Cadillac Series 62 Coupe de Ville
Cadillac gave a fixed steel roof the airy side opening of a convertible and created a new kind of luxury coupe.
1949 Cadillac Series 62 (Coupe DeVille) front, Bonhams 6.1.19.jpg · Kevauto · CC BY-SA 4.0
Research pending
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More than a set of wheels.
The production Coupe de Ville arrived late in the 1949 model year as a richly trimmed member of Cadillac's Series 62. With the side windows lowered, no center roof post interrupted the opening, so it looked like a convertible with a steel roof. The same year brought Cadillac's lighter, shorter overhead-valve V8. On November 25, 1949, a Coupe de Ville became the one-millionth Cadillac built.
Look a little closer.
The headliner used bright decorative bows to suggest the folding ribs of a convertible roof, even though the roof was solid steel.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Prototype and production car are not the same
Cadillac first displayed a one-off Coupe de Ville on the longer Sixty Special chassis. The customer car that followed later in 1949 used the shorter Series 62 chassis and factory body style 6237. This profile covers the production car, not the show prototype with its special cabin equipment.
Source: General Motors Heritage · 1949 Cadillac vehicle information kit ↗What makes a hardtop
GM's preserved car has no fixed B-pillar between the front and rear side windows. Lowering the glass creates one long open side view, while the steel roof remains in place. That combination helped define the American pillarless hardtop for the next two decades.
Source: General Motors Heritage Collection · 1949 Cadillac Coupe Deville ↗Where these facts come from
- General Motors Heritage Collection · 1949 Cadillac Coupe Deville
- General Motors Heritage · 1949 Cadillac vehicle information kit
- General Motors Heritage · postwar Cadillac V8 context
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed October 1, 2026.