According to Nick Dreystadt, the quality was in design and good tools and in control and service. He was willing to invest in better designs and machinery, quality control and first-class service departments, but not production itself. This way of working ensured that within three years the production costs of a Cadillac were no higher than that of a simple Chevrolet. Because a Cadillac still had a high new price, it had become a very profitable brand for GM.  Although the economy grew gradually from 1936 to 1937, there was a dip in 1938.

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The 1935 models had partly a closed Touring body with integrated trunk. From some angles the design did not look so stylish, yet these models were a lot more practical than the models with a separate detachable 'trunk'.  Bill Mitchell's order in 1936 resulted in the 1938 60 Special. During the depression of 1938, the model came at just the right time for Cadillac. LaSalle seemed to have lost its way in terms of sales. The new models were not really well received and this halved the sales figures. The modern design of the new 60 Special had features that would soon be adopted by the other GM brands and the rest of the industry. The 60-Special was a masterpiece that outmoded everything else on the road.

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Obviously, the older board was a little anxious about this bold new Cadillac. Don Ahrens, the division's sales director at the time, recalls: "As the 60-Special took shape, there were some moments of uncertainty. It wasn't because we were afraid of the beauty of the car, but because this introduction would break with tradition. The Cadillac market is ultra conservative. We sell the majority of our vehicles to respectable and influential families. How would this revolutionary car affect our position in the industry? Was it too surprising, too flamboyant for Cadillac's price range? Too shameless for our reputation?" In a word, yes, which is exactly why it had the enthusiastic approval of Harley Earl. It was the kind of car that could only come from a younger designer: sporty yet down-to-earth, sophisticated yet attractive. It was an entirely new concept where every design element was fully and tastefully aligned with all the others. The car was bigger and more expensive than the Series 60 but cheaper than the less flamboyant large Cadillacs. It would retail for $2,090 and for that you got the 135-horsepower L-head V8 that would continue to power the Cadillacs through 1948. From this year on, shifting was done via the steering column lever and no longer on the floor.  The styling of the 60-Special formed an important new foundation for Cadillac in several respects. The model started out as a LaSalle Sport Sedan. The modified model became too expensive for LaSalle, making it a Cadillac. It was a beautiful, ultra-modern silhouette that was three inches lower than any previous Cadillac but with just as much headroom. Running boards were notable for their absence, a trend noted by GM chairman Alfred P Sloan: "It makes it possible to widen the body so that a standard car can carry six passengers." The extended rear, a first for an American production model, integrated the trunk into the design. All four doors of this elegant sedan were fitted with front hinges. This was unusual for the time and would be widely imitated. The pontoon fenders front and rear added to the illusion of length, although it really wasn't an illusion, as the 127-inch wheelbase was three inches longer than that of the Series 60. There was no chrome between the windows and the sheet metal below. A brave move at a time when chrome was mandatory on all but the cheapest cars. Equally daring was the use of very thin roof pillars which allowed the windshield and doors to be wider than other cars in this class with the added benefit of superior visibility. The upper door moldings were replaced with chrome surrounds around the glass with thin but strong frames, a clear nod to the convertible sedan style that was still very much in vogue in the late 1930s. Combining the comfort of closed cars with the suggestion of an open car, the 60-Special was the forerunner of the b-pillar-less "hardtop convertible", the body style that would dominate the American industry more than a decade later.

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“There has never been a car like the Cadillac 60-Special,” stated the ad writers, “a car with such a distinctly modern line, yet tasteful…a precedent-breaking car, not yet found on any other. drawing boards, yet a car that lacks any whimsical attributes at all. Mitchell's avoidance of "erratic attributes" was indeed commendable and the 60-Special was a sensational launch of his career. It's Detroit's first special car, the kind of high-style, premium-priced product that a number of manufacturers would bring to market in the years that followed, cars such as the 1940 Lincoln Continental and, much later, Mitchell's own Buick Riviera in 1963.

The economy crept up again in 1939, which meant higher sales for the entire industry. By 1941, the economy recovered well, largely due to military production, which was already underway, although the United States was not yet involved in the expanding World War II. Due to high inflation, Cadillac is raising prices for its all-new 1941 models. The 60-Special, which has been at $2,090 since 1938, went up to $2,195, but it was still a steal. It was now the flagship of the fleet, the cream of the crop that definitively established Cadillac as the ultimate American automobile status symbol. The cars smelled of class and were so well executed that even the heavy use of chrome didn't seem at all ostentatious or inappropriate. The Special kept its fresh formal look, while the "torpedo" style was applied to most other models. Headlights were now mounted in the fenders instead of on top of the front fenders. In between was a horizontal eggcrate grille. For the first time, the fuel filler cap was incorporated in the rear light. The V8 got a higher compression and thus 150 hp. The top was 100 mph and 0-60 in 14 seconds.

