[4] Cadillac, founded in 1902, is among the first automotive brands in the world, fourth in the United States only to Autocar Company (1897) and fellow GM marques Oldsmobile (1897) and Buick (1899).

By the time General Motors purchased the company in 1909, Cadillac had already established itself as one of America's premier luxury car makers.

It was at the forefront of technological advances, introducing full electrical systems, the clashless manual transmission and the steel roof.

Cadillac had the first U.S. car to win the Royal Automobile Club of the United Kingdom's Dewar Trophy by successfully demonstrating the interchangeability of its component parts during a reliability test in 1908; this spawned the firm's slogan "Standard of the World".

[8] From its earliest years, Cadillac aimed for precision engineering and stylish luxury finishes, causing its cars to be ranked amongst the finest in the United States.

Cadillac participated in the 1908 interchangeability test in the United Kingdom, and was awarded the Dewar Trophy for the most important advancement of the year in the automobile industry.

The Cadillac line was also GM's default marque for "commercial chassis" institutional vehicles, such as limousines, ambulances, hearses and funeral home flower cars, the last three of which were custom-built by aftermarket manufacturers.

[10][11] In 1915, Cadillac introduced a 90-degree flathead V8 engine with 70 horsepower (52 kW) at 2400 rpm and 180 pound force-feet (240 N⋅m) of torque, allowing its cars to attain 65 miles per hour (105 km/h).

[11] In July 1917, the United States Army needed a dependable staff car and chose the Cadillac Type 55 Touring Model after exhaustive tests on the Mexican border.

[13] Pre-World War II Cadillacs were well-built, powerful, mass-produced luxury cars aimed at an upper-class market.

[14] In the 1920s and 1930s Cadillac and Buick vehicles were popular with longer-distance passenger service operators e.g. the Nairn Transport Company in the Middle East (Baghdad-Damascus) and Newmans Coach Lines in New Zealand.

He entered into talks with General Motors and convinced the Cadillac group his new screws would speed assembly times and therefore increase profits.

Incorporating many of the ideas of then General Motors styling chief Harley J. Earl, these included tailfins, wraparound windshields, and extensive use of chrome.

What had started out after the war as a pair of artillery shell-shaped bumper guards[19] moved higher on the front-end design as the 1950s wore on.

The dual-reservoir brake master cylinder, with separate front and rear hydraulic systems, was introduced in 1962, six years ahead of the federal requirement.

Starting in the late 1960s, Cadillac offered a fiber-optic warning system[citation needed] to alert the driver to failed light bulbs.

[31] The years 1967 and 1968 saw the introduction of a host of federally mandated safety features, including energy-absorbing steering columns and wheels, soft interior and instrument panel knobs and surfaces, front shoulder belts, and side marker lights.

Coupe de Ville's popular "Cabriolet" option, priced at $348, included a rear-half padded vinyl roof covering and opera lamps.

Cadillac brought out a dramatic redesign for the Seville in 1980 featuring a bustle-back rear-end styling theme and a move to the same front-wheel-drive chassis as the Eldorado.

Automotive journalist Dan Neil included the Cimarron in his 2007 list of the "Worst cars of all time", saying "everything that was wrong, venal, lazy, and mendacious about GM in the 1980s was crystallized in this flagrant insult to the good name and fine customers of Cadillac.

The Sixty Special returned in 1987 as the top owner-driven Cadillac in the front-wheel-drive GM C-body lineup, with a planned production run of just 2,000 cars.

It was originally scheduled for a 1983 release, later delayed to 1985, with its intended applications being the downsized front-wheel-drive models Cadillac would introduce that year.

Regarded as GM's most technically complex engine, the original double overhead cam, four valve per cylinder, aluminum block/aluminum head V8 design was developed by Oldsmobile's R&D, but is most associated with Cadillac's Northstar series.

For 1992, the Seville was redesigned to better compete with luxury performance sedans from Europe and had adopted some styling cues from the 1988 Cadillac Voyage concept car.

An SRS passenger's-side front airbag became standard equipment after a restyling in 1996, which also brought revised exterior styling and new audio systems with TheftLock coded anti-theft technology.

The new name brought the DeVille into line with Cadillac's Art and Science-era nomenclature, which saw the Seville renamed the STS and the Catera replacement called the CTS.

[43] Powered by a supercharged OHV 6.2 L LSA V8 engine, an automatic version of the CTS-V lapped the Nürburgring in 7:59.32, at the time a record for production sedans.

The Cadillac XT6, a new seven-seat luxury mid-size crossover SUV, was introduced on January 12, 2019, at the North American International Auto Show.

Cadillac's most successful venture into motorsports in recent years has been its use of the CTS-V in the SCCA World Challenge Grand Touring class.

[53] On November 25, 2024, Formula One announced that it has reached an agreement in principle with General Motors, allowing them to join the series from the 2026 season.