Circa 1:43 scale

AHI, JAPAN (?)

This one may be even smaller than 1:43 scale

UNIDENTIFIED, JAPAN

A Cadillac in miniature, though not really a "toy", this
small die-cast burnished copper looking "car" is very
attractive; the Cadillac sits upon a section of cobble stoned
street.  The car itself is 2.25" long; the base is marked
  CADILLAC 1903. The bottom is marked Made in Japan
and has a world globe symbol with bars on either side
(not so much a "toy" as just a 3D miniature)

I T C, USA

This toy car building kit (two cars)
was marketed in the early fifties by ITC

NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM, CHI

           
To all intents and purposes this "new", miniature antique car appears to be modeled after the Revell kit (and probably others too.  For the price (circa $5) it is well made; it even has an opening rear entrance door to the tonneau. Even the base color is authentic, except that the "wine" colored trimmings and running gear are a bit too crimson; also, the pleated leather seats should be black, not red.

REVELL, USA

Above: Revell construction kit depicting the
Cadillac Model A runabout with tonneau

   
Cable controlled model of the same
scale and year, also by Revell  (USA)

       
The Gowland & Gowland (Revell) Model A tonneau was available also showcase ready

   
1903 Cadillac assembly kit (left) and built model (right);
I assume it is based on the older, Revell kit

PLATINUM ANNIVERSARY
[ Limited-Edition Collectibles ]

Die cast 1904 Cadillac Model B surrey
complete with brass lamps and picnic hamper

Toy car construction kits were all the rage in the mid-fifties;
Hudson Miniatures, Revell, ITC, AMT and Monogram all made fine
scale models of the Cadillac; some of these names are now forgotten

Circa 1:18 scale

UNIDENTIFIED, USA (?)

This scale model of the single-cylinder Cadillac
engine of 1902-1908 is believed to be in circa 1:18 scale

1:16 scale

HUDSON MINIATURES, USA

   
Above and below:  Hudson Miniatures construction kit depicting the 1903-04 Model A; this one required more
advanced skills; the body parts mostly were to be cut from sheets of  balsa wood; when I built up this replica in
the early seventies (below), I even stitched the seat material on top of a foam backing for elasticity

Circa 1:12 scale

UNIDENTIFIED, USA

   
This scratch-built model of a 1903-04 Cadillac runabout, with tonneau,
although crude, is most attractive; it is approx. 10½" long, 4¾" wide
and 5½" tall, making it approx. 1:12 scale [seen for sale on e-Bay, 2001]

Circa 1:8 scale

A  S   I,  USA

Amaretto liqueur flask by ASI, from the mid-seventies; chinaware model
depicting a 1903-04 Model A runabout with tonneau and picnic hamper

Circa 1:2 scale

VINTAGE REPRODUCTIONS, Inc.
[ Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA ]

One of these turned up for sale on the Furom of the Cadillac LaSalle Club in Feb. , 2007. Initially, a potential buyer thought it was an authentic, old Cadillac.  In fact it was a replica built circa 1975 by this Florida outfit, located at 4380 N.E. 11th Ave. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, makers  of horseless carriages.

With a GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) of 1321 lbs, the "car" is powered bya 8hp Tecumseh gasoline engine fitted with a floor-mounted electric starter and a belt-driven centrifugal clutch with final chain drive.

The vendor said it had been in his family since new, in 1975. It has a top speed around 30 mph., a forward and reverse gear, as well as neutral, and can carry 4 passengers. There are seat belts all round.

Again, not exactly a "toy" but still an attempted replica
of the earliest Cadillac runabout, seen here with a cape top; 
this electrically driven car with motorcycle-type wire
wheels was used in parades in the seventies

           
Not an exact replica, rather a "lookalike", especially with those spoked "bicycle" wheels and tires.
It is powered by an 8 H.P. lawnmower engine. Top speed is about 35 MPH; the "toy" is NOT street legal

           

   
Two others in the same scale
[ not sure if the manufacturer is the same ]

Circa 1:18 scale [guess!]

UNIDENTIFIED, JAPAN

Believed to be from the fifties, this multi-purpose, tinplate 1905 Cadillac "osceola" look-alike from Japan is a wind-up music box and liquor dispenser; the roof opens up and the interior will hold a bottle of liquor;
the rear of the car also folds open and will hold a few shot glasses

Circa 1:32 scale

CRAGSTAN, JAPAN (ISRAEL ?)

