The Duchess: the world's most stylish Cadillac
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- Опубликовано: 20 май 2017
- “The Duchess,” a one-off 1941 limousine built for the Duke of Windsor, is not only literally fit for a king-when new, it was the most stylish car ever built
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This is when style was King and autombiles were beautiful works of art. Today, I cant tell one car from another.
My grandfather was the production control manager at the Cadillac Clarke St. plant in Detroit when that was made. He retired in 1958. Beautiful car.
That car is literally a piece of history, built for a king. Very beautiful.
Edward was no longer
King when he ordered
the car.
"literally"
A long hiatus for Cadillac in the U.S. as Americans have had a mania for German cars for decades. Incredible, too, that there are more Cadillacs sold in China than the U.S. presently !
While Great Britain was struggling through its darkest hour, enduring the Blitz, rationing, and all manner of deprivations, Edward and Wallis were having a Cadillac custom built. It tells you all you need to know about these two.
Maybe the Brits should be grateful to Wallis.
A pair of awful narcissists and treasonous bastards to boot
After they cozied up to Hitler.
Good thing England got George VI. RIP your majesty.
A beautiful museum on wheels.
In 1957 my dad had a
one owner 1948 Cadillac beige in color.
Still remember riding
in that car I was 8yrs
old. A very nice ride.
About a month ago saw a '48 Caddy 2 door in beige in a suburb of Atlanta. It was at a restoration shop getting some work done to it. The most unusual thing about it is that it had a 3 speed manual transmission. It was a beautiful car!
Beautiful car and a great story to go with it. Thanks for the video.
Just a side note. While Cadillac may not have had power windows and divider window, it was offered on the senior series Packard's in 1941. But the Cad is a delight to the eyes.
Lincoln Continentals offered power windows in 1942, but for the general public, Cadillac would wait until 1946.
@@billdescoteaux u
And I think Packard offered AC in 1939.
@@wholeNwon Bout correct...but because of overheating, was discontinued till 41 or 42
@@louispaparella5766 What overheated? Engine because of the condenser? Surprised problem wasn't detected in early testing.
As a teenager in the mid fifties, I saw a 1948 Packard straight eight in my friends back yard. The fenders were stronger than today’s bumpers.
The cloth seats were stronger , thicker and more beautiful than today’s leather seats. It was a tank.
Rolls-Royce was the British Packard.
Now, Rolls-Royce are obscenities.
0:10 "Commissioned by KING Edward"???
You mean Edward, the DUKE of Windsor
No Prince Edward of Windsor was king of England for a about 8 months or something
327 DAYS HE WAS NEVER CORONATED@@reneeleerykers6762
When I was 17, I worked at a SHELL service station, back in 1962,someone had one of these and wanted it polished and waxed. Anyone whomever hated lacquer I was a new recruit! No power tools, just plain old elbow grease to just get this beauty to shine! It took two of us to get this thing to shine. I have hated black paint every since. But, a beautiful car!
He may have abdicated,but he still lived like a Royal 👑
Absolutely gorgeous Cadillac! The story behind it is fantastic. Great piece of history.
beautiful and very special Cadillac
They didn't just live 'for a while' in New York but each year 6 months in New York (in addition to Palm Beach stays) & 6 months in Paris. The car is beautiful, in good hands for safekeeping.
They were married in the château de Cangé , near Tours, in France, where they war living a certain time.
In 1940 he was NOT King Edward - he was the Duke of Windsor. Nothing more
HRH, the Duke of ...
when I was fourteen I met this car , a very long one, and I have the experience of going into .
The car belonged to a widow lady in Montevideo, Uruguay and the garage had a circular base with engine that allow to go into and go out to the house , without manoevers inside nor at the street. I think the model was 8 cylindres.
It does look like 1942-1948 Buick Roadmaster and Super Series, since the front fenders are swept down to the front of rear fenders.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor never actually lived at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. They merely stayed there on their frequent visits to New York from their home in Paris, which is where they were permanent residents for most of their exile from the United Kingdom.
