Overview & Reviews

Owned by General Motors, Cadillac is America's most prestigious domestic luxury automaker. For most of its existence, the company was known exclusively for its cushy, senior-friendly sedans, but in more recent years the automaker has revised and expanded its lineup in a successful effort to attract a new, younger generation. Cadillac's roster now includes SUVs (its Escalade is a favorite of both rappers and suburban moms), a crossover and even a high-performance wagon.

Born in 1902, Cadillac was founded by Henry Martyn Leland, a manufacturer of automotive components. He named the company after a noted French explorer who discovered Detroit in the early 1700s. Leland helped create one of the company's earliest offerings -- the Cadillac Osceola, noted for being the industry's first concept car and the first closed-body car made in America. Only one Osceola was made, but it helped spark a trend; closed bodies caught on and spread like wildfire through the industry.

Cadillac quickly gained a reputation for specializing in precise craftsmanship and for using standardized parts. The success of early Cadillacs like the Model A and the "30" made the brand a sales success, so much so that the automaker was purchased by General Motors in 1909. The marque became GM's luxury division, and its list of innovations grew. Cadillac was the first U.S. auto manufacturer to produce a V8, the first to use thermostatic control of a cooling system and the first to offer dash-controlled headlights. During the 1930s, the brand earned a strong reputation for producing powerful and smooth V12 and V16 engines.

Soon after World War II, Cadillac history hit a high point as its tailfinned and chrome-laden cars became the epitome of American postwar automotive style. Cadillac's tailfin took its cue from Lockheed's P38 Lightning Aircraft, and was the brainchild of designer Frank Hershey. Vehicles like the Coupe de Ville and Fleetwood El Dorado made Cadillac a staple in upscale neighborhoods and among the Hollywood set.

By the 1960s, Cadillac's flashy tailfins had given way to a new styling cue: vertical taillights. This attribute was in evidence on one of Cadillac's most successful new cars of that decade, the Fleetwood Sixty Special. The Fleetwood offered luxury features that were cutting-edge for its day, such as fold-down writing tables, footrests and a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel.

The gas crunch of the 1970s, however, started a downward trend for the company. Cadillac's Titanic-sized behemoths that ruled the highways in previous decades were increasingly out of touch and out of favor. Cadillac responded to the changing times by downscaling the dimensions of many vehicles in its lineup. Despite this smart maneuvering, the automaker's fortunes suffered in the late '70s when it unveiled a diesel engine that quickly earned a reputation for spotty performance.

The 1980s saw the redesign of the Seville, a vehicle whose unique bustle-back styling sparked a trend and inspired its share of imitators. That decade also witnessed the rollout of the Cimarron, a small car that was essentially a rebadged Chevy Cavalier, the latter an economy car not exactly known for excellence. Understandably, the Cimarron never caught on with the public. Things got worse when Cadillac launched a series of underpowered, unreliable V8s during the first half of that decade that, along with the notoriously unreliable diesel, cost the automaker thousands of customers, millions of dollars and immeasurable damage to its reputation.

By the early '90s, Cadillac started a major turnaround as it brought out redesigned, stylish models with vastly improved engines. Shortly after the new millennium bowed, the company adopted its "Art & Science" design philosophy. With styling cues that included sharp, almost severe lines and stacked headlamps, Art & Science was first seen on Cadillac's 1999 Evoq concept roadster. By the mid-2000s, this bold new look had reinvigorated the company's sales, and was seen on hits such as the Escalade SUV and the CTS sport sedan.

This fresh styling, coupled with improvements in performance and overall product quality, has done a great deal to help Cadillac recover much of its previous status. Today's Cadillacs, which include coupes, sedans, crossovers and SUVs, are known for offering powerful engines, chiseled lines, sharp handling and a full accoutrement of luxury features.

