Still the Standard: 1968 Cadillac brochure
Posted on Aug 18, 2020 in Featured | 2 comments
Decades ago, before Cadillac’s ultimate goal was to out-BMW the Bavarians, this General Motors flagship division sought to offer Americans the utmost in luxury and effortless motoring. And in the late 1960s, they did this in great style. The 1968 Cadillac line featured some of the cleanest, most handsome interpretations of the stacked headlamp/sliver taillamp and crisp body lines they’d ever used, those that would actually inspire the Wayne Cherry-developed “Art & Science” design language the marque is still using today.
This year also brought the introduction of the 375-hp, 472-cubic-inch/7.7-liter V-8 engine, which made an epic, if gross-rated, 525-lb.ft. of torque. Those lofty figures were probably necessary to move the massive (149.8-inch wheelbase, 245.2-inch length) Fleetwood Seventy-Five Limousine with any authority. It also gave the lighter, more stylish Fleetwood Eldorado and De Ville Convertible plenty of power.
Think back to when people dressed up to go out, when button-tufted bench seats were a thing, when your car’s trunk was large enough to move into… and click on the brochure images below to enlarge.
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And the ducks were still in the crest!
Ducks? They were merlettes . . . a mythical song bird. They were reportedly copied from a coat of arms attributed to Eighteenth Century French explorer Antoine de laMothe Cadillac.
Antoine reportedly used the two sets of three merlettes on his coat of arms to signify his nobility on the paternal and maternal sides of his family. Some say Antoine also intended the merlette triads to symbolize the Holy Trinity.
GM, of course, intended for them to evoke warm feelings of old world traditions, with an insider’s tip of the hat to Detroit’s founding in 1701 . . . until such quaint notions became disposable.