By Cragstan (Japan) - this brand name was manufactured
subsequently in Israel -  this tin toy is said to depict
a surrey-topped Cadillac touring car from the early part of
last century; the front hood, however, is anything but
Cadillac; I am guessing the scale to be around 1:32

T.N. [NOMURA ?], JAPAN

   
#6: Golden Auto Series, battery operated, by TN, Japan

REVELL, USA

TO BE IDENTIFIED

1907 Model K, in 1:32 scale
[believed to be from the Moltor Museum series]

Circa 1:50 scale

TOOTSIETOY, USA

   
Tootsietoy Dowst (USA) began making toy cars in the twenties; this one is from the early sixties;
it depicts the first closed production car built on the single-cylinder Cadillac chassis;  this Model K
coupe of 1907 is close to 1:50 scale; the first run, issued in 1960, had metal wheels; a second series,
issued in 1961, had plastic wheels; the toy is also a fair reproduction also of Osceola, the first ever
closed car commissioned for Cadillac's then CEO, Henry Martyn Leland, and built by Seavers & Erdman
of Detroit [ left: the toy in the raw; right: the detailed toy from my former collection ]

1:32 scale

PYRO PLASTICS, USA

From Pyro (USA) comes this finely detailed construction kit
depicting the 1909 Cadillac Model H touring car

   
Immediately above, the built-up kit [with top down] in a diorama setting
[Photos: © 1971, Yann Saunders]

FRANKLIN MINT, USA

   
This is a pewter replica; etched below it says 1919 Cadillac '30" tourer

CRAGSTAN, JAPAN (ISRAEL? )

   
The scale of these tin, friction toys of Japanese origin (Cragstan) is close to 1:32;
they are intended to depict the 1910 Cadillac Thirty limousine and touring car

LINE MAR, JAPAN

   
Line Mar of Japan built this other tin, friction toy Cadillac Thirty touring car of the mid teens; with many
of these Japanese tin toys, finding a resemblance with an existing Cadillac model sometimes is difficult

Circa 1:24 scale

FRANKLIN MINT, USA

   
Collector's model by the Franklin Mint; done in metal and plastic, it depicts
the 1910 Cadillac Thirty gentleman's roadster; an exceptionally fine replica

Circa 1:18 scale

 

LACHMAN & CO., DETROIT, USA

    
This 24kt gold-plated  scale-model of the first Dewar Trophy winning, "all-interchangeable" 1906-07 Cadillac Model K runabout, is believed to have been  commissioned by the Cadillac Motor Car Division of GM,  to be awarded annually to worthy service  personnel in Cadillac's national service organization.  Thanks to the late Ansell Sackett, one of the founding members of the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc. [CLC], a very
limited number of these RARE models [nine?] were diverted from their initial purpose and were awarded, instead, on a less than annual basis, to CLC members considered to have made
a significant contribution to preserving the Cadillac history and heritage. I was honored
to be the recipient of this award in 1999.  There have been only eight recipients in all; the penultimate unit was awarded in 2000 to my friend, Joe Gildea, and the last one was donated in 2001 to the CLC Museum and Research Center [Photos: © 1999, Gita Saunders]

Circa 1:3 scale

GENERAL MOTORS, CADILLAC STUDIO (?), USA

This 1:3 scale (or thereabouts)  1906 Cadillac Model K runabout is believed to have been
on display at the Cadillac factory circa 1963; the photo was found in an old factory album
that had been discarded in a dumpster but fortunately found there and recovered by an avid
collector of auto memorabilia - I wonder whatever became of the model?

Circa 1:50 scale

TOOTSIETOY, USA

Above and below: the (almost) full set of Tootsie Cadillacs
Brougham, Paddy wagon, sedan, roadster and coupe [repainted]


These are among the earliest known die cast Cadillac toys made in approx. 1:66 scale
by the Tootsietoy Dowst Mfg. Co. (USA); they are part of a series of  GM models
for 1927, each make being identified by its name in block letters across the radiator grille
here are the six Cadillacs in the series; button wheels were available either in gold or black

   
Left: Tootsie #6101, roadster; right:   #6103 (brougham
with decorative landau bars and oval quarter window)

   
Left:  #6104 (sedan); right:  #6106, Paddy Wagon;
the latter style may have been actually built by Judkins

