The Cadillac Automobile Company was founded in 1902, after an early incarnation of Henry Ford’s company broke up in disagreement. Some of the investors were persuaded to stick with car manufacture by businessman and engineer Henry M Leland, who had developed a reliable 10bhp single-cylinder engine and wanted to build a car to go with it. The name came from Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, a French adventurer credited with the founding of Detroit.
Cadillac’s first cars were well made and therefore successful, thanks also to their modest price − $750 was a fortune to most, but less than many rivals. By 1907, though, Leland had decided on a deliberate move upmarket; yet, people need a reason to spend more. Part of the credit for Cadillac’s early reputation probably lies with FS Bennett, the marque’s British agent. He allowed a daring proof of Cadillac’s unmatched precision of manufacture: in an era when almost every component was still hand-fettled to fit, Bennett thought that three Cadillacs could be entirely dismantled, their parts mingled and the cars rebuilt.
Bennett and Leland brought their cars and mechanics to Brooklands in Surrey in March 1908 and accomplished the task, under the close scrutiny of RAC officials. The RAC then performed a 500-mile track test of each car. All three came through the
