The end of World War II signaled a dramatic shift in the American auto industry. Car production had halted suddenly in 1942 as factories were retooled for the war effort. Now that the conflict was over, auto production could resume, but the problem was that design and development of new models had all but halted during the war as well. So most manufacturers had to make do with hastily refreshed versions of their existing pre-war models. In the case of Cadillac, that meant resuming the brilliant Series 62\\. The front end design was subtly reworked with a new grille and fender profile with beautiful effect. The proud grille and beautifully contoured body would serve as the basis for Cadillac's design language through the rest of the 1940s and into the early 50s. The car was available in a number of body styles and trim packages, with the Fleetwood 60 Special topping the sedan range, and the Series 62 Convertible the ultimate of the two-door models. Cadillac still considered itself "The Standard of the World" in this era, and the cars were lavishly equipped with automatic transmissions, V8 engines, leather upholstery, power accessories and so forth. The model proved very popular with buyers, remaining essentially unchanged through 1947, with nearly 40,000 units of the Series 62 sold.