This 1907 single cylinder Cadillac Model M touring car with a "Straight Line" body style is one the finest examples that remain of the estimated 20 worldwide survivors. Back in the day, this body style was considered the 'more modern' body style and was only produced in 1906 and 1907. There were approximately 1600 Model M's produced in 1907 in both "Tulip" and "Straight Line" body styles. Although Cadillac's engineers had produced a four-cylinder engine for the 1905 model year, the Model M was furnished with their tried-and-true horizontal one-cylinder engine that dates to the company's 1903 debut. Featuring a bore and stroke of 5 x 5 inches, it displaced 98.2 cubic inches and, by the time this '07 was built, it touted an advertised rating of 10 hp. That output - according to some sources - was listed as "Higher than advertised or calculated." Perhaps more compelling is the engine's location within the chassis: under the removable rear floorboards, rather than under the small front hood. The engine was accompanied by a two-speed planetary transmission and torque is delivered via chain drive to the rear differential.

This car is believed to have spent its entire life in Connecticut. It was shipped from the Detroit factory on February 20th, 1907 to E. P. Chesbro, Willimantic, CT, a prominent Buick, Cadillac and Pope-Hartford dealer. This is a picture of the Chesbro dealership in 1909 when Chesbro had switched his allegiance to Buick and Overland.

The individuals pictured from left to right are Fred Little, E.P. Chesbro, Leslie Nichols, Walter Brown and John Upton. Its original selling price was $1,050. At some point in its early years, it spent time on a Connecticut farm, where its back seat was removed and the "one-lung" engine used to cut firewood. In January 1958, it was sold by John J. Lyons of Thomaston, CT to a partnership of Raymond G. Bentley and his Son-in-Law Edward C. Thierry of Harwinton, CT. On November 6, 1966, the car was sold again, this time to Sam Willard of Old Lyme, CT.

"The day Sam got the Cadillac home, November 1966"

Sam was a shop teacher at Bristol (CT) High School who had been looking for a single cylinder Cadillac for years. Don Nelson, one of his students alerted Sam to the car's existence and availability in November 1966. As Sam later said: "When I bought it, (the car) was in tatters, but it was all original - the hardware and everything." In the 1990's, Sam painstakingly began mechanical restoration of the car and rebuilt the back of the car to original specifications. The car completed an extensive Concours level restoration in 2010 and, in May 2020, became part of the Bill & Linda Lillie Collection of Gales Ferry, CT.

As Sam told Hemmings Classic Car magazine in 2021 "There may be some that are just as good, but there are none better."

Horizontal 1-Cylinder Engine
10HP, 98.2ci L-Head
Two doors, 4 passenger
Single Updraft Carburetor
2-Speed Planetary Transmission
Chain Drive
Leaf Spring Suspension
2-Wheel Mechanical Brakes
Original Price - $1,050 (with factory installed Victoria top)




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Awards

• Radnor Award for Veteran Cars, 2022 Radnor Hunt Club Concours d'Elegance
• Best in Class, 2022 Old Lyme Lions Club Classic Car Show
• Featured as April 2022 Car of the Month in Hemmings Motor News Calendar
• 2021 Klingberg Motorcar Series - Spirit of Klingberg Award
• Best in Class, 2021 Virginia Festival of the Wheel Concours d'Elegance
• Best in Class, 2021 Misselwood Concours d'Elegance
• Featured in the March 2021 Issue of Hemmings Classic Car Magazine
• Featured in a Hemmings.com story on October 1, 2020. How to start a one-cylinder Cadillac engine with a hand-crank
• Best in Class, 2020 Klingberg Concours d'Elegance
• Best in Class, 2020 Misselwood Concours d'Elegance

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