Cadillac Type 51
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The Cadillac V8, introduced as the Type 51, is a large, luxurious
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
that was introduced in September 1914 by
Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
as a 1915 model. It was Cadillac's first V8 automobile, replacing the four-cylinder Model 30, and used the all new
GM A platform The General Motors A platform (commonly called A-body) was an automobile platform, and was GM's original, and oldest, platform used by all early GM products, beginning with the Chevrolet Superior. From this platform, all North American platforms B, ...
for the entire series shared with all GM division brands using a wheelbase, while a chassis was offered separately to be used for custom coachwork. The Types 53, 55, 57, 59, and 61 were introduced every year through 1923 with yearly improvements until an all new platform was substantially updated and introduced as the V-63 using the business philosophy called
planned obsolescence In economics and industrial design, planned obsolescence (also called built-in obsolescence or premature obsolescence) is a policy of planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life or a purposely frail design, so that ...
. It was built at the Cass Street and Amsterdam Avenue factory in Detroit, with the coachwork provided by
Fisher Body Fisher Body was an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan. A division of General Motors for many years, in 1984 it was dissolved to form other General Motors divisions. Fisher & Company (originally Allo ...
. The chassis could be purchased separately and sent to the clients choice of coachbuilder optionally. When GM decided to enter Cadillac as their top level luxury car as an alternative to luxury brands already established, it was a competitor to the all-new
Packard Twin Six The Packard Twelve was a range of V12-engined luxury automobiles built by the Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit, Michigan. The car was built from model year 1916 until 1923, then it returned 1933 until 1939. As a sign of changing times, the ma ...
. The most expensive coachwork option offered from Cadillac for 1915 was the Berline Limousine at US$3,600 ($ in dollars ). All of these models used a new L-head V8 engine, one of the first V8 engines ever mass-produced and a substantial differentiator for the
marque A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
. All bodies were built by
Fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...
. The Type 51 was also the first left-hand drive Cadillac—all previous models had been right-hand drive, which was continued as an option. Wheelbases varied in those years, with 122 in (3099 mm) at the low end and 145 in (3683 mm) as the longest. The 1916 Type 53 was the first car to use the same control layout as modern automobiles- with the gear lever and hand brake in the middle of the front two seats, a key started ignition, and three pedals for the clutch, brake and throttle in the modern order. This Cadillac was driven by a 77
horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
V8 engine. The Type 53 designation was used one year only, then each year the designation number would update for each model year. Nine body styles were offered, and for the first time, from 1916 until 1919, Cadillac offered three commercial use platforms, described as Police Patrol (US$2,955), Ambulance (US$3,455) and Hearse (US$3,880) ($ in dollars ). The 1917 Type 55 was introduced with appearance changes, and cast aluminum is used when constructing the 2-door, 4-passenger Coupe. The choice of available body styles increases to 12, including the commercial versions. The Berline coach choice is renamed Imperial due to WWI as Cadillac didn't want to associate its products with
Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. This was also the year that cross town rival
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offered a V8 luxury sedan and several different coachwork choices, while the introduction of the
Packard Twin Six The Packard Twelve was a range of V12-engined luxury automobiles built by the Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit, Michigan. The car was built from model year 1916 until 1923, then it returned 1933 until 1939. As a sign of changing times, the ma ...
appeared in 1916. For model year 1918, Cadillac offered a new coachwork option called the Type 57 Suburban which could accommodate seven passengers with a wheelbase, and was the first time GM used that description for one of their products with a retail price of US$4,090 ($ in dollars ). A new commercial coach choice labeled US Government Limousine was offered in addition to the ambulance, police patrol and hearse, and the cylinder heads on the V8 engine were now detachable for maintenance . The 1919 Type 57 again saw minor appearance changes and body styles offered, while removing the landaulet, town landaulet and hearse and adding the Imperial Suburban with a wheelbase and renaming the Town Limousine as Town Brougham. The Victoria Coupe was no longer a convertible and used aluminum in the roof construction. Body types were now identified as either 57-A or 57-B while this wasn't a Type designation for the vehicle affected. Model years 1920 and 1921 were essentially combined due to the postwar economy, material shortages, and the
Great Railroad Strike of 1922 The Great Railroad Strike of 1922, commonly known as the Railway Shopmen's Strike, was a nationwide strike of railroad workers in the United States. Launched on July 1, 1922, by seven of the sixteen railroad labor organizations in existence a ...
, while Cadillac was in transition from the Cass Street Factory to the new
Detroit Assembly Detroit Assembly (also known as Detroit Cadillac, Cadillac Assembly or Clark Street Assembly) was a General Motors automobile factory in Detroit, Michigan on Clark Street, south of Michigan Avenue (U.S. Route 12). It began operations in 1921 and Ca ...
factory nearing completion on Clark Street. Fisher Body continued the tradition of making minor appearance, equipment and feature changes, changing the angle of the windshield, or positioning of exterior lighting elements. Body style changes were now documented as First, Second and Third design and choices were now reduced to 10. The previous Type 57 had earned a favorable reputation with its deployment during the war, and orders for the latest model contributed to long waiting lists. The top level Imperial Limousine was now listed at US$5190 ($ in dollars ). A new manufacturer entered the competition, focusing on engineering excellence called
Duesenberg Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company, Inc. was an American race car, racing and luxury car, luxury automobile manufacturer founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, by brothers Fred Duesenberg, Fred and August Duesenberg in 1920. The company is ...
and offered a few body styles that were premium priced in 1921. The Type 61 was the last vehicle built at the Cass Street Factory, and due to various contributing factors carried over from the previous Type 59, was manufactured for model years 1922 and 1923. As before, there were various appearance, equipment, standard and optional feature changes to include an extendable trunk rack on the rear of the most body styles, runningboard kick plates on five-passenger sedan and phaeton, along with the inclusion of nickel-plated exterior lights and radiator shell offered. The diameter of the wheels was reduced to lower the center of gravity, while the wheelbase was the only choice. Body style continued to be documented as First, Second and Third Design, and 41,001 vehicles were produced. For the first time, the prices were reduced across all models following an automobile industry trend due to increased production schedules, improved manufacturing efficiency and economic pressures. The top level Landaulet Sedan was US$5290 ($ in dollars ) while the Imperial Limousine was US$4950 ($ in dollars ).