I believe the Duke and Duchess also owned a house in Glen Cove, L.I.
Before watching this a few minutes ago I just thought it was a regular 60 Special, but closer inspection does show unique bodywork. Thanks for sharing!
Good looking car. The front clip is art deco perfection. Would love to see some coach builder stamp out a boattail coupe roadster interpretation. Or even a 4 door ragtop.🏁
Wow the painted headlight rings make a huge difference by themselves. Very cool thanks.
It is pretty special. It doesn't really look like a limousine, it looks more like a Sixty Special, one with a divider window like a limo. But it's a one-off custom body through and through, designed by Harley Earl and executed by the Fleetwood body factory.
They were actually good friends with Sloan. They borrowed Sloan’s yacht, Rene and ran it aground, causing some damage. I have in my possession the binoculars from Sloan’s yacht.
Interesting how much it anticipates the 1949 Fleetwood.
There were no designs for 1943, 1944 and 1945. Cadillac was punching out fighter aircraft during the war. 1946 and 1947 were minor modifications to the 1942. The 1948 was the first postwar design. My grandmother had a '47. I loved that car!
1:31 WABC and WNEW are still broadcasting from NYC in one form or another; I don't know about the others. The car is priceless; what a beautiful piece of history.
Fantastic Car ! Thanks for Vid …. Cadillac truly is an American Icon … Queen of the road then and still now
MrTitan225 To bad it's all over for the great American auto industry. Cadillac lost it's lustre 35 years ago. All the great styling, beauty the craftsmanship is all gone. Just plastic crap now. My last Cadillac Seville 1985.
Sad so sad
Oh Yes...you are so right.....Ive owned 8 Caddy's through the years....drive a 2017 XTS now.....Cadillac seems to be going racer type cars now.......
Hi! I noticed you didn't mention my Dad Ralph Liebendorfer! He owned the Sloan car until approximately 2005. Everyone called him the CadFather :)
To me one of Cadillac's best customs ever made. Second only to the 1934 World's Fair custom coupe.
That is Amercan Style at it's finest. Top of the line Style & envy of the world. Look at the gracefull lines, power windows, automatic transmission, & chrome. What a beauty
The power windows back in the day were hydraulic operated.(non-electric).
Once had a customer whose '53 Buick Super had hydraulic window lifts, it was her daily driver still in 1983, except when there was snow on the ground. She kept her grandson in spending money maintaining it, waxing the finish, shampooing the seats & carpet.
vacuum powered.
actually they were raised/lowered by hydraulic cylinders in the doors, the hydraulic pump driven by an electric motor, like many convertible tops of the era.
Our '53 Packard had them.
Back when Cadillac meant quality.
Beautiful is putting it mildly!
That is a Beautiful car.
I knew they had a Cadillac but I had not seen it in
this detail before. It makes sense that it had Modern
details, they were very Modern people.
Thank you for the Video.
Jeff
Walis was known to be quite....'modern'
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing this information and car with the public.
👏👏👏👏❤❤❤❤
Your Highness, The Duchess, indeed.
1:35 I believe that on most of the early Hydramatic transmissions, with no Park position, the wheels automatically locked up when the engine was shut off with the transmission in Reverse, for compatibility with the established practice for manual transmissions. After many modifications, production of the Hydramatic was continued by Rolls Royce after GM had dropped it in favor of its torque-converter-based transmissions. RR continued to offer it in the USA until 1965 when DOT started requiring the PRNDL shift layout and in other markets until about 1970.
Absolutely beautiful piece of automotive art! Magnificent! 🙏
That car is a work of art . Thank you for the video!
"BIG AND LONG, SHINY AND BLACK...."❣️
Absolutely exquisite! Fantastic addition to a collection.
Looks like something Howard "Dutch" Darrin would have designed. Like his Packard Darrin. Both beautiful cars.
Agreed! Though that down swept body line is right out of Buick's design studio for the following year.
Surprised they did that for such a high profile client. (Buick being a "lesser" marque and all).
