[ last update: 02.25.2014 ]

The (new) Cadillac Database©

Cadillac and La Salle Insignia


Post-WW2 hood and trunk crests, grille badges,
horn buttons & misc. emblems and script



Go back to the Cadillac insignia index page
or return to the "Miscellaneous Cadillac Stuff" index page
Return to The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page

 


(le résumé en français se trouve en bas de page)

 

In the first post-WW2 decades many models sported a decorative "V", in lieu of a wreath, to symbolize the "V" configuration of the eight-cylinder engine introduced in 1915.  Some "V"-and-Crest and Wreath-and-Crest combinations are illustrated below.

In addition to the "V" and crest on the hood and trunk lid, post-WW2 Cadillacs carry other distinguishing marks, emblems and names in block letters or script.  I shall try to add them gradually to this page. They are helpful in identifying models of a given year.

 

 

Hood and trunk wreaths, crests and nameplates

emb46scrpt.jpg (5567 bytes)
Front fender nameplate, 1946 models


Front hood "V" and crest on a 1947 model

embl47.jpg (5848 bytes)
The same ... on the trunk

Crst48.jpg (4313 bytes)    CRS49BX.JPG (5343 bytes)
Hood and trunk emblems for 1948 (left) and 1949 (right)

EM50FLW.JPG (6057 bytes)
Trunk badge of 1950 Fleetwood model

EMB53.JPG (6150 bytes)    53crst.jpg (5117 bytes)
Left: 1953 hood/trunk crest [gold "V" not shown]
Right: flattened  1953 wheel cover crest [it is convex shaped to fit the center cone]

crst54v.JPG (5435 bytes)
1954 [artist's view]

crs54efd.JPG (5152 bytes)    crs54edr.JPG (2934 bytes)
The crest on the left is from the rear fender of a 1954 Eldorado
The smooth one on the right is from the door saddle of the same car

crs56v.JPG (7256 bytes)    em56cad.jpg (6151 bytes)


In 1956 the "V" and crest became more elongated

crs56efd.JPG (4851 bytes)    56elscrp.JPG (4542 bytes)
(Left) Poor photo [from a video clip] of similar crest (as for 1954, above) and script
(Right) Catalog illustration of that ensemble; these appeared on the 1956 Eldorado Biarritz front fenders

57logo.jpg (2904 bytes)    57logo2.jpg (3507 bytes)
The "V" and crest used in 1957

 Em57unka.jpg (3174 bytes)    Em57unkb.jpg (2763 bytes)    Em57unkc.jpg (2471 bytes)
I've been told this item is from 1957;  can any reader clarify?
The "V" seems too deep compared to the official "V", above it (in B&W)

Emblm57.jpg (2103 bytes)
This gold-colored fender emblem is from 1957

Br_crst.jpg (4207 bytes)
This 1957-58 fender emblem is self-explanatory, right?

enBrgAirCl1.jpg (9983 bytes)    enBrgAirCl2.jpg (8002 bytes)
"V" and crest, combined with "Brougham" name plate
is used only on the 1957 Eldorado Brougham

[ I look at the LH image and I hear:  "...ET go home ?!?!" ]

 58finem.jpg (6800 bytes)

EMSEVL.JPG (5214 bytes)
[Above two rows] These are found on the rear fins of some 1958 Cadillac models

[ sorry for the poor quality Seville emblem image ]

crst59.JPG (4107 bytes)
1959


Wall plaque believed to be from 1959-60

60EB52H.jpg (3281 bytes)
1960 Eldorado Brougham [front hood]

crs63b.jpg (5316 bytes)    embl64.JPG (3597 bytes)
1963 (left) and 1964 (right)

emb68elside.jpg (4129 bytes)    em70side.jpg (3092 bytes)
Side marker lamp and crest from the front wheel drive Eldorado
[ Left: 1968, right: 1970 - they are both actually the same size ]

crst70s.JPG (5219 bytes)
Unidentified (I suspect early seventies)

em76wagn.jpg (3585 bytes)
Roof saddle side marker lamp
from custom 1976 Cadillac wagon

  Crst86a.jpg (7604 bytes)    crs83.jpg (7280 bytes) 

 Crst00.jpg (8401 bytes)    crstwrea.jpg (3918 bytes)    Crst98.jpg (5139 bytes) 
Five wreath and crest ensembles from the eighties and nineties; the second item, in
the second row (center),  was a gift item that could be used as a paper weight

90semgrl.jpg (5408 bytes)    modembl.jpg (3490 bytes)
Left: Nineties; right, unidentified (???)

  em83cim.jpg (4550 bytes)
Cadillac Cimarron radiator badge

emv12sol.jpg (3736 bytes)
Rarest among the rare, the radiator badge
from the
Cadillac Solitaire V12 concept car

2000embl.JPG (4410 bytes)
Y2K hood and trunk emblem

 

 

 

Interior crests, etc.

