The most interesting moments in the history of Cadillac: TOP-10

The content of the article:

• On the ruins of Ford
• In the name of the colonizer
• The first swallow
• Precision Mechanics Principle
• On a new wave
• By chance
• From war to war
• Presidential career
• Papamobile
• Star owners

Americans consider Cadillac cars not a luxurious means of transportation, but something cult, truly American, as much as possible embodying their own motto: "Life, freedom and aspiration." The best models of this brand belonged to presidents and movie stars, gangsters and cultural figures. They are sold in 50 countries, songs are dedicated to them, they become the main characters of the cinema.

The brand is one of the oldest in the world and the second oldest in its country after Buick. What did the company, which bears the name not even of its founder, as is traditionally accepted, but of the French military leader, write into the automobile chronicle?

1. On the ruins of Ford

Vermont Farm Boy Name Henry Lelanda not on hearing, not flickering next to his own creations, not inscribed in the emblem of an automobile brand. A competent engineer, he was accustomed to hard, thorough work, which allowed him to open, together with partners, a company for the production and grinding of various tools.

At first, he chose Chicago for his business as a large and promising city. However, on the day of his arrival to select a suitable production facility in 1885, a dramatic demonstration of workers who had suffered greatly in an armed clash by the police took place, which greatly impressed the young man. So Chicago missed its chance to make it into automotive history and become the home of legendary cars.

At the same time, the business partners of the Detroit car company, which bears the name of the then popular Henry Ford, revolted. They invested a lot of money in production, planning to receive a corresponding profit from the sale of passenger cars. However, Ford continued to develop his passion for racing models with the invested funds.

The Detroit plant suffered losses, the production process stopped. In order to somehow return the investment, the businessmen invited an experienced engineer to estimate the cost of the existing equipment for its subsequent sale. This man turned out to be Henry Leland.

Having looked at the level of equipment of workshops, which was very high for those times, Leland suggested not to start up the plant under the hammer, but to establish a new production. It was his firm that had just finished developing its design for an automobile motor, so a start was made. The negotiations resulted in the dismissal of Henry Ford, an agreement on the production of single-cylinder passenger cars and a new name for the company.

By the way, the overall unpleasant story had a positive effect on Ford. He was certainly angry and disappointed at first. But then he realized that he was going the wrong way, gave up motorsport and became what the whole world knows him now - one of the largest automakers in the world.

2. In the name of the colonizer

Traveler, colonizer, participant in the war against the Indians Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac) in 1701 became the founder of a trading settlement, named Fort Pontchartrain-du-Detroix. After the French, the territory began to belong to the British, who read unfamiliar words due to their abilities. Therefore, the long, beautiful name in their mouths has become simply Detroit. It was it that eventually became entrenched in the town, now the largest industrial center in America.

Leland, as an intelligent and modest man, considered it indecent to put his own name on his cars. But to name in honor of the first "mayor" of the city, which grew into the automobile "heart" of the country, it seemed to him a very logical decision. Even on the radiator grill, not some artificially invented emblem was placed, but the family coat of arms of Kadiyak.

3. First swallow

Thanks to Leland's experience in the arsenal of weapons, all of his creations were distinguished by incredible precision in design and fit of every detail to each other. It is the principle of "precision mechanics", so well mastered by Henry Leland, that car owners owe not only the highest reliability of cars, but also ease of maintenance.

Those who know and love huge, like caravels, "kings of the roads", will be surprised how small the first Cadillacs were. They were designed for 2 or 4 passengers, equipped with a 1-cylinder 10-horsepower engine and a 2-speed transmission, which together allowed them to reach speeds of up to 56 km / h.

Advertising posters from 1902 show a small car pulling a fully loaded trailer or climbing a steep slope. And it was all true about the Cadillacs.

The brand showed itself brightly during the race on Sunrise Hill, where the single-cylinder crumb, the only such representative in this competition, finished seventh out of 17 applicants. And a couple of months later, there was worldwide recognition as the leader in reliability after a thousand-mile run across England. Therefore, after the first public demonstration of the model at an exhibition in New York, the company received over two thousand orders.

4. The principle of precision mechanics

Now some automakers are flaunting claims that their cars are hand-assembled, which immediately makes them exclusive. And in the era of the formation of Cadillac, absolutely all cars were assembled by hand, which, on the contrary, was a disadvantage. Too often, elements of one model were completely inappropriate for another from the same series.

