Coys Auction - True Greats
Royal Horticultural Halls
Elverton St
Westminster
London SW1
Tuesday 7 December 2010
For a short time in the late 40s and 1950s, American makers produced cars of unprecedented flamboyance which have become powerful emblems of the new post-war era when the world faced the future with optimism. It was a time when you did not have to look at a registration plate to learn a car's age because, each year, Detroit's Big Three remodelled their entire ranges.
Cadillac set the trend in those heady days of fins and chrome before a down turn in the late 40s American economy constrained manufacturers. Their fins were bigger than other makers and they featured more brightwork, yet beneath the exuberant styling were the values which made Cadillac the car to which buyers aspired. Film stars, business tycoons and senators drove Cadillacs.
Build quality was of the highest order and the car was packed with features such as power steering and air conditioning which were virtuall