The Tailfin Era: Cadillac

In 1948, General Motors styling boss Harley Earl, inspired by the World War II fighter plane, the twin-fuselage P-38, had small, attractive tailfins put on the rear fenders of the Cadillac. The fins were retained on this 1949 Cadillac Series 62 sedanette, but the big news that year was a new high-compression V-8 engine, the result of Charles Kettering's major last project for GM. The engine gained more fame in the Oldsmobile that year, which promoted it as the Rocket 88. But the 331-cubic-inch, 160-horsepower engine found its most elegant setting in the '49 Cadillac.

This 1957 Cadillac Series 70 Eldorado Brougham was a limited-volume hand-built four-door hardtop sedan designed by Ed Glowacke. It was the first American pillarless hardtop four-door sedan and was distinguished by a brushed stainless steel roof and the first appearance of quad headlights. It differed from other Cadillac sedans in that it had "suicide" doors. Every possible luxury was included in this car, intended as a rival to the Rolls-Royce, including automatic trunk lid opener, Cruise Control, automatic memory seats and Arpege perfume dispenser, among many others. Buyers had a choice of 44 leather upholstery combinations and could select mouton, Karakul or lambskin carpeting. The Eldorado Brougham cost $13,074 new, a little more than a Rolls-Royce that year. Cadillac's top-selling conventional hardtop sedan that year cost $5,539. Only 400 of the '57 Broughams were built.

The '48 Cadillac touched off the tailfin era, when this peculiar styling feature with no real function, other than to sell cars, became on the strangest styling fads in automotive history. It reached its peak with this '59 Cadillac. Chrysler Corp. had also gone to emormous tailfins, but probably none were as exteme as the '59 Cadillac's. Tailfins began shrinking after 1959 and were gone by the mid-'60s.