The first production Cadillac, the Model A, was introduced in 1903, and the subsequent 1904 Model A incorporated only modest changes. In 1904, Cadillac launched its new Model D, featuring the now-conventional automotive layout with a front-mounted, 30-horsepower, four-cylinder engine on a 100-inch-wheelbase chassis. Despite this novel offering, demand for Cadillac's original single-cylinder models continued.

To keep up with the times, the single-cylinder Model E, a two-passenger runabout, and Model F, offered as a four-passenger, side entrance tourer or delivery vehicle, adopted an "engine hood" in the style of the latest front-engine cars, even though the actual engine was still under the seat, just as it had been since the single-cylinder Cadillac made its debut. Something that was unchanged from the earliest models was Cadillac's reliability in trials, hill climbs, and regular use by the American car importer to Britain, Frederick Stanley Bennett.

One advantage Cadillacs ha