Cadillac Escalade CDV

[2o6]

You have got to be kidding me!!! 

The Escalade is a crass, ostentatious piece of garbage designed for people with no taste.  You really mean to tell me this chrome-laden Chevy Tahoe that looks like a reject from an episode of "Pimp My Ride" evokes the heyday of the elegant Harley Earl designed Cadillacs?  It has all the class and refinement of a shotgun wedding in a trailer park.  The only thing an Escalade can do well is to make it's owner look like a complete tool.

The '59(?) Coupe-de-ville was considered to be the tackiest and worst the "line-in-the-sand" for tailfins. 


I love the Escalade. It pioneered the luxury SUV market and has created an interesting (and economically smart) field.

[Madman]

I would consider Cadillac's golden age of design to be pre-war.

Take a look at these examples......

1932 Cadillac.



1932 Packard.



1932 Pierce Arrow.



1932 Rolls Royce.



1932 Duesenberg.



1932 Mercedes Benz.



1932 Maybach.


Pre-war Cadillacs were among the best cars in the world.  Post-war, Cadillac fell into the same trap of building overly glitzy barges for the nouveau riche that the other US manufacturers fell into.  Quality and good taste went out the window whilst the Detroit mantra of "Longer, Lower, Wider" (plus copious amounts of chrome) ruled the day.  American luxury manufacturers have never recovered.

[2o6]

Cadillac's general quality didn't slip until the late 70's and 80's "Malaise-Era".


Cadillac was on fire in the 50's and 60's. The car to own was either a Rolls-Royce, or a Cadillac. MB, BMW and Audi weren't even on the map.

[Madman]

Cadillac's general quality didn't slip until the late 70's and 80's "Malaise-Era".


Cadillac was on fire in the 50's and 60's. The car to own was either a Rolls-Royce, or a Cadillac. MB, BMW and Audi weren't even on the map.

BMW and Audi may not have been major players in the 1950s (BMW were making bubblecar Isettas and the Audi name was in mothballs) but Mercedes Benz was very much a force to be reckoned with.  That said, Cadillacs and Lincolns sold to a very different type of customer than Rolls Royce or Mercedes.

"Old Money" types bought a Rolls Royce, Mercedes Benz or Jaguar.  The nouveau riche (AKA 1950s proto-yuppies) bought a Cadillac or Lincoln.  After the war, Cadillac, Lincoln and Packard deliberately moved down-market in order to increase volume and profitably.  By becoming more "attainable", these brands lost a lot of their pre-war lustre.  As a result, the "old money" people gravitated to the European brands whereas the nouveau riche lapped-up the more affordable Cadillacs, Lincolns and Packards.  For the most part, Caddies and Lincolns were considered too "common" by the old money crowd.

Yes, by the 1970s, Cadillacs and Lincolns went down-market yet again by becoming thinly disguised Chevys and Fords.  That's a long way from their pre-war status!

[giant_mtb]

I would consider Cadillac's golden age of design to be pre-war.

Take a look at these examples......

Protip: They all look the same.

[ifcar]

I would consider Cadillac's golden age of design to be pre-war.

Take a look at these examples......


Pre-war Cadillacs were among the best cars in the world.  Post-war, Cadillac fell into the same trap of building overly glitzy barges for the nouveau riche that the other US manufacturers fell into.  Quality and good taste went out the window whilst the Detroit mantra of "Longer, Lower, Wider" (plus copious amounts of chrome) ruled the day.  American luxury manufacturers have never recovered.

I see. Cadillac should be building cars like it did in the 1930s. Of course. And it's all the fault of catering to customer tastes that things changed -- what a ridiculous policy.

[Atomic]

The Escalade single-handedly brought Cadillac back from the dead. There would be no name to tarnish if not for it.

not my kinda vehicle... but you are so right... and it can be had with a hybrid...

[giant_mtb]

not my kinda vehicle... but you are so right... and it can be had with a hybrid...

Anyone who buys a hybrid Escalade/Tahoe/whatever is a complete fucking idiot that deserves a gigantic smack in the face with a shovel.

[Laconian]

The only hybrid Escalade I've seen was a shuttle for a local hotel. That's it. I bet GM lost tons of money on that investment.

