What HAPPENED to Cadillac

ah I got me Cadillac Cadillac Detroit the automotive capital of the world is home to that third member of the original Trinity of General Motors Cadillac which was organized in 1902 and became part of the General Motors group in 1909. Cadillac has many firsts to its credit notably being the first to introduce the system of limits in motor car manufacturing leading to the standardization of parts in 1984 for which it was awarded the Sir Thomas Stewart trophy by the Royal Automobile Club of London again in 1913 Cadillac won the same trophy as a result of its pioneering in electric starting lighting and ignition being the first car so equipped it was the first to manufacture a four-cylinder engine and the first to manufacture av-8 engine Cadillac and LaSalle cars were the first cars to have bodies equipped with non-shutter Able glass in 1927 the LaSalle was introduced and made an unparalleled sales record for a new car in its price and quality class to say that something was the Cadillac of something meant that there was nothing better whether it was dog food or the finest Vehicles made Henry Leland represented the Relentless pursuit of quality throughout his entire career he'd been involved with Henry Ford from the founding of the company and they parted ways because of a fundamental disagreement and how they viewed transportation and thus the Cadillac automobile company was launched on its career it was founded on August 22 1902 by engineer and manufacturer Henry Leland from the remains of the Henry Ford company and named it after the founder of Detroit Frenchman Lucia Antoine de la more Cadillac quickly swinging into its tribe the first product is the famous one-cylinder model a Cadillac manufactured over 2 500 model A's which was a huge number for the time period Cadillac would be in the top 10 of automobile sales from 1904 to 1915. in 1905 the name was changed to the Cadillac motor car company and the first four-cylinder model was introduced well at that point in the motor industry when you bought an automobile it was much like buying a strange mechanical device and that you divorced from the factory and from the engineers if something broke you were on your own you had to figure out a way of fixing it yourself or fabricating a part what Leland realized was that if you had standardized parts that were readily available you would dramatically improve not only the reliability of the vehicle because of the consistent quality of Parts but also open up the opportunity for many more people to buy cars what Leland did was set up a challenge he took three stock Cadillacs and had them shipped to the UK they were raced around the track at brooklands which at that time was the most famous Automotive track in the world then each of the three Cadillacs was fully disassembled the parts were thrown into a huge bin shaken about and the mechanics were given the mandate to go reassemble the cars the cars were then raced at the track and it was clear who the winner was this Cadillac won the duo trophy for interchangeability of manufactured Parts making it the first American-made car to receive the duo trophy which contributed to Cadillac adopting the slogan standard of the world this was a great period of consolidation in the automotive industry Billy Durant came up with the notion of buying many car companies and many part suppliers and bringing them under the umbrella of one Mac automotive manufacturer and that became General Motors this young automobile company by the name of General Motors would soon go on in 1909 to purchase the Cadillac motor company for 4.5 million dollars it was one of the first marks that were brought into the fold with some amazing Innovations coming in from Leland and Cadillac for instance cranking took more muscle and Moxie than most females could muster until Cadillac and a man named Kettering found a way to start a car electrically with the push of a button this technological achievement awarded Cadillac their second Duo trophy the only automotive company to claim two Jura Awards by 1915 Cadillac had developed an astonishing reputation in the American automobile industry and their introduction of the first practical V8 engine was a continuation of the quality expectations that people had for the mark all Cadillac models were equipped with the first mass-produced V8 water-cooled engine which contributed heavily to modern day car manufacturing the 1915 Cadillac type 517 passenger turning car fitted with a V8 engine was a dependable car easy to start and Powerful at about 70 horsepower this car new was about 2 300. not everybody could afford one of these but for the money you couldn't buy a better car during World War one over two thousand of the cars were shipped overseas to be used as Army staff cars the engine became the longest running production v8 in the world within three years of its launch nearly 50 000 cars had been