The greatest American luxury cars

German manufacturers immediately comes to mind when the conversation turns to luxury cars.

It wasn’t always that way. For decades, the most opulent cars in America came from brands like Packard, Lincoln and Cadillac. These companies gradually lost their grip on the market as foreign rivals stepped up their game and the definition of a luxury car evolved.

Packard is long dead, Duesenberg isn’t coming back anytime soon, but Lincoln and Cadillac are poised to make a comeback in the 2020s. While it plays out, we’re looking at some of America’s most illustrious luxury cars:

Duesenberg Model J (1928)

Duesenberg envisioned the Model J as one of the most luxurious cars in the world. Like most of the models it competed against, it was marketed as a blank slate that could receive a wide array of different bodies; the buyer’s wallet was the limit. Its straight-eight engine made 261bhp when naturally-aspirated but a supercharged model introduced in 1932 bumped that figure to 315bhp. In an era when most cars were painstakingly slow, cruising at over 100mph in a Duesenberg was an immense luxury.

Most historians agree 481 units of the Model J were produced until 1937, when Duesenberg closed.

Cadillac V-16 (1930)

In the 1920s, when sheer extravagance defined luxury, Cadillac sought to one-up rival Packard by developing a mighty V16 engine to power its top-of-the-line model. The 7.4-litre engine made about 180bhp and it was as pleasant to operate as it was to look at because many of its external parts were polished. Cadillac’s claim to being the Standard of the World became even more credible.

Buyers had 10 so-called catalogue-custom bodies to choose from but the wealthier customers could commission a one-off design from dozens of coachbuilders waiting for orders in America and abroad. The cheapest V-16, a two-door coupe, cost $5800 (about $89,000 in 2019 money). The most expensive variant was the Town Brougham at $9700 (nearly $150,000 in 2019).

The V-16 had the significant misfortune of being released a few short months after the 1929 stock market crash. The original 16-cylinder engine remained in production until 1937.

Packard Twin Six (1932)

Packard was one of Cadillac’s fiercest rivals in the early 20th century. It decided to move upmarket in the wake of the Great Depression by releasing a model called Twin Six in early 1932. The basic range included a short-wheelbase model named 905 and a long-wheelbase variant called 906. They were available in 10 and 11 different bodies, respectively, including coupes, convertibles and limousines.

Both received the same 7.3-litre V12 engine and many body styles easily exceeded the 85mph top speed Packard often advertised. Pricing started at $3650 for a coupe and topped out at $7950 for a seven-passenger Landaulet, figures that represent about $68,500 and $150,000 in 2019 money. The Twin Six was reserved for America’s elite; its target audience included businessmen, oil barons and gangsters.

The Twin Six lasted only a year. It was replaced by the Twelve in 1933.

Cadillac Series 62 (1948)

In the early 1940s, American automakers reduced passenger car production to save materials for national defence. Manufacturing got back into full swing during the second half of the decade and demand for luxury cars picked up again. Cadillac took advantage of this by giving its Series 61 and Series 62 (pictured) models a new-look design characterized by tailfins inspired by the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

They were the first fins ever fitted to a Cadillac but certainly not the last – or the biggest.

Cadillac Eldorado (1953)

Cadillac introduced the Eldorado nameplate for the 1953 model year on a limited-edition variant of the Series 62. It was only available as a convertible and it offered an unusually long list of standard features, including wire wheels. Its $7750 price tag (about $75,000 in 2019) made it more than twice as expensive as the standard Series 62. 532 motorists took home the original Eldorado.

Encouraged by the nameplate’s success, Cadillac released another Eldorado in 1954 and later promoted it to a standalone model. It was offered as a coupe (pictured) for the first time during the 1956 model year, and it went through a total of 12 generations until production ended in 2002.

