By 1914 , Cadillac ’s four - piston chamber Model 30 had been in production for nearly five years , and the time had add up for its replacement , the 1915 Cadillac V-8 Type 51 . Not that there was really anything improper with the Model 30 , for it was a very competent motorcar .
In fact , many geezerhood later when David Fergusson , long - sentence chief technologist for the Pierce - Arrow Motor Car Company , celebrate that " Cadillac for age had the reputation of producing the best medium - priced cars in the worldly concern , " he was referring to the Model 30 . One might query Fergusson ’s point of reference to the Cadillac as a " medium - priced " car , but in this world all things are proportional – in 1914 a fresh Cadillac touring elevator car could be purchased for just $ 1,975 , while the least expensive Pierce - Arrow be $ 4,300 .
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But despite its striking repute for dependableness and durability , the Model 30 had become seriously dated . The populace had follow to apprise the blandness of six - piston chamber engines , and many – perhaps most – producers of cars in the Cadillac ’s price range had made the transposition from fours to half a dozen . The competition was plainly exhaust Cadillac alive . From 17,284 motorcar manufacture during 1913 , the manufactory ’s output had plummet the undermentioned year to just 7,818 building block .
luckily , Cadillac ’s general manager , Henry M. Leland , had not been captivate catnap . For several years he ’d been experimenting with various engine type , and as a solution of his inquiry he came to the termination that a V-8 would be preferred to a six . Presumably , the summary nature of the vee - type excogitation appealed to him , for in some instances the long crankshaft that characterise the inline sixes had displayed an inauspicious tendency to mop up at high rpm .
true , the V-8 was an strange innovation in those day . Most people had never see such an railway locomotive , but the case was not unheard of . More than a decennary before , two French manufacturers had developed V-8 ’s and used them to power racing machines , while in this rural area Howard Marmon had demonstrated an atmosphere - cooled V-8 as early as 1906 . And then , in 1910 , the well-thought-of French firm of DeDion had marketed a output V-8 .
Go to the next pageboy to check more about the development of the Cadillac V-8 .
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Development of the 1915 Cadillac V-8, Type 51
Charles Kettering , head of the Dayton Engineering Laboratories ( DELCO ) had purchased a DeDion V-8 for research purposes . With the help of his associate , Edward Deeds , Kettering disassembled the DeDion railway locomotive examined it cautiously , then put it back together and try out it extensively . Afterward , Kettering and Deeds built an experimental V-8 of their own innovation and submitted it to Henry Leland .
Leland immediately undertook to authorise the in - firm development of a Cadillac V-8 , using the Kettering - Deeds railway locomotive as its basis . To take charge of the project he charter D. McCall White , a Scottish - conduct applied scientist whose previous employers had included the honored firm of Daimler and Napier . There is some evidence that Cadillac ’s engine room staff , a compressed - knit group , take a obtuse view of get an foreigner put in charge of so significant a project , but plainly Henry Leland had his reasons .
First of all , the Cadillac citizenry had had virtually no experience in build high - speed engines ; in this obedience , the better European house were light years ahead of their American contemporary . White was in a position to bring that expertise to Cadillac .
Then there was the issue of secrecy . Although he was very conservative by nature , Henry Leland was not without a gumption of the striking , and he wanted to spring the raw V-8 as a complete surprisal . To keep the development of the unexampled powerplant mystery would have been quite impossible if the entire staff at the Cadillac factory had known what was going on .
So Leland house the project in a small concrete block building , locate a few miles out of Detroit in the community of Mt. Clemens , Michigan . The facility was out - of - bounds to all but a few carefully selected Cadillac employees , and those who were granted admittance were plight to tell apart no one – even their married woman – about the ontogeny of the new motor . acquaint in September 1914 as a 1915 role model , the new Cadillac V-8 was known as the Type 51 .
Nobody get laid for sure how the model routine was chosen , but it has been meditate that the digits may have symbolise a reversal of the year of introduction : 15 . In any face , the car found instant popularity , with production reaching 13,002 units during its initial simulation year .
On the next varlet , find out about the engine of the 1915 Cadillac V-8 Type 51 .
The Engine of the Cadillac V-8, Type 51
The engine of the Cadillac V-8 was cast in two block of four cylinder each , place exactly diametrical one another . crotch - and - blade colligate rods were fitted . The crankshaft was drilled , and full atmospheric pressure lubrication was employed , while a single , centrally - site camshaft operated the valve . H2O circulation was controlled by means of an impeller pump , with a thermostat located within each piston chamber block .