Notes

Although this car did not sell in vast numbers due to the price, it introduced the modern gearshift and handbrake deployment of an automobile that is still used today shared with other GM products. This layout became popular with the
Austin 7 The Austin 7 is an economy car that was produced from 1923 until 1939 in the United Kingdom by Austin. It was nicknamed the "Baby Austin" and was at that time one of the most popular cars produced for the British market and sold well abroad. ...
, which copied the control layout from the Cadillac Type 53. In May 1916,
Erwin "Cannonball" Baker Erwin George "Cannon Ball" Baker (March 12, 1882 – May 10, 1960) was an American motorcycle and automobile racing driver and organizer in the first half of the 20th century. Baker began his public career as a vaudeville performer, but turned to ...
and William Sturm drove a Cadillac Roadster from
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to
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in 7 days, 11 hours, and 52 minutes. In July 1917, the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
needed a dependable staff car and chose the Cadillac Type 55 Touring Model after exhaustive tests on the Mexican border during the
Mexican Border War (1910–1919) The Mexican Border War, or the Border Campaign, refers to the military engagements which took place in the Mexican–American border region of North America during the Mexican Revolution. The war's time period encompassed World War I, during wh ...
. 2,350 of the cars were supplied for use in France by officers of the
American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...
in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. File:1915 Cadillac Model 51 V8 p1.JPG, Type 51 Imperial limousine 1915 File:1916 Cadillac Victoria.jpg, Type 53 Victoria 1916 File:Cadillac Suburban at Legendy 2014.JPG, Type 55 Suburban 1917 File:Cadillac 57 V8 Town Car 1917.jpg, Type 57 Town Car 1919 File:1921 Cadillac Suburban.jpg, Type 59 Suburban 1921 File:1922 Cadillac Phaeton (4940917876).jpg, Type 61 Phaeton 1922


See also

*
Buick Six The Buick Six was a top level automobile produced by GM's Buick Division which was first introduced in 1914, and was the senior vehicle to the Buick Series B Four. It was an all new platform which was shared with the Oldsmobile Six and was the f ...
*
Oldsmobile Light Eight The Oldsmobile Light Eight was an automobile produced by the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors in roadster, two-door coupe, four-door sedan from between 1916 and 1923. It was powered by a sidevalve V8 engine, the maker's first, and share ...
*
Oldsmobile Model 42 The Model 42 was an entry-level four seat passenger car produced by GM's Oldsmobile Division in 1914, offered as a replacement to the Oldsmobile Curved Dash runabout (car), runabout when it was discontinued in 1908, and was the junior platform to ...
*
Oakland Six The Oakland Six was the first six-cylinder engine offered by the Oakland Motor Company in 1913 which became a division of General Motors in 1909. The Oakland Six was offered in many different model names that changed every year, along with severa ...
*
Chevrolet Series FA The Chevrolet Series FA (or Chevrolet FA) of 1917–1918 is an American vehicle manufactured by GM's Chevrolet Division. It was a replacement of the Series F which had improvements in engine capacity as well as other features. In this transf ...


References


External links

* {{Cadillac timeline 51 53 Cars introduced in 1916