Imperial Crown (1957)

Chrysler-owned Imperial commissioned Turin-based coachbuilder Ghia to build the Crown, a model proudly positioned as one of America’s poshest cars. Released for the 1957 model year, the Crown was a long, stately-looking eight-seater limousine that made a Cadillac look relatively basic in comparison. One of its most interesting features was that its four doors extended into the roof panel to facilitate the process of getting in and out of the passenger compartment. This was a car designed for dignitaries, after all.

Imperial planned to make 75 units of the Crown in 1957 but it only sold 36. The model carried a base price of $12,000, which represents approximately $110,000 in 2019.

Ford Thunderbird (second generation, 1958)

While Ford and luxury have rarely gone hand-in-hand, the second-generation Thunderbird released in early 1958 created a new class that put opulence within the reach of more buyers. It was arguably the first personal luxury car, a uniquely American term that grouped cars built with more attention to leather and opera windows than horsepower and pistol grip shifters.

Ford transformed the second-generation Thunderbird into a four-seater available as a coupe and as a convertible. Both variants were huge, softly suspended and had a substantial thirst for fuel but that didn’t matter; they weren’t marketed as sports cars and they were stylish. Muting the original Thunderbird’s performance genes paid off because nearly 38,000 motorists took one home in 1958.

Jeep Wagoneer (1961)

While Jeep didn’t design the Wagoneer as a luxury car, it had undeniably morphed into one by the time production stopped in 1991. It was known as the Grand Wagoneer (pictured) at that point and it lived up to its prefix with features like adjustable headrests, leather upholstery and an available power sunroof. These features were difficult to find in a 4x4 during the 1980s and the Wagoneer’s long list of standard features put it in the same arena as Land Rover’s Range Rover at the end of its career. In 2019, it’s remembered as one of the models that pioneered the booming luxury SUV segment.

It’s no surprise, then, that Jeep wants to resurrect the Grand Wagoneer nameplate in the early 2020s on a flagship model. The company has previous floated a $130,000 variant aimed right at the Range Rover.

Lincoln Continental (fourth generation, 1961)

When it comes to luxury, Lincoln’s Continental nameplate peaked in 1961. The fourth-generation model introduced that model year wore an elegant design that turned heads everywhere it went but it was best appreciated on one of its six seats. Every Continental came standard with walnut trim, full carpeting and power windows. 65% of buyers paid $504 (about $4300 in 2019) extra for air conditioning.

Lincoln put a big emphasis on build quality. After leaving the production line, every example went on a 12-mile road test to ensure it met the company’s high standards. The Continental was such a convincing luxury car that the United States government purchased a convertible model to use as its presidential car.

Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman (1974)

Cadillac used the Talisman nameplate to denote an option package available on the Fleetwood Brougham from the 1974 to 1976 model years. It built on what was already considered one of America’s most luxurious cars by adding a four-seater interior with armchair-like seats upholstered with Medici velour, deep-pile carpets, full-length centre consoles plus model-specific hubcaps and emblems.

In 1974, Cadillac charged $9537 (about $50,000 in 2019) for a Fleetwood Brougham and asked $1800 (nearly $9500 in 2019) for the Talisman package. Replacing velour with leather – which buyers could only do in 1974 – bumped that figure to $2450 (almost $13,000 in 2019).

Cadillac made approximately 4300 examples of the Talisman. It no longer uses the Talisman nameplate in 2019 but Renault snatched it for its range-topping model.

Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham (1977)

Introduced for the 1977 model year, the Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham was the go-to model for buyers who wanted to tell the world that they’d made it without being seen in a European car. Its restrained, low-key design was timelessly elegant and it pleased those seeking old-school luxury by offering a vinyl top and opera-style lights behind the rear doors. The Brougham d’Elegance picked up where the Talisman version left off by adding armchair-like seats and wall-to-wall Florentine velour upholstery.

The Fleetwood Brougham cost $11,546 in 1977 (about $49,000 in 2019) so it cost markedly less than the range-topping Seville but it remained the quintessential Cadillac during the 1980s. Production finally ended in 1992 after the model lost its Fleetwood designation and received a new-look front end.

