Cadillac's reputation for quality and luxury can be traced all the way back to the company's inception. When Henry Ford walked away from frustrated financial backers William Murphy and Lemuel W. Bowen in 1902, Murphy and Bowen called in Henry Martyn Leland to assess the value of the plant's tooling so that it could be sold off. Leland, a precision machinist, instead convinced Murphy and Bowen to make use of his high-horsepower engine (originally designed for and rejected by Oldsmobile). The new company (named Cadillac after Leland's uncle, the French explorer who founded Detroit) earned immediate distinction for the quality and reliability of Leland's work and the cars' refined styling. Leland's skill as a machinist was key in the development of part interchangeability, a revolutionary concept hand-in-hand with mass-production. GM purchased the company in 1909 and developed it as the conglomerate's premier high-end marque.
Pre-war Cadillacs were renowned for their smooth, powerful, and quiet V12 and V16 engines, and many received custom, coachbuilt bodies. Post-war, Cadillac embraced and led styling trends like fins, egg-crate grills, simulated vents, and chrome trim. The Eldorado debuted in... View more 1953 and remained in production until 2002, making it the longest-running personal luxury car in American automotive history. The 1949 Coupe de Ville was joined by a four-door pillarless Sedan de Ville in 1956.
The outrageous styling was replaced with cleaner, more understated lines into the '60s and '70s, but the proportions remained large and bold, with engine output reaching 500 cubic inches by 1970. Cadillac remained king of the dwindling luxury market through the malaise-era '70s, but GM started downsizing body and engine sizes by 1977.
Despite its heritage as the second-oldest American car company (after Oldsmobile), Cadillac has most recently avoided nostalgic references to its past. The company's "art and science" design and marketing campaign is distinctly futuristic and takes on luxury and performance competitors from Japan and Germany head-on. The RWD mid-sized CTS was Cadillac's first manual-transmission car since 1988, and the sport-wagon version (2008) was the first non-hearse Cadillac wagon ever built. The full-sized DTS (DeVille Touring Sedan), released in 2006, is reportedly the car of choice for billionaire Warren Buffett, though Cadillac has said the DTS will be merged with the mid-sized STS for 2011, and called the XTS.
The mid-sized crossover SUV SRX was released in 2004. The luxury SUV Escalade (introduced in 1999 and the most stolen vehicle in the country), has been offered in a hybrid version since 2008. The award-winning Converj concept car, first shown in 2009, was to be Cadillac's plug-in hybrid, but the project was reported abandoned in January 2010. View less
The Cadillac CTS is a mid-size vehicle sold as a coupe, sedan or sport wagon. The design has a front engine placement and comes in either four-wheel or rear-wheel drive. The CTS sports a smaller frame than...
The Cadillac DeVille served as the luxury marque's remaining full-sized offering after the 1996 discontinuation of the rear-wheel-drive Fleetwood. The DeVille is representative of the traditional American...
The Cadillac DTS is the current flagship model of the American luxury auto marque. Unlike most traditional luxury vehicles, the DTS uses a front-engined, front-wheel drive platform. One benefit to the...
The Cadillac Escalade is a luxury, full-size sport utility vehicle that is available in both the Chevy Suburban-based ESV model and the Avalanche-based EXT sport utility truck model. The Escalade has a 6.2 L...
The Cadillac Seville has been in production two different times, first in the 1950s and 1960s as a two-door hardtop coupe, and later as a four-door sedan. It returned to production as a smaller luxury Cadillac...
The SRX represents Cadillac's mid-sized foray into the luxury crossover SUV market. The SRX uses the Cadillac Art & Science" design language to produce a sharp and athletic crossover with the looks to back its...
The Cadillac STS is the luxury marque's mid-size luxury sports sedan. The STS employs Cadillac's well-known Art & Science" design philosophy, giving it an edgy and athletic look that is sure to attract...
The sleek looking Cadillac XLR is an ultra luxury Grand Touring 2-door coupe convertible roadster that also was the flagship vehicle of Cadillac during its production from 2004 to 2009. It is powered by a...
