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Cadillac Cars

Cadillac is a brand of luxury automobile, part of General Motors, produced and mostly sold in the United States and Canada; outside of North America, they have been less successful. In the United States, the name became a synonym for "high quality", used in such phrases as "the Cadillac of clocks." This is less prevalent, though still known, in other English-speaking countries (who are more likely to use Rolls-Royce in such phrases).

Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company when Henry Ford departed along with several of his key partners. With the intent of liquidating the firm's assets, Ford's financial backers, William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen called in engineer Henry M. Leland to appraise the plant and equipment prior to selling them. Instead, Leland persuaded them to continue in the automobile business. Henry Ford's departure required a new name, and on August 22, 1902, the company reformed as the Cadillac Automobile Company.

The Cadillac automobile was named after the 17th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founder of Detroit, Michigan in 1701.

Cadillac was purchased by the General Motors conglomerate in 1909.

Cadillac became General Motors' prestige division, devoted to the production of large luxury vehicles. The Cadillac line was also GM's default marque for "commercial chassis" institutional vehicles, such as ambulances, limousines, hearses, and funeral home flower cars. The latter two of which were custom made by aftermarket manufacturers, GM does not produce any such vehicles on its own.

In 1911, Cadillac was the first gasoline internal combustion engine auto to incorporate electric start, as opposed to earlier crank start. Originally marketed as a convenience device for female drivers, the electric starter developed by Charles Kettering was first used on the production models of 1912. Other innovations included the first V8 engine in mass production in 1915; shatter-resistant safety glass in 1926; and the first fully synchronized transmission (with gears "locked" in relation to one another to prevent clashing upon execution of a shift) in 1928. About this time, automobile stylist Harley Earl, whom Cadillac had recruited in 1926 and who was to head the new Art and Color section starting in January 1928, designed for 1927 a new, smaller "companion" car to the Cadillac which he called the La Salle, after another French explorer, Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. That model remained in production until 1940.

Pre-World War II Cadillacs were well-built, powerful, mass-produced luxury cars, aimed at an upper class market, below that of such ultra-exclusive marques such as Pierce-Arrow and Duesenberg. In the 1930s, Cadillac added cars with 12- and 16-cylinder engines to their range, many of which were fitted with custom coach-built bodies; these engines were remarkable at the time for their ability to deliver a combination of high power, silky smoothness and quietness.

From the post war error until modern day, the Cadillac has been a car of luxury and known for its smooth ride and quietness usually only sold to the wealthiest of clients. In fact, Cadillac suffered its lowest points when trying to incorporate a vehicle for younger and median income clients perhaps targeting the wrong audience. Cadillac learned from the hardships that escalated in the early 1980's with such models as the compact Cimarron, and began once again marketing towards more mature and middle to upper class individuals, those that wanted luxury and comfort in their automobiles.

Today, Cadillac operates under the philosophy of “art and science”…encapsulating the beauty of the vehicle with the science behind it, sharper lines, stacked headlamps, and angular grilles serve multiple roles. As well, Cadillac has moved into the sport utility line of vehicles like the popular Escalade, offering luxury and comfort to those that need the power and necessity of a sport utility vehicle.