   
In red and blue, the coupe, #6102; in blue and black, the touring car #6105
[ These two photos: © 2002, Yann Saunders - Bob Blake collection, AZ ]

       
This orange and gray coupe was for sale on Internet, in October 2003

Circa 1:43 scale

MATCHBOX, UK

   
The 1913 Cadillac Thirty roadster has been offered in miniature by countless toy manufacturers;
the first one (above),  was made by Lesney (UK)  in the seventies, under the Matchbox label

This is the first Lesney version (from my former collection); it  was detailed
and painted the correct color for 1913, that is Cadillac blue; the toy is modeled
on a full-sized version in the former Harrah collection, in Reno, NV

   
#Y-6, second edition

New Matchbox issue: 1913 Tourer

DANBURY MINT, USA   

The same car, in pewter, is from the Danbury Mint;
variations on this toy were issued in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974 and 1976 [possibly others too]

   
Two more views of the pewter version from the Danbury Mint

ESTETYKA, POLAND  

  
This version is from  Estetyka, Poland (1986)
[ Photo:  Argus de la Miniature - © 1988, E. Flament ]

TINTOYS, USA (?)

Presumably one more over-mold of the Yesteryear toy first made by Matchbox,  UK;
this one is from Tintoys in the Models of Classic Car series, #WT-233

Circa 1:32 scale

DOUBLE SPRINGS, USA

Ceramic Double Springs Series #D326 decanter
showing on the base: Designed by B. Hasenslab
[ Photo: e-Bay auction site ]

UNIDENTIFIED, USA

Mini table-lighter alleged to depict
a Cadillac model of 1913
[ Photo:  e-Bay auction site ]

Not a toy but a table lighter purported to be
in the image of a 1913 Cadillac roadster

Circa 1:32 scale
[ measures 5½ long by 3" wide  ]

SIGNATURE SERIES
[ possibly for/from National Motor Museum, UK ]

      
Apparently a recent issue (2004-5?), this toy depicts the 1913 tourer

   
[These 4 rows] New Touring Victoria

      
1919 touring car
[Believed to be Motor Museum, "Signature" series]

       
Crude tinplate toy said to depict an open Cadillac of the 20s

This appears to be a replica of  the 1927 LaSalle roadster

Circa 1:18 scale

LACHMAN & CO., DETROIT, USA

This 24kt gold-plated model of the Dewar Trophy winning,
"self-starting" 1912 Cadillac V-8, is believed to have been
commissioned by the Cadillac Motor Car Division of GM, from
LACHMAN & Co, Detroit, to be awarded annually to worthy service
personnel in Cadillac's national service organization.  I would imagine
it to be VERY RARE [possibly fewer than fifty pieces]; I guess it was
issued in the mid-eighties, like the 1906-07 award model, above;
this one is from the collection of the late Ansell Sackett, one of
the founding members of the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc. [CLC]
[Photo: the Self Starter, CLC]

This one is from the private collection of CLC member, Gail Pawl
[ Photo:  © 2002, Jannick Halben, Denmark ]

Circa 1:16 scale

LEGO, USA (?)

Thanks to Chris Hardener, a friend and Cadillac toy collector
from Switzerland, for correctly identifying this crude "toy"
as a 1913 Cadillac (not 1909); it is built of Lego blocks

Circa 1:8 scale

 

GENERAL MOTORS, CADILLAC STUDIO (?), USA

       
This "toy" is in the hands of the great Harley Earl who created (and headed
for many years) Cadillac's Art and Color section in the late twenties and thirties;
the scale model is that of a 1927 La Salle sedan, Earl's brain child;
the scale appears to be circa 1:8 ...and, yes, Santa, I want one for Xmas!

