Most stories begin with some kind of event that creates an opportunity. That opportunity then has to be taken advantage of or the story won’t exist. Cadillac began exactly that way. The opportunity was when Henry M. Leland was called into appraise the former plant of the Henry Ford Company after a dispute between Henry Ford and his investors. Instead of completing the appraisal, Henry Leland convinced Henry Ford’s old investors to allow him to continue car production using his single-cylinder engine design. The Cadillac Automobile Company was established soon after on August 22, 1902.
From its inception, Cadillac differentiated itself from the competition with precision engineering and stylish luxury finishes, even in the early horseless carriage designs. The first horseless carriage models shown at the 1903 New York Auto Show drew thousands of orders because of that precision focus.
In 1909, GM purchased the Cadillac brand in order to build a large luxury vehicle line. Early on, Cadillac also became the commercial vehicle brand for limousines, ambulances, hearses and so on. As time passed, Cadillac continued to focus on technological advancements to separate its brand.
In 1915, Cadillac introduced the 90-degree flathead V8 engine and in 1930 Cadillac experimented with the first V-16 engine. The years continued on; Cadillac survived the depression, World War 2 and managed to continue to innovate without compromising its luxury integrity.
Today, Cadillac continues to build cars with precision engineering and luxury finishes. It is that mindset that continues to evolve the brand and allow Cadillac to compete with the top luxury cars on the market.
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