Originally Posted by Stealth (Post 6119)

Cadillac

"Named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1656-1750), French explorer in North America, first Mayor of Detroit.

Cadillac uses as its emblem the arms of Antoine de La Mothe, seigneur de Cadillac, born in Gascony on March 5, 1656 of minor nobility. He founded Detroit in 1701, and was governor of Louisiana. His arms were: Quarterly, 1 and 4: Or a fess between three martlets sable, 2 and 3: quarterly gules and argent three bars azure. The count's coronet is fanciful, as was often the case in 17th and 18th c. France.

The first Cadillac car was completed on October 7, 1902 and the following January was shown at the New York Auto Show, where it impressed the crowds enough to gather over two thousand firm orders. The Cadillac's biggest selling point was its refinement; it was simply a better made vehicle than its competition.

Cadillacs were sent to England, where in Feb.-Mar. 1908, three late 1907 Model K's successfully completed the Royal Automobile Club's Standardization Test. As a result of these test results, the Cadillac Automobile Company was awarded the Dewar Trophy for 1908 (actual award date was Feb., 1909). The Dewar Trophy was an annual award for the most important advancement of the year in the automobile industry.

Cadillac was purchased by the General Motors conglomerate in 1909. "


much much more details of Cadillac history here:
http://www.car-nection.com/yann/Dbas_txt/Coatarms.htm
I believe they were the first to patent an electric starter motor to a crank start motor. royalites were paid up into the 1940's. other crank - start engines ( like catapiller tractors) had a crank start "pony engine". vin



https://www.cadillacforum.com/upfile...CF10196E94.jpg
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