Always a high-quality automobile, from its founding in 1902 by the "Master of Precision" Henry Martyn Leland, Cadillac led the industry in innovative concepts.

The make pioneered electric starting and lighting in 1912, and pushed the envelope further in 1915 with the first mass-produced V8 engine.

Designed by D.

McCall White, a Scottish-born engineer, the L-head engine used two cast-iron blocks with integral heads, mounted on an aluminum-copper alloy crankcase.

With the banks of cylinders directly opposite one another, it used Leland's preferred fork-and-blade connecting rods.

The first left-hand drive Cadillac, the 1915 Type 51, had a chassis similar to its predecessor four-cylinder models, with platform-type leaf spring rear suspension.

The period from 1915 to 1918 saw refinement of the engine though manifold redesign and lighter pistons.

The chassis was successively strengthened and lengthened, and the standard equipment tire pump was moved from the engine to the transmission...