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1945
Cadillac
Cadillac in 1945
The Last Year of War
Production
1945 was the last year that Cadillac spent
producing wartime vehicles and munitions. This year also marked the lowest
point in Cadillac's stock of vehicles. With no new vehicles being produced,
the market was scarce. Cars that had been produced in years
1941 and
1942 were no longer on the lots for sale. There were still some Cadillac
cars available to the public, but they were mostly used vehicles.
The Cadillac models
available in 1945 were:
• Series 75 Imperial Sedan
• Cadillac 41
• Darrin Convertible
• Series 61
• Series 62
• Series Sixty Special Fleetwood
• 62 Sedan
• Series 75 Town Car
• Series 90-67 Sixteen
• 1940 Sixty Special Fleetwood
These were mostly used
vehicles by this point, though a lucky few consumers were able to find new
models that had been mothballed or held in dealerships for display. During
this time, consumers were not terribly concerned with purchasing new
vehicles; society's focus was on winning the war and getting their soldiers
home-a marked difference from modern war efforts.
The society at the time was
not as consumer driven and the people held similar views that made a
concerted war effort possible at home. Today, society has become to
disparate for such a single minded vision to occupy us. We are a completely
consumer driven society, unable to make the sacrifices that our ancestors
did in the name of freedom.
World War II was well under
way at this point and Cadillac's production of wartime vehicles, part,
engines and munitions was in full swing. They provided much needed parts for
aircraft, tanks, complete with engines, transmissions, and personnel
carriers. Without the support of Cadillac and countless other industries,
victory in WWII might have taken much longer or even not come at all.
Many veterans came home from
the war, determined to purchase vehicles from a company that had put them in
such good stead during the war. Thus, Cadillac won for themselves an
enormous base of customers that wanted to purchase their products and were
willing to pay for them.
When Cadillac came out of war
production, they immediately went into consumer production, though it took
quite some time to change all the facilities back to peacetime production
levels. The public's reception for new products from Cadillac was
enthusiastic. |