Cadillac had advertised the old Model 30 at " 40 - 50 " horsepower , a goodish enough trope by 1914 standards . But the new 314.5 - three-dimensional - column inch V-8 developed a rousing 70 horsepower , five more than even the Packard Model 38 , a car costing near twice the cost of the Type 51 .
The clutch was of the multiple dry disk type , far superior to the leather - faced cone employed by the Model 30 . A three - swiftness selective transmittance was used , and the helical bevel final parkway utilized a ratio of 4.44:1 . guidance was of the worm - and - sphere type , and both internal and extraneous brakes operated on drums fitted to the rearward wheel .
Eight body types were offer , with the popular receptive styles selling for $ 1,975 , incisively the same as the former year ’s four - cylinder Model 30 . Prices for the shut torso styles range from $ 2,500 for the Landaulet Coupe to $ 3,600 for the honored Berline Limousine . In whatever guise , the Cadillac represented a phenomenal deal , for the Type 51 testify to be a okay auto , as long-lived as it was knock-down .
In truth , however , the newfangled locomotive was n’t completely above criticism . The problem had to do with the single - aeroplane ( 180 - degree ) crankshaft . The Cadillac would cruise smoothly and remarkably quietly at speeds between 55 and 60 land mile an hour . But between 40 and 50 , a more appropriate speed range have the shape of the roads in those days , it exhibited the same lowly out - of - remainder shake force that characterized the four - cylinder engine of that time . Not until the coming of the 1924 models would Cadillac develop a solution to the job in the form of an inherently balanced crankshaft .
The public responded well to the Cadillac V-8 . On the next varlet , learn how the sale succeeder of this modern framework .
Sales Success of the 1915 Cadillac V-8, Type 51
In the lag , however , the Cadillac V-8 give an excellent news report of itself despite the roughness , and in its second year on the market a 38.5 - percent sale step-up was recorded . For 1916 , the Cadillac ’s already telling king was increase by 10 percent . Meanwhile , toll on the pop open models rifle up as well , by $ 105 , but the Cadillac was still one of the industriousness ’s good bargains .
By that clip , of course , warfare was bait in Europe , and Cadillacs – in undetermined but apparently significant numbers – were ordered by the Canadian , British , and French administration for use as staff cars , ambulances , and the like .
Then , in April 1917 , the United States embark the conflict , and the Cadillac seven - passenger touring was adopt by both the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps as the standard officeholder ' car . More than 2,000 of these sturdy automobiles were ship oversea , along with a report 300 Cadillac limousines , to be used by high range officers including General John J. Pershing , Commander of the American Expeditionary Force .
So well did these cars exculpate themselves that some prison term later Colonel Edward J. Hall , co - designer of the Liberty aircraft engine , spoke of them as having give " skilful service than any other make of cable car in France . " The colonel could not call back ever having seen a Cadillac " tie up for bother of any kind , " and in concluding his remarks he added , " One of the first thing I did on my reaching habitation was to purchase one for my own use . "
Cadillac , in those years , was not considered one of America ’s most prestigious automobiles . Historically , that honor had been more or less divided among the " Three Ps " : Packard , Peerless , and Pierce - Arrow . But after the stopping point of the Great War ( as our grandparent ring it ) , the gargantuan machines on which those company had construct their repute fell speedily out of favor . The electric starter , pioneered by Cadillac back in 1912 , had arrive into general use , and women by the yard had taken the wheel of the kinfolk car . They , and in time their husband as well , turn progressively to Cadillac as an automobile of faultless quality in a manageable sizing .
On the next varlet , see the specifications for the 1915 Cadillac V-8 .
1915 Cadillac V-8, Type 51 Specifications
The 1915 Cadillac V-8 was self-propelling innovation for its fourth dimension . On this page , you will find oneself the specification for this seminal railway car .
Engines:90 - degree V-8 , retch in blocks of four , 314.5 cid ( 31/8 × 5 1/8 - in . bore × virgule ) , single sheet crankshaft , 3 principal bearings , 70 bhp @ 2,400 rpm , 180 lbs / ft torque @ 2,000 rpm
Transmission:3 - speed , selective , floor - mounted lever , 15 - disc dry - plate hold , shaft effort , 4.41 rear axle proportion
Suspension , front : inflexible axle , semi - ovoid springs
respite , rear : stiff axle , platform springs , cross - springiness
brake : Mechanical , on rear wheels
Wheelbase ( in.):125.0 ( particular physical body , 145.0 )
Tread , front and read ( in.):56
Weight ( lbs):4,000 ( touring car )
Top speed ( mph):70
Production:20,404 ( calendar year ) ; 13,002 ( manakin year )
