[ last update: 02.24.2015 ]

The (new) Cadillac Database©
Dream Cars
on
Cadillac Chassis

1902 - 1919

 

Return to The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page
or select a year from the list below

[there are dream car photos only in the years that are highlighted]

Pick one   >

1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942

WW2 years

1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999-up


 

 

1902-1904 [no recorded special bodies]

Trivia: Lot #1078 at Kruse's annual auction sale in Scottsdale, AZ, in January 2000, was an "unknown" Cadillac described as "#1 prototype known as the first Cadillac ever built - Sept 1902, 1 of 3 built, featured in auto magazines.  Sold on bill of sale only - no title."  I have seen reports about this car. If it is, in fact, "the first Cadillac", there is little or nothing left of it.  What I saw was an engineless [former  single-cylinder] Cadillac that looked like a 1906 "tulip-bodied" runabout; the owners claim to have the original engine "from" or "for" the car. I tend to take all the hype with the proverbial "pinch of salt".  Nonetheless, the car was reported to have been bid up to $90,000 at Scottsdale [I believe the owner wants at least $1,000,000 for it !]

 

1905

[Seaman ???] (USA) First fully enclosed Cadillac, custom-built [by Seaman Body Co ???] for Henry Leland himself and nicknamed "Osceola" after a Seminole Indian chief. Various photos exist but I'm not sure they all depict "Osceola", unless the car was modified and updated as the years went by. The photo in McC, p.20, shows it with the 1907 type headlamps and square lamps; the car has the standard 1907 fenders and no running boards. On p.18 is another photo alleged to show the same car, which now has running boards, crowned front fenders and no headlamps. Another (color) photo shows a Brewster green body, with black upper and fenders; this car has the regular 1905-06 fenders and lamps but no running boards. The photo below was taken at the annual concours d'élégance in Pebble Beach, CA, in 2002.

1905Osceola.jpg (20616 bytes)

 

Freyschuss, Adolf (Sweden) Taxi cab with landaulet roof. The poor photo below is from an early advertisement by the Swedish agent for the marque, Fred Wagner of Stockholm. Freyschuss built a number of these taxicabs on the Cadillac chassis.


Photo: © Fred Wagner - courtesy Jan Ströman

 

[Unknown, USA ?] Army wagon

05TRCK.JPG (6194 bytes)

 

1906

[Unknown, USA ?] Tulip sided wagon, possibly called "The Prospector" model.

06wagon1.jpg (11917 bytes)     06wagon2.jpg (11933 bytes)
[ Photos:  Self Starter annual, 1998 ]

 

1907

 

1908

03-05cad.jpg (9617 bytes)
This parade Cadillac, wrongly identified as a
1903 model, appears to be a custom job from 1908

 

1909

[Unknown, USA] Custom limousine; photo McC, p.38

 

1910

[Unknown, Italy] Custom runabout, McC p. 41

[Unknown, USA] Custom roadster-racer

10racer.jpg (10085 bytes)

 

[Unknown, USA] Touring car with custom hood and brass (or nickel?) grille shroud

 

1911

[Unknown, USA] Custom, stretched limousine brougham, McC, p.45

 

1912

Fleetwood (???) (USA) Miniature electric Cadillac roadster, circa one-third scale, built for W.C. Leland, Jr., the son of Wilfrid, grandson of Henry [have photo with Leland JR and cousin driving this superb toy - I wonder if it is still in the family?]

wilftoy.jpg (11093 bytes)

 

1913

Seaman (USA) Custom paddy wagon

13policeA.jpg (9480 bytes)     13policeB.jpg (7955 bytes)

 

[Unknown, USA] Custom coupe; possibly by Columbia

[Unknown, USA] Custom limousine, with very long hood, photo McC, p.52

13cust.jpg (8631 bytes)

 

1914

Seaman (USA) Custom town coupe

dr14seam.JPG (8273 bytes)
Obviously taken in the dead of winter, this car
is fitted with tire chains and a protective hood cover

 

[Unknown, USA] Custom 7-passenger Victoria, McC, p.56

[Unknown, USA] Custom 7-passenger Victoria

[Unknown, USA] Custom 2-door limousine, McC, p.56

[Unknown, USA] Custom "speedster", (article in CC&CC 8/1967, cover, pp.12-17)

14racer.jpg (8843 bytes)

 

1915

Cohn, M.L. "Bud"(USA) Drawings of armored cars on 1915 Cadillac chassis. An article by Maurice Hendry on these proposed military vehicles appeared in Self Starter, May 2007, pp.14-15.