Crstmans.jpg (6221 bytes)
Seat side of Cadillac Le Mans show car

crs54est.JPG (6525 bytes)    Crs56sea.jpg (5824 bytes)    em56seat.jpg (4489 bytes)
Early Eldorado seat backs have embossed or embedded crests: left, 1954, center 1956
On the right is the emblem affixed to the side of the front seat of the 1956 Eldorado

crs57cus.JPG (2850 bytes)
This circular emblem is from the seat  back  of a
custom 1957 coupe I  photographed in Scottsdale, in 1999

em53elda.jpg (3136 bytes)    58dash.JPG (3287 bytes)
1950's instrument panel name plate.
Right: Eldorado, 1953; Left: Cadillac, 1958

57DREMB.JPG (2817 bytes)
Inner door panel emblem, 1957

em60dash.jpg (5940 bytes)
1960 dash plaque (also used on front fenders of "Series 62" models)

em60Brg.jpg (5129 bytes)
VERY RARE 1960 nameplate used on dash of bespoke Eldorado Brougham

60BiaLogo.jpg (3371 bytes)
Front fender logo off 1960  Eldorado Seville and Biarritz models

66ellogo2.jpg (2535 bytes)
Trunk and fender logo off 1966 Fleetwood Eldorado convertible

emflfsh.jpg (4143 bytes)
Seat side or sill plate emblem

em92XII.JPG (3151 bytes)    em89eld.JPG (2290 bytes)
Decorative stuff from the '80s and '90s

em80s.jpg (4509 bytes)
This unidentified item is from the 80s
(can anybody identify it?)

02esscpt.jpg (2029 bytes)    02es_ext.jpg (2104 bytes)
Left: fender nameplate on Escalade 2001
Right:  Nameplate on Escalade EXT, 2002

EMB_NEW.JPG (5628 bytes)
Grille and tail gate badge of the new millennium

 

 

 

Off-Topic crests and nameplates

crs_plq.jpg (7063 bytes)
Cars that achieve a high score in a judging competition organized by the
Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc. may be awarded a Senior badge like this one

 

 

 

 

Post-WW2 Cadillac horn buttons

Some of these horn buttons may be incorrectly identified; if you have a pre-WW2 Cadillac or
La Salle with a horn button that is not shown here or that is wrongly identified, please let me know

 

14853hb.jpg (3765 bytes)   2a Hb48.jpg (3539 bytes)    2bhb50.jpg (2521 bytes)      3 hb4247c.jpg (2408 bytes)    4hb46.jpg (2795 bytes)     549hba.jpg (3394 bytes)
(1, 2a, 2b and 3) 1942-1947 [exc. 1947, style 6267 and 7533],  (4) 1946 (???), (5) 1949
[Photos 2 and 3: courtesy Jeff Hansen and CLC's 1942 Authenticity Manual]


This unique horn button is off the 1951 Le Sabre dream car prototype:
in the RED quarter are the words General Motors and in the BLUE quarter, Corporation

  10aHB53.JPG (3410 bytes) 10bhb56b.jpg (3055 bytes)   11em54hb.jpg (3460 bytes)   12hb55.jpg (3552 bytes)   13HB55.JPG (3292 bytes)
(10a & 10a)  1953?, (11) 1954, (12 &13) 1955
[ the horn button on the 1955 Eldorado apparently is chrome-plated ]

14hb56.JPG (5714 bytes)   15HB56b.jpg (4200 bytes)
(14,  15) 1956

      16hb5758b.jpg (4506 bytes)    17HB57.JPG (3737 bytes)    18HB57BRG.JPG (3734 bytes)
(16)  1957-58,  (17) 1957-58  center medallion, (18) 1957-58 Eldorado Brougham

  19hb59.jpg (3327 bytes)    20hb59a.jpg (3391 bytes)    21hb60b.jpg (3656 bytes)
(19 & 20) 1959,   (21)  1960

     22hb62.JPG (3471 bytes)    23hb61.jpg (5100 bytes)   24hb63b.jpg (3251 bytes)   25Hb63el60.jpg (4898 bytes)      
(22)  1961,  (23) 1962,  (24) 1963, exc. Eldorado,   (25) 1963 Eldorado
[the 1963 horn buttons have rays radiating from the center - not easy to distinguish in these small, digital  images]

    26a64hb.jpg (5224 bytes)  26bhb64fw.jpg (5059 bytes)  27hb65b.jpg (3710 bytes)   28hb65fwd.jpg (4466 bytes)   29hb66.jpg (2590 bytes)
(26a)  1964 regular, (26b) 1964 Fleetwood models,  (27) 1965,  (28) 1965 Fleetwood,  (29) 1966 Fleetwood
[telescoping wheel was introduced in 1965; knurled emblem is turned anti-clockwise to unlock]

 

