Five years after the war, in 1949, the 'Standard of the World' produced the first modern overhead valve, high compression V8 engine while the 1950's brought us cruise control, automatic climate control, plus tilt and telescoping steering wheels. The 1957 Eldorado Brougham featured air suspension, memory seats, automatic electric door locks, a transistor radio and low profile tires, all industry firsts. The sixties saw some wonderfully styled luxury cars but the company's technological lead tapered off as the 1970's neared.

Cadillac plans to reverse this trend by not only keeping up with the vaunted Europeans, but surpassing them. Whether we see a production version of the marvelous mid-engine Cien supercar will remain to be seen, but the new attitude that created the concept is alive and well within Cadillac's design and engineering teams.

Adding fuel to the fire is GM's new Vice President Bob Lutz. Still, his enthusiasm is tempered by years of European automotive experience. Automotive News recently reported him stating that General Motors has canceled plans to export the Cadillac CTS to Germany because its interior materials and workmanship are not as high in quality as competitors Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and the dollar is too high against the euro. He said the quality of interior elements from external suppliers - such as the seats, instrument panel and steering wheel - was not good enough for the German luxury segment. Lutz also said he is generally unhappy about the quality of U.S. built interiors, and he is working to change that.