Rolls-Royce has the Spirit of Ecstasy, but Cadillac has a Goddess and it’s returning on the all-new Celestiq.
While not as famous as the wreath and crest, Cadillac’s Goddess adorned the hoods of vehicles between 1930 and 1956, before making a brief return on the iconic 1959 Eldorado Brougham. It then faded into history, but it’s being resurrected for use on the company’s electric flagship.
Since hood ornaments have largely fallen out of favor, the Goddess can be found on the front quarter panel plaque that proclaims the vehicle is hand-built in Detroit. While the car is actually made in nearby Warren, the plaque is a classy touch as it’s milled from billet aluminum, before being polished, brushed and tinted.
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Another Goddess greets owners when they recharge as there’s a lit emblem above the charging port. Speaking of the latter, Cadillac said the charging port is surrounded by a “ring of light that responds when the vehicle is plugged in.”
The Goddess can also be found inside the cabin as the mascot resides on top of the aluminum infotainment dial and is backlit as well as encased in glass. Cadillac went the extra mile as they noted the dial turns independently of the glass Goddess, so she always remains upright.
The company bills the Goddess as a “new symbol of the brand’s personalized, handcrafted artistry” and noted it will be exclusive to the Celestiq as it denotes the car’s hand-crafted, bespoke nature. As Cadillac Design executive director Bryan Nesbitt explained, “We wanted this flagship EV to embody the significant heritage of the brand in a truly meaningful way, with the Goddess representing the absolute pinnacle of bespoke craftsmanship from Cadillac.”
The Goddess’ return is a long time coming as she originally debuted in 1930 alongside a Heron mascot. The latter only lasted four years, but a redesigned version of the Goddess debuted in 1933 and became a “fixture on Cadillac vehicles.” It was initially available exclusively on models equipped with a V16 engine, but a revised version would appear on V8 and V12 models the following year.
With the death of the V12 and V16 engines, a new Goddess was introduced in 1941 and she appeared on all the company’s vehicles. She continued to evolve over the years, but was phased out and largely forgotten until Cadillac introduced the Escala concept in 2016. As the brand explains, this “marked a beginning in the Cadillac design studio’s quest to resurrect the Goddess as inspiration for the next generation of vehicles, leading the brand into its all-electric future.”
As a result, sculptor Richard Wiquist was tasked with creating a new Goddess that points to the future of Cadillac, while also embracing its past. The resulting design draws inspiration from the 1933 Goddess and appears ready to withstand the test of time.
