FEATURE
Clockwise , from above : US President William Taft in a Cadillac ; Robin Morrison in Brighton ; Howard Pryor ’ s 1904 car ; Richard Skipworth on his 1903 example ; Russell
Marne ’ s restored Cadillac . Inset : advert for the marque ’ s electric starter . high , and why so many are chugging their way down to Brighton .
They range from seasoned regulars such as Robin Morrison ’ s 1904 version , to newcomers like Pete Wood ’ s 1903 Cadillac ( BT4 ) which has undergone a seven year restoration – and meticulous historical research – before taking part this year for the very first time . Howard Pryor ’ s 1904 car , nicknamed Clementine , has taken part four times , while Dr Graham Barker ’ s similar model has a dozen Runs under its belt .
The appeal is easy to fathom . ‘ It ’ s a lovely motor car ,’ says another owner , Mark Snowden . ‘ It seats four comfortably , it ’ s an exceptionally good runner and it has a nice turn of speed .’
Cadillacs were first sold in Britain in 1908 , and to demonstrate their consistent durability the American company undertook an unusual demonstration at the Brooklands race track in Surrey . Three single-cylinder cars were paraded , and mixed up , and then reassembled . The trio all then ran perfectly , and Cadillac won the Royal Automobile Club ’ s coveted Dewar Trophy for its precision engineering .
It clinched its second Dewar Trophy in 1912 for devising the first reliable electric self-starting system , and for several decades afterwards the cars were sold from the elegant premises of importer Lendrum
& Hartman in Mayfair ’ s Albemarle Street , a short walk from the Royal Automobile Club ’ s Pall Mall clubhouse . There was more British acclaim in 1934 when the great WO Bentley tested a V16 seven-seater limousine at Brooklands , and was impressed that he could wind this huge , near-silent and uncannily stable car up to 90mph …
Cadillacs became bigger and more eye-catching with every passing year . In 1948 the P38 Lightning fighter plane inspired the first tail-fins on the Series 62 Fastback , and by 1959 the jet imagery reached its peak of excessive styling . Under the bonnet , meanwhile , Cadillac ’ s engines swelled to 8.2 litres of capacity in 1970 . The cars started to shrink after 1975 , though , and in 1981 there was even a small model , the Cimarron , exactly the same size as a Vauxhall Cavalier .
A Cadillac has long been a car to get you noticed – a fashionable choice . The 1957 Eldorado Brougham , for example , came with a built-in bottle of Arpege perfume . And William Kennedy ’ s 1904 Cadillac rearentrance tonneau , which will be on the Run , was a small part of that tradition , though you ’ d never know it now : for many years it was used as a window prop for a clothing store , with a trendily attired mannequin at the wheel rather than a warmly togged-up veteran car enthusiast … -
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