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A manufacturer of cars and SUVs. General Motors' premiere luxury brand. Known by the nickname "Caddy." Founded as Cadillac Automobile Company on August 22, 1902 and based in Warren, Michigan, USA.
The Cadillac Motor Car Co. was purchased by General Motors in 1909 at a price of $5,669,250.
In 1930, Cadillac became the first company to offer a 16-cylinder automobile engine in its cars. In 1938 it offered the first sunroof and the first steering column gear shift.
The one millionth Cadillac was built on November 25, 1949, and was a 1949 Coupe deVille. The four millionth Cadillac was produced June 19, 1969.
In 1970, Cadillac would begin to offer the 500 cu. in. engine in its cars, the first production passenger car engine of that size. Just over a decade later, in a dramatic reversal, Cadillac's V-8-6-4 variable displacement engine debuted in 1981. In 1985 Cadillac produced the first transversely mounted front wheel drive V8 car. The Northstar engine debuted in 1992.
The 2013 song "Royals" by Lorde includes the line, "We're driving Cadillacs in our dreams." In the 1984 Don Henley song "Boys of Summer" there's a line "Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac." In 2003 The Ataris covered "Boys of Summer" and changed the line to "Out on the road today I saw a Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac."
A 1969 Cadillac appears on the cover of the 2017 book We Three by Paul Anderson.
In 2002 a country music themed romance novel by Sabine Keevil called Guitars & Cadillacs was published.
A classic white Cadillac convertible appears on the cover of Moonshine Bandits' 2018 album "Gold Rush."
Cadillac, formally the Cadillac Motor Car Division, is a division of U.S.-based General Motors (GM) that markets luxury vehicles worldwide. Its primary markets are the United States, Canada, and China, but Cadillac-branded vehicles are distributed in 34 additional markets worldwide. Historically, Cadillac automobiles have always held a place at the top of the luxury field within the United States.[2] In 2014, Cadillac's U.S. sales were 170,750 vehicles.[3]
Cadillac is among the oldest automobile brands in the world, second in America only to fellow GM marque Buick. The firm was founded from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company in 1902, almost nine years before Chevrolet.[4] It was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms.
By the time General Motors purchased the company in 1909, Cadillac had already established itself as one of America's premier luxury carmakers. The complete interchangeability of its precision parts had allowed it to lay the foundation for the modern mass production of automobiles. It was at the forefront of technological advances, introducing full electrical systems, the clashless manual transmission and the steel roof. The brand developed three engines, with its V8 setting the standard for the American automotive industry.
Cadillac was the first American car to win the Royal Automobile Club of England's Dewar Trophy by successfully demonstrating the interchangeability of its component parts during a reliability test in 1908; this spawned the firm's slogan "Standard of the World". It won the trophy again in 1912 for incorporating electric starting and lighting in a production automobile.[5]
Founding
Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company. After a dispute between Henry Ford and his investors, Ford left the company along with several of his key partners in March 1902. Ford's financial backers William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen called in engineer Henry M. Leland of Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Company to appraise the plant and equipment in preparation for liquidating the company's assets. Instead, Leland persuaded the pair to continue manufacturing automobiles using Leland's proven single-cylinder engine. A new company called the Cadillac Automobile Company was established on 22 August 1902. It was named after French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701.[6][7]
First automobiles
Cadillac's first automobiles, the Runabout and Tonneau, were completed in October 1902. They were two-seat horseless carriages powered by a 10 hp (7 kW) single-cylinder engine. They were practically identical to the 1903 Ford Model A. Many sources state that the first car rolled out of the factory on 17 October; in the book Henry Leland – Master of Precision, the date is 20 October; another reliable source shows car number three to have been built on 16 October. Cadillac displayed the new vehicles at the New York Auto Show in January 1903, where the vehicles impressed the crowds enough to gather over 2,000 firm orders. Cadillac's biggest selling point was precision manufacturing, and therefore, reliability; a Cadillac was simply a better-made vehicle than its competitors.
Reference Desk
The Crittenden Automotive Library's "Reference Desk" is a collection of materials that cannot be shared due to copyright restrictions. Information from these resources, however, can be shared. Go to the Reference Desk page for more information.
Cadillac Participation in the World War An Expression of Appreciation to Cadillac Men for their Loyal Services in a Great Emergency and a Historical Account of Cadillac Accomplishments Cadillac Motor Car Company
In the early 2000's, Cadillac campaigned the Northstar LMP, a Le Mans Prototype race car. The Cadillac CTS is used for competition in sports car racing. Sponsored events include the Cadillac Grand Prix.
Multimedia
29 December 2016 (11:19AM) Explainer: The Beast VOA News Moving a United States president from point to point using streets and highways involves a certain amount of risk. To maximize safety for the commander in chief, the U.S. Secret Service uses an extremely specialized vehicle. Download Automakers Tackle Self-driving Car Crash Avoidance - 11.1MB - 1:06
Images
These Cadillac images can't be classified by a specific model.
Subject: 1915 Cadillac Service Car New Zealand Stamp
Source:Antique Automobile: March-April 1972 Article: News and Events: For the Stamp Collector
Caption: New Zealand recently issued an attractive set of six antique car stamps to help celebrate the 13th International Car Rally held in New Zealand in February. The six cars illustrate the development of the motor car from the earliest pioneering period to the introduction of the light economy car. The three cent stamp shows an 1895 Benz; the four cent a 1904 Oldsmobile; the five cent a 1914 Model T Ford; the six cent a 1915 Cadillac service car; the eight cent a 1924 Chrysler and the ten cent shows a 1923 Austin 7. The background scenes are appropriate to both the time and eras in which the cars were used.
View photo of 1915 Cadillac Service Car New Zealand Stamp - 2.7MB
Subject: Cadillac Advertisement
Source: Chicago Bears vs. Chicago Cardinals Game Program
Date: 9 December 1956
View 1956 Cadillac Advertisement - 4,012KB
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