Excellence From the Beginning
When an early Henry Ford Motor Company failed, investors asked
master machinist Henry Martyn Leland to help sell the plant, but
Leland advised them to keep it and make improvements, like installing
his more powerful 10.25 hp, one cylinder engine in the Ford chassis.
They were convinced, hired him as head of the company, and renamed
the car, "Cadillac," in honor of the founder of Detroit,
a French explorer named Cadillac. It was 1902, and Leland's superior
workmanship was soon felt in every Cadillac. General Motors noticed
and bought Cadillac for 5.5 million dollars cash in 1909. They
bought a long standing winner. Cadillac's superior innovations
and high quality manufacturing have been trend-setting, and today's
Cadillacs proudly carry the distinctive mantle of excellence,
begun by its famous forbears in 1902.