Cadillac tries to regain its swagger

New York

I LEARNED to drive in my father's black 1967 Cadillac, which my friends and I called the "Batmobile". With its fins, three-metre wheelbase and at 2,120 kilogrammes, there was no mistaking it for a Mercedes, not that any of us back then had ever seen one.

That Cadillac turned heads, and there was no missing it in the parking lot. At a time when "understated" wasn't widely considered a compliment, the Cadillac brand was synonymous with American style, quality and prestige. Cadillac sales reached a peak for that decade the next year, 1968, at over 200,000 vehicles.