produced shortly after in 1917 Leland left General Motors to found Lincoln Motor Company the 1920s represented a remarkable period of consolidation and change for the American automobile industry Cadillac suddenly had many competitors so by 1927 there was a radical change in Cadillacs in two areas engineering and style harleo a custom coach Builder and designer from California was brought to Cadillac and General Motors to create Innovative designs he formed the art and colored unit of General Motors this was the first time in American auto manufacturing history that a car would be designed by a designer rather than an engineer what Earl decided to do was to come out with a companion version of the Cadillac that was smaller a bit less expensive but in every bit a stylish and that was the 1927 LaSalle Earl's design established the standard of Cadillac and made the brand one of quality and luxury in 1925 Cadillac was the first to use the curb paint and offered its customers over 500 color combinations by 1926. however Cadillac wasn't content to just rest on its laurels beginning in 1926 they commenced work on one of the most ambitious engineering programs in the history of the company and that was the development of the 16-cylinder engine this gave birth to the 1931 Cadillac V16 the V16 targeted the elite the man that had everything the average man on the street might have a four-cylinder or a six-cylinder or even an eight cylinder but a 16 cylinder it was the largest number of cylinders that were available in a production vehicle so to have 16 cylinders at your command was a thrill of a lifetime the paint job was very flamboyant for the day to be using three colors a beautiful egg cream a very light cocoa powder Brown for the body panels with the dark brown fenders and the red pinstriping were almost unheard of especially in an era where most people wanted to be known as conservative the Cadillac V16 engine was one of the first if not the first engine that went through the styling Department they wanted to hide all the wiring and the pipes and make it pleasing to the eye so aesthetically it was of the best looking engines of the classic era the fuel consumption was of no concern it was poor the average was approximately four miles per gallon what you have to remember is that fuel was 15 cents a gallon in 1930 and 1931. really wasn't of much concern to a man that could afford to buy a Cadillac V16 Cadillac also offered over 68 body styles by the mid-1930s giving their customers even more customized ability to set their cars apart from the rest two of the most infamous Cadillacs during the late 20s and early 30s belonged to AI Capone who had his Cadillacs customized with bulletproof glass and a police siren Cadillac maintained its emphasis on luxury into the early 40s as seen in vehicles such as the 1940 Fleetwood featured in The Godfather by 1941 Cadillac had a record year because they were able to dramatically lower prices the LaSalle had been dropped and they introduced the 61 series which was a great starter for people who wanted to enter the world of Cadillac ownership this would have continued along the same happy lines had it not been for the beginnings of World War II when All-American Automotive Productions switched to war material Cadillac was no different they stepped up to the plate and began producing V8 engines that were used in tanks as well as their automatic transmissions so that after the war was over many servicemen whose introduction to a Cadillac had been on a rampage going through Europe or in successful battles in Asia wanted to put that same power in their own home driveway Cadillac ownership continued to explode after the war as a result of this momentum in 1941 that same year Cadillac came up with a slight styling innovation they had been inspired by the P-38 aircraft and decided to put a little tailpiece on the back of the automobile and it was known as a tail fin it was a little bumpy thing at first but as we see it grew to astonishing proportions and captivated all of America Cadillac's combination of innovation in both engineering and style earned it the first ever car of the year award in 1949. in 1950 and 51 production doubled from that of the 40s America was enjoying the greatest prosperity of its history in a sense it was as if the entire nation had just won the lottery and was looking for a way to spend its money General Motors was more than happy to accommodate the American people would come and fantasize about the great ideas and great designs that were coming out of Detroit Harley Earl by adding gobs and gobs of chrome came out with the most unusual Innovative and dramatic styling in the entire history of American automotive design he said if the public wants fins I'm going to give them fins this is a 1959 El Dorado red convertible only about 1300 were made it was several thousand dollars more than a conventional Cadillac of the