Cadillac Authentication from the GM Heritage Center

Although the automobile was not invented in the U.S., mass production methods were born here when Henry Ford created the assembly line as a way of making fully interchangeable parts. Henry Ford’s innovation and insight also helped create the new mass production atmosphere in which GM was created. When it comes to Cadillac, often considered the most innovative division of GM, the company’s roots can be traced back to Henry Leland, the man whose focus on precision manufacturing and high quality allowed Cadillac products to become “The Standard of the World” and synonymous with performance and luxury.

Early on, Leland was given management control of the auto company that had previously been run by Henry Ford when Ford’s financial backers grew impatient with the pace of his product development. Leland re-named the small firm as the Cadillac Automobile Company in honor of Detroit’s founder, the French explorer, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. Over time, Cadillac’s record of innovation, performance, and luxury became one of the auto industry’s most colorful stories. When the early shareholders of the original Ford Motor Company decided to take control of the company away from Henry Ford, it resulted in the creation of Cadillac in 1902, and it was also part of the birth of the larger GM group of vehicles. Today, even the GM Heritage Center, which serves as a showplace for all GM vehicles and the company’s history, admits that “The truth of the creation of GM is that it’s most innovative division, Cadillac, came from the roots of the Ford Motor Company.”

Currently, the Heritage Center has about 200 vehicles on display, and its Archive contains thousands of documents, manuals, brochures, and other historical artifacts that document GM’s many years of successful innovation. The Heritage Center is not open to the public, but it can be reserved for group tours, conferences, meetings and other special events. Enthusiasts can also download free information packages from the Heritage Center for specific Cadillac’s and other General Motors cars that contain basic specifications, equipment availability and other historical service information. The Center is now also offering vehicle specific Information Kits that contain documentation of a specific vehicle’s cost broken out by model and factory options. The kits contain the original ship-to-dealer information, MSRP and the invoice numbers that General Motors used to bill the dealer. The information is archived on microfilm, microfiche, or CD and is organized by the VIN numbers that cover almost all of the GM cars and trucks produced in the United States starting in the mid 1970’s, although the info on some vehicles goes much farther back. The Information Kit packages are emailed to individual enthusiasts as an Adobe PDF for $50 USD. The Heritage Center recently added over 90 new Information Kits for Cadillac’s’ from 1903 to 1970 as well as Kits for the short-lived LaSalle cars from 1927 to 1940 that include:

•             The original destination for cars built in 1954 and earlier
•             The original paint color code
•             All applicable trim codes
•             Accessory lists
•             Vehicle-specific component serial numbers

Unfortunately, detailed Cadillac records from the year 1968 are not available, but the range of documentation for most of the 1903 to 1970 cars does include copies of the Salesman’s Data Books, Operation Manuals and Optional Specifications.  GM does not have data on the names of the original retail purchasers, but it does have the original dealership retail sales records. While it is usually not possible to determine the name of the original owner of a specific vehicle, some of the 1954 and earlier Cadillac dealer’s record sheets do list the name of the person who ordered the car.

Those owners who want to order a copy of the factory record sheet for their vehicle simply need to provide the year, style number, body number and serial or VIN number.  However, enthusiasts should note that the data for many older Cadillac’s and LaSalle’s was recorded by the original engine serial number alone. Because the GM Heritage Center is an affiliate of the General Motors Corporation, email correspondence can be sent to vehicleinvoice@gmmediaarchive.com, and more ordering information can be found by visiting the www.cadillaclasalleclub.org website.