The history of Cadillac is too huge and detailed to record here fully.
This is Lucy's dime novel version with pictures at the bottom.
In 1702 the Frenchman Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac was exploring North America and the Great Lakes, came to a narrow strait and found a place he thought perfect for a stockade. He called it Detroit.
Skip to 1843 and Henry Martyn Leland was born into a large Quaker farming family that was so dirt poor he had to get a job at eleven years of age. It was in a shoe factory. Henry's job was putting soles on shoes and at twelve he built a machine that did six at a time. He got promoted.
Then the American Civil War started and Henry shifted jobs to work for Samuel Colt. At this time Sam Colt was perfecting 'precision machining' so he could make the best guns in the world. When he produced the Colt Navy revolver of 1860 he changed the face of arms manufactuing forever. This is where Henery Leland learned about precision engineering.
After the Civil War Henry moved to Brown and Sharpe where, because of his abilities with precision engineering, he invented the hair clipper. Clippers today are unchanged from Henry's design. (See 'Lucy's Treasures'.)
Next in the Cadillac chain of events was Oldsmobile looking for a new engine. Henry rebuilt the standard Olds motor BUT did so using precision machining techniques - sort of like 'blueprinting'. Olds rejected the motor saying it was far too powerful!
At this time Henry Ford was fighting with his financial backers and left them to go it alone. The backers called in Henry Leland to tell them what their car manufacturing assets were worth. Henry suggested that instead of shutting down they use his engine in a new car. They loved the idea. But what to call it?
In 1902 Detroit was in a fervor of excitment about it being 200 years since Antoine Cadillac founded the City. Henry suggested they call the new car Cadillac. This is the reason Cadillac is the only car in the world with a genuine coat of arms as its badge - it's the Cadillac family's coat of arms.
The first Cadillac was the 1902 single cylinder Model A.
