Quite unfairly, the LaSalle had acquired the reputation of being a "cheap" Cadillac. The LaSalle's disappearance was therefore offset with a bottom-of-the-line Series 61 for 1941. The coupe started at just $105 over the least expensive '40 LaSalle. This was good news because you could now buy a real Cadillac for the money of a LaSalle. It would never be a Cadillac anyway. Although LaSalle no longer existed, several times over the next few decades, thought was given to reviving the LaSalle name. The brand still had the name of being the first styled car. Over the years it often had beautiful models. For these reasons and others, LaSalle somehow never really died in the minds and hearts of certain GM folks. Historical importance aside, the brand was always distinctive, sophisticated and classy, and there was something undeniably attractive about the name itself: sounding French enough to be cocky, but with an all-American history.

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LaSalle after 1940

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Stylists are romantic people, so maybe it's no surprise that several GM designers had visions about  the return of LaSalle in the 1940s. Among them was none other than Harley Earl, who built two showcars he named "LaSalle II" for the 1955 Motorama season. Both had 1940-style vertical grilles and carried the "LaS" insignia. One model was a two-seat roadster à la Chevrolet Corvette, with concave body cutouts on the sides much like the "coves" that appeared on the 1955 Corvette. An interesting detail was that the rear wheels were visible at the rear. The other LaSalle II was a hardtop sedan with center-opening doors like the 1957-58 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. Although it had six seats, it had a compact wheelbase of 274 cm and was 457 cm long and 1.27 m high. The latter arose in part from the use of 13-inch (33 cm) wheels, quite rare for a Detroit car at the time, even a show car. GM described this as "a new passenger car-style concept aimed at recapturing the distinctive exclusivity and premium craftsmanship of the original LaSalle."  While these concepts were never intended to  reaching dealers, the LaSalle name would come up twice more at GM in later years. The first time occurred in connection with the project that would eventually become the 1963 Buick Riviera. It was originally planned for Cadillac and the early models featured prominent 'LaSalle' decals. Buick's lousy sales at the time dictated that the car should be given to that division as an additional sales boost. The second time was when GM was once again seriously thinking about reintroducing in the early 1970s  of the brand for the new small sedan that eventually became the Cadillac Seville. The choice was almost certain until a driver came across a magazine article describing LaSalle as "Cadillac's only flaw," which squandered another comeback opportunity. While the name still holds a certain magic, we will  probably never see a LaSalle revival. Maybe that's okay too. In total, 182,554 LaSalles were produced in 14 years. Only 3,386 in 1932 and 32,000 in 1937. This is a good indication of the peaks and troughs of the brand. The last shortened year 1940, only 2,413 were built.

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Cadillac after the V12 and V16

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The large engines became obsolete due to the advancing development. The introduction of loose  bearings, rather than cast, helped eliminate knock and wear that occurred on the 8 cylinders during high-speed rides. There was little reason for Cadillac buyers to choose a Twelve or Sixteen over an Eight.  Although the L-head had its limits, it delivered excellent performance with reasonable consumption. The lighter 1938-39 models could get close to 100 mph and take 0-60 mph in 15 to 16 seconds, not bad for a luxury car  of 4,500 pounds just before World War II.  The phasing out of the V16, which still sold in minuscule numbers, allowed Cadillac to devote its energies to the old idea of "one make, one engine" that had been common at Cadillac until  at the debut of LaSalle in 1927. The 346 V8 thus became the engine for all models up to 1948. This choice  meant  however not that luxury was given up, it meant  simply that big changes were in the pipeline at Cadillac.  Even with the addition of the Series 61  for 1941, the scrapping of the V16s meant that the number of models only fell from 39 in 1940 to 26 for '41 (although the number of series increased from five to six), and by 1946 the range would further downsize to 11 models in four series. . Apparently Cadillac's moves to consolidate its lineup paid off as sales surge.

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The price range for the '41 Cadillacs was wide, but not nearly as extensive as in 1940. For example, the '40 V16 seven-seater Town Car was priced at $7,175, while the most expensive '41er, the Fleetwood Series 75  seven-seater cost $4,045. On the other hand, you could use the bottom-of-the-line Series 61  Buy a coupe for $1,345, just $63 more than a Buick Roadmaster coupe, but $340 less than the cheapest '40s Cadillac.

The 61 had a unique fastback styling that was later copied by Bentley,  not to mention the copycats within GM and other US manufacturers. The design theme went back to 1934-1937, when Cadillac produced a limited number of expensive fastbacks called Aero-Dynamic coupes. Thanks in part to its attractive fastback shape, the standard 61 Coupé was the best-selling model in 1941 (11,812 units) while the standard four-door came in second (10,925). It is therefore not surprising that fastbacks were still available until model year 1949.

The '41 Cadillac was the first luxury car with a fully automatic transmission, the four-speed Hydra-Matic, introduced by Oldsmobile in 1940. About 30 percent of 1941 production was equipped in this way, and that would double the following year, and more than triple after the war. The '41 model year also saw the introduction of air conditioning as a Cadillac option. This was a big step from the classic era to the modern era - although only 300 cars were equipped with the bulky device that took up a significant amount of space in  the car. The device did not have an automatic clutch and could only be disengaged by removing the belt in the engine compartment. In comparison, Packard had already advertised its "Weather-Conditioner" in February 1940, a device just as bulky and primitive as the Cadillac version.

