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- 1959 Cadillac Sales Catalog - No styling cue defined 1950s American automotive design like tailfins. Introduced on the 1948 Cadillac under the direction of Harley Earl, within ten years fins were found almost everywhere in the GM, Ford and Chrysler product lines. Fittingly, these Jet Age ornaments peaked on the 1959 Cadillac -- a car with tailfins that towered nearly four feet off the ground.

- 1959
- Collections - Artifact
1959 Cadillac Sales Catalog
No styling cue defined 1950s American automotive design like tailfins. Introduced on the 1948 Cadillac under the direction of Harley Earl, within ten years fins were found almost everywhere in the GM, Ford and Chrysler product lines. Fittingly, these Jet Age ornaments peaked on the 1959 Cadillac -- a car with tailfins that towered nearly four feet off the ground.
- 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible - This car symbolizes 1950s America: a time of exuberance, self-confidence, excess, and self-indulgence. Cadillac designers drew on jet aircraft for ideas, from the sharp, swept-back tailfins to the front parking lights that resemble B-52 bomber air intakes. Under that jet-inspired skin is a 345 horsepower engine, air suspension, and a host of luxury options, including an automatic headlight dimmer. We are unlikely to ever see such cars again.

- 1959
- Collections - Artifact
1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible
This car symbolizes 1950s America: a time of exuberance, self-confidence, excess, and self-indulgence. Cadillac designers drew on jet aircraft for ideas, from the sharp, swept-back tailfins to the front parking lights that resemble B-52 bomber air intakes. Under that jet-inspired skin is a 345 horsepower engine, air suspension, and a host of luxury options, including an automatic headlight dimmer. We are unlikely to ever see such cars again.
- 1940 Cadillac Automobile - Cadillac's 1940 models received a revised front-end treatment with fewer, but thicker, horizontal bars in the grille. Two sets of louvered bars were added to each side of the hood. Prices ranged from $1,685 for a V-8 coupe to $7,175 for a V-16 town car. This photo shows a design proposal with a different front-end look.

- 1940
- Collections - Artifact
1940 Cadillac Automobile
Cadillac's 1940 models received a revised front-end treatment with fewer, but thicker, horizontal bars in the grille. Two sets of louvered bars were added to each side of the hood. Prices ranged from $1,685 for a V-8 coupe to $7,175 for a V-16 town car. This photo shows a design proposal with a different front-end look.
- 1940 Cadillac LaSalle Advertisement, "How'd Ya Like to be That Guy?" - General Motors introduced LaSalle for 1927 as a "companion car" to Cadillac. La Salle's cars were priced below those from Cadillac, but initially featured Cadillac engineering and quality. LaSalle shifted to using more Oldsmobile components in the mid-1930s but returned to its Cadillac roots by the end of the decade. The 1940 model year would be LaSalle's last.

- 1940
- Collections - Artifact
1940 Cadillac LaSalle Advertisement, "How'd Ya Like to be That Guy?"
General Motors introduced LaSalle for 1927 as a "companion car" to Cadillac. La Salle's cars were priced below those from Cadillac, but initially featured Cadillac engineering and quality. LaSalle shifted to using more Oldsmobile components in the mid-1930s but returned to its Cadillac roots by the end of the decade. The 1940 model year would be LaSalle's last.
- 1927 Cadillac LaSalle Sales Catalog - Car brochures have evolved from straightforward product catalogues into polished creative sales tools. Their quality paper, rich color, inventive formats, and sophisticated graphic design all contribute to a buyer's developing impression of a car in a showroom. Advertising might entice people to a dealership, but brochures extend and deepen the relationship between vehicle and potential buyer.

