A significant and attractive design change occurred for 1941, when Cadillac revived the Series 61 to replace its junior LaSalle line. This was a marketing decision based on the success of the Lincoln-Zephyr at Ford Motor Company and Packard’s One Ten/One Twenty. And it worked. While Packard continued to rely on medium-priced cars long after World War II, Cadillac (and Lincoln) returned to the luxury field exclusively, thus bolstering its “fine car” reputation, and sales, at Packard’s expense.
Cadillac’s big mechanical news for 1941 was a first in the luxury class: fully shiftless Hydra-Matic Drive. Developed by sister division Oldsmobile, which had introduced it a year earlier, this excellent automatic transmission would remain an option for all Cadillacs through 1949, after which it fast spread throughout the line as standard equipment.