Henry Leland considered this approach incorrect and impractical, and therefore wrote out high-precision instruments from Sweden, with the help of which he decided to standardize the details of mass use as much as possible.

The resulting effect exceeded all expectations: the British Royal Automobile Club conducted an experiment in which three Cadillac models were delivered from America to England, completely disassembled. On the spot, they were again assembled without problems and fit and received functioning cars. Leland's achievement was highly praised by the community, making the company the first of any American automaker to receive the prestigious Dewar Award for Engineering Innovation.

5. On a new wave

Even with global fame and increased production, those businessmen who once did not believe in Henry Ford have now left Leland. But excellent performance and honorary awards made the company a tasty morsel, which was bought by General Motors for an astronomical amount at that time of almost $ 6 million.

Although Leland's position did not change, he was still the founder and president of the company, and quite soon he had irreconcilable contradictions with new partners.

He did not even expect that the small cars created by him, after his departure, would grow into executive cars, on which the heads of world powers would not disdain to travel. Leland himself did not lose anything, his stock of ideas and skill was enough to open a new brand - Lincoln.

6. By chance

Henry Leland was haunted by ridiculous and tragic accidents all his life. At first it was horror during the very demonstration that drove him out of Chicago. Then the death of a friend, which served as the impetus for a brilliant invention.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, all cars were started with a starting handle, which had to be turned for a long time and painfully. Leland's friend Byron Carter didn't use his car for a while, so the engine started very badly.

When it finally started up, the handle bounced off the effort, which was also a typical phenomenon for designs of that era. But Carter was hit by the handle in such a way that he died on the same day.

After the deepest shock, Leland vowed that no more cars would hurt their owners so foolishly. Immediately, together with the best specialists in his production, he took up development, and by 1911 engineer Charles Kettering had assembled one of the best and most useful automotive units - an electric starter.

7. From war to war

Leland's company became one of the few that not only did not suffer from wartime, but even gained additional experience and reputation.

First, in 1917, the US Army submitted a request for a reliable, passable command vehicle, which became the Cadillac Type 55 Touring Model. The model has established itself so well that over the entire period of hostilities, the plant supplied over two thousand of these copies to the army.

In the first months of the Second World War, Cadillac still managed to show the automotive community a few more remarkable engineering discoveries - automatic hydraulic transmission and air conditioning system.

By 1942, the plant curtailed all civilian activities and began to actively help the army. The first truly military development was the M5 "Stuart" tank, which then went into mass production and was released in the amount of one and a half thousand copies. Light tank M24, components and assemblies for aircraft engines, chassis for self-propelled howitzers - the Cadillac workshop worked at full capacity, and the products were immediately sent to the front. Even the hero of two wars, American General Douglas MacArthur, loved to drive a Series 75 Cadillac.

8. "Presidential career"

Since 1914, engineers have converted their models to 8-cylinder engines from 4-cylinder. The development was kept in strict confidence, even the design and assembly were carried out not in Detroit workshops, but in a specially rented premises outside the city. Sea trials, no less classified, were carried out in Toledo, where the engine proved to be quiet, efficient and reliable.

The first production car with a V-shaped 8-cylinder engine was the Model 51, which began a new round of the American brand's career. After the 28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, patriotically acquired for himself a primordially American car - the Cadillac Model 51, the glory of the "presidential car" was fixed to this brand.

Herbert Hoover, 31st president, opted for a 16-cylinder model; during World War II, Franklin Roosevelt hid in the armored belly of a Cadillac 341A.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 35th President, is featured in many black and white photographs inside the Cadillac Eldorado Special.

And for Barack Obama, they released the newest model, protected better than Fort Knox - its weight due to the armored body is about 8 tons. The driver's door alone weighs as much as a Boeing passenger door, and the bottom is capable of withstanding an anti-tank grenade explosion.

9. Papamobile

The funny term belongs to the special car for the trips of the Pope, who gave birth to a special kind of automotive industry. Built on a special chassis, such a car should have a large glass area so that the Pope can greet the public, and also have an armored body to avoid assassination attempts.

A one-of-a-kind Cadillac De Ville Popemobile was produced for the trip to Mexico. The increased wheelbase made it possible to place a hydraulic system for raising the chair with the Pope sitting in it, special footrests automatically went out and retracted when boarding / disembarking, respectively. The armored sides of the car successfully survived the attack on the pontiff by a 16-year-old teenager, after which the model will forever remain in history.

10. Star owners