[ last update: 10.23.2014 ]

he (new) Cadillac Database^©

Photo Pages
Cadillac

1946

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or go back to the Cadillac photo index page to pick another year

Unless otherwise specified all photos and illustrations are from Yann Saunders'
collection of Cadillac photos, advertisements and product catalogs,
reproduced courtesy of the Cadillac Motor Car Division and the Cadillac-LaSalle Club

No passenger cars had rolled off the assembly line since February, 1942.  Instead, more than 50,000 reliable Cadillac V8 engines and Hydra-Matic transmissions had been built and had served with distinction in every theater of war. They emerged toughened and hardened to new standards of efficiency and dependability.   According to Cadillac, "their development [during those war years] was far greater than would have been possible during four peacetime years".

Left: The first post-WW2 models proceed down the assembly line Right: leggy model poses in showroom with long-awaited new,  post-war Cadillac

 

 

When peace returned, there was a high demand for new cars from all over the country.  There were long waiting lists, including for the new Cadillac models. The first new, 1946 Cadillac (a Series 62 sedan) came off the assembly line on October 17, 1945, less than two months after the last wartime tank. In appearance it was not much  different to the Cadillac of 1942 that it replaced. The front grille got six heavier bars; new bumpers wrapped around the front and rear of the car; hood and trunk both got for the first time Cadillac's famed "V" and crest; on all models the name "CADILLAC" was spelled out in stubby, block letters on the front fenders.

New Cadillac "V" and crest Introductory advertisement

The new, 1946 models were classified in the catalog into the following groups (in ascending order of value):  the series "Sixty-One", "Sixty-Two", "Sixty Special" and "Seventy-Five".  That is the order I have chosen to follow in this presentation.

The artist's drawings, below, are from the prestige color catalog of new Cadillac models for 1946, published in December 1945.  The latter is very similar in design, format and presentation to the deluxe Cadillac catalog for 1942.  In addition to this catalog, there were also two, large, full-color fold-outs; one for the Series 62 cars and another for the "Four Distinguished New Series", being the traditional 61, 62, 60 Special and 75 Series; the latter two folders are undated.  According to the larger of the two, never had Cadillac "...built finer cars than those which today bring a new postwar ease and comfort to motoring".

The easiest way to distinguish the 1946 Cadillac models from the rest  is to look for the name "CADILLAC", in block letters, on the front fenders.  In subsequent years, a script version was used.

Easy ID:  "CADILLAC" in block letters above front fender spear

Additional information on the 1946 models and the related sales literature may be found  in The (New) Cadillac Database© sections entitled "Descriptions and Specifications of Cadillac Cars 1946 - 1950",   "Cadillac and La Salle Sales Literature 1946 - 1949" and "Dream cars of 1946 - 1947".  Further recommended reading includes:

The "Standard Catalog of Cadillac, 1903-2000" edited by James T. Lenzke, © 2000, published by Krause Publications, Inc., 700 E. State Street, Iola, WI 54990 [ISBN #0-87341-925-1, Library of Congress #91-61301].

 

The Series 61

The Series Sixty-One sedan, style #6109; 2,200 units were built
Front door trim	Rear seating area	The driving position

The Series 62

The Series Sixty-Two coupe, style #6207 2,323 of them were built
Folding front seat back facilitates access...	...to the broad, rear seat

Rear  seat of the 62 sedan	The Series Sixty-Two sedan, style #6269 14.900 were built, making it the most prolific of the '46 models
(Left) factory publicity shot; (Center) a survivor on the Internet, 2000; (Right) Factory shot, atop the GM building in Detroit

I modified the original catalog illustration (left) to show the car with its top down
The Series Sixty-Two Convertible Coupe, style #6267-D; 1,342 units were built	Seating in the convertible; sumptuous red leather throughout
A fine museum survivor [for sale on the Internet, 2000] Factory  photo of the new, 1946 convertible model

The Fleetwood Series Sixty Special

The Sixty Special sedan, style #6069; 5,700 were built
Rear seat of the Sixty Special sedan; Cadillac luxury at its best	Folding foot rest provides an added measure of comfort
Factory publicity shot A survivor found on the Internet; nice ... apart from the "sombrero" wheel discs

The Fleetwood Series Seventy-Five

Series Seventy-Five, sedan for 5 passengers, style #7519; only 150 units  were built; the body is almost identical to my 1942 model

Rear passenger compartment is oh-so-plush, and roomy

Details

Front clip	Goddess hood ornament activates latch mechanism
New, wrap-around bumpers	Spacious trunk on all models
The design of the instrument panel remained basically unchanged from 1942

Return to The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page
or go back to the Cadillac photo index page to pick another year

© 1996, Yann Saunders and the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc.
[Background image:  1946 front clip ]