Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty-Special Sedan, 1958

Cadillac was founded in 1902 from the Henry Ford Company by Henry Leland and named the company after Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founder of Detroit, later to become 'the Automotive capital of the USA'. / Motor city.

First is an attribute closely related to Cadillac's early years;

First to incorporate standardized parts production and thus awarded the Dewar Trophy for the most important advancement of the year in the automobile industry in 1908

First to enable electric starting, ignition, and lighting in 1912

First with clashless Synchro-Mesh manual transmission in 1928

First mass-produced fully automatic transmission, Hydra-Matic, in 1941

After the war Cadillac's emphasis turned to flashy desing peaking in 1959 when they introduced the model renown for its 'Flash Gordon-isque' tailfins.