1947 CADILLAC

Although there was little change from '46, the quickest way to distinguish a '47 was the Cadillac name written in script on the front fenders. And while spartan rubber stone guards had been used on the leading edge of the rear fenders for '46, they were made of stainless steel in 1947. A full wheelcover, which came to be called the "sombrero" because of its size and shape, replaced the diminutive standard '46 hubcap. The housings for the fog lamps and parking lights were combined for '47 and one of the horizontal bars of the grille was eliminated. The trunk emblem, meanwhile, sprouted LaSalle-like wings (except on the Sixty Special). Overall, the effect of the '47 styling was a bit more "Cadillac" than in 1946.

Mechanically, the '47 engine was toughened with hardened ball seats as a component of the hydraulic valve lifters. Cadillac considered this improvement important enough to phase it in on the late '46s. Sixty-Two convertibles and the Seventy-Fives were now equipped with Hydro-Lectric window lifts as standard equipment. This was a complicated hydraulic system that requires careful attention to long-term maintenance for the collector who owns a Cadillac so fitted.

By the end of the 1947 model year, Cadillac was back on its peacetime track. The number of cars produced reached 61,926 units, more than twice that of '46. And while Packard had regularly outproduced Cadillac in the prewar years (largely on the strength of its junior cars), and edged out Cadillac by 1579 units for '46, Cadillac beat Packard by a solid 10,840 units in 1947. Packard would enjoy an edge again in 1948 and '49, while Cadillac was tooling up its new postwar styling and sensational overhead-valve V-8.

But when Cadillac showed up for 1950 with new styling again, it left Packard in the dust, never to look back again. The "Standard of the World" reigned supreme in America, and it wasn't until the late Eighties that Cadillac would again face a formidable domestic competitor, this time Lincoln.

But during the Forties, Cadillac not only consolidated its engine and model offerings, but it also managed by decade's end to consolidate its hold on the luxury car market. And it did this by giving its owners a "Rich Reward": quality, style, and performance.