Cadillac
Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company. After a dispute between Henry Ford and his investors, Ford left the company along with several of his key partners in March 1902. Ford's financial backers William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen called in engineer Henry M. Leland of Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Company to appraise the plant and equipment in preparation for liquidating the company's assets. Instead, Leland persuaded the pair to continue manufacturing automobiles using Leland's proven single-cylinder engine. A new company called the Cadillac Automobile Company was established on 22 August 1902, re-purposing the Henry Ford Company factory at Cass Street and Amsterdam Avenue. It was named after French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, who had founded Detroit in 1701.
Cadillac Orleans
The Cadillac Orleans was a concept car designed by Cadillac for the 1953 auto show circuit. It was the first four-door hardtop concept. The hardtop design eliminated the traditional B-pillar found on most cars of the era. Powered by a Cadillac V8 engine with an output of , the Orleans was never put into production. The design innovations on this car would not be put into a production car until the 1956 Sedan de Ville. The car also featured suicide doors, a wrap around windshield, full air conditioning, and several safety improvement attempts, such as a feature which resulted in the doors only being able to be opened if the car was in neutral. Another unique luxury feature was the addition of an AC/DC converter and a normal household outlet to allow electronic devices to be plugged into the car. A compartment in the backrest held a men's electric razor, a vanity case, and a mirror.