1903 Cadillac

[Narrator] In the earliest years of the automobile two modern day powerhouses, Ford and Cadillac, were intertwined in a way many Americans may not realize.

It took two failed attempts before Henry Ford finally steered his legendary car company to success. His first business venture, the Detroit Automobile Company, was founded in 1899 and lasted only 18 months. His second try, the Henry Ford Company, dissolved in less than a year.

However, it provided more than just a stepping stone for Ford. It also inadvertently launched another auto industry icon. In early 1902, Ford left the Henry Ford Company after a dispute with investors, taking several partners with him and leaving the company headed toward liquidation. That was when respected Detroit machinist Henry Leland was brought in to appraise the company.

Leland had founded Leland and Falconer, which, among other things, designed and built a single cylinder engine. When Leland assessed the Henry Ford Company and saw Ford's newest production design for an automobile, he immediately knew that in front of him was not an ending but a beginning. Leland convinced investors not to liquidate the Henry Ford Company and instead to reorganize it and rename it the Cadillac Automobile Company. From that transition came this 1903 Cadillac runabout, now housed at the State Historical Society of Iowa. Only about 1800 of this particular vehicle were built.

(The 1903 Cadillac is predominantly green in color. It is slightly weathered. The body of the vehicle is rectangular, showcasing a simpler and more functional aesthetic typical of early cars. It has a black, tufted leather seat and a large steering wheel. Two round headlights are mounted on either side of the front. The wheels are large, with a spoked design, and the texture of the rubber tires is rugged.)

It comes from a time when Cadillac and Ford were still forming their identities before either name became commonplace on American roads.

[Leo Landis, Historian] The 1903 Cadillac is a really important car because it was a company that was started by Henry Leland. And Leland thought he knew how to make a good car and proved it with the Cadillac that became one of the top brands and becomes part of General Motors. And so a really important make of cars.

[Narrator] The hand-crank that brought this automobiles engine to life may have been a relatively new mechanism, but other parts of this 1903 Cadillac employed technologies people already understood. The wooden wheels resembled those of a wagon, and bicycles, which were very popular at the time, provided inspiration too.

[Landis] One of the other challenges that they took using technology they knew was understanding bicycles used a chain, you then had the chain going to the back axle, and that really was that first step in making a gasoline powered car, taking the technology that you knew with a bicycle, and adapting the gasoline engine to the rear axle on a car. And really making a great first effort at automobiles that are powered by gasoline.

[Narrator] This particular Cadillac eventually made its way to Iowa. According to oral history, it was purchased through a Des Moines automobile dealer before being used in Decatur County. After a reported radiator puncture during a trip through southern Iowa, around 1906, the vehicle came into the hands of Lamoni resident John Silver, who kept it in service into the 1920s. By then, automobiles had changed dramatically.

[Landis] When you think about the changes in technology of the early 1900s, from 1905 to 1910, one of the big things is the lighting system. And so you're using acetylene gas in a tank that's just off the driver's side that has tubing that runs up to two front headlights, whereas the Cadillac was really just relying on kerosene. And you may not be able to drive it at night, or at least you weren't having really good visibility.

[Narrator] Turns out lights weren't even standard equipment on a 1903 Cadillac. Buyers paid extra for them.

This artifact embodies the lifelong rivalry between Henry Ford and Henry Leland. They each had different ideas about what a car could become for Americans. Henry Ford focused on building automobiles for everyday use through large scale production. While Henry Leland emphasized precision engineering and high quality manufacturing that helped define Cadillac's reputation.

This 1903 Cadillac Runabout marks the moment before two competing visions reshaped American roads.