Vistiq

Henry Leland founded the Cadillac Automobile Company in Detroit in August 1902 after the Henry Ford Company dissolved. The brand immediately distinguished itself for engineering precision, winning the Dewar Trophy twice (1908, 1915) from the Royal Automobile Club of Great Britain for its interchangeable parts manufacturing, a revolutionary concept that laid the foundation for mass production. General Motors acquired Cadillac in 1909. Through the 1920s and 1930s Cadillac set the standard for American prestige: the V16 of 1930, with its 7.4-litre engine, was the smoothest American car ever built. The Eldorado convertibles of the 1950s captured Jet Age optimism with extravagant tailfins. A prolonged decline through the 1970s and 1980s gave way to a genuine performance renaissance: the CTS-V of 2004 brought supercharged V8 power and genuine sports handling to the luxury sedan segment, culminating in the CT5-V Blackwing, the most powerful production Cadillac in history at 668 bhp.