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Details
1906 CADILLAC 10HP MODEL M LIGHT TOURING CAR
Registration No. MS 208
Serial No. 2549
Engine No. 9473
Purple lake with dark carmine running gear
Engine: single cylinder horizontal, 5 x 5 ins. bore and stroke, 1,610cc, under-floor mounted; Gearbox: two speed and reverse, planetary (epicyclic) transmission, final drive by central chain; Suspension: front single transverse leaf front spring, rear, semi-elliptic leaf springs; Brakes: double-acting on differential. Right hand drive.
Henry M. Leland was a master of precision engineering who in 1890 set up in Detroit a gear-grinding and tool making company with partners Robert C. Faulconer and Charles Norton. Working to the highest standards the business prospered and Leland & Faulconer made machine tools, acted as consultants to local engineering manufacturers, and in 1896 began making internal combustion engines for marine use.
When Ransom E. Olds began volume production of his car that became the celebrated 'Curved Dash' Oldsmobile, manufacture of the single-cylinder engines was sub-contracted to both Leland & Faulconer, and the Dodge Brothers. The engines were identical in design, but the former gave better output due to their finer tolerances. Towards the end of 1902 Leland joined with former Ford backers to form the Cadillac Automobile Company, named after the French explorer who had 'discovered' Detroit some two-hundred years earlier. So, approaching the age of 60, Henry M. Leland using this improved engine became an automobile manufacturer.
After the testing of prototypes the first Cadillacs were shown at the New York Motor Show in January 1903. Such was the public impression of this one-cylinder car with its simple planetary transmission and chain final drive that orders far exceeded immediate supply. A four-cylinder car was added to the range for 1905, but the singles continued in production until 1908.
In 1908 the English importer of Cadillac cars, F.S. Bennett, arranged under RAC supervision for three single-cylinder cars to be dismantled, their parts scrambled, and then re-assembled to run. This was a complete success and the Company was awarded the Dewar Trophy, the Club's premier award. Henry Leland was delighted to see his principles of precision and interchangeability of parts vindicated and his critics who complained about the extra cost that such principles entailed were silenced.
This car was first registered on the 7th May 1906, by Stirling County Council, and came to be part of the Sword Collection in Scotland. In the second dispersal sale of the late John Sword's collection in March 1965 it was Lot 33, being sold to a Dutch buyer for £1,700. He had engine problems with the car before it ever left Britain and it was bought by the vendors at the site of his misfortune on the roadside. Generally though, these single-cylinder Cadillacs are known as good performers, and are noted for their reliability, practicality, and ease of driving.
After some years of storage the car has been tidied up but in general it is a highly original example, retaining its original trim which is now delightfully aged.
This car has a direct connection to the first Cadillac motorcars built, has all the features exhibited by the Dewar Trophy cars, and proclaims the standards that Leland deemed essential in a motorcar.
Registration No. MS 208
Serial No. 2549
Engine No. 9473
Purple lake with dark carmine running gear
Engine: single cylinder horizontal, 5 x 5 ins. bore and stroke, 1,610cc, under-floor mounted; Gearbox: two speed and reverse, planetary (epicyclic) transmission, final drive by central chain; Suspension: front single transverse leaf front spring, rear, semi-elliptic leaf springs; Brakes: double-acting on differential. Right hand drive.
Henry M. Leland was a master of precision engineering who in 1890 set up in Detroit a gear-grinding and tool making company with partners Robert C. Faulconer and Charles Norton. Working to the highest standards the business prospered and Leland & Faulconer made machine tools, acted as consultants to local engineering manufacturers, and in 1896 began making internal combustion engines for marine use.
When Ransom E. Olds began volume production of his car that became the celebrated 'Curved Dash' Oldsmobile, manufacture of the single-cylinder engines was sub-contracted to both Leland & Faulconer, and the Dodge Brothers. The engines were identical in design, but the former gave better output due to their finer tolerances. Towards the end of 1902 Leland joined with former Ford backers to form the Cadillac Automobile Company, named after the French explorer who had 'discovered' Detroit some two-hundred years earlier. So, approaching the age of 60, Henry M. Leland using this improved engine became an automobile manufacturer.
After the testing of prototypes the first Cadillacs were shown at the New York Motor Show in January 1903. Such was the public impression of this one-cylinder car with its simple planetary transmission and chain final drive that orders far exceeded immediate supply. A four-cylinder car was added to the range for 1905, but the singles continued in production until 1908.
In 1908 the English importer of Cadillac cars, F.S. Bennett, arranged under RAC supervision for three single-cylinder cars to be dismantled, their parts scrambled, and then re-assembled to run. This was a complete success and the Company was awarded the Dewar Trophy, the Club's premier award. Henry Leland was delighted to see his principles of precision and interchangeability of parts vindicated and his critics who complained about the extra cost that such principles entailed were silenced.
This car was first registered on the 7th May 1906, by Stirling County Council, and came to be part of the Sword Collection in Scotland. In the second dispersal sale of the late John Sword's collection in March 1965 it was Lot 33, being sold to a Dutch buyer for £1,700. He had engine problems with the car before it ever left Britain and it was bought by the vendors at the site of his misfortune on the roadside. Generally though, these single-cylinder Cadillacs are known as good performers, and are noted for their reliability, practicality, and ease of driving.
After some years of storage the car has been tidied up but in general it is a highly original example, retaining its original trim which is now delightfully aged.
This car has a direct connection to the first Cadillac motorcars built, has all the features exhibited by the Dewar Trophy cars, and proclaims the standards that Leland deemed essential in a motorcar.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.