Custom Search

The online car show dedicated to American-made iron: old skool, new school, and no school

Home Join Login Member cars Games Calculators Tips

Mario's Tribute to the 1941 Cadillac

First modern car with a concealed gas cap

Cadillac made tremendous strides in new styling for 1941. The headlights were fully integrated into the front fenders and a new horizontal egg crate grille was added. GM Designer Arthur Ross was credited with creating the first sketch using the horizontal egg crate grille. Overall styling was by Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell.

The Standard engine for all the models was a 346ci Flathead V-8 150hp. It was capable of 100 mph and a powerful, smooth, and nearly silent operation.

A new feature that became a Cadillac hallmark was its concealed Gas Fill Cap. The gas tank filler was hidden in the left rear taillight. Along the top of the taillights was a small chrome Fin. Could the 1941 Cadillac actually be the first car to sport a fin years before the 1948 Cadillac, which is attributed to having the first fins.

Do you know how to open the hood on the 1941 Cadillac. Watch the short video to find out.

This is my Tribute to the Luxurious 1941 Cadillac. Enjoy, Mario.

1 1941 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible. Cadillac made great strides in styling for 1941. Headlights were fully integrated into the front fenders and a new horizontal egg crate grille was added.

2 1941 Cadillac was equipped with a vacuum powered convertible top. It was available only as a Deluxe model, which included rear fender skirts, wheel trim, and other décor items.

3 1941 Cadillac the Standard engine for all models was a 346 ci Flathead V-8 150 hp.

4 1941 Cadillac Convertible. Equipped with the conventional three-speed manual transmission and pleated red leather upholstery.

5 1941 Cadillac 2 door Coupe. Contributing to the design of the 1941 Cadillac was GM Designer Arthur Ross, credited with creating the first sketch using the horizontal egg crate grille.

6 1941 Cadillac models wore GM Styling by Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell. Twin vertical bars divide the rear window into three segments.

7 1941 Cadillac 346 ci Flathead V-8 150 hp. Capable of 100 mph. It was a powerful, smooth, and nearly silent operation.

8 1941 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe. Hydra-Matic, General Motors’ new fully automatic transmission became available for the first time.

9 Could the 1941 Cadillac really be considered the First Finned Car? Look at the Finned Taillight. Larger taillights concealed the fuel filler.

10 Concealed Gas Fill Cap open. The gas tank filler was hidden in the left rear taillight, a feature that became a Cadillac hallmark.

11 1941 Cadillac 4 Door Convertible. This model year holds a special place in Cadillac's long, proud history. Cadillac sales set a record and it was a year of major styling changes.

12 1941 Cadillac 4 Door Convertible. The all-new 1941 Cadillac models firmly established Cadillac as America's ultimate automobile status symbol with a starting price of just $1345.

13 1941 Cadillac. This handsome convertible is equipped with a push button radio, heater, electric clock and the conventional three-speed manual transmission. For 1941, Cadillac models manufactured a record 66,130 vehicles.

14 1941 Cadillac Touring Sedan. In 1941, the one-piece hood came down lower in the front, included the vented side panels and extended sideways to the fenders.

15 1941 Cadillac Touring Sedan. The new torpedo style with its low streamlined running board less bodies and expansive shoulder room had proved a big hit.

16 1941 Cadillac 346 ci V-8 150 hp. The hood was made front opening for the first time.

17 1941 Cadillac Touring Sedan. A new fresh-air heating and ventilating system was introduced ducted from the grille rather than a cowl-top ventilator.

18 1941 Cadillac Fleetwood Towncar. The rectangular grille was wide, vertical, and bulged forward in the middle. Rectangular parking lights were built into the top grille.

19 1941 Cadillac Fleetwood Towncar. Front fenders were extended into the doors. Improved brakes. Chauffeur driven open cabin.

20 1941 Cadillac Fleetwood Towncar. Pleated black leather upholstery and Self-shifting Hydra-Matic transmission.

21 1941 Cadillac 346 ci V-8 150 hp. Cadillac, a car from an era when GM was at the top of its game in terms of design, engineering, and performance.

22 1941 Cadillac Series 61 Fastback Coupe. Fender skirts, white walls, chrome accents.

23 1941 Cadillac Series 61 Fastback Coupe. Twin vertical bars divide the rear window into three segments.

24 1941 Cadillac 346 ci Flathead V8 engine 150 hp.

25 Three speed manual transmission, heater, radio.

26 1941 Cadillac Ad.

27 1941 Cadillac Ad.

28 1941 Cadillac Ad.

