1948 Cadillac Series 62 Touring Sedan: The Tailfin That Changed Automotive Design Forever

After nearly 20 years of documenting discarded vehicles in car graveyards, I had rarely encountered a pre-1960 Cadillac worthy of photographing. Prior to last week, I had only captured images of a 1950 and a 1958 Cadillac—both located in Colorado.

Then, in Nevada, I struck junkyard history gold: a 1948 Cadillac Series 62 Touring Sedan, one of the most influential automobiles of the immediate postwar era. This car did more than just turn heads—it launched the tailfin craze that reshaped automotive design for decades.

General Motors drew inspiration for the Cadillac’s dramatic tailfins from the twin tails of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning and the futuristic spaceships depicted in 1930s and 1940s pulp science fiction magazines. To car buyers in the late 1940s, those fins symbolized progress, technology, and the promise of a new world order.

"The tailfin virus colonized the minds of automotive designers virtually overnight, with the apogee of fin size being reached around 1959."
— Murilee Martin

The tailfin trend was not confined to American automakers. European manufacturers also embraced the design language:

• Mercedes-Benz Heckflosse (Fintail) series became iconic, though European fin designs extended far beyond subtlety.
• Auto Union (Audi’s predecessor) introduced fins on its 1959 DKW Junior, a front-wheel-drive compact.
• Daimler SP250 (1959) showcased British enthusiasm for fins.
• Vauxhall and Opel, both GM subsidiaries, received tailfin designs directly from Detroit.
• Simca Chambord (1959) featured Chrysler DNA, with its chassis originally designed for a Ford model.
• Peugeot 404 proved that French automakers could create bold fins without American influence.
• Škoda also ventured into finned territory during this era.

The tailfin trend even crossed the Iron Curtain, reaching Warsaw Pact nations. Japanese manufacturers were not left behind:

• Prince Motor Company (later part of Nissan) added fins to the first Skyline models in 1957.
• Ferrari collaborated with Pininfarina to incorporate tailfins into the 410 Superamerica.

While tailfins dominated styling, the 1948 Cadillac also introduced a new chassis, marking the first departure from prewar underpinnings in the brand’s lineup. The true mechanical revolution arrived in 1949, when Cadillac unveiled a modern overhead-valve V-8 engine.

Now, let’s focus on the featured vehicle: a 1948 Cadillac Series 62 Touring Sedan, currently housed at the Pick-n-Pull junkyard in Carson City, Nevada. Curiously, it is not listed in the yard’s online inventory. Employees had attempted to sell it as a "builder," mistakenly identifying it as a 1948 Chrysler Windsor based on the paint markings on its window.