In 1955, Cadillac was sitting on top of the automotive world, and it showed in the supremely confident tone of its marketing program. See and hear the pitch in action. 

The 1955 season brought only modest and incremental changes to the Cadillac lineup. After all, why tamper with success? The General Motors luxury brand racked up more than 140,000 sales in the ’55 model year, far outstripping Lincoln, Packard, and Imperial combined and scoring another new volume record for the division. With a standard 250-horsepower V8 and GM’s advanced Hydra-Matic automatic transmission, coupled with Harley Earl’s trend-setting styling and every conceivable luxury feature, Cadillac still commanded the title “Standard of the World.” Alas, that wouldn’t last forever.

In this 1955 commercial, courtesy of the GM Heritage Center, the tone is supremely confident. With the division selling every car it could produce at the venerable Clark Street plant in Detroit, the typical car biz hard sell was hardly necessary. The spot begins with a closeup on the classic Cadillac hood emblem. By the way, in company  lore, the tiara perched atop the familiar Cadillac crest is called a couronne and the little duck-like creatures aren’t ducks. They’re merlettes. Very well then. If you think you’re worthy, enjoy the video.