Probably Harley Earl
@@Magnetron33 - Earl is probably the correct answer. he did a lot for GM. But this car is cleaner, less flamboyant than much or Earl's designs. That's why I mentioned Darrin.
@@scootergeorge9576 Darrin was a fabulous designer. Earl was the first GM head of design and was the head when this car was made. Pretty sure he would have overseen this, personally. Just looked it up. They credit Alfred P Sloan, GM President and Harley Earl. Don't know if you have seen Earl's 1938 Buick Y job but it was his personal vehicle. I have included a link. Don't know much about Darrin, but some of the work done for Packard is amazing ruclips.net/video/LgMZDC-mK08/видео.html
And don't forget the Kaiser Darrin, the 2 seater with the sliding doors.
Very beautiful automobile. Thank you for sharing it with us.
This is a sweet classic my friend. A stone beauty.
It has a very regal look to it.
Absolutely awesome, gorgeous Cadillac!💫
My dad gave me a 41' when I was 17. Dark Blue 4 Door.
Absolutely fabulous vehicle!!
Beautiful car. Very classic.
Beautiful!!
Love that beautiful car
I see more than the radio antenna from Buick, I think in essence it’s a Buick/Cadillac hybrid evidently crafted by Fleetwood in Pennsylvania.
Gorgeous
A work of art
Superb. Built by dedicated craftsmen.
Enjoyed video, a very rare beautiful Cadillac even without the pedigree.
Beautiful
That was great! Just too short!
Money well spent! Thank you for posting.
Like to know more about that automatic transmission - and along with the power windows. I heard on one of the power windows of a Lincoln in that era, what they did is they used hydraulics, along with really heavy glass. So it returned down on its own.
Looks like a model 60s with various detail upgrades.
Back when the Cadillac nameplate meant something. Today it would just be a (barely) warmed over Chevy.
Do you not know of the beast?
@@reginaldbowls7180 The "Beast" is a rebuilt version of the Chevrolet Kodiak truck chassis that's been modified to look like a generic Cadillac. So it's actually a reworked Chevy. And it costs about $1.5 million US.
Nice ride!
At the time. Style is in the eye of the lover of "the brand"!
Just think, this was a 1941 model year car. It couldn't and wouldn't have been built in 42,43,44,45 when auto production was curtailed as production facilities focused on planes, tanks, aircraft. The cars that were built during that era were slimmed down, without an excess of trim or superfluous features. In fact certain materials became unavailable til after the was.
Peter Jeffery - 1942 model year cars were indeed available from about September 1941 until about February 10,1942 ,at which point the Federal government shut down all automobile production until about September 1945 ....
@@frankgiaquinto1571 Thanks Frank.
Thanks Steve.
Wonderfull machine
Hi Steve it's Dave Beveridge again. I would love to get a picture of that car front side and the rear side. I would love to do it on a t-shirt. You got some really beautiful Cadillac and I'm I hope one day when I'm better unfortunately I've had some very bad health problems and you know about that clay knows about it but soon I'm hoping that my health problems will be soon be over and I'd like to go and see Fleetwood Manor and take some really nice pictures of your gorgeous Cadillacs. Take care
So quiet you can hear the fan *Loud engine sound*
Clackedy-clackedy
It needs a quart of Rislone to Quieten the lifters.
Wonderful
So cool !
Lovely car.
Understated elegance
Are those budding "fins" on the rear tailights? Could this be the first Cadillac that started the tail fin craze?
No, try 1948.
Traditions has its standards A one of a kind lady for a one of a kind Guy, All accessories Standard..
You’re right She’s a Real Beauty!
THE PAST WAS BETTER THAN TODAY!!!!!
QUE BELLEZA DE AUTO..PARECE LA GLORIA..OK🌏🌎🌍
Looks to be almost like a prototype for what the 42 to 47 body would look like but with the 41 grill.
Imagine what it would
sell for at Barrett Jacksons auto auction
over a million an perhaps more.
GM has gone downhill ever since that car was made.