 

 

Script items

crs_scrp.JPG (34468 bytes)


Biarritz script emblem of 1956-57

misc1.jpg (8607 bytes)

 em53cdv.JPG (5333 bytes)
1953 sail panel script

crs_scr2.JPG (4937 bytes)
Plastic promotional item [10" long] 

 Cadscrpt.jpg (2102 bytes)    56scrpt.jpg (2894 bytes)
Left: 1948 fender script.  Right, 1956 grille script (note the "loop" on the "d"; I believe this is the only
year and model on which it was written thus; if you look at it long enough, it will start to read "Cac-lillac"

em56letr.jpg (6462 bytes)
1956 Cadillac trunk lettering

em56ltrs.jpg (5785 bytes)
Individual block letters like these were used in 1956 and 1958 [see above entry]

61dville.jpg (1628 bytes)    cdv_scrp.jpg (3037 bytes)
Sixties

emb_eldo.jpg (2796 bytes)    emFleet1.jpg (3892 bytes)
Script items of the seventies/eighties(?)

gld_scrp.jpg (2883 bytes)
Gold trim packages became popular in the eighties;
here is one such script item from that period

em55fltk.jpg (4978 bytes)
Trunk script, 1955 Fleetwood 60 Special

1956xxx.jpg (3643 bytes)
The easiest Cadillacs to identify are the 1956 models;
each of them carries this plate on the RH side of the dash

cr56sdv.jpg (3548 bytes)    em56eltk.jpg (3356 bytes)
Left: 1956 Sedan de Ville fender script; right: 1956 Eldorado trunk script

em57svl.jpg (2652 bytes)    57biaemb.jpg (4297 bytes)
Fender script from 1957 Eldorado Seville (left) and Biarritz (right)

Cadscpt.jpg (1875 bytes)    cad_scpt.JPG (2939 bytes)    Cadillac.jpg (2362 bytes)
Misc. Cadillac script items

em5758br.jpg (7379 bytes)    em_brg95.jpg (3334 bytes)
Left: fender badge, 1957-58 Eldorado Brougham; right: sail-panel badge, 1995 Brougham

em58eldo.jpg (3641 bytes)    em59sv2.jpg (7598 bytes)
Left:  trunk lettering and "V" from 1958 Eldorado; right Seville door badge, 1959 Eldorado coupe

empkav.jpg (2790 bytes)
This is from the 1962 Cadillac model with that name

         
Rare script and emblem from custom 1967 Eldorado coupe, designed by and built for GM stylist, Bill Mitchell

 

 

 

 

Emblems from other marques
built on the Cadillac chassis

emtrmp.JPG (3763 bytes)
Limited edition "Trump"
stretched limousine (eighties)

pr60hrsG.jpg (7944 bytes)    emsands.jpg (5294 bytes)    s&sbdge.JPG (4678 bytes)
Three different S&S logo badges; the first is from 1961; the other two are from the mid-nineties

logosupr.jpg (6356 bytes)
This logo badge replaced the traditional Cadillac crest on commercial
cars built by the Superior Coach Corporation,

  Brpfbadg.jpg (2680 bytes)
PF logo badge on cars built by Pininfarina on the Cadillac chassis

 

 

 

Emblem Trivia

embBelgTrtk.JPG (4981 bytes)    embBelgTrtk2.JPG (4858 bytes)
This truck was photographed in Belgium; the emblem is an early 30s design;
Was this a car hauler? Does any Belgian viewer recognize it?

 

 

 

 


(résumé en français)

Au cours des premières décénnies qui ont suivi la 2e guerre mondiale, la plupart des Cadillac ont arboré un large "V" décoratif en lieu et place de la couronne de tulipes ou de lauriers entourant le blason de la marque, couronne devenue familière sur les modèles d'avant-guerre(s).  Cet accessoire symbolise le moteur huit cylindres en "V" qui avait été adopté par la firme en 1915 pour tous ses modèles.

On trouvera ci-dessus quelques exemplaires de "V" et de couronnes arborés par les modèles d'après-guerre.  A noter que la couronne de lauriers, disparue dans les années vingt, fut reprise en 1963 pour distinguer les modèles carrossés par Fleetwood de ceux habillés par Fisher.

Mis à part le "V", la couronne et le blason que l'on retrouve sur le capot et le coffre des Cadillac d'après-guerre, ces automobiles arborent d'autres signes distinctifs et parfois leur nom écrit en lettres majuscules ou en belles liées. Je tâcherai de les ajouter ici progressivement car ces signes permettant souvent de distinguer tel ou tel modèle de telle ou telle année.

 

 

Go back to the Cadillac insignia index page
or return to the "Miscellaneous Cadillac Stuff" index page
Return to
The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page

© 1996, Yann Saunders and the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc.
[ Background image:  superimposed Cadillac and La Salle emblems, 1929 ]