With the earliest model sold in 1903, Cadillac is second only to Ford as the oldest surviving make in America and quickly established itself as one of the foremost makers of high quality automobiles in the country, earning its "Standard of the World" advertising claim.

By 1910, Cadillac had been absorbed into the General Motors conglomerate under William C.Durant and has remained the most prestigious name in the GM hierarchy ever since.

Cadillac offered a V-8 model as early as 1915 and progressively refined the concept over the ensuing years, with a detachable cylinder head in 1918, balanced crankshaft in the V-63 of 1923 and further improvements on the Series 314, known as "The New Ninety Degree Cadillac".

In 1928 the dimensions of the V-8 were altered for the first time in years, taking total displacement up to 341cu in and horsepower was rated at 90.

The L-head design used a cast iron block with a copper/aluminium crankcase, three main bearings and mechanical valve lifters.

Onl...