Lincoln Continental Mark VI (1980)

America’s main luxury players weren’t ready to counter the rise of Mercedes-Benz and BMW during the second half of the 1970s. The fact that not everyone wanted an S-Class and many of those who did couldn’t afford one played in the favour of Cadillac and Lincoln so the latter released a redesigned flagship model for the 1980 model year. The Continental Mark VI was built on Ford’s body-on-frame Panther platform so it was considerably smaller and 364kg lighter than the Mark V it replaced.

Technology ranked increasingly high on the wish list of luxury buyers so Lincoln made a digital instrument cluster standard on the Mark VI. Pricing started at $15,424 (about $48,000 in 2019) for the coupe and $15,824 (around $49,000 in 2019) for the saloon but it went above the $20,000 mark when motorists selected one of the four designer series models developed with Bill Blass, Cartier, Pucci, and Givenchy (pictured), respectively. Even a fully loaded Mark VI cost appreciably less than a base Jaguar XJ6 in 1980.

Lincoln Mark VII LSC (1984)

In the 1980s, Lincoln was so hellbent on defeating the Germans that it gradually moved its product portfolio closer to theirs. The Continental Mark VII introduced for the 1984 model year wore a much more streamlined design than the Mark VI thanks in part to European-style flush headlights (which Ford spent two years lobbying the federal government to allow) and it was both shorter and lighter than the model it replaced. In turn, it was nimbler and more engaging to drive than any model in the brand’s history.

An electronic air suspension with automatic three-way level control came standard but buyers who really wanted to explore the Mark VII’s handling potential needed to order the Luxury Sport Coupe (LSC) package. It consisted of a specific axle ratio, a handling package, quicker steering, performance tyres, minor design tweaks and leather upholstery. The standard engine was a 5.0-litre V8 but a 2.4-litre straight-six turbodiesel borrowed from BMW was offered as a $1235 (about $4000 in 2019) option.

The Mark VII LSC represented an honest effort at taking down the Germans. Lincoln’s logo wasn’t as hallowed as the Mercedes three-pointed star so many motorists refused to cross-shop the two brands.

Cadillac Allante (1987)

Cadillac chose not to take aim at the Mercedes-Benz SEC; Lincoln had already done that. Instead, it joined forces with Pininfarina to create an alternative to the SL (which was ancient by the late 1980s) with Italian style and an American heart. Called Allante, it was one of the brand’s most luxurious cars.

Pininfarina manufactured Allante bodies in Turin and shipped them to Detroit, where Cadillac installed the 4.1-litre V8 and the independent suspension. Recaro provided the seats and Bosch contributed an ABS system, which was still a novel feature at the time. Each example embarked on a 25-mile test drive before leaving the Detroit-Hamtramck factory. This process made the Allante grotesquely expensive to produce and partly justified its base price of $54,700 (about $123,000 in 2019).

About 21,430 units of the Allante were built between the 1987 and 1993 model years. It wasn’t replaced.

Lincoln Navigator (1998)

Lincoln gradually faded from the luxury car scene during the 1980s and the 1990s. Its cars appealed to a shrinking subset of the car-buying population seeking cushy, old-school luxury, not to those in the market for a Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The future looked grim until the company released the original Navigator in 1997 as a 1998 model. It didn’t take a well-trained car-spotter to tell this burly SUV was based on the then-new Ford Expedition but the conversion was convincing enough to draw buyers into showrooms once again.

Above all, the Navigator was America’s first entry into the burgeoning luxury SUV segment. And, unlike European models like the Mercedes-Benz ML, it was perfectly suited to American roads thanks to its truck-derived body-on-frame construction and its V8 engine. It could tow, it could go off-road yet it offered wood trim and acres of leather. Nearly 44,000 units were sold in 1998, its first full year on the market. That’s an all-time record for the nameplate, one that caught Cadillac completely off-guard.

