstinquished Motor Car", and, of course, the iconic "The Standard Of The World"...when you heard, or read those descriptions, if you were a car buff growing up in the 50's & 60's you automatically knew only one word could be attached to them. And that one word was CADILLAC !Maybe the folks in the advertising agencies had worked overtime to come up with those phrases, but during the "Tailfin Years" General Motors Cadillac Division certainly worked hard trying to live up to them ! Cadillac quality at that time, in most instances, did its owner's - as well as its designer's & builder's - proud. When you saw one ot fhose finned beauties coming down the street, or encountered one on the highways of America, it was one of the most regal looking automobiles you'd ever see: that egg-crate/checkered grille, those massive front and rear bumpers, the flowing lines from the headlights all the way to the taillights, and, from 1948 to 1964, those beautiful, graceful, tailfins that gave it a character & presence like no other.Cadillac had been founded in 1902 by Henry Leland, and named after the 17th Century French explorer who, in turn, had founded Detroit. Later, when it was folded into the GM Corporation, Cadillac had designs that came from Harley Earl and his studio. The "fin idea" was hatched after closely looking at the famous Lockheed WWII P-38 Fighter Plane. It's tailfin design was first adapted to the 1948 Cadillac models...and set the post-war automotive field into a fever pitch !SO, in this well-crafted volume by ROBERT J. HEADRICK JR., we see the shifts, changes, escalation, and, finally, down-sizing of these legendary "fins" from GM's most-prestigious division. It's an 11"h X 8 3/4w, 128 page book, in full-color, that gives a year-by-year look at the changes made from 1948 to 1964...lovingly known as the "tailfin years".Headrick uses the actual Dealer Brochures, and the advertising copywriter's Info, to describe each model and year. This is a great service to those who, like myself, are died-in-the-wool car buff's and collect these dealer brochures to put in our own collections/libraries. Do you have any idea how much it would cost you to buy each of these rare documents, in "mint condition" ? Well, probably about three or four times the price of this book...so consider it a bargain, and a piece of Cadillac History, all in one plaee !It also includes the rare, seldom-seen today, Cadillac "jeweled" advertisments from that 1948-1964 time period...one from each year. These were tie-in's with famous jeweler's such as Harry Winston, Cartier, and, Van Cleef & Arpels. (As a side-bar, as a kid in high school, one of my favorite Cadillac "jeweled ad's" was a parody done by Kelly Freas in Mad Magzine ! Freas was such a superb artist, that his comic-versions of any product were just spot-on and oh-so-funny...and mirrored the original so well that you almost believed the "parody" was real ! )My personal favorites from the "Tailfin Years" ? Simple. The first Cadillac OHV V-8...the 1949 Sixty-Two Club Coupe (Sedanette); the 1953 Hardtop/Coupe DeVille; the 1956 Hardtop/Coupe DeVille; and, the 1957 Eldorado Seville.

This looked like a hard cover coffee table type of book and with the price that was what I expected it to be. When it arrived it was nothing more than a comic book style brochure and as it was a gift , I couldn’t give it as such as it certainly didn’t look worthy of something I would give a good friend. All in all very disappointed. Looks are deceiving.