Well, going downhill does help raise the miles-per-gallon figure. Ha! 😅 😂 🤣
GOREGOUS 🎁💝 BLESSINGS 🗝💖🇺🇸🌸
It needs valve adjusting to run quite and it will gain power
Great to see it is still being driven... not just sitting in a museum... beautiful!!
It reminds me of a Buick with the body line on the side.
Just a quick question, does it have the original carburetor?
Gyönyörű
Dats when cars had style!🫷😁🫸
Super.....Car😁
Unlike today's cars, you didn't have to have a slide rule to drive it!
W.E. approve!
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were also big fans of Adolph Hitler. Lovely people.
MoonMan365 his point was that the Windsor’s were poor judges of character and ended up on the wrong side of history. The only scenario worse would be if they correctly judged this demon and just didn’t care. Thought I’d just step in and answer for mr Strickland
•TheKaisTzar • there were and are people who admired Charles Manson
MoonMan365 because I can
We have a recently exed President and his wife who, like the Windsors. were a menace to their own country.
They were treasonous scum
1949 Sedanette fastback is the most stylish Cadillac of all time.
It may indeed have power windows, but what is with the cranks seen in the interior shot of the rear seat?
One handle is the door release the other is for the rear vent window. The door windows are hydraulically operated.
I'd be terrified to take that on a public road!
Have a motors manual
with all engine an repair
Procedures for those cars an others like it.
WOW
That monogram on the rear door just doesn’t look right. The Duke of Windsor would have his proper coat of arms there. Lovely car and video. Thank you.
He lost his right to use the coat of arms when he abdicated. Also, only individuals, companies, and organizations that have been awarded a Royal Warrant by Her Majesty The Queen may use the Royal Arms. Cadillac, as a US company, did not have the right to use it either. This changed during their ownership of Jag but even then, there were restrictions placed on the GM via a unique Warrant issued by the Queen via the Lord Chamberlain's office.
@@charliefunboy5210 Sorry, but that's just not correct. The Duke of Windsor continued to have his own coat of arms until his death. Anybody can apply to the College of Arms to have their own.
@@mrbennetts Sir, I worked in the Lord Chamberlain's office for almost 40 years. I can assure you that it is not wrong. His official coat of arms was simply not available to him after the abdication. Now he may have had a made-up coat of arms afterward, but he certainly could not use anything previously approved by the Queen. I see those ads all the time in the back of magazines that will create a so-called "official coat of arms", so he may have done something like that.
@@charliefunboy5210 Sir, My final reply follows, taken from College of Arms information: “Edward's coat of arms as the Prince of Wales was the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, differenced with a label of three points argent, with an inescutcheon representing Wales surmounted by a coronet (identical to those of Charles, the current Prince of Wales). As Sovereign, he bore the royal arms undifferenced. After his abdication, he used the arms again differenced by a label of three points argent, but this time with the centre point bearing an imperial crown”
Let’s drop it now, and beg to differ! Regards.
@@mrbennetts I'm glad to see you took the time to do some research. Thank you for proving my point. The coat of arms was not the same as he had prior to the abdication. As to why he didn't have this modified coat of arms on the car is simply a mystery but he certainly would not have been allowed to use the Royal arms as it would not have been approved by the crown.
THE OWNER MADE A MISSTATEMENT ,HE SAID THIS CAR HAS NO STOCK PANELS ON IT ALL CUSTOM MADE. NOT SO IT IS A STOCK SERIES 67 WB 139 IN. SEDAN.AND ALL PANELS ARE THE SAME AS ALL 1941 CADILLAC'S VARYING ONLY BY WB. IT FOR SURE HAS BEEN MODIFIED. BUT SINCE IT WAS A RESTORATION IT MAY HAVE BEEN MODIFIED MORE THAN THE FACTORY DID FOR THE WINDSORS. BUT IT LOOKS JUST LIKE A 1941 SERIES 67 IMPERIAL SEDAN. SAVE LITTEL TREATMENTS SUCH AS PAINTED HEADLIGHT RINGS.
Please don't shout at us. (Caps lock on).