Lincoln Town Car (third generation, 1998)

The third and final generation of the Lincoln Town Car looked like a hangover from a different era when it made its debut at the 1997 New York motor show and arrived in showrooms for the 1998 model year. Its bulbous sheet metal hid an evolution of the body-on-frame Panther platform that had underpinned most of the Ford group’s big saloons since 1978 but that didn’t matter one bit to its target audience. What did is that it was loaded to the gills, reliable and supremely comfortable. And, while its market share was never huge, it was in a class of its own.

The Town Car retired without a direct successor in 2011. Production of the Ford Crown Victoria and the Mercury Grand Marquis – the two other Panther-based models – ended at the same time. Their demise marked the end of an era because they were the last body-on-frame saloons sold in America.

Cadillac DeVille (2000)

The eighth and final generation of the Cadillac DeVille made its debut in 1999 as a 2000 model. It still looked like a full-size Cadillac but it wore a more streamlined design than its predecessor. Powerful, well equipped and high-tech, it signalled the beginning of a new era for the brand. Executives hoped it would rejuvenate the model’s segment and restore Cadillac’s image. Its segment was too far gone to save but the DeVille at least prevented the company from sinking further.

Cadillac Escalade EXT (2002)

Arch enemies Cadillac and Lincoln jumped into the luxury pickup truck segment at about the same time but it’s the former’s Escalade EXT that’s best remembered in 2019. The latter’s Blackwood, a gussied-up Ford F-150, entered the car world’s collective memory as an embarrassing and expensive failure.

Launched as a 2002 model, the Escalade EXT fared better partly because executives selected Chevrolet’s versatile Avalanche, not its Silverado, as a starting point. This pickup-SUV hybrid featured an innovative Midgate that let users fold down the separation between the cabin and the box to haul bulky items; the Escalade gained the exact same feature. It was a genuinely practical truck, unlike the Blackwood, and it was available with four-wheel drive. Still, the idea of a Cadillac-badged pickup rubbed many buyers the wrong way.

Annual Escalade EXT sales peaked at 13,494 units during the 2002 calendar year. Cadillac released a second-generation model for the 2007 model year but axed the nameplate in 2013.

Cadillac CT6 Platinum (2019)

In an odd twist of fate, the most expensive car built in the United States in 2019 isn’t American. It’s the Acura NSX, which carries a base price of $159,300. We’d argue the flagship of America’s luxury car segment is the Cadillac CT6 Platinum released for the 2019 model year. It’s fitted with all-wheel drive and it features the twin-turbocharged, 4.2-litre Blackwing V8 engine Cadillac developed in-house for its own use. It won’t power the Chevrolet Corvette, for example. The V8 delivers a stout 493bhp.

Cadillac warned buyers the CT6 Platinum will be made in extremely limited quantities for the 2020 model year. CT6 production is scheduled to end well before the end of 2020 so there’s a good chance the $100,000 Platinum model will become a classic in a few decades.

Lincoln Continental Coach Door Edition (2019)

While it’s supremely comfortable and very well built, the born-again Lincoln Continental released for the 2017 model year is far less luxurious than many of its predecessors. It gained a touch of grandeur in late 2018 when Lincoln celebrated the nameplate’s 80th birthday by announcing a run of 80 commemorative units fitted with suicide rear doors inspired by the 1961 model for the 2019 model year. The rear doors opened at a 90-degree angle and featured a soft-close function normally found on more expensive models. The transformation required stretching the wheelbase by 6in, developing new door hinges and adding structural reinforcements.

Lincoln priced the Coach Door Edition at about $100,000. It was a complete shot in the dark but it was right on target. The entire production run was spoken for so quickly that the model returned for the 2020 model year. The firm plans to make approximately 150 additional units.

We hope you enjoyed this story. To easily access more like it, why not sign up to receive our email newsletter? Autocar will make sure you are up to date with the latest from the world of motoring, sending you the best comment, analysis and opinion from our industry experts, and our reviews of the world's best cars, direct to your inbox. And signing up takes less than 30 seconds. Click here to sign up.