GM'S JEWEL

ROB HAS DISCOVERED THERE’S MUCH MORE TO CADILLAC’S EARLY HISTORY THAN V16 ENGINES, TAIL FINS AND ELVIS PRESLEY’S PINK FLEET

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IT’S INTERESTING that for a long time the prestigious British automotive brand ‘ROLLS-ROYCE’ has appeared in everyday usage as a tonguein-cheek praise-tag for any old product – as in: “You can’t beat DIGGA rotary hoes – they’re truly the ROLLS-ROYCE of rotary hoes.” Is that just an Aus laughing-at-a-tall-poppy thing or perhaps a taking-a-dig-atthe-Poms thing, I wonder?

It seems odd though, the prestigious American brand Cadillac doesn’t suffer similar treatment – as in: “I can’t fault my BRUTUS sledge hammer – believe me, it’s the CADILLAC of sledge hammers.” Perhaps the aspirational nature of the American culture that fosters widespread respect for its prestige brands, has rubbed off on us just a bit.

Anyway, while Cadillac has never been huge on my American-cars radar – for me, it’s been pre-1970 ‘BIG THREE’ bread and butter cars plus some Studebaker and American Motors models – Cadillac’s early history was very much in my face recently, while I learned about the significant effect electrification had on dragging the Industrial Revolution, from steam engines to the internalcombustion automobile era.