Editing Cadillac (section)

===Becoming the "Standard of the World" and the Great Depression: 1915–1941===
[[File:Cadillac_1921-0707_logo.png|thumb|130px|1921 Cadillac logo]]

In 1915, Cadillac introduced a 90-degree flathead [[Cadillac V8 engine|V8 engine]] with {{convert|70|hp}} at 2400 rpm and {{convert|180|lb·ft|N.m}} of [[torque]], allowing its cars to attain {{convert|65|mph}}.<ref name="pm"/> This was faster than most roads could accommodate at this time. Cadillac pioneered the [[Crossplane|dual-plane]] V8 crankshaft in 1918. In 1928 Cadillac introduced the first clashless Synchro-Mesh [[transmission (mechanics)|manual transmission]], utilizing constant mesh gears. In 1930 Cadillac implemented the first [[Cadillac V-16|V-16]] engine, with a 45-degree overhead valve, {{convert|452|in3|L|abbr=off}}, and {{convert|165|hp}}, one of the most powerful and quietest engines in the United States. The development and introduction of the V8, V16 and [[V12 engine|V12]] helped to make Cadillac the "Standard of the World".<ref name="pm"/> A later model of the V8 engine, with [[overhead valve]]s, set the standard for the entire American automotive industry in 1949.<ref name="pm"/>

In July 1917, the [[United States Army]] needed a dependable staff car and chose the Cadillac Type 55 Touring Model after exhaustive tests on the Mexican border. 2,350 of the cars were supplied for use in France by officers of the [[American Expeditionary Force]] in [[World War I]].<ref>Bentley, John ''The Old Car Book'', Fawcett Books (1952) p 12</ref>

[[File:Cadillac adv 1921.jpg|thumb|left|170px|A 1921 Cadillac advertisement]]

General Motors of Canada had built Cadillacs from 1923 until 1936 and LaSalles from 1927 until 1935.<ref>{{cite web |website=GM Heritage Center |title=Canada Only General Motors Cars |first=Bill |last=Bowman |url=http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/Canada_Only_General_Motors_Cars |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805012053/http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/Canada_Only_General_Motors_Cars |archive-date=2013-08-05 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Pre-World War II Cadillacs were well-built, powerful, mass-produced luxury cars aimed at an upper-class market. In the 1930s, Cadillac added cars with [[V12 engine|V12]] and [[V16 engine|V16]] engines to their range, many of which were fitted with custom [[coachbuilder|coach-built]] bodies.<ref name="1930–1939 Cadillac">{{cite web|title=1930–1939 Cadillac|date=March 13, 2007|url=http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1930-1939-cadillac.htm|access-date=June 29, 2011}}</ref>

In the 1920s and 1930s Cadillac and Buick vehicles were popular with longer-distance passenger service operators e.g. the [[Nairn Transport Company#Vehicles|Nairn Transport Company]] in the Middle East (Baghdad-Damascus) and [[InterCity (New Zealand)#Newmans Coach Lines|Newmans Coach Lines]] in New Zealand.

In 1926, Cadillac recruited automobile stylist [[Harley Earl]] in a one-time consulting capacity, but his employment lasted considerably longer: by 1928, Earl was the head of the new Art and Color division and he would ultimately work for GM until he retired, over 30 years later. The first car he designed was the [[LaSalle (automobile)|LaSalle]], a new, smaller "companion marque" car, named after another French explorer and founder of Detroit, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. That marque remained in production until 1940.<ref>{{cite web|title=Earl, Harley J. GM's First Design Chief|url=http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/Earl,_Harley_J.|work=Generations of GM History|access-date=June 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140620194317/http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/Earl,_Harley_J.|archive-date=June 20, 2014}}</ref>

Cadillac introduced designer-styled bodywork (as opposed to auto-engineered) in 1927. It installed shatter-resistant [[Laminated glass|glass]] in 1926. Cadillac also introduced the "turret top", the first all-steel roof on a passenger car.<ref name="pm"/> Previously, car roofs had been made out of fabric-covered wood.

The Great Depression sapped the auto industry generally, with the luxury market declining more steeply; between 1928 and 1933, Cadillac sales declined by 84% to 6,736 vehicles.<ref name="Gordon">{{cite journal |first=John Steele |last=Gordon |author-link=John Steele Gordon |title=The Man Who Saved The Cadillac |url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/04/30/1930s-auto-industry-business-cadillac.html,_The_Man_Who_Saved_The_Cadillac |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918110613/http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/30/1930s-auto-industry-business-cadillac.html,_The_Man_Who_Saved_The_Cadillac  |archive-date=September 18, 2012 |journal=Forbes |access-date=October 23, 2011 |date=April 30, 2009 }}</ref> Exacerbating sales performance for the Cadillac brand was a policy, reflective of the times, which discouraged sales to African Americans.<ref name="Gordon"/> Nick Dreystadt, mechanic and national head of Cadillac service, urged a committee—set up to decide whether the Cadillac brand would live on—to revoke that policy. After the policy was eliminated, brand sales increased by 70% in 1934, and Dreystadt was promoted to lead the entire Cadillac Division.<ref name="Gordon"/>

By 1940, Cadillac sales had risen tenfold compared to 1934.<ref name="1930–1939 Cadillac"/> In 1936, Dreystadt released the [[Cadillac Series 60|Series 60]] as Cadillac's entry into the mid-priced vehicle market. It was replaced by the [[Cadillac Series 61|Series 61]] in 1939, but a popular model that was derived from it, the [[Cadillac Sixty Special|Sixty Special]], continued through 1993. Another factor helped boost Cadillac growth over the next few years: a revolution in assembly-line technology. In 1934, [[Henry F. Phillips]] introduced the [[screw|Phillips screw]] and [[screwdriver]] to the market. He entered into talks with General Motors and convinced the Cadillac group his new screws would speed assembly times and therefore increase profits. Cadillac was the first automaker to use the Phillips technology, in 1937, which was widely adopted in 1940.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Beginning of the Phillips Screw Company|url=http://www.phillips-screw.com/history_about_phillips.htm|publisher=Phillips Screw Company|access-date=June 3, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710103538/http://www.phillips-screw.com/history_about_phillips.htm|archive-date=July 10, 2011}}</ref> For the first time in many years all cars built by the company shared the same basic engine and drivetrain in 1941.{{sfn|Bonsall|2004|page=17}}

1941 also saw the introduction of optional [[Hydra-Matic]], the first mass-produced fully [[automatic transmission]], offered the previous year on the [[Oldsmobile]].

<gallery title="Cadillac" becomes="" part="" of="" general="" motors="">
File:1921 Cadillac Suburban.jpg|1921 Cadillac Suburban
File:1929-cadillac-archives.jpg|1929 Cadillac
File:1929 Cadillac tow truck with bus Sydney AUSTRALIA December 1938.jpg|1929 Cadillac towing a bus, Sydney, Australia, 1938
File:Cadillac.fleetwood.v8.arp.750pix.jpg|1929 Cadillac Fleetwood
File:'31 Cadillac Phaeton (Auto classique Salaberry-De-Valleyfield '11).JPG|1931 Cadillac phaeton
File:1932 Cadillac 355B V8 Sedan.jpg|1932 Cadillac 355B V8 sedan
File:1936 Cadillac Series 70 4 door Convertible V8.jpg|1936 Cadillac Series 70 four door convertible V8
File:1939 Cadillac Series 75 Town car Limousine (13327289595).jpg|1939 Cadillac Series 75 town car
File:1940 Cadillac 90.JPG|1940 Cadillac 90 town car
</gallery>