Info on "Cadillac" brand?
 

- -My first bicycle was a used Cadillac. An average looking fat tire with 24" wheels and the curved frame. This was in Michigan. Anybody have any historic information on that brand?

Where you from in Michigan? I grew up in Lapeer. Never heard of a Cadillac bike though. Wonder if the name was a reference to the explorer, the car or the city...

All I've ever seen is the head tube badge. This is what I find:

made by the GEO HILSENDEGEN Company in Detroit Michigan Est. 1896. Our research shows that this company went out of business in the 1920's.

Can't vouch for the accuracy of that, but I've never heard of one later than the 1920's. Made in Michigan, stayed in Michigan, I suppose.

I saw a couple of new cadillac bikes at the bike show in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if they have the same lineage to the old 1920's bikes. Seems to me they had a logo that looked like the auto makers logo. I didn't take a close look because I just couldn't imagine why a bicycle maker would want to buy into that particular brand name.

Don't know about your bike,but cadillac was one of the many hundreds of different badges used by schwinn.

- - My father got me that used Cadillac bike in Saginaw in 1957.

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FYI: Dynacraft liscensed the Cadillac name for a line of comfort bikes that can be found in the Mid-West.



Now back to our regualrly scheduled Classic & Vintage Forum.

The Cadillac line also has road and Mountain bikes i saw them at the Chicago bike show.

More like schwinn manufactured bikes for lots of companies and put whatever headbadge was desired on the bikes.

Shelby Bicycle company also had Cadillac headbadges on some of their bikes. I have a book that lists some of the badges done by the big bike makers in the 30's to 50's and I will see if there are any others. Marc

Hey 77univega, does the badge on your bike look like the one on my Shelby, link below.
http://pfamily.org/easywind/shelbycadillac.html