Cadillac Automobile - History
The first Cadillac was built from designs by Henry Ford . Henry Ford sold his shares of the Henry Ford Motor Company to his partners in 1902 and went on to found the Ford Motor Company . The partners hired Henry Leland (an engineer) to assess the company assets for liquidation of the company . After starting his evaluation of the company , Leland talked the owners into building automobiles instead . Leland renamed the company , the Cadillac Automobile Company . In 1905 Leland merged his Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing company with Cadillac . The name Cadillac came from the name of the founder of Detroit . The Cadillac Automobile Company was purchased by William Durant and his General Motors Corporation in 1909 . Shatter proof glass in an steel roofs 1926 . Cadillac was credited with many firsts in the automobile industry . Interchangeable parts in 1908 . Fully enclosed body in 1910 . The first electric ignition , starter and lighting system in 1912 . The first syncro-mesh manual transmission in 1928 . The first V16 engine in 1930 .
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Cadillac was noted to be a world leader in luxury automobiles of those times .
Cadillac is still the Luxury Automobile division of General Motors , today .
