 |
Fine Lines: Cadillac, The First 50 Years by Malcolm Gunn / Auto123.com |
|
Long before tailfins and an era of garish excess, Cadillac and its cars were purely based on technical excellence and being the best. Cadillac. Cutting edge. Two separate thoughts that might never have been joined had it not been for a brilliant engineer and the slogan "Standard of the World." And before the brand seemed to take on the image of excess in the 1950s, the company was really all about success and the landmark innovations that made it all possible. Let's take you back... It's entirely appropriate that Cadillac, one of the best-known and longest-running marques in the 100-plus-year history of the automobile, should be named for the founder of Detroit. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a French army lieutenant, established an outpost beside the Detroit River in 1701. Similarly, the pioneering car company that bears his name dates back to the earliest days of the automobile.
In those days, engines were individually built: the parts from one motor would not exactly fit into another of the same size and type. Leland's skills as a machinist changed all that. His breakthrough in parts
Winning the Dewar's Cup gave Cadillac considerable bragging rights as the first American-based manufacturer so honored, and Leland was hailed in the fledgling auto industry as the "master of precision." From 1903-'08, more than 16,000 one-cylinder Cadillacs (at $800 per copy) were sold, making it the second most popular North American car on the market, behind Oldsmobile but ahead of Ford, which was about to launch the Model T. However, in a decision that was to change the course of the company, single-cylinder models were dropped in 1909 in favor of four-cylinder power. Then, a new Cadillac (the brand was part of the General Motors group) cost more than twice that of a one-cylinder model, vaulting it into the luxury automobile class, virtually overnight.
By 1915, other premium models had adopted more powerful and smoother-operating inline six-cylinder engines and Cadillac sales plummeted in the face of increasing competition. The pressure was on. Leland, in his typical inventive fashion, had ideas of his own. He had been impressed with an earlier V8 engine pioneered by De Dion, a french car builder, and in late 1914 Cadillac launched the Type 51 that incorporated De Dion's design. The 70-horsepower Type 51 became the first mass-produced V8 American car and was a huge hit with buyers. At a base price of around $2,000, it was also considered a relative bargain compared to the pricier Packards and Pierce-Arrows. |
