[ last update: 03.21..2010 ]

The (new) Cadillac Database©
Professional Cars

on
Cadillac Chassis

1902-1919

Return to The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page
or go to the "Dream cars" section for 1902-1919
or select "Professional Cars" years from the table below

 

Pick one   >

1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942

WW2 years

1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999-up

 

 

 

1902

[None]

 

1903

[None]

 

1904

P04adlvr.jpg (4747 bytes)    P04bdlvr.jpg (5618 bytes)
Were these the venerable ancestors of today's Cadillac Escalade wagon? 
On the left, the so-called Model A Delivery  with detachable top,  costing $850; on the right, 
the so-called Model B Delivery with fixed top, costing $900; the latter was, according to the 1904
product brochure, the ideal vehicle for the merchant who is tired of using three men
and as many horses for the work that can be done better by one man and a Cadillac." 

 

1905

P05fdlv.jpg (5922 bytes)
This Model F Delivery wagon is the first Cadillac ever to be designated as a commercial car
At $950 it was very popular with  merchants around the country; one buyer calculated that in  just twenty weeks of use his van had saved him almost $600 over a horse-drawn vehicle; the standard color was maroon

 

[Unknown, USA] Light-duty wagon on Model F chassis for U.S. armed forces; photo McC, p.17

05wagon.jpg (6898 bytes)

 

[Unknown, UK?] Taxi limousine. This Model "F" touring car has been converted to an enclosed limousine (taxi). I believe it was in operation in the United Kingdom, in the early part of this century; it may still be in existence.   The front and rear mudguards also are non original

05limo.jpg (10506 bytes)

 

1906

08delv.jpg (6130 bytes)
The 1906 Cadillac line was rounded out by
this sturdy Model M delivery van.

 

[Unknown, USA] Light-truck, probably on Model F chassis [details unclear from small photo, below]. It has the "Cadillac" script scrolled across the sides.

dr06trck.JPG (3098 bytes)

 

1907

08delv.jpg (6130 bytes)
The 1907 Model M delivery van remained
basically unchanged from the previous year.
Priced at $950 it was the favorite of Detroit tradespeople.

 

1908

08delv.jpg (6130 bytes)
The Model M Delivery wagon was carried through from the 1907 line; it sold  for $950. 
It retained the wheel base of  76  inches which gave it  great maneuverability 
The standard colors for this car in 1908 were Brewster green for the body  panels and the
frame side bars and  red for the wheels and axles, with black and gold striping

 

[Unknown, USA] Custom Model G [???] limousine; photo McC, p.34. This custom taxi is identified as 1907-08 Model G, but the hood appears too short to accommodate the standard 4-cyl. engine. Perhaps it was fitted with a single-cylinder motor for city driving.

 

1909

 

1910

[Unknown, USA] Fire-Chief runabout, McC, p.41

[Unknown, USA] Converted car, for railroad inspection

dr10rail.jpg (6133 bytes)

 

1911

 

1912

 

1913

Holmes (USA) Cadillac wrecker (built 1916), McC, p.53 [may be at International Towing and Recovery, Hall of Fame, Chattanooga, TN].  Yes, the very first tow truck WAS a Cadillac. In 1916, John Wiley, a business school operator, dumped his Model T upside down in a ditch. It took a day and six men to get it out. One of the men, Ernest Holmes, a student of Wiley's school, thought there had to be a better way. He mounted three poles to the frame of a 1913 Cadillac, added a pulley and ran a chain through it. He patented his invention and during WW2 his company provided more than 7,000 tow trucks to the Allies. His shop was in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and recently a group called "Friends of Towing" opened the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum a few blocks from his shop. In the 1930s and 1940s, an old car was exactly that, something to be sold cheap as winter transportation, or crushed. A lot of big, heavy cars ended up as tow trucks. Cadillacs were very popular as tow trucks.

13wrecker.jpg (8900 bytes)

 

Hoover Wagon Co (USA) Custom Cadillac hearse, photo McC p.53.

[Unknown, USA] Custom police paddy-wagon on Cadillac chassis [photo NAHC, Detroit in OCW 22.8.91].

 

1914

[Unknown, USA] Custom Fire-Chief runabout, McC, p.55

[Unknown, USA] Custom railroad inspection car, McC, p.56

[Unknown, USA] Custom "bus" on Cadillac chassis (photo NAHC, Detroit in OCW 22.8.91).

 

1915

Geissel (USA) Custom hearse, McC, p.60. A Cadillac hearse with 4-column carved side panels was offered for sale [on the Internet], in August 1996, both by Bennett Funeral Coaches in Michigan and by the Kruse auction company. It was listed as a 1916 model, so there may have been two.

