1916 Hearse	1941 60 Special	1949 Fleetwood	1951 Series 62	1953 Fleetwood	1956 Fleetwood	1957 Coupe deVille
1958 60 Special	1959 Series 62	1960 Eldorado	1961 Coupe deVille	1962 Fleetwood Limo	1964 Fleetwood	1966 de Ville
1967 de Ville	1968 Eldorado	1972 Sedan de Ville	1974 Eldorado	1976 Fleetwood	1979 Eldorado	1985 Seville
	1985 Cimarron	1988 Brougham d'Elegance	1993 Allante	1997 Eldorado	2002 de Ville

Cadillac started out as The Henry Ford Motor Company, was run by Henry Leland (who went on to found Lincoln Motors), became a top rival to their companies, and set the luxury car standard for most the 20th century.  Cadillacs were usually a bit flashier than the other luxury marques (Packard, Marmon, Lincoln), but in the 1950's flash took to new heights in the age of fins, chrome and "Dagmars."

Things toned-down a bit in the 1960's, and as the 1970's closed, fuel prices and demographic trends make Cadillacs less of a world standard and more of a reflection of the past.  In the late 1980's and 1990's Cadillac fought back with innovations and an embrace of more modern sensibilities, with an American flavor.  Cadillac even went with the times and introduced a truck/SUV at the turn of the new millennium.

• The slogan "Standard of the World", first used in 1908, refers to the award for precision.
• Cadillac stopped making four-cylinder engines in 1914, in favor of V-8's.
• Cadillac introduced the world's first-ever production V-16 in 1930.
• Cadillac made dual brake hydraulics standard in 1962.
• Cadillac offered airbags in 1974.

• Cadillac introduced the world's first transverse FWD V-8 in 1985.

© 2002 San Francisco Historical Automobile Society, P.O. Box 880233, San Francisco, CA 94188-0233