Cadillac

The Cadillac appears in Stephen King's It as a recurring emblem of the adult success and material comfort that the members of the Losers' Club have achieved since leaving Derry, while also being drawn into the town's final, violent convulsions.

The Cadillac as a Marker of Adult Success

Eddie Kaspbrak, who as a child lived in near-poverty with his overbearing mother, drives a black 1984 Cadillac limousine on his journey back to Derry. He picks up the car from Butch Carrington at Cape Cod Limousine in Boston, and the vehicle's smooth, powerful ride contrasts sharply with the cramped, fearful world of his childhood. As he drives north, Eddie reflects on the automatic lane choices and tollbooth habits that come with his profession, and the Cadillac becomes a symbol of the competence and prosperity he has built for himself. Ben Hanscom, who was once a fat, lonely boy mocked for his size, now owns an aging 1968 Cadillac convertible with dual CB antennas and a vanity plate reading "BEN'S CADDY." He drives it to the Red Wheel roadhouse in Hemingford Home, Nebraska, where he is a regular customer. The car, like Ben himself, has been transformed: it is a relic of a past life, but one that he has chosen to keep and maintain, a tangible link to the boy he was and the man he has become.

The Cadillac in the Destruction of Derry

The Cadillac is also caught up in the catastrophic storm and collapse that devastate Derry on May 31, 1985. During the destruction of the Derry Mall, which stands on the site of the old Kitchener Ironworks, a series of explosions tear through the complex. Among the wreckage, a Cadillac is among the vehicles destroyed, its fate sealed by the same force that levels the mall. The car, once a symbol of consumer prosperity and the town's modern ambitions, is reduced to rubble, its promise of comfort and security annihilated by the same ancient evil that has always haunted Derry.

The Cadillac and the Pursuit of Beverly

Tom Rogan, Beverly's abusive husband, does not drive a Cadillac, but his pursuit of her is marked by a similar desire for control and possession. After beating information out of Beverly's friend Kay McCall, Tom buys a used 1976 LTD wagon for $1,400 in cash, using a fake name. He drives this nondescript car to Derry, where he parks it nose-to-nose with Audra Denbrough's rented Datsun at the Holiday Inn. The LTD, a far cry from the luxury of a Cadillac, is a tool of his obsession, a vehicle for his rage and his determination to reclaim his wife. The contrast between the Cadillacs of the Losers and the LTD of their tormentor underscores the difference between the hard-won success of the former and the desperate, destructive pursuit of the latter.

The Cadillac as a Symbol of the Past

Ben Hanscom's Cadillac is also a vehicle for memory. As he drives away from the Red Wheel, he reflects on his childhood, the friends he has lost, and the promise he made to return to Derry. The car, with its age and its quirks, becomes a time machine, carrying him back to the summer of 1958. The Cadillac, like the Losers themselves, is a survivor, a piece of the past that has been carried into the present, bearing the scars of its journey. It is a reminder that even the most successful adults are still, in some fundamental way, the children they once were, and that the past can never be fully escaped.