Kimball, C.P. (Chicago, IL, USA) I remember seeing this custom Cadillac "bus" on a 145" wheelbase chassis, in unrestored condition, in a club magazine, around 1972.  Someone must have taken on the arduous task of restoring it for here it is, like new.  It was advertized for sale in Hemmings Motor News (Internet site) in October, 2008. From the license tags, it appears to be registered in the UK

15Kimball.jpg (10942 bytes)    15KimbE.jpg (8789 bytes)

15KimbC.jpg (7318 bytes)    15KimbB.jpg (6672 bytes)    15KimbD.jpg (6956 bytes)
[ Four fall pics are courtesy of Philippe Hulet de Limal, a Belgian member of the American Car Club be France ]

 

Kingsbury-Leahy  (USA) Partners Edward W. Leahy and S. Kingsbury organized the Kingsbury-Leahy Co in 1912 (for $40,000 in capital stock) to build carriages, auto bodies and a motor car called the Kingsbury. Manufacture of the car is doubted, but apparently some automobile bodies and carriages were produced. Here is a Cadillac hearse mounted on a one-ton Garford chassis.  This was offered by the Kingsbury Leahy Company of Albany, NY. The net cost of the rig was $1200 in 1915. It was not precisely to the client's specifications; these were as follows: Loading space 7'10" by 3'7". Body to be of selected hardwood frame, body metal to be securely fastened under moldings, to have cast aluminum carved strips and pillars on sides and back door, to have bevel edge plate glass in sides with removable sunburst draperies (color optional, black, purple or silver gray), to have dome light inside controlled by push-button switches, one at driver's seat, with frameless top glass, to have double doors on rear properly hinged and locked, with hearse table, with rollers and pins and long roller on rear end of table. Inside to be lined flush and finished in mahogany or rubbed black, to have folding chair inside securely fastened, to have one folding seat inside and folding step in rear. Sides of body below chair rack can be covered with Lin Rubber if desired. To have ventilating Limousine glass front, pillar lamps and name plates. Painted, color optional, except white. To have space for extra tire either under body or on side of car.

15hrs1.jpg (7456 bytes)    15hrs2.jpg (5165 bytes)

[Unknown, USA] Custom "Paddy wagon", McC, p.60

[Unknown, USA] Cadillac armored car, McC, p.60

 

1916

Geissel (USA) 8-column, carved panel hearse, wood spoke wheels, four carriage lamps [offered for sale, 1996, by Bennet Funeral Coaches, MI, USA] - may be the same car as the 1915 model listed above and shown in McC, p.60

16hrs.jpg (5296 bytes)
Is THIS the hearse in question ?

 

Owen (USA) hearse, McC, p.64

Seaman (USA) Custom ambulance

[Unknown, USA] Custom police patrol car, McC, p.64

16PolVan.jpg (9086 bytes)

 

[Unknown, USA] Custom fire truck on Cadillac chassis [photo OCW 22.8.91]

16CusFire.jpg (5987 bytes)

 

1917

Hoover Wagon (USA) Custom ambulance, McC, p.69

Northern Pump Co. (USA) Custom fire car by McC, p.69

 

1918

Hess & Eisenhardt (USA) Custom, carved-side hearse

18crvhrs_SS.jpg (7682 bytes)

 

[Unknown, USA] Artillery tractor, WW1

[Unknown, USA] Searchlight car, WW1

[Unknown, USA] Balloon winch, WW1

[Unknown, USA] Railroad track inspection car, McC, p.71; SS 6/92, p.3

 

1919

Holmes (USA)  èsee 1913, above] This Cadillac wrecker is believed to have been built circa 1919-20 [the iamge is identified as a 1920 Holmes Tow Truck]. The very first tow truck WAS a Cadillac. In 1916, John Wiley, a business school operator, dumped his Model T upside down in a ditch. It took a day and six men to get it out. One of the men, Ernest Holmes, a student of Wiley's school, thought there had to be a better way. He mounted three poles to the frame of a 1913 Cadillac, added a pulley and ran a chain through it. He patented his invention and during WW2 his company provided more than 7,000 tow trucks to the Allies. His shop was in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and recently a group called "Friends of Towing" opened the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum a few blocks from his shop. In the 1930s and 1940s, an old car was exactly that, something to be sold cheap as winter transportation, or crushed. A lot of big, heavy cars ended up as tow trucks. Cadillacs were very popular as tow trucks.

19-20HolmesWrek.jpg (24292 bytes)
[ Image:  Z. Taylor Vinson collection, courtesy Hagley Library and Museum, DE ]

 

[Unknown] (Switzerland) Custom fire truck

19FireWag.jpg (8243 bytes)

 

[Unknown, USA] Special Cadillac coach, SIA 66, p.34.

[Unknown, USA] Custom fire-truck, Atwater community (Oregon?) [photo OCW, 22.8.91]

19CusFire2.jpg (7094 bytes)

 

 

Return to The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page
or go to the "Dream cars" section for 1902-1919
or select "Professional Cars" years from the table below

 

Pick one   >

1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942

WW2 years

1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999-up

 

© 1998, Yann Saunders [aka Mr. Cadillac] and the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc.
[ Background image:  1961 Crown Sovereign funeral car by Superior Coach Corporation ]