29 1941 Cadillac Ad.

30 1941 Cadillac Ad.

31 1941 Cadillac Ad.

Video and audio clips

1941 Cadillac Convertible

1941 Cadillac Series 60 Special

1941 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe

1941 Cadillac Sedanette.

1941 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible

How do you fill up gas on a 1941 Cadillac

How to open the hood on a 1941 Cadillac

More Cars of the 1940s
More Cadillac Coverage

155 car nuts gave this a thumbs-up. Do you? Thumbs-up

Comments

Mario on May 13, 2024 said:

[Reply to this comment]

Anonymous on May 13, 2024 said:

Hey Mario, loved the video on how to open the hood. That one probably challenged a few gas station service attendants first time they had one pull in and was asked to check the oil. Probably a lot of sliding the cap back and head scratching began.

For a moment I thought this was the Cadiallac Edward G. Robinson drove in a movie called "The lady in the window". But that was shot in 1944. The car looks similar but as I checked myself, the movie car was not a 1941.

I like all the body styles. Having grown up poor there were never any Caddys on our street, or our block, or our side of town. I can't even recall my first sighting of a Caddy.

Seems our town was made up of a lot of blue collar workers so the Chevies and Fords and others made up the parking on both sides of our one way street.

That catchy hidden fuel cap caught on and I'm sure the gas station attendants as mentioned earlier had to be schooled on all the cars that came out with the fuel caps hidden.

Nice post Mario. I never rode in anything like this. Looks comfy.

Rob

[Reply to this comment]

Mario on May 17, 2024 said:

Thank you Rob for yet another intriguing comment. I too did not see any Caddys on my block or town growing up. Just Chevys and Fords and a couple of Plymouths.

But this 41 Caddy had so many new features I thought I'd make a Page on it for knowledge sake.

We at American Torque pride ourselves in knowing as much as possible about the great American cars we grew up with. And now see at those Car Shows!

[Reply to this comment]

57timemachine on May 13, 2024 said:

I have always been a fan of this car especially as a coupe. I took a short ride in a coupe back in the mid seventies when I was a teen. I will never forget that ride.

[Reply to this comment]

Anonymous on May 16, 2024 said:

Well this is odd.......I posted a reply days ago and it seems it went into hyperspace, never to be seen again. I think it's Big Brother or Aliens.

I did write that I liked the way the hood took two hands to open the latch. That's when men were men and ....I'll just let that one pass.

And I even commented that I watched a movie with Edward G. Robinson in it called The Lady In The Window and in the movie there's a 44 Caddy he drives. I could see the genealogy of the 41 in it.

Cadillacs were rarely if ever seen on my blue collar neighborhood and on our side of the tracks. You know the old saying about the right and the wrong sides.

I don't believe I even rode in a Caddy until the 1960s. On our street we had the working "PERSONS" cars with the lines of Fords and GMs parked on both sides of our narrow one way street.

My buddy and I got pretty good at playing baseball because our street was so narrow we couldn't hit the cars on both sides so our accuracy had to be spot on otherwise my buddy would get blamed for all the dented cars.

No, Caddys were foreign to me and I knew they were status symbols. I guess as close as we got to a Caddy was an Oldsmobile or maybe a Buick.

Keep up the great work Mario........if you see my old post floating around grab it and paste it here so everyone will know I'm not senile....well...not yet.

Rob

[Reply to this comment]

Mario on May 17, 2024 said:

Well Rob looks like you're not going senile after all. Just a little technical difficulty in your post.

Maybe it's time you create a new user ID so you don't have to post anonymously. Just a thought.

Your repost was spot on just like the original. You covered all your previous comments well. Further proof you're not going senile!

Thank you for all your colorful stories and see you around AT. Mario

[Reply to this comment]

Brandon on May 16, 2024 said:

I am the one who is senile, Rob. Anonymous comments must be enabled by me to prevent spam. But I was asleep at the switch.

[Reply to this comment]

Mario on May 17, 2024 said:

Thank you Brandon for explaining the issue about posting anonymously. We didn't know you had to clear each one, but it makes sense so we don't get spam. Best Regards, Mario

[Reply to this comment]

Anonymous on May 18, 2024 said:

No problem Brandon, now can you tell me where you hid my keys and my hearing aids and my spectacles, oh that's glasses for you youngins'

:-)

[Reply to this comment]

Brandon on May 18, 2024 said:

Good one, Rob!

[Reply to this comment]

Direct link:

Mario's Tribute to the 1941 Cadillac

First modern car with a concealed gas cap

Video and audio clips

Related

Comments