Pointed fronts now appeared on most of this year's GM cars and the 60-Special was no exception. The Series 60 was replaced by the 126-inch-wheelbase Series 61, which offers the same body styles and many of the exterior features of the 60-Special. All 1939 Cadillacs received a redesigned dashboard,  a new optional vacuum-operated radio antenna, rubber rear fender guards and something called "Controlled-Action Ride" that is said to improve ride comfort. Other than that, the 60-Special was largely unchanged. The policy paid off and it was once again Cadillac's best-selling model line. However, the range was expanded for '39 with two new options, Cadillac sold only 1500 of these between 1938 and 1941. First , there was a sunroof, patented by GM's Ternstedt Hardware division, which was operated with a hand crank and advertised as the "Sunshine Turret Top Roof".  The roof was available for both the standard towncar and Imperial. There was also a 60 Special "towncar" with a painted metal or leather-covered roof.  Second, there was an optional retractable divider window  between the front and rear seats.  More than 5,500 Sixty Specials were built before 1939, accounting for 40% of all Cadillacs sold, but only 280 of them were equipped with the sunroof option (of those 280 optional sunroof cars, 55 were equipped with divider windows).

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Sloan had hinted at his preference for just one base bodywork when he noted that the 60 Special had been well received by  the market and the value of styling was demonstrated. Customers were willing to pay a lower resale value  on their old cars to be able to buy the new ones.  However, as the 1940s dawned, it became clear that consolidation was going to be a major factor for Cadillac. The attitude of  Cadillac was forward-looking, pushing aside the old ways of working. In 1940, the convertible sedan disappeared, as did the V16 and LaSalle, Cadillac's "companion make". Even for LaSalle himself, it came as a surprise. The 1941 model had already been designed when the plug was pulled in mid-1940. Buick had meanwhile entered LaSalle's waters, and LaSalle's niche had disappeared.

The big problem with the V16 was its price. The basic 5 seater V8 sedan of 1940 cost  $1,745 but with V16 $5,140, a premium that was no longer really justified because Cadillac's V8 was one of the smoothest engines. It was a relic of a great time.

Cadillac's new 1940 Series 62 also took the spotlight. It was another Bill Mitchell design and another stunning example. It used the new bustle back General Motors "C" body, a body clearly inspired by the 60 Special. With more than a dash of styling from the latter for considerably less money, sales of the 62 certainly came at the expense of the more expensive car, replacing the 60 Special as Cadillac's bestseller. A restyled front end characterized the 1941 model. Once again, it proved to be a trendsetter, with long front fenders that extended into the doors. But sales of the 60 Special fell slightly. Bill Mitchell's stunning style theme had run its course; the fickle crowd was ready for something different. It came in the form of a new 60 Special for 1942. Basically a stretched one  luxury version of the 62, but it simply did not have the appeal of its predecessors. It is noteworthy that among today's collectors, the 1942 version is worth barely more than a third of the 1938 original.

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Two other versions of the base sedan appeared in the 60 Special lineup in 1940 and all models now had Fleetwood instead of Fisher bodies for the first time. The styling of all Cadillacs remained largely the same. Slightly less restrained use of chrome and, along with most other American cars that year, standard sealed-beam headlamps.

The Series 72, delivered only one year, was introduced as a less expensive companion to the Series 75. 1940 was the last year for optional sidemounts (spare wheels in the front fenders). The Series 72 had the look of the Series 75, but was three centimeters shorter and was distinguished by rectangular taillights that sat high on the sides of the trunk. Sealed beam headlamps and turn signals were standard.

Although both the LaSalle and V16 were dropped, Cadillac nevertheless offered a wide variety of restyled models for 1941. An eggcrate grille that would become a Cadillac trademark was new, as was Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. With beautiful design and solid engineering, Cadillac was about to tighten its grip on the luxury market.

In 1941, General Motors' prestige division proudly declared: "For thirty-nine years, Cadillac's production policy has remained one of the few certainties in an uncertain world. The organization initially decided to associate its name only with the best cars it could produce, which ideal has never changed. Today, 'perfection' is still the sole occupation of Cadillac engineers and craftsmen. Cadillac and the owners of Cadillacs have always benefited from that.”

That quest for perfection, along with the breath of fresh air Bill Mitchell brought to Cadillac design in the late 1930s, gave the brand the opportunity to emerge from the Depression with its reputation as the "standard of the world" intact. It was one of the most desirable cars on the planet, buyers at the time would walk right past a Rolls-Royce or Mercedes-Benz or a Packard if they could buy a Cadillac instead. Cadillac even boasted in 1941, "In the $2,000+ segment, about two-thirds of all motorists choose a Cadillac."

Buyers knew the Cadillac was a solid, reliable and beautiful car that aroused the envy of their neighbors and he  was American in the best sense of the word. As one of the oldest of the Detroit marques, Cadillac had continually affirmed its leadership in engineering.