August 22, 2023 – Cadillac

121 years ago today, Cadillac Automobile Company was established! Cadillac is one of the world’s first automotive brands and was named after French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the founder of Detroit. Cadillac’s crest is based on his coat of arms.
Cadillac was formed after the collapse of the Henry Ford Company. Ford left the company along with some of his key partners in March 1902, after a dispute with his investors. His financial backers had an engineer named Henry Leland come in to appraise the plant and equipment in preparation for liquidating their assets. But Leland had a different idea. He convinced them to keep manufacturing automobiles using his proven single-cylinder engine, establishing the Cadillac Automobile Company.
Cadillac’s first automobiles were the Runabout and Tonneau, completed in October 1902. They were two-seat horseless carriages with a 10 hp single-cylinder engine, very similar to the Ford Model A. They were displayed at the New York Auto Show in 1903 and were so impressive that the company got more than 2,000 orders. The first Cadillacs sold for $850, and in it’s first year of production Cadillac manufactured nearly 2500 cars.
General Motors purchased the company in 1909, and by that time Cadillac had already established itself as a premier luxury car brand. Its precision parts were completely interchangeable, paving the way for the modern mass production of automobiles. The company was innovative when it came to technological advances. It introduced the first full electric systems, steel roofs, and they were the first to make power steering and automatic windshield wipers standard on their entire lineup of vehicles.
It didn’t take long before Cadillac became the manufacturer favored by the rich and famous. Everyone from Al Capone, Elvis, and even Presidents drove Cadillacs. Speaking of presidents, the current presidential state car, introduced in 2018, is a Cadillac. Nicknamed “The Beast”, it has many defensive features to protect the president – it’s hermetically sealed against chemical attacks, has night-vision devices, smoke screens, and oil slicks as defensive measures against attackers. The car is armored with steel, ceramic, and steel, with 8″ thick interior walls and 5″ thick windows. Each door handle can also be electrified to prevent entry.
Another famous Cadillac fan was Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics. She bought her first pink Cadillac in 1968, and the following year started awarding the company’s top salespeople with similarly painted 1970 Coupe de Villes. Since then, GM has painted more than 100,000 custom cars for Mary Kay. Learn more here.