1908 Cadillac

The Cadillac Automobile Company was formed in 1902 in Detroit, Michigan, when William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen called in Henry Martin Leland of Leland and Faulconer who specialized in making precision gears. Leland had developed a refined engine for Oldsmobile but it had been rejected because retooling the Oldsmobile factory would have been necessary. Murphy and Bowen had been financial backers behind the Detroit Automobile Company and asked Leland to appraise a plant they owned so they could sell it. Leland showed them his engine and they decided to keep the plant and stay in the business. They named it the Cadillac Automobile Company, the president was C. A. Black, and they developed a Cadillac automobile by 1902. Our 1908 Cadillac was the last year Cadillac still manufactured a vehicle with a single cylinder engine. The factory price was $1000. It still features a copper water jacket. It sits on an 81 inch wheelbase, and it has a standard set of lights and a horn. The model is original, but about 1914 a box was added to the back so it could be used by a vegetable farmer in Indiana. This Cadillac still retains the original floor mats, and the mats on the running boards are intact. For tires it uses the Ridgley system of rims which were a type of clamp-on tire rims. A notable feature of this car is that a lubrication system consisting of a very unusual glass oiler is visible on the front wheel kingpin.