Cadillac

Cadillac is the highest of the high class vehicles sold by General Motors, with Buick being second to it (as another GM class and brand of vehicle line).  The Cadillac Company was created from the burning remains of the HFC (Henry Ford Company) and the company was dissolved.  Intent on liquidating the plant in 1902, the two fiscal backing investors Murphy and Bowen asked an engineer named Henry Leland to price the items to be sold – instead he convinced the two to keep going, and use his new engine.  Thus they renamed the company and it got the name Cadillac.  Within a decade it was already making finely engineered vehicles that were the epitome of luxury vehicles and actually set the standards for many things, such as being the very first to use electric starters on the engines which replaced the often arm-breaking engine crank – followed by being the first to use the V8 engine in 1914, not to mention using electricity to light the lights rather than a lantern using fire.  Later in the 20’s they decided to use a designer to make the car look nice first, then incorporated shatter-resistant glass a year later, followed by automatic transmissions instead of manuals, and a V16 engine.

In 1909 it was incorporated into GM and then suffered extreme low sales in the depression of the 30’s. After this they bounced back by changing their often racially segregated auto sales by allowing anyone to buy a Cadillac (hard to imagine that could happen – but it was the 1930s) after these policy changes and other changed Cadillac remained the only automobile brand to earn a profit in the depression – and sped up production while reducing costs by being the very first to use Phillips Screws and Drivers.  Today Cadillac remains on the cutting edge and as one of the highest quality auto brands in the world on par with the oft coveted Rolls Royce.

Further Readings:

• Cadillac SRX Earns IIHS Safety Award Thanks To Its New Roof