First off, just take a moment to stare at this car—we've already
taken several: the seamless lines running from hood to trunk,
like the hull of an ocean liner; the whole ensemble, streamlined
yet opulent like a post-Deco design study of the near-future,
2015 seen through the lens of 1928. And then you see the chrome
grille, and the vertical rear lights sticking out like vestigial
fins, and you realize that this is unmistakably, though somewhat
unfamiliarly, a Cadillac. Why unfamiliar? Because as far as
drop-dead gorgeous Caddys like this one go, it's been a hell of
a long time.  The Cadillac brand has been toiling in shoddy,
cut-rate dreck so long that younger car fans (like this writer)
may have no recollection of the glory days. In fact, none of the
upmarket American brands, from Caddy to Lincoln to the now-
defunct Mercury, have seen much success in ages, aside from
selling blinged-up SUVs. It's a far cry from the storied history
of Cadillac, from the very beginnings of the automotive era up
to the finned e