period but it was definitely the car to have you could just see the fin out of the corner of your eye they are a pleasure almost as good as sex or depending on who you're talking to may be even better Elvis Presley Dean Martin Frank Sinatra anybody that was anybody that wanted slash appeal had won soon came the El Dorado buyeritz this car was the last to be styled by Harley Earl on board gadgets included an automatic headlamp dimmer electrically adjustable seats and a total of six lighters it was claimed that 0 to 60 was possible in around 11 seconds with a top speed of 120 miles per hour the 1960s came with many Innovations in safety and comfort from Cadillac Cadillac introduced seat belts which became standard by law a year later the 60s also saw the addition of many other power conveniences there wasn't a single thing a driver had to do by that period other than point the car in the right direction put the gear shift selector in D and go and in 1964 luxuries such as automatically controlled headlamps and the first regulated heating and air conditioning system were introduced the 1970s marked Cadillac's innovation of computerized Automobiles and safety airbags were first used by Cadillac in 1974 before becoming the standard for all vehicles but that came at a big price by about 1973 and the appearance of the first U.S oil crisis the Cadillac was really looked upon as a dinosaur and Cadillac reacted by producing even more lavish and more elaborate cars resulting in a 233 inch length car weighing over 5 200 pounds with fuel consumption of about 15.2 miles to the gallon the 1976 Fleetwood by far the ultimate exposition of the grand sedan the rear bumper and all the tail lights every red piece in the 76 Cadillac lights up it was kind of like a show of Lights especially at night in 1975 Cadillac was the first U.S automaker to provide electronically injected engines and after 1976 Cadillac changed Direction and introduced its first downsized series of cars the other problem Cadillac faced in that period was that its audience was aging Cadillac wasn't capturing the core Market of successful young people that BMW and Mercedes were so successful in launching too General Motors needed to do something dramatic and they needed to do it quickly and the result was the North Star engine project it was the creation of one of the most incredible engines in Automotive History certainly in Cadillac's history the new North Star engines were called so because they were seen as the beacon for Cadillac's future like the North Star the 1980s saw a major change in styling for all cars including the Cadillac the new style came with the reintroduction of the wreath on the logo for all Cadillac vehicles Cadillacs made many improvements to car delivery and customer interaction earning at the distinction of number one in Customer Satisfaction by JD Power the 80s also came with Cadillac becoming the first manufacturer to use a microprocessor for fuel ignition and Diagnostics Cadillac still enjoyed a spotlight in pop day media it was used in movies such as Ghostbusters The Blues Brothers as well as music such as Natalie Cole's pink Cadillac the 1990s showed a decline in sales and in 1997 Cadillac sails dipped below Lincoln's for the first time in the history of the two brands General Motors dedicated a team to bring the Cadillac brand back to that of the standard of the world the logo was streamlined into a symbol closely related to today's logo the push for new styling came in the late 90s into the early 2000s the Escalade was introduced in the late 90s showing Cadillac's push to diversify its brand in relation to other manufacturers despite the losses suffered Cadillac still maintained the brand of luxury and comfort in the 90s 2002 marked the 100th anniversary of Cadillac and continued Cadillac's desire to push the boundaries of design and Innovation for appealing to a young audience can be seen in The Matrix Reloaded where the 2003 CTS is featured alongside the 2002 Escalade during a long car chase the 2000s continued to be a bumpy time for Cadillac with many successes but also many failures while the future of Cadillac is uncertain it Still Remains pivotal to American Automotive History thanks for watching please like And subscribe and I will see you on the next one

Channel: Wako Cars

Views: 144,492

Keywords: business stories, business story, documentary, cadillac, history of cadillac, story of cadillac, henry leland, history of cadillac documentary, history of cadillac escalade, history of cadillac cars, history of cadillac records, history of cadillac eldorado, history of cadillac models, history of cadillac motor company, history of cadillac deville, history of cadillac and, history of the cadillac eldorado, Cadillac sedan, 2024 Cadillac, 2005 Cadillac escalade, cadillac escalade

Id: A9PkjUVGbP0

Length: 15min 8sec (908 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 07 2022