The history of Cadillac can be divided up into three parts. In the beginning there were humble economy cars, then innovations such as V8, V12 and V16 engines and electric lightning/starting were made, but production was still low. After World War 2 and centralized control from General Motors management and order books of 100,000 cars the strategy again changed.
During the time when General Motors Management had control, the car repair industry was also thriving. The Cadillac presented a new way for the public to see the use of a car. It was a luxury model, high price to begin with, with low amounts of repair for the long term.
Henry Leland the founder of Cadillac was older than many of the U.S. motor pioneers and already a well-established engineer, when his engineering company built its first car. Before that they had produced transmissions and single cylinder engines for Ransom Olds famous Curved Dash. And even though the engines were superior to their contemporaries, Olds rejected the latest engine because of the costs.
While Leland was still searching for and alternative market he got the chance to buy the remnants of the Henry Ford Company after Henry Ford had departed. By using Leland’s single-cylinder engine they started to build a new car, which was first displayed at the New York Automobile Show in 1903. As they couldn’t use the Ford name, they named it Cadillac, after the 17th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701. The Cadillac Model A was a small simple car with Leland’s single-cylinder-engine lying horizontally under the seat and giving little indication of the exotic creations that would follow.
Even though exact production figures for the first year are uncertain, it attracted over 2,000 orders a week.
The first move upmarket was the four-cylinder 303-ci Model D which was launched in 1905. And even though the Model D only made up a tiny proportion of Cadillac’s production that year, it clearly showed where the company’s direction lay.
Later that very year the Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing was taken over by the Cadillac Automobile Company and Leland became general manager.
Leland transferred the precision engineering and consisting production standards he valued to car production and in 1907 imported the ‘Jo Block’ gauges from Sweden. They were invented by Carl Edward Johannssen, ensuring that every component was identical. So no filing and fashioning of individual parts was necessary until they fitted, they could be simply bolted on. This of course not only speeded up production but also made up for more reliable cars.
Leland’s British importer, Frederick S. Bennett, demonstrated that in 1908 by completely dismantling three single-cylinder Cadillacs, mixing up the parts and reassembling them into three cars, which started and ran without a hitch.
In 1909 the singles were replaced by the four-cylinder Thirty, which was cheaper than the existing four and a big advance on the single. The engine measured 227 ci, which was enough to give the car a reasonable performance. A range of three body-styles was available. Of the well-engineered and affordable Thirty nearly 6,000 were sold in the first year.
Of course the success didn’t go unnoticed and Cadillac was acquired by William C. Durant in 1909. Henry Leland, assisted by his son, remained at the helm for a while but when war broke out in Europe in 1914 he wanted to produce aero engines but was overruled by Durant. As furious as he was he and his son resigned and started to make engines themselves. After the war the Lincoln Company went on to built luxury cars but was soon facing bankruptcy and was taken over by Ford. As that didn’t work very well Henry Leland and his son Wilfred left the company within months with Henry going into active retirement.
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