This Week in Motorhead History: 109 Years in New York

In 2014, General Motors agreed to move Cadillac’s world headquarters from Detroit to New York City.  The next year, Cadillac opened “Cadillac House” in Manhattan’s SoHo district.  Cadillac House is not a dealer, and you can’t buy a car there.  And it’s not even a showroom – only occasionally is a new Cadillac on display; more often it is a vintage Caddy or a non-production show car that greets visitors.

The move from Detroit to New York was a deliberate attempt to separate Cadillac from the midwest mindset of Detroit.  Cadillac House is a deliberate attempt to build the brand’s image by placing the brand in the milieu that prospective buyers inhabit – or, at least, in the milieu where Cadillac’s leadership believes buyers can be found.

Cadillac itself describes Cadillac House as “a rotating art gallery, café, and fashion showcase.”  That’s different from Cadillac’s first venue for enticing buyers in Manhattan:  The original Madison Square Garden.  It was there that Cadillac introduced its first car 109 years ago.

The Cadillac Automobile Company was formed from the Leland and Faulconer Manufacturing Company of Detroit in August 1902, and it began manufacturing its first cars later that year. These first cars were given the name Cadillac in honor of the founder of the city of Detroit, and in January of 1903 the first Cadillac was taken to the New York Automobile Show at the Garden, where it debuted on the 17th of the month.  In a remarkable success story, at the show Cadillac took orders for more than 2200 cars.

At the time what set that first Cadillac model apart was a level of refinement generally not found in other cars.  Ultimately, early Cadillacs developed a reputation for reliability, ease, economy of maintenance, and superior pulling and climbing capability.  The reputation that was to become the “Standard of the World” was built on the foundation of that first car.

A reputation for refinement and performance is what Cadillac is seeking to rebuild today in part by returning the New York City.  In recent decades Cadillac’s image had diminished from that of an American icon to that of an old brand that had fallen out of touch.  Cadillac today is aggressively re-engineering its cars and attempting to become relevant with style leaders and fashion trendsetters.  It is using its presence in New York as one of the tools with which to achieve what is hoped will be renewed sales success.

At CarShowSafari.com we are encouraged by the move away from the Detroit influence but we are skeptical of a trendy boutique like Cadillac House.  The brand itself should earn its cred among the wealthy and influential without having to resort what arguably could been seen as pretentious posturing.  But, either way, Cadillac is back in New York, where it all began in 1903.