Inspired by a sneak peek at the P-38 Lightning, Harley Earl’s stylists had drafted some of the fighter plane’s radical features into the division’s “Interceptor” concept exercises. After the end of hostilities, several Interceptor elements debuted on several of Cadillac’s 1948 models, most notably “rudder-type styling” adorning each rear fender. While the tailfin was intended to complement the graceful new look of the Cadillac, it effectively stole the show when it appeared at dealerships in March 1948.
A year later, the styling was joined by the division’s high-compression 331-cu.in. overhead-valve V-8 engine. There’s little debate that 1949 was a landmark year for Detroit, which poured sweeping mechanical and styling changes from its automotive factories by the cubic ton. History tells us, though, that Cadillac had a head start.
All of Cadillac’s best visual attributes of 1948, combined with the mechanical advancements developed for 1949, were not lost on Loren Hulber. A resident of Macungie, Pennsylvania, his long admiration of the redesigned “Standard of the World” eventually led him to the 1949 Series 62 Club Coupe gracing these pages, one of 7,515 produced during Cadillac’s record-breaking year.
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