tclemitson
Love those fins, classic Cadillac
Head GM designer Harley Earl first gave tailfins to the Cadillac Sixty Special of 1948. He had been inspired by the vertical stabilisers on the twin-tailed Lockheed Lightning P-38 fighter plane used in WW2.
From the relatively modest 1948 entrée, Earl made sure the fins became bigger and bolder each year, in keeping with his philosophy of "dynamic obsolescence".
Earl retired from GM having signed off what became known as the "King Fin Caddie" for 1959. It was never really surpassed for fin height or design bombast.
Love those fins, classic Cadillac
Head GM designer Harley Earl first gave tailfins to the Cadillac Sixty Special of 1948. He had been inspired by the vertical stabilisers on the twin-tailed Lockheed Lightning P-38 fighter plane used in WW2.
From the relatively modest 1948 entrée, Earl made sure the fins became bigger and bolder each year, in keeping with his philosophy of "dynamic obsolescence".
Earl retired from GM having signed off what became known as the "King Fin Caddie" for 1959. It was never really surpassed for fin height or design bombast.