In 1932, after Cadillac suffered from record low sales and charges of discrimination against black customers, Alfred Sloan created a committee to consider the discontinuation of the Cadillac line. At a fateful board meeting, Cadillac president Nicholas Dreystadt heard that legendary boxer Joe Louis could not go into a dealership to buy a car, because he was black, and resorted to having a white friend make the purchase for him. Dreystadt gave the GM Board of Directors a 10 minute speech in which he advocated advertising to black consumers so as to increase sales. The Board agreed to give Dreystadt 18 months to produce results. Cadillac managed to survive the Great Depression only by being carried along by Chevrolet, GM's low-priced, high-volume car. By 1940, Cadillac sales had risen 1,000 percent compared to 1934, thus saving Cadillac from going out of business.

The year 1934 brought about a revolution in assembly line technology. Henry F. Phillips introduced the Phillips screw and driver onto the market. He entered into talks with General Motors and convinced the Cadillac group that his new screws would speed assembly times and therefore increase profits. Cadillac was the first automaker to use the Phillips technology, which was widely adopted in 1940.

Pictured here is a 1938 Cadillac V16 2-door convertible finished in light blue. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Length: 5 inches
Width: 1 inch