Cadillacs

     I must admit I have a soft spot for Cadillacs. We are an immigrant family arriving on these shores almost sixty years ago. My father a car guy always aspired to owning the best, “the Standard of the World”, a Cadillac. Being a mechanic and in the car business it wasn’t that long before he had achieved his goal. By the mid fifties he was dealing in the famous mark. He never kept them long, selling them on his used car lot and moving on to the next. I grew up with these magnificent cars.
     So how did Cadillac become the “standard of the world”? I did some investigation. Question, which manufacturer was the first to offer interchangeable parts? Cadillac. Who was the first to introduce electric lighting? Cadillac. What car introduced the electric starter, opening up the automotive world to women and small men? Cadillac. Which car company standardized the pedal arrangement that we still use today. Gas on the left, brake in the middle, clutch on the right? Cadillac.
     It was through sound engineering and innovation that the Cadillac brand made it’s reputation. They weren’t cheap. They were reliable, easy to use and robust. The 1912 Caddy ranged in price from 1800 to 2250 Yankee greenbacks. Compare this to a Model T at $300. Compare this to the fact that you could buy a modest house for $600. Most importantly the cars worked and worked well. “In May, 1916, Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker and Wm. F. Sturm drove a V-8 Cadillac Roadster from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 days, 11 hours, 52 minutes. They bettered their previous time, driven in another make of car, by 3 days, 19 hours, 23 minutes”.
     The folks at GM really knew their cars and how to promote them in those early days. They had laid the ground work for decades of automotive supremacy. Some once told me , “in the real world if you don’t promote yourself or your product no one else will do it for you”. A lesson the folks a Cadillac are just starting to relearn.