Circa 1:5 to 1:3 scale

BENNETT, FREDERICK S., UK

Pedal car? No!  This is a rare electric toy car in circa 1:3 scale (4-foot wheel base) built by
Frederick S. Bennett, CEO of London's earliest Cadillac dealership in England; the "toy"
was made to promote the car's new electric ignition, starting and lighting system, introduced in
1912, a revolutionary system for the time that won for Cadillac the coveted Dewar Trophy that
rewarded each year the manufacturer making the greatest progress in automotive engineering

At least three of these electric mini-cars were built.  In the book Henry M. Leland - Master of Precision, by his daughter and second wife, it is said that car #1 [below, left] was given as a gift by Britain's Queen Alexandra to her nephew, Prince Olaf of Norway; in the words of the author(s), however,  by the time Bennett [Frederick S.] got around to build it, Prince Olaf had outgrown the [toy] car and a larger one was ordered for him [below]. So the original was sent over for Wilfrid Jr. on his fifth birthday. The bigger (?) one [car #2, below ] has different,   squared off front fenders.  It is still in Norway.  Wilfrid Jr.  is seen in the second row [below, right] taking a cousin for a ride around the family estate in Detroit. From the rounded ends of the front fenders, that car is believed to be the same one as featured in the early publicity shots taken in London as well as on the French PC that was on sale at the Paris Salon.

Car #1

   
In the original photo [left], Stanley Bennett was seen standing behind the car, his hand resting on the convertible top; I removed him "digitally" to focus on the toy itself; the photo [right] was cropped from an original that was taken  in London, in 1912, outside  the premises of J. Lockwood & Company, where the scaled-down electric car(s) were built to Mr. Bennett's specifications

         
These French PCs [left and far right] and the close-up [right] appear to have been taken at the same time as that in the preceding row [top row, right];
the children and their foul-weather attire are the same. This electric toy was exhibited at the Paris Motor Show in 1913, where PCs (like the one
with the French postage stamp - left) were on sale on the Cadillac stand. At the various auto shows, the toy car ran around the exhibition floor to
demonstrate the power of its battery motor. The children in the car initially  were thought to be a couple of street urchins coaxed into Bennett's
London showroom for the photo shoot and the promise of a ride in the car; in fact, they are Mr. Bennett's own children, Geoffrey Frederick at the wheel
and Mona in the hooded duffel-coat. The upper text of both PCs is in French; translated, it reads: Miniature Cadillac, run by the electrical starting,
lighting and ignition system that is standard equipment on all Cadillac automobiles. The lower inscription is in English on the LH pic and French
on the RH one; it reads: The Cadillac that has no Crank - To order this automobile of world renown, please contact F.S. Bennet, Ltd., 19-229
Shaftesbury Ave., London, Cable address: Efisben.  In the upper LH corner of the stamped PC (left), someone has scribbled in a price of 
5000 French francs (equivalent, today, to about $13,000); I assume that to  be the price of the actual car and not the toy!

     
Again, this is car #1, the most well known of the Bennett electric cars; it was acquired in 1913  for £62  by Queen Alexandra, wife of
England's Edward VII, as a birthday gift for her grandson,  Prince Olaf  (later King Olaf V)  of Norway.  This is the one that was
subsequently sent to Wilfrid Leland Jr., in the USA, when the Norwegian royal children realized they had outgrown it.

Car #2 (?)

 
This poor photo is from a news clipping of the time and shows Car #2 (?) being driven down London's fashionable Pall Mall, probably headed for Buckingham Palace; the driver could be Stanley Bennett himself.  The license tag reads A-10-FS ("FS" being the initials of Mr. Bennett's first names); later it got the Norwegian tags "A-3"

      
This is believed to be Car #2, commissioned by the Norwegian Royal family to replace the car sent to Wilfrid Leland, Jr.
You can't really tell from the angle of these shots that this car has a longer body [as does Car #3, below]; however, if
you compare the door in the RH  photo [above] with that on the Leland Jr.   car [two rows up] you will notice immediately
the difference in size; the royal toy is on display today in the Norsk Teknisk Museum, Norway; the B&W photo
[center] shows the electrically-powered toy car with the folding top in the raised position
[ These three photos: © Norsk Teknisk Museum, Norway, courtesy Dag Andreassen ]

 

Car #3 (?)

A third car [similar to Car #2 built for Prince Olaf] also features squared-off front fenders; it is painted a darker hue and has fewer hood louvers; Car #3 went to Siam (now Thailand) as a gift for the young Prince Chula Chakrabongse,  great-grandson of King Rama IV [remember Yul Brynner in The King and I ?]; you can tell it has the longer body from the location of the unfolded top in relation to the rear fender extremities.  This toy car was restored in the mid-seventies, on behalf of the Thai royal family, by Mr. David Weguelin, CEO of PROJX, The Tabletop Production Company, Ltd. of Piccadilly, London.  In this photo appear to be seen again young Geoffrey and Mona, Mr. Bennett's children; they are wearing much the same rain gear as they had on for the first photo shoot

 

A toy very similar to this one was offered to me for $10,000 (!!!) at an open air toy car
Swap Meet in Huntington Beach, CA, in June 1978; but that day I had budgeted $100 to
spend on Cadillac toys and sales literature! Today, I often wonder if that toy might
have been Car #1: Were any Cadillac Database users in attendance at that
swap meet, in 1978?  Do you remember this toy?