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Cadillac often used the word "economy" when describing its cars, backing it up by pointing out that the '41 engine was 15 percent more fuel efficient than the '40er. The brochure noted that "Strict testing proves the Cadillac 61's ability to deliver 14 miles per gallon, by far the best proven fuel efficiency record in its segment." An illustration graphically illustrated that the same amount of fuel a '41 Caddy needed to travel from Los Angeles to New York City would leave the '40 model 400 miles away from the 'Big Apple'. The conclusion was that "a Cadillac is one of the most economical investments you can make".  Performance was not neglected either. Cadillac claimed its 346 V8 had "hundreds of improvements", including a higher compression ratio of 7.25:1 (compared to 6.25:1 and 6.70:1 in 1940). The changes increased the L-head engine's output to 150 horsepower at 3400 rpm, enough to propel the lightest models from 0-60 mph in about 15 seconds, and from 0-30 in about four. Turn signals were standard, unusual in 1941. The extensive styling tweaks of the '41 models, along with improved performance, helped Cadillac set a production record in 1941: 66,130 units. This was 82% more than the combined sales of 1940 for Cadillac and LaSalle combined. In that sense, LaSalle was actually a marketing disaster. Except when the line 8 was delivered and at the beginning when the LaSalle was a smaller, lighter, sportier Cadillac, it turned out to be a Cadillac in other years.

President Franklin Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term after pledging not to involve American troops in the war, even when he devised material support for "Lend-Lease" to besieged Britain. The result was an increase in war goods production that created millions of new jobs, eventually ending the Great Depression. While elsewhere in the world the war was in full swing, Cadillac was preparing to succeed the 60-Special, at least the model Mitchell had originally conceived it. That abbreviated model year's 60-Special was as impressive as ever, as it would be in the post-war era. But it was no longer so "special". The 60-Special became even less special in the fifties and sixties. Usually it was just a Series 62 or DeVille four-door with more chrome and luxury. Even the name was gradually toned down, eventually disappearing entirely in favor of the Fleetwood Brougham label with the arrival of Cadillac's smaller full size models for 1977. But the original 60-Special and its sporty character would never be forgotten on Clark Avenue. As Mitchell himself suggests, its spiritual descendant is the Seville, the wildly successful compact Cadillac, introduced in 1975.

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It is said that the '42s weren't as well built as the '40s and '41s. Poorer quality chrome was provided by thinner layers of copper and nickel and with inferior quality plastic mainly used in the interior and in and on the dashboards. Even the upholstery didn't seem to be of the same quality as before. In terms of styling, the  1942 Cadillacs similar in principle to '41, but with higher prices starting at $1,450 ($105 more than 1941) and with a longer wheelbase of 129 and 133 for the Series 62, respectively  and 60 Special. The cars were facelifted to look rounder and more massive. Characteristic were the long fenders that extended to the front doors, and was repeated on the rear fenders. This fender design had been in the stylists' minds for a while as a drawing in the GM studios from 1934 already showed the extended fenders. Another design element was also visible at the front. There were a few small bumper protrusions on the front bumper. Ed Glowacke would fully develop this design in the mid-1950s. At that time they were also given the name 'Dagmars'. So named because of its resemblance to the big breasts of a TV  personality of that time, Virginia Ruth Egnor.

Only 16,511 units were built before production switched to M-24 tanks, aircraft engines and ammunition.  Cadillac started 1942, the year of its 40th anniversary, with the same 150 hp strong V8 and six series and 22 models. The 61 DeLuxe, the 62 convertible sedan and the 60 Special Town Car disappeared. Prices now ranged from $1,450 to $4,060. A 1942 Cadillac is quite rare because production was discontinued on February 2, 1942. With Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, the United States was involved in World War II on December 8, just hours after the bombing, and the industry was forced to manufacture war material. In fact, the U.S. Office of Production Management had already demanded in August 1941 that vehicle production be phased out to 73.5 percent of 1940 production. The big three announced in the spring of 1941 that there would be no 1943 model year. because the production of war material probably would not allow this.

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On December 31, 1941, Washington issued the "blackout" order to Cadillac and the rest of the industry: no car was allowed to be supplied with visible stainless steel trim or chrome except for bumpers. Metal that was already chromed or in stock in stainless steel had to be covered so that no brand would benefit from its stock. Cadillac and the other GM divisions complied by spraying the stainless steel and chrome in the lighter version of the two-tone colors, usually off-white or light gray. Some automakers used a thin layer of plastic, usually gray or ivory.

After the shortened model year '42 Cadillac a big cog in the American war machine. The durable monobloc V8 would go to war, powering the US military's M-5 and M-24 tanks. They would mean a lot to the Allies. The Hydra-Matic, an exclusive Cadillac option new for '41, was also used in these tanks. Engineer Harry Barr said the transmissions were easy to maintain and the improvements from four years of military service had made the post-war versions even better.