15ArmCar.jpg (4677 bytes)     15ArmCar2.jpg (5581 bytes)     15ArmCar2a.jpg (5936 bytes)     15armcar3a.jpg (8592 bytes)
[ Photos:  courtesy Maurice Hendry and Self Starter ]

ss707_15ArmA.jpg (9529 bytes)     ss707_15ArmB.jpg (9608 bytes)
[ Photos: courtesy CLC member Len Piskiwwicz, CA and Self Starter ]

 

Kimball, C.P. (Chicago, IL, USA) I remember seeing this Cadillac "bus" in unrestored condition, some 30 years ago, in a club magazine.  Someone must have taken on the arduous task of restoring it for here it is, like new.  It was advertized for sale in Hemmings Motor News (Internet site) in October, 2008). Late Extra (Sept. 2013): On a visit to Holland in 2013, Gita and I were able to admire this huge "tour bus" in the Louwman Museum in The Hague.

15kimballbus.jpg (81465 bytes)

15Kimball.jpg (10942 bytes)     15KimbE.jpg (8789 bytes)

15KimbC.jpg (7318 bytes)     15KimbB.jpg (6672 bytes)     15KimbD.jpg (6956 bytes)
Gita and I admired this Cadilléac "tour bus"in person" at the Louwman Museum in The Hague, in the Fall of 2012
[ Four fall pics are courtesy of Philippe Hulet de Limal, a Belgian member of the American Car Club be France ]

 

 

Mijnhardt Brothers (Arnhem, NL) Custom convertible tourer


Caption reads: Carrosserie (i.e. Body) by the Mijnhardt Brothers, of Arnhem in Voorburg, on 8-cyl Cadillac chassis

 

Seaman (USA) Custom 2-passenger convertible coupe with "Jonas top", McC, p.58

15cusseaA.jpg (9360 bytes)     15cusseaB.jpg (8013 bytes)

 

[Unknown, USA] Custom touring car

dr15land.JPG (8573 bytes)
[ Not sure if this is a regular or a custom Cadillac landaulet ]

 

[Unknown, USA] Two Custom touring car/limousine

Dr15tc.jpg (9970 bytes)    
The car on the right is a survivor

 

[Unknown, USA] Cadillac speedster [this one was for sale in California in the seventies]

15speeds.jpg (5940 bytes)

 

1916

Earl, Harley  (USA) this 1916 custom roadster was built for Gladys Smith [aka Mary Pickford, the silent-screen star and younger sister of film producer Jack Pickford]. The photo below was supplied kindly by the car's current owner, Steve Martin.  Upon close examination of the Earl creation built on a 1918 Cadillac chassis for Billy Burke, Director of the Siegfried Follies [see below] and after discussing the issue at length with Keith Lowden, curator of the Clive Cussler museum in Denver where the Burke car currently resides, Steve and Keith both reached the conclusion - which I support - that Harley Earl built BOTH cars.

16CadEarl.jpg (8167 bytes)
The "spoke wheels" are merely vinyl images to show what the real wheels looked like
[Photo: © 200
8, and courtesy of the owner, Steve Martin ]

 

Hofslageri AB  (Sweden) Custom touring car believed to have been designed by Gustaf L.M. Ericsson, the son of L.M. Ericsson of the well-known telephone conglomerate. The absence of a windshield must have required driver and passengers alike to wear motoring goggles and helmets.


Photo: © Axel Swinhufvud, courtesy Jan Ströman

 

Hofslageri AB  (Sweden) Built in 1917, this was (at the time) the most expensive car body ever built in Swden, owing in part to the exquisite materials and fittings that were used; the curved 2-part panoramic front window glass must have accounted for much of the high cost too. The "Elephant" hood mascot predates the one used later by Ettpre Bugatti on his very rare "Royale" models.

         

    
Photos: © Axel Swinhufvud,
Stockholm City Museum - courtesy Jan Ströman

 

Seaman (USA) Custom limousine, McC, p.64

Seaman (USA) Custom berline, McC, p.64

Seaman (USA) Custom 5-passenger coupe

 

1917

Fleetwood (USA) "Packillac" (Packard chassis with Cadillac Type 55 engine), McC, p.69

Nordberg (Sweden) pointed-nose limousine [as illustrated in company ad for that year].

 

1917-1918

Holland & Morrill (USA) for Inglis M. Uppercu, the Manhattan NY) Cadillac distributor. Inglis Uppercu owned the "Detroit Cadillac Co." (not to be confused with the "Cadillac Motor Car Co.", a division of GM); The latter had a custom body department that was headed by J.R. McLauchlen  in collaboration with the coach-building firms of  Hollander & Morrill [H&M] as well as Healey & Co. in New Jersey; H&M built only aluminum-clad, wood-framed composite automobile bodies; Uppercu specialized in sales of sedans, limousines, town cars and roadsters. Their bodies were much in demand with high quality chassis retailers in Boston and New York.  Uppercu was H&M's best customer).[Extracts: © 2004 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com with special thanks to Amesbury historian Steve Klomps and the estate of Frank F. Morrill]; SIA 4/1980, p.51, CLC, 5/90, pp.8-9 (photos).



