What is the history of the V-series and where does this designation come from?

OPINION: Cadillacs during hte 30s and 40s were called "series." So, there was the V-8 Series... and there was the "Sixty series" (which was a V-16- ~4k built)... They were all "v-series" cars... Get it?

Also great justification to build a Car called the "cadillac 16" today as a prototype... This is all a throwback to the 1930s era...

Further justification for naming the CTS-V and such the "v-series":

1940- "The identifying feature for all V-8 Cadillacs was once again the grille."
1934- "The grill was Vee shaped and sloping, set into a painted shell."




Articles and official information

"The name recalls the Cadillac V from the division's glory days in the '50s and is now intended to imply velocity"

"The new V-Series logo both harkens back to Cadillac's rich heritage as a pioneer in high-performance "V" engine technology and also conveys the dynamic posture that will characterize the V-Series models. The new V-shaped logo for V-Series models employs the same colors - black against gold, red, silver and blue, on a platinum background - as the Cadillac division's redesigned "Wreath & Crest" logo.

"While its colors are meant to depict the 'luxury' side of Cadillac, its vertical orientation and its forward-leaning angle to the right are both meant to depict motion and performance," said Kip Wasenko, design director, GM Performance Division, who oversaw the design of the V-Series logo. "This new V-Series logo draws on the proud technological heritage of Cadillac's past emblems, but renders that heritage in a thoroughly modern and sophisticated way."

The use of the "V" designation in Cadillac sales literature dates to the beginning of the brand. V-shaped emblems started to appear on radiator grilles, trunk lids and hub caps in the 1930s, and following World War II, Cadillac's divisional emblem evolved into the well-known "V-and-crest" design which lasted, in one form or another, into the 1960s."


Links

  • http://www.autoworld.com/apps/news/FullStory.asp?id=2013
  • http://100megsfree4.com/cadillac/

    Oringinal Caddy crest





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