- 1927
- Collections - Artifact
1927 Cadillac LaSalle Sales Catalog
Car brochures have evolved from straightforward product catalogues into polished creative sales tools. Their quality paper, rich color, inventive formats, and sophisticated graphic design all contribute to a buyer's developing impression of a car in a showroom. Advertising might entice people to a dealership, but brochures extend and deepen the relationship between vehicle and potential buyer.
- Advertising Poster, "Cadillac Style-- Solitaire," 1989 - Cadillac debuted its Solitaire concept car at the 1989 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The two-door luxury vehicle featured motorized doors, heated massage seats, and video cameras and LCD screens that took the place of conventional rear- and side-view mirrors. The Solitaire's 430-horsepower, fuel-injected V-12 engine offered performance to match the car's sleek exterior.

- 1989
- Collections - Artifact
Advertising Poster, "Cadillac Style-- Solitaire," 1989
Cadillac debuted its Solitaire concept car at the 1989 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The two-door luxury vehicle featured motorized doors, heated massage seats, and video cameras and LCD screens that took the place of conventional rear- and side-view mirrors. The Solitaire's 430-horsepower, fuel-injected V-12 engine offered performance to match the car's sleek exterior.
- 1957 Cadillac Advertisement, "Magnificent Beyond All Expectations!" - Automotive ads seem to land somewhere between fantasy and reality, emotions and rationality. Print advertisements from the 1950s for Cadillac cars were not only marketing extravagant vehicles of unrestrained design, they were selling a way of life and social status, luxury and elegance, and sophistication and power.

- 1957
- Collections - Artifact
1957 Cadillac Advertisement, "Magnificent Beyond All Expectations!"
Automotive ads seem to land somewhere between fantasy and reality, emotions and rationality. Print advertisements from the 1950s for Cadillac cars were not only marketing extravagant vehicles of unrestrained design, they were selling a way of life and social status, luxury and elegance, and sophistication and power.
- Advertisement, "Cadillac: It's a 'Who's Who' of the Highway!," 1952 - Automotive ads seem to land somewhere between fantasy and reality, emotions and rationality. Print advertisements from the 1950s for Cadillac cars were not only marketing extravagant vehicles of unrestrained design, they were selling a way of life and social status, luxury and elegance, and sophistication and power.

- June 01, 1952
- Collections - Artifact
Advertisement, "Cadillac: It's a 'Who's Who' of the Highway!," 1952
Automotive ads seem to land somewhere between fantasy and reality, emotions and rationality. Print advertisements from the 1950s for Cadillac cars were not only marketing extravagant vehicles of unrestrained design, they were selling a way of life and social status, luxury and elegance, and sophistication and power.
- Advertisement, "The Christmas They'll Never Forget!," Cadillac, 1955 - Automotive ads seem to land somewhere between fantasy and reality, emotions and rationality. Print advertisements from the 1950s for Cadillac cars were not only marketing extravagant vehicles of unrestrained design, they were selling a way of life and social status, luxury and elegance, and sophistication and power.

- December 03, 1955
- Collections - Artifact
Advertisement, "The Christmas They'll Never Forget!," Cadillac, 1955
Automotive ads seem to land somewhere between fantasy and reality, emotions and rationality. Print advertisements from the 1950s for Cadillac cars were not only marketing extravagant vehicles of unrestrained design, they were selling a way of life and social status, luxury and elegance, and sophistication and power.
- Advertisement, "First Love of 20,000,000 Motorists!," Cadillac, 1953 - Automotive ads seem to land somewhere between fantasy and reality, emotions and rationality. Print advertisements from the 1950s for Cadillac cars were not only marketing extravagant vehicles of unrestrained design, they were selling a way of life and social status, luxury and elegance, and sophistication and power.

- 1953
- Collections - Artifact
Advertisement, "First Love of 20,000,000 Motorists!," Cadillac, 1953
Automotive ads seem to land somewhere between fantasy and reality, emotions and rationality. Print advertisements from the 1950s for Cadillac cars were not only marketing extravagant vehicles of unrestrained design, they were selling a way of life and social status, luxury and elegance, and sophistication and power.