Style and design.

Few brands define the prestige and design as exclusive to North American vehicles as the Cadillac. Ironically, that car that defines American style has a name that is pure French stock. We say this because its founder Henry Leland, who was a master mechanic and businessman, named the company in 1902 after his predecessor, a French navy officer named Antonie de la Mothe Cadillac, who was the founder of the city of Detroit. Something worth mentioning is that the Cadillac dynasty used a coat of arms, which was divided into squares, above had a crown of seven peaks and wrapped in a garland of laurel. It was precisely this shield that Leland used when making his first vehicles, so it can be said that Cadillac is the only American brand that can be proud to carry a real coat of arms.

History.

The Cadillac company is formed after W. Murphy and Henry Ford had had had differences, given this Ford resigns and Murphy decides to liquidate it, so he calls the engineer Henry Leland intending to evaluate the facilities and equipment and prepare them for liquidation along with the other assets of the company. Leland meets again with Murphy and suggests that he does not liquidate it, but rather organizes it. This is how the company was born with the name Cadillac Automobile Co, in which Leland was named as its president.

Leland, who had already worked at the Colt and in a precision machinery factory, acquires his ability to handle parts up to one millionth of an inch, so much so that he develops an obsession for precision, he later stated: “The inspection system was so accurate that it practically included the impossibility of there being an imperfect part that was not detected by the body of experts, trained according to Cadillac’s high levels of organization. Even the smallest parts such as screws, nuts and washers are inspected.

First Cadillac.

The first Cadillac was created in 1902, it was a single-cylinder vehicle with interchangeable parts and was cheaper to manufacture. The following year, at the 1903 New York Auto Show, Cadillac showcased its new cars where it so impressed the crowds that it managed to register 2000 orders at the end of the event. During that year he managed to sell 2500 units, a great figure for the time. In 1905 they launched the Osceola model, which was the first step in the design of closed cars. By 1908, William Crapo Durant, founder of General Motors, turned his attention to Cadillac with the idea of buying it; he made several offers to Leland, which were rejected. Finally in 1909 and after increasing the price, Leland accepts the offer and Durant acquires Cadillac for 4.5 million dollars and allocates it to the production of large luxury vehicles. Leland continued to run Cadillac until 1917 when he founded the competition for Cadillac, the other well-known luxury vehicle manufacturer: Lincoln Motor Company.