The 1941 Cadillac Sixty-Special is primarily a great car of the Thirties, the last and most visually changed version of William L. Mitchell’s trendsetting 1938 original. But greatness transcends time, and this car also ranks as one the Forties’ proudest achievements.
Mitchell was only 23 when his mentor, General Motors design chief Harley Earl, named him to head the Cadillac styling studio in 1936. That division had just launched its Series 60, a line of smaller V-8 models sharing the corporate B-body platform with Buick, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac’s "companion" make, LaSalle. It was conceived by division general manager Nicholas Dreystadt as a way to bolster sales by plugging the $900 price gap between the lagging LaSalle and the least costly senior cars. As the lowest-priced Cadillac since 1908, the 60 did spectacularly well, boosting division sales an astounding 254 percent and accounting for over half the make’s 1936 model year volume. But Dreystadt knew that a "medium-price" image was hurting LaSalle, so he decided to bolster the new line’s image by putting Earl to work on a special 60, roomier, more luxurious, and far more stylish than anything Cadillac had ever offered. Earl turned over the job to Mitchell. It was the young designer’s first assignment, and his execution was brilliant.
The result appeared just two years later: a predictive four-dour sedan with close-coupled styling that marked a major departure for Cadillac and made everything else on the road oldfashioned. Built on a three-inch-longer (127-inch) wheelbase, the new Sixty Special shared the 60′s basic X-member chassis design and 135-horsepower, 346-cubic-inch "Monobloc" V-8, but stood three inches lower than any previous Cadillac. Running boards were conspicuously absent, brightwork restrained in an age when chrome was de rigueur, and fulsome "pontoon" fenders accentuated the long, low silhouette. Mitchell broke new ground by eliminating the traditional belt moldings, integrating the trunk with the body, employing ultrathin roof pillars, and framing the door windows with delicate bright bands.
With its sporty yet dignified looks, the Sixty-Special was an instant hit. It bested the entire Series 60 line by 3 to 1 in 1938 model year sales despite a 25-percent higher price and availability of just one body style. Predictably, the 1939 model saw only detail styling and mechanical changes, but two new . variations appeared,a sunroof sedan and a limousine-like Imperial sedan with the sliding steel panel as well as division window. The following year brought a switch from Fisher to Fleetwood coachwork, a new Town Car model in both steel- and leather-back form, and a solid-roof Imperial. By this time, the Special’s styling influence was apparent throughout the Cadillac line.
The standard Sixty-Special, which had listed at $2090 since 1938, went up to $2195 for 1941, yet it was a better bargain than ever. New rear fenders and front sheetmetal enhanced the crisply formal look and made the car appear almost all-new. Underneath were higher (7.25:1) compression, an extra 15 bhp, more torque, bigger brakes, newly optional Hydra-Matic transmission, and a more rigid frame with a one-inch-shorter wheelbase and wider front and rear tracks. Despite price competition from within a rearranged divisional lineup, the Special held to its previous annual sales of about 4000-5000 units.
The 60s became much less special for ’42, simply a stretched, though beautifully finished, version of that year’s massive new C -body Series 62 fourdoor. There was nothing wrong with that, but the change hasn’t been lost on today’s collectors. While a fully restored ’41 now brings at least $23,000, a comparable’ 42 fetches less than half that,and its postwar continuations go for even less.
Though the name would live on into the Seventies, the Sixty-Speical was never quite the same after 1941. But Cadillac never forgot the magic of the timeless original, and as long as there are enthusiasts to remember, this car’s great heritage will live on.
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