So, I’ve now heard many songs about either rich people or thuggish people driving cadillacs around. I sort of get the “thuggish” appeal, since cadillacs look very basic and ugly, but wouldn’t very rich people want to drive something like a common-ish cadillac?
I mean, I’ve never seen one in real life that I can memorize, and they don’t look like anything special. They look very similar to Chryslers, the same “budget luxurious” theme that they put on luxury cars under a certain price.
Cadillac’s role as a status symbol died in the 1970s. Now it’s all BMW, Audi, and Lexus. And most of the rest (including Cadillac) have been treading water trying to emulate BMW and Audi, with varying degrees of success.
To a large degree, you’re right. But I would argue that Cadillac has not been emulating the other luxury brands, in order to appeal to people who don’t want a German or Japanese luxury car. It hasn’t worked out all that well, other than the Escalade, which has been fairly successful over the years.
As to the OP, I would argue that Cadillac purposefully avoided the “melted bar of soap” look that most other luxury makers were going with in the early 2000s when they adopted the controversial “Art & Science” look. Their models took on sharp, angular designs at the same time others were rounding everything off. I would say Cadillacs from 2002 to 2013 or so were quite distinct and special. Whether you like that style or not is another thing altogether. Now, if you look at the current lineup, I would agree that the designs are ho-hum, and the brand struggles to find enthusiastic buyers, as they try to find the largely impossible sweet spot that combines power, handling, roominess and a cushy ride.
While Cadillac is still somewhat well regarding by some, it is no longer the aspirational brand like BMW, Mercedes, Lexus and Audi.
Yeah, Cadillac has a bit of an image problem. As jz rightfully points out, they are no longer the big “look at the emblem on my hood” cars that they used to be. Back in the day Cadillacs were old man cars…big, floaty, cushy gas hogs. They don’t really make cars like that anymore.
The last model I can think of that was sorta like that was the DTS. Now Cadillac is largely devoted to chasing the AMG and M series German sports sedans. The Escalade and SRX have been successful but they’re SUV’s, and I don’t even think they make the SRX anymore. The CTS-V and the ATS-V are astounding performance sedans. Now the closest thing they make to a full blown luxury sedan is probably the CT6 but even it has performance aspirations.
I think the biggest problem with Cadillacs is that they’re criminally expensive for what you get. The build quality and craftsmanship is just not on par with the companies they try to compete with and things like their infotainment equipment generally suck.
Their V cars are pretty awesome to drive, but not everyone wants a $120,000 640 horsepower sedan.
I prefer and own german built sport sedans and coupes. But when I travel in the continental US, I’ll often choose to rent a large American built sedan. Cadillac or Lincoln when available. They are a throwback to my youth when they were a status symbol of the rich folks where I grew up. I drive them because it amuses the 15 year old in me. When I visit home, my childhood friend, who’s also a big car buff, appreciates the irony - “Sweet Cadillac! Is that a Northstar V8? Nice!”
There’s one model of the Cadillac with a Corvette engine in it, the CTS-V. 640HP.
People want to be seen in Cadillac because they are known as ‘The Cadillac of Cars’.
Other than the Escalade in some limited circles, Cadillacs are a thing of the past. Rich is more BMW and gangster more the various super-cars.
You may be right, but what are you basing this on besides your opinion?
I don’t think that’s true. Most likely Cadillacs just don’t appeal to your particular demographic. I can most assuredly tell you that luxury and high performance are not joined together. As a tall guy, I want a spacious cabin. I don’t care to fit into a cockpit style seat; I’d rather have a big comfortable smooth ride than one that corners like it’s on rails.
I thought Rolls-Royce were the ‘Cadillac of Cars’. 
Cadillac owner here, all I need to say is “It’s a duesy”.
and Red wigglers…
An older relative of mine says she likes Cadillacs because, as she put it, “I have a Cadillac ass”.
which is why Cadillac is struggling. They think they need to go toe-to-toe with BMW and Audi in terms of performance, and they don’t have the image or credibility to do that. The CT6 (the replacement for the CTS, victimized by Johan “I hate names” de Nysschen’s believe that changing alphanumeric-soup model numbers makes a difference) has been an utter flop. Over half of their total sales last year were just the Escalade and SRX/XT5.
It IS kind of interesting how the market segment for those qualities seems to have collapsed to a niche. (sighs thinking of memories of the front bench seat…)
Cadillac’s reputation historically was not only about being posh but also about high engineering quality and being first with technological advances that would later filter to the lesser brands (Synchromesh transmissions, OHC V-8, shatter resistant glass, etc.) GM of course had to ruin that eventually engulfing it in their cookie cutter cross-brand badge-engineering platforming in the 80s, including the abomination that was the Cimarron. They seem to be trying to reestablish that.
weeeelllll… Cadillac’s heyday was when it had features which simply couldn’t be had on lesser brands. Buying a Caddy got you a big, powerful, smooth engine, leather seats, expensive trim, power windows, power locks, cruise control, and other niceties you wouldn’t find on a Chevy or Pontiac. But in the '60s as cars like the Caprice Classic started gaining a lot of those features and grew in size, which started diluting Cadillac’s brand position. I mean, is there a real reason to pay a lot more for this Cadillac when you could find this in the Chevrolet showroom, or this at Pontiac dealers?
Plus, Cadillac was victimized by some serious engineering blunders in the '70s, like using the Olds 5.7 diesel, the V-8-6-4 debacle, and the notoriously trouble-prone HT4100 V8 which really (really) tarnished the brand’s image. Then along comes Mercedes-Benz with solidly built cars, and that was all she wrote.
And reviving a luxury brand is difficult, since what really makes a luxury car anymore? You can get nearly every modern feature on a mainstream brand, so “luxury” is little more than a brand with a story.
The songs that the OP is referring to probably came out in the fifties, when Cadillac dominated the luxury limousine market, with Lincoln a distant second. Those days are long gone.
They switched to very large pickup trucks.
As a car / SUV to bling out, they are considered a cool car to use to build your fancy bling machine.
I also recall reading an interview of Sofia Coppola, director and daughter of Francis, and she mentioned driving a Caddy sedan that looked like a jet because it made her feel like a cool Italian American Princess.
Actually, the Caprice Classic didn’t come out until 1973. Before that they were just Caprices.
