The year was 1999. At the time, Jay-Z wasn’t a very well-known singer; cell phones still had plastic buttons, and General Motors released the Cadillac Escalade, which was a modified Chevy Tahoe that started a trend in pop culture without meaning. For a generation, it was something to strive for and a sign of social status for everyone who was anyone. Twenty-five years have passed since that very important event. The Range Rover was first sold in the U.S. in March 1987. It was based on General Motors’ GMT400 platform and is now in its second generation, which began in 1994. It was the first high-end SUV with a body-on-frame before the Escalade. With the Navigator, Lincoln did better than General Motors in 1998. But the Escalade was boxy and intimidating, very different from the Range Rover’s British elegance in tweed and the Navigator’s unique droopy-jellybean style of the time. The base price of an Escalade in 1999 was $46,525, which is more than $3,500 more than the base price of a Denali. That’s more than $85,000 today. For Cadillac buyers, John Davis of AutoWeek says, “It will take some time to get used to seeing this hulking monster on the same lot as Eldorados and Sevilles.” It was easy for Cadillac buyers who were used to the brand to get used to it, but the Escalade brought in a whole new group of customers. As things got worse in 2001, G.M. released the second version of the Slade in 2002. As the newest member of its business family to join the GMT800 platform, the Escalade stood out with its boxy headlights and chrome-trimmed face. It was even more rude than before. This caused a lot of Escalade front ends to be swapped onto other GMT800 cars by accident. A lot of people didn’t think that the second-generation Escalade would bring Cadillac back to life. As Harley Earl’s tailfins gave way to land ships with lots of pollution in the 1970s and 1980s, Cadillac’s customer base got older. Because of the Escalade, the company was able to draw younger people, which was exactly what it needed. In 2003, you could add a touchscreen GPS, satellite radio, and a DVD player for the back seat as extras. G.M. quickly followed suit by releasing the ESV with a longer wheelbase and the EXT pickup truck based on the Avalanche. In the end, three Cadillacs are better than one. Ford tried to come back with the Mark LT pickup truck in 2005 and the Lincoln Navigator in 2003, but it was too late. This car, the Escalade, has become the face of the Dub age. But why stop there? You got inside with twenty-four-inch wheels, sliding doors, air-ride, and a sixteen-inch sub in the trunk. Let’s cover the engine bay in metal and put in so many screens that you can’t keep track of them all. Is that a tank for fish? It’s easy to write off the luxury cars of the 2004 Rich era as pointless consumerism and the Escalade as a Chevy with a different name, but they were both more than that. G.M. saw a market opening and did a great job of taking advantage by making an SUV that put style over toughness and simplicity in cities. A new group of car fans came along during the Dub time, similar to how drag racers, lowriders, and cruisers were interested in making changes to their rides. If I were seven years old again, I would have liked an Escalade with 22-inch wheels like Dr. Dre and Snoop did. I was born in West L.A. I’m happy to say that the Escalade is still going strong after 25 years. In fact, it will soon join a new breed of cars that will run on electricity alone in 2024. People are drawn to this car for some reason, whether they like it or not. It stands out in a sea of dull gray SUVs.
