The 1959 Cadillac, the self-proclaimed "Standard of the World," was a garish end to a garish decade, a period when Detroit produced some of the most flamboyant cars in its history. Ironically, it also produced some of the prettiest - the Studebaker Starlight/Star-liner and early Hawk coupes and 1955 Chevrolets come to mind.
The Cadillac epitomized an era of soaring fins, excess chrome, wraparound windshields, massive bumpers, fake air scoops and jukebox grilles. It culminated the period of unprecedented optimism that followed the deprivations of the Depression and the Second World War. It was the last blowout before restraint began returning to car styling in the 1960s.
The '59 Caddy's most prominent features were tailfins that soared to unprecedented heights and were capped by chrome-plated points. They housed twin taillights in sculpted pods with a rocket plane theme that could have been the epitaph to Harley Earl, the soon-to-be-retired General Motors chief stylist. He had "invented" styling at GM and had launched his futuristic jet-and rocket-emulating inspirations on the world with his 1951 Buick LeSabre "dream car."
Earl's tailfins did, in fact, have a direct airplane connection. In the early 1940s, he and his staff had become enamoured with the twin-tailboom stabilizers on the Lockheed Lightning P-38 fighter planes they saw at Selfridge Air National Guard base north of Detroit.
With the Second World War shutting down car production in 1942, it was six years before Earl's P-38-inspired fins could make the transfer to automobile styling. They appeared cautiously on the redesigned 1948 Cadillac as little more than raised taillights.
Although somewhat hesitantly accepted at first, tailfins soon became Cadillac's styling signature. They transformed the rear of the car and gave it (as well as the front) a distinctive appearance. They were the start of a styling revolution that by the late 1950s were de rigueur on American cars. Ford's 1957 models began growing wings, Studebaker spoiled its lovely coupes by bolting on tailfins, and the 1959 Chevrolet grew thin, birdlike horizontal appendages. The trend became so pervasive that even staid Mercedes-Benzes sprouted small rear fender blades.
When Chrysler's 1957 products appeared with huge fins that threatened to wrench styling leadership from GM, it was a challenge that Cadillac couldn't ignore. The grotesquely befinned 1959 Cadillac was the response.
In addition to its fins, the '59 Cadillac was overstated at every turn. Its front end displayed a sweeping, complex grille that in most Cadillac models was echoed in the rear with another grille. The front parking lights and turn signals were carried in pods at each end of the substantial bumper, and more jet-like pods housed the back-up lights in the rear bumper.
Cadillacs came in five series: DeVille, Eldorado, 62, 60 special and 75. All had a 3,302-millimetre wheelbase except the 75, which stretched to 3,805 mm. And Cadil-lacs were a garage-busting 5,715 mm, or almost 19 feet long. That is, all models except the Series 75; its 6,223-mm length required a special garage.
Under the hood could be found the short-stroke, overhead-valve V-8 engne that Cadillac had introduced in 1949, now grown from its original 5.4-litre and 160 horsepower to 6.3 litres and a standard 325 horsepower. The Eldorado got 345, which was optional on other models.
Equipment was generous, but far from as extensive as we now take for granted in most cars. A Hydra-Matic transmission was standard, as were power brakes, steering and seats. Still optional were air conditioning, power windows and door locks and cruise control.
Passengers enjoyed a panoramic view thanks to Earl's beloved and dramatically curved wraparound windshield and thin roof pillars all around. This, plus the high fins, enabled the driver to see all corners of the car, making it a little less likely that a hapless pedestrian would be impaled on one of those lethal fins.
After the extravagant styling statement of their 1959 models, even Cadillac stylists must have realized they had gone a little too far. For 1960, the fins were toned down and the taillights were nicely integrated. By 1965, Cadillac's fins were gone altogether.
Depending on your perception, the 1959 Cadillac stood as either the pinnacle of American automotive styling, or its nadir. It was often vilified as the quintessential example of American decadence and excess in an era when inner cities were rotting and many went to bed hungry. Its kind would never be seen again.
But time changes all things, and now the 1959 Cadillac has evolved into an icon of Americana, a touchstone of its era. The result is that it has become very collectible, with good examples selling for many times their original price.