   

       

 

   
All these photos: Internet 2015,  © 2004-2012 Coachbuilt.com, Inc.

 

[Unknown, USA] Custom limousine, McC, p.69

[Unknown, USA] Custom landaulet style

17LAND.JPG (8091 bytes)
This appears to be a fully convertible landaulet or Sedanca
with a modified driver's compartment (open door areas)

 

1918

Brunn (USA) 1918-19 custom town car

Earl, Harley  (USA) 1918 custom open touring car for Siegfield Follies director, Billy Burke; the car is currently (2001) in the collection of author Clive Cussler, in Denver. CO.

18cusearl.jpg (8185 bytes)    
[Photo (left) : © 2001, Yann Saunders]

 

Edwards  (USA) 1918 custom, boat-tail roadster

18RDSB.JPG (7379 bytes)     18RDSE.JPG (7445 bytes)
[ Photos:  Internet, 2000 ]

 

Fleetwood Metal Body Co. (USA) Touring Victoria, McC, p.72

18vicflw.jpg (7926 bytes)     dr16Cad.jpg (8376 bytes)

 

Healy (USA) Custom town car [on 1916 Cadillac chassis] (McC, p.72). 

Healy (USA) Custom open tourer; like above car but with disc wheels (below) 

dr18heal.JPG (11682 bytes)

Nordberg (Sweden) 1918-19 custom touring car with Mercedes-type grille

Rubay (USA) Custom touring car

18RubayTrg.jpg (59037 bytes)

 

Seaman (USA) Custom town car

[Unknown, USA] Custom delivery wagon.

18Dlvry1.jpg (8066 bytes)     18Dlvry2.jpg (7499 bytes)
The vehicle carries Rhode Island tags and I suspect it may belong to Dick Shappy
[ Photos:  courtesy of "Philippe", a French enthusiast and member of ACCF ]

 

[Unknown, Europe] 1918-19 convertible limousine touring car

 

1919

Brewster (USA) Custom touring car with cape top, seen advertised in SS 4/92, p.15 (Trevor Roycroft, 6926 Monticello Court, Citrus Heights, CA 95621 (Tel. 916-722.4800)

Dr19brws.jpg (7901 bytes)

 

Healy (USA) Custom touring car, McC, p.76

dr19heal.JPG (8221 bytes)

 

Holmes (USA) Breakdown Truck

 

 

Lee, Don (USA) Custom town car landaulet

dr19lee.JPG (7564 bytes)

 

Schutte (USA) Custom sports roadster, McC, p.76

Seaman (USA) Custom limousine brougham

 

[Unknown, USA] Custom 2-passenger roadster, covered in DuPont fabric cord, McC, p.76

[Unknown, USA] Custom 2-passenger roadster [see photo]

19cust.jpg (10030 bytes)

 

Wolfington (USA) Custom sedan, aluminum body; ad in SS 3/92, p.15; this actual car was offered for sale on the Internet (eBay Web site) in December, 2003 and again in August 2004.  The reserve price was not met. The vendor described the car as custom built by Wolfington of Philadelphia for former Secretary of the Treasury, Henry P. Morganthau. It has been completely restored and is all original. The engine, transmission and clutch have been rebuilt and it is quite a beautiful close-coupled touring sedan. Mr. Morganthau specified several unique alterations in this 1919 Cadilac including a nickel-plated radiator shell, plated drum-style headlights, port and starboard top-mounted cowl lights (red and green) and his initials (HMP - last name in the middle) in silver on the radiator shell. Interesting equipment includes Cadillac engine-driven air pump for tire inflation (original hose included), dual rear-mounted spare tires, side-mounted cowl lights, driver's side spotlight, "fat man" steering wheel and oversize motor-driven Klaxon-type horn. The colors are deep green body, black fenders, cream moldings and maroon insert.

19viccus.jpg (8272 bytes)     19viccu4.jpg (5277 bytes)     19VICA.JPG (7055 bytes)

    19VICC1.JPG (4982 bytes)     19VICC2.JPG (5104 bytes)     19viccu3.jpg (7511 bytes)

 

 

Return to The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page
or select a year from the list below

[there are dream car photos only in the years that are highlighted]

 

Pick one   >

1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942

WW2 years

1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999-up


© 1996, Yann Saunders and the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc.
[Background image: 1940 Cadillac V8 Town car by Inskip, New York]