Additional photos and information published on these toys since the previous update are from the
Cadillac-LaSalle Club Inc.'s Self-Starter magazine [4/2003], courtesy Robert Maidment, UK

 

GENERAL MOTORS, CADILLAC STUDIO (?), USA

   
This 1:3 scale (?) model of the first La Salle (1927)
was on display at the factory during an official tour
organized in 1963 - I wonder whatever became of it ?

 

UNIDENTIFIED, USA

This Kiddy's pedal car is intended
to depict the Cadillac Type V-63 of 1924-25
[ Photo:  e-Bay auction site ]

 

"Cadillac" (?) sheet metal pedal car advertised for sale on the Internet
in 1999;  the only thing Cadillac about it is the name in script
across the front of the radiator

       

    
Above two rows: here is a second, lovely, lithographed steel pedal car that was offered for sale on the
Internet, also  in 1999; it is quite detailed, although the front grille is more typical of Ford than Cadillac

   

   
Above two rows: another "Cadillac" sheet metal pedal car, also advertised for sale
on the Internet, in 2001;  again, the only thing Cadillac about it is the name badge!

 

STEELCRAFT, USA

0
This third cute pedal car was made by Steelcraft (USA);
a fine restored example, this one was for sale on the Internet in March, 2001

 

Unknown origin and scale

1903 runabout with tonneau

This appears to be ceramic model of
the 1928 Cadillac sport phaeton;
I am guessing it was made in the nineties

 

Lorsque j'ai vendu ma collection à un Monsieur de Zürich, au mois de juillet 1989, elle comportait à l'époque environ 750 pièces différentes. Depuis lors, de nombreux nouveaux modèles sont apparus sur le marché; par ailleurs j'ai découvert plusieurs jouets parmi les anciens qui manquaient à ma collection. J'estime aujourd'hui à plus de 1,200 le nombre  de jouets et miniatures Cadillac et La Salle proposés aux collectionnaires sérieux, voire illuminés.

En revanche je constate que les fabricants sont nombreux à innonder le marché de modèles ayant déjà paru chez d'autres, quoique de couleurs ou d'échelles differentes. Parmi ces jouets populaires "à répétition" figurent la voiturette Cadillac de 1903, le coupé de 1913, le spider et le convertible V16 de 1930-31, le torpédo V16 de 1932, les modèles Eldorado de 1953, 1957 et 1959 de même que le coupé Eldorado de 1967 à traction AV.

J'ai longtemps souhaité voir apparaître sur le marché de la minaiature les Cadillac et La Salle les plus belles, y compris les voitures de rêve, fabriquées dans les années vingt, trente et quarante. Nous savons désormais tous à quoi ressemble le spider V16 de 1930; à quand, enfin, des torpédos, torpédos sport, coupés, coupés Victoria, berlines, berlines d'apparat, limousines, coupés chauffeur et grandes remises de la marque?

Il y a regain de popularité pour certains modèles d'après-guerre et notamment les berlines et coupés à pavillon fuyant, le premier Coupé de Ville (1949), les rares berlines Eldorado Brougham de 1957-58, quelques modèles des années soixante, les coupés Eldorado à traction AV et gros V8 [8 litres] des années soixante-dix, de même que la Seville des années quatre-vingt "à malle anglaise".  On en souhaitetrait d'autres encore.

Qui n'a pas rêvé de posséder un jour, pour de vrai, un superbe cabriolet Eldorado de 1953, dont seuls 532 exemplaires furent construits? Malheureusement, il n'y a pas un nombre suffisant de survivants pour satisfaire la demande. Cependant, ceux d'entre nous qui ont la chance de rouler ou d'espérer rouler en Cadillac "ordinaire" d'avant ou d'après-guerre, nous aimerions bien pouvoir nous procurer des modèles réduits de celles-là aussi, en dehors des modèles de rêve hors de portée de nous tous.