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Cadillac Goddess Makes Its Return on a Production Car After 63 Years

Almost nine decades ago, Cadillac had a hood ornament on its vehicles, and the firm introduced another one. The first one was a Heron, while the second was a Goddess, which was described as "the very spirit of unsurpassed swiftness and power." In other words, it was on the best of the best and then became available on more models. It stayed in production for almost a quarter of a Century. Once removed, it was unused for decades. Now, it is returning to production.
Cadillac Goddess statue 16 photos
Photo: Cadillac/General Motors
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Back in the early 1930s, it was commonplace for vehicles to have a temperature gauge on their radiator grilles. Thanks to improvements in electrical technology, it became easier for manufacturers to implement features like a temperature gauge inside the vehicle, so that left designers with a bit of room.

In the entire Art Deco fashion of the period, having an ornament on your motor vehicle was a thing back then. Manufacturers got into it in the late 1920s, and for some brands, the figure stayed, while others improved it in a more modern form as the years passed, or just got rid of theirs.

For example, Rolls-Royce still features The Spirit of Ecstasy, while Bentley removed its “Flying B” hood ornament. The same can be said about Mercedes-Benz, that just transformed the star into a flat element because of passive safety reasons.

To be fair, Rolls-Royce has done plenty of work to prevent its ornament from being dangerous to pedestrians, as it is designed to retract into the grille if an accident is imminent.

Cadillac Goddess statue
Photo: Cadillac/General Motors
Cadillac had a different strategy with its Goddess, which did not get a different name, but was featured on all the company's models from 1933 to 1956. After a short reappearance in 1959 on a special edition of the Eldorado Brougham, the once famous hood ornament was laid to rest. Or so we thought!

Cadillac has decided to bring back the Goddess on the Celestiq, its EV. Do not expect to see it as a hood ornament or as a figure on the trunk. Instead, the 2024 Celestiq will feature the Cadillac Goddess on its front fenders, but it will be a part of an ornament, so it will not protrude.

There will be a Goddess on the inside of the vehicle, as the rotating button of the multimedia unit will have the badge on it, and the ornament will also be displayed on the gauge cluster. The latter is in digital form, while the former is encased in glass, with the ornament made from billet aluminum that is polished, brushed, and tinted.

The dial turns independently of the glass Goddess, so the ornament will remain upright regardless of how the driver turns the dial of the infotainment unit.

Cadillac Goddess on Celestiq multimedia wheel
Photo: Cadillac/General Motors
It is important to note that the same treatment is applied to the ornament on the front fenders as well, but there will be another Goddess figure that is on the charging port, and that one is just illuminated.

Therefore, the exterior will feature the figure in two different forms, while the interior will do the same, but in a different manner. In other words, there will be three Cadillac Goddess ornaments made from aluminum, one that is illuminated, and multiple that will be shown in digital form only.

The original Cadillac Goddess was only meant for the V16 models and then redesigned in 1933 upon its expansion across the line, except for the V16 cars. The latter models retained their exclusive look until 1940. The V16 models were phased out, and so was their dedicated ornament.

While Harley Earl was the first head of design at General Motors at the time, and he made several decisions that became the norm across the automotive industry, such as refraining from departing too much from last year's styling when updating a vehicle for the next model year, as well as avoiding extreme or radical styling choices to cater to most consumers (who were conservative-minded), Earl did not design the Goddess.

2024 Cadillac Celestiq
Photo: Cadillac
Instead, the ornament was designed by William Schnell back in 1930, which was the same year it made its production debut on the Cadillac V16, the pinnacle of the range of the time.

Add things up and it makes sense why it was retained in the same form for the V16 models, while the rest of the range got a different ornament, but with a similar design, just to fit in the line-up, which was another idea that was originally presented by Harley Earl. Yes, he was the MVP of car designers and single-handedly changed American car design.

Cadillac did bring back its ornament in the modern era, but only on the Escala concept shown in public at the 2016 LA  Auto Show. At the time, the Goddess was presented on the glass infotainment controller. So, in a way, Cadillac remembered its heritage, but it was not yet ready to put the Goddess back into production.

Now, with the 2024 Celestiq, and only on this model, the American brand returns its ornament on production vehicles to underline the importance of the EV for its new direction. Sadly, it will not be featured in a hood ornament form because of aerodynamic reasons.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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