User Reviews:

• 

  not the same quality as older cadddys - 2002 Cadillac Deville
  By frank Z - June 10 - 2:00 am

  We bought "Vouge tyres" a $900 big mistake,The car has had these tires rotated, balanced, replaced, even had the steering gear box replaced and still I have problems with vibration in the car. had the brakes rotors turned because of the bad scoring on them, in a car with 300 mi. on it (had it to the dealer 2xs before it was corrected) loud valves (again dealer says normal 2xs). programing driver feature is never reliable. I even had a customer service rep. call us and still everyone says its normal? This is are third caddy and most likely our last. Did I hear somebody say Lexus?

• 

  THEY ARE WRONG - 2008 Cadillac Escalade EXT
  By KING RALPH - June 9 - 3:50 am

  Perfect .... No bed cover leaks ever..nothing has been better than my 2004 silverado SS for doing it all but this CADILLAC ESCALADE EXT. Yes they fixed everything in the 2009 model, telescoping steering wheel,side radar enhancement and a few other small details. BOSE sound is the BEST of the CLASS!!! RIDES like a dream,and handles well too. BIG TRUCK WITH BIGGER HORSEPOWER. Will pull anything you want and all wheel drive gets it done. Add a supercharger and look out, Have you got one fast and furious ride! This truck is almost perfect and I will have another one in a few years. DA KING has SPOKEN...LONG LIVE THE KING.

• 

  Cadillac Catera - 1997 Cadillac Catera
  By ronjc - June 9 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car as a dealer demo with 5000 miles on it. The dealer delivered the car in mint condition even repairing small dings on the doors. I have not had any major problems with the car. I drove the car in excess of 20,000 miles a year and found the experience to be wonderful. The timing belt went out after the suggested 60,000 miles and was a covered item under my extended warranty. The dealer was great and took care of me and the car with uptmost service. The car has 80,000 miles on it and I have not had any other major problems with it.

• 

  Review of Cadillac Eldorado ETC - 2000 Cadillac Eldorado
  By warren s. Silberman - June 9 - 2:00 am

  This car drives "like butter." It has great pickup. It has a Bose Stereo System and Compact Disc Player. THe system sounds exceptional. It drives like driving your couch down the road. The service at Bob Moore is the BEST BAR NONE I have ever experienced

• 

  Luxury Stops Here - 2014 Cadillac Escalade
  By Jim - June 8 - 2:29 pm

  Powerful and Luxurious. This model year has not kept up to current technology, however it is acceptable for basic functions.

• 

  Are you seriously stupid? - 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid
  By Sam - June 7 - 2:16 pm

  WHAT THE HELL did I get myself into? I should have bought a Mercedes Benz or Land Rover Rang Rover HSE! The quality management of this car is horrific, the navigation/cd player unit is useless most of the time due to its horrific functionality: every day I choose a new station it needs to scan the stations again and again and again the navigation is SLOW. Ill press buttons and wait up to 10 seconds until anything happens, and when it does, itll happen all wrong. I went over a bump, and the plastic under carriage clip broke off and the INTERIOR wood trimming in the rear snapped of since its a CLIP ON! The DVD unit takes such a long time to start if youve turned off the car so.

• 

  Great car, but lots of problems - 1997 Cadillac Catera
  By hoosierdaddy - June 7 - 2:00 am

  I was excited when I purchased the Cadillac that "Zigged when other cars Zagged", but the car has spent so much time in the shop I havent done much Zigging or Zagging. Ive gone through two alternaters (They say Im hard on them...I guess that running the A/C and CD player at the same time is a no-no), two stes of brake pads, a new fuel pump, and a number of minor problems in my three years of ownership. This wouldnt be too terrible if each repair wasnt so incredibly expensive. This is my second Caddy, and definitely my last.

• 

  STS - 2002 Cadillac Seville
  By NOLES1 - June 7 - 2:00 am

  GREAT POWER,GOOD GAS MIAGE,SAFTEY GOOD BRAKES LOTS OF FUN,HANDLES GREAT ROOMEY

• 

  sorry owner - 2002 Cadillac Deville
  By deceived again - June 7 - 2:00 am

  New with 2500 miles, whining whistling sound in passenger compartment, Service changing differential & other parts unable to determine origin. May be in transmission. Doesn,t say much for Cadillac quality.

• 

  DTS great car - 2006 Cadillac DTS
  By Pat - June 6 - 7:48 am