Somefin special

US icon may finally sell here with electric cars

- BY GILES CHAPMAN

Big, brash and flash, the gas-guzzling Cadillac is about as American as baseball and mom's apple pie.

The luxurious leviathans with their bold, fighter jet-inspired fins and pioneering technology is the stuff of the American Dream. This iconic king of the road is beloved by the rich and famous, including Elvis, film makers and rap stars.

But while Americans' hearts belong to Caddy, they don't stir the same passion here. Despite many attempts over 120 years, UK sales of the cars have barely made it out of first gear. But its fortunes may be about to turn a corner.

My first car was a 1967 DeVille convertible Cadillac, although my brief ownership now seems more like a Hollywood fantasy than a serene cruise through Britain's drizzle in 1989.

It's gigantic, 7.2-litre V8 engine did just 10 miles to the gallon and, at almost 19ft long and 6ft 6in wide, it was truly a bollard-scraper.

But it never missed a beat when I drove it from London to Barcelona and all its ageing gadgets, including a folding roof and electric windows, worked a treat. It made the A66 feel like Route 66, even if the running costs meant I had trouble paying the rent.

When, occasionally, a flat battery meant it wouldn't burble into life, a chortling AA man would appear and almost ruin his own van by jump-starting it.