[the Teuton]

The only hybrid Escalade I've seen was a shuttle for a local hotel. That's it. I bet GM lost tons of money on that investment.

Naw. They've lost a lot of money on it as we speak, but it's better that they lost the money on a cash cow than on what's supposed to be a mainstream car that acts as a flop in the marketplace. They were never going to sell 15,000 hybrids a year, but they made a killing on each one they did sell.

It'll help make the next generation cars cheaper.

[ifcar]

The only hybrid Escalade I've seen was a shuttle for a local hotel. That's it. I bet GM lost tons of money on that investment.

I've seen a number of Tahoe and Yukon hybrids, though only one Escalade.

[Laconian]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the technology inextricably tied to that one specific Alison automatic transmission used in their big effing SUVs? That doesn't sound very modular to me. They'd have to go through a costly reimplementation process for every transmission configuration that they want to hybridize.

[MX793]

Cadillac's general quality didn't slip until the late 70's and 80's "Malaise-Era".


Cadillac was on fire in the 50's and 60's. The car to own was either a Rolls-Royce, or a Cadillac. MB, BMW and Audi weren't even on the map.

That's because most of the German brands were recovering from having their plants destroyed during WWII.  Audi didn't even exist between 1945 and 1966 (and when it re-emerged, it wasn't really in the luxury car segment).

[the Teuton]

That's because most of the German brands were recovering from having their plants destroyed during WWII.  Audi didn't even exist between 1945 and 1966 (and when it re-emerged, it wasn't really in the luxury car segment).

A Biarritz in 1957 cost much, much more than a comparable Rolls -- and it was worth it. Hand-built body made in Italy, power top, matching luxury goods kit to go with the car -- and all of its very high-tech electronic mechanisms were servo operated because computers in cars just didn't exist back then. It was $12,000 in the '50s, and GM still lost money on every one of them that it built.

[MX793]

The '59(?) Coupe-de-ville was considered to be the tackiest and worst the "line-in-the-sand" for tailfins. 


I love the Escalade. It pioneered the luxury SUV market and has created an interesting (and economically smart) field.

I'd say that Land Rover really pioneered the luxury SUV segment.  The Escalade wasn't even one of the first 3 into the segment.  The Lexus LX was out years before.  I believe the Sclade was really a response to the success of the Lincoln Navigator.

[MX793]

A Biarritz in 1957 cost much, much more than a comparable Rolls -- and it was worth it. Hand-built body made in Italy, power top, matching luxury goods kit to go with the car -- and all of its very high-tech electronic mechanisms were servo operated because computers in cars just didn't exist back then. It was $12,000 in the '50s, and GM still lost money on every one of them that it built.

Oh, there's no doubt that Caddy was producing some very high-end autos.  I was pointing out that there was a reason why the Germans weren't on the map in the time period (particularly Mercedes, which prior to the war was producing cars in the ultra-luxury segment).

[GoCougs]

It's the Escalade (not the DTS) that's the closest thing to a Cadillac sedan of its heyday: an opulent, extravagant barge that people aspire to own, updated to modern tastes. It fits in perfectly with the Cadillac heritage; it just happens to be taller than its predecessors.

Yep, ifcar nails it. Madman has it completely wrong.

The '50s Caddys were seen as ostentatious, gaudy and excessive in their time, and they too shared their bones and styling cues with GM's more plebeian brands.

Sure the Escalade is a BoF SUV but its DNA is classic Cadillac. And yes, it did pretty much save the brand; or at least prevented it from being Lincoln'd.

[the Teuton]

Yep, ifcar nails it. Madman has it completely wrong.

The '50s Caddys were seen as ostentatious, gaudy and excessive in their time, and they too shared their bones and styling cues with GM's more plebeian brands.

Sure the Escalade is a BoF SUV but its DNA is classic Cadillac. And yes, it did pretty much save the brand; or at least prevented it from being Lincoln'd.

In a lot of cases, not really. I mean there was some sharing, but Cadillac's cars and powertrains were mostly its own for a long, long time. The only I time I can think when that wasn't really the case was when the Caddy 331 CI engine plant caught fire. For several months, Cadillacs instead had Oldsmobile "Rocket" engines.