Cadillac Series 61: An Icon Of The 50's

The Cadillac is Americas second oldest car. The Cadillac was born in 1902, and has since produced car models that have won the hearts and affection of many Americans. Today, many classic cars in existence are Cadillac cars. One of the most popular designs by Cadillac is the 1948 design that carried well through the early years of the 50s. The Cadillac is a division company of the General Motors company.

Bill Mitchell is the chief designer of most classic and traditional designs by Cadillac. He has worked with Cadillac since 1928, and retired in 1970. The key in Cadillac Cars of the 1950s is that their design has been preserved to such an extent that very little changes were made whenever the company releases a new model. According to Mitchell, the traditional look must always be preserved. As a result, the Cadillac cars that were produced in the period between 1948 and 1955 were standard with very little tinkering.

The design of the Series 61 Cadillac followed the recipe for traditional look set by Mitchell: single-panel side windows, one-piece windshield, and the classic grilles that were the trademark of a car in those days. Mitchell summarized the design concept of the Series 61 Cadillac: if the grille is changed, the tail end is left alone; if a fin is changed, the grille is not monkeyed with.

Difference of Series 61 and Series 61

Much of the Cadillac sales were not affected even as the company decided to stick to the classic and traditional design of the car. When it comes to performance, the Series 61 is almost the same as the Series 62. It was considered as the entry level model of the Cadillac. The Series 62 differed only in design, particularly in the four-door sedan design which departed from the two-door Series 61 models. When it comes to interiors, the Series 62 offered chrome rocker moldings, and a more subtle interior design. The two cars are operated in manual shift, which was an industry standard in those years.

In 1951, the of the Series 61 Cadillac was phased out, but still stamped as one of the decades most identifiable car designs, thanks to the preservation of the traditional design by Bill Mitchell. The Series 62 led the market for a good number of years, even as Packard offered very competitive prices for their cars. Today, the Cadillac Series 61 is considered an icon of the 50s, and are often seen in the garages of car collectors and enthusiast.