The Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy isn’t the only muse of the motoring world. Cadillac has brought its Flying Goddess back to life with the new Cadillac Celestiq, the brand’s first luxury electric car. For them this model represents a new chapter in their history and for this reason they wanted to recover a part of it. Of course, it doesn’t come back as everyone expected.
Although not as famous as the crown and shield, the goddess of Cadillac adorned the hoods of vehicles between 1930 and 1956: At that time, these small figurines became a symbol of style and luxury. The American brand did not want to be outdone and commissioned William Schnell a figure to represent “the spirit of unbeatable speed and power, but also grace and perfect balance”. It also served as a symbol of their custom craftsmanship.
the first goddess
The year was 1930 when, for the first time, the Cadillac Goddess appeared on one of his vehicles: in 1933 it was replaced by a redesigned version and became an accessory that only models powered by a V16 could equip. That would change a year later when it was also an option for V12s.
With the death of the V12 and V16 engines in 1941, a new Goddess came to all Cadillac cars. He continued to evolve over the years, but the passage of time condemned him and the changing fashions condemned him to disappear in 1956. Its last appearance was on the Pininfarina bodywork of the 1959 Eldorado Brougham, but it was so stylized as to be barely recognizable.
Six years of research
In 2016 the Goddess was rescued from the history books on the occasion of the presentation of the Cadillac Escala prototype in Pebble Beach (California). The brand confesses that, since then, they have been looking for a way to resurrect the Flying Goddess for the next generation of vehicles. And that chapter is written by electric cars.
The person in charge of bringing back the Cadillac Goddess was the sculptor Richard Wiquist, of GM Design. They asked him to create a new symbol that signaled the future of the brand and, at the same time, was a tribute to its past. The resulting design is inspired by the 1933 image and looks like it won’t have much trouble standing the test of time.
three performances
Today, hood ornaments are virtually extinct, so the Cadillac Goddess won’t have its usual place on the Cadillac Celestiq. Appears in plate which confirms that the vehicle was hand built in Detroit…even though it is, in fact, manufactured in nearby Warren. It has also been located in the charging socket and in the cabin.
Here we will find it on the aluminum dial with which the infotainment system is operated: it is backlit and covered with a glass surface. Cadillac placed particular emphasis on this representation because when the knob is turned, the Goddess does not move: she always remains standing.
