The first Cadillac rolled out of the Detroit factory in 1902 but the luxury carmaker’s first Le Mans 24 Hours entry was in 1950. Briggs Cunningham himself took the wheel of a heavily modified Series 61 Coupe de Ville dubbed Le Monstre (the monster) by the French press. True, the car he shared with Phil Waters was designed for speed rather than beauty, and hit 215 kph on the Mulsanne Straight. On his second lap, Cunningham went off into the sand at Mulsanne Corner and lost 20 minutes digging out the car. At the end of hour 1, the car stood 36th. By midnight the crew had clawed back to 15th. But the success was short-lived. A major leak coupled with gearbox trouble hampered further progress. The pair finished the race in 11th place with third gear their only option.

Cadillac returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans 50 years later with a factory entry and the goal of a race victory to celebrate the make’s centenary in 2002. The racing team turned to Daytona and Sebring winners Riley & Scott for a prototype they named Northstar. Four Northstar LMPs cars were entered for the race, two by French team Dams, based on the edge of the Le Mans circuit. Three reached the chequered flag without a hitch. In 2001 Dams flew the Cadillac banner alone, with two cars sporting new suspension, bonnet and tyres. Only one finished, in 15th place, an improvement on the 2000 classification.

Third time lucky? In 2002 the American manufacturer started from scratch. A new car was designed in Great Britain while the American engineers focused on the V8 twin-turbo engine. In appearance, the Northstar LMP 02 was a mixture of the Audi R8 and the previous Northstar. The aerodynamics received particular attention. Only the brakes, turbo and steering electronics survived the overhaul. All the rest was new. During the race the cars suffered electronic issues, starter problems and overheating. The highest-placed claimed 9th place, 30 laps behind the winning Audi R8. In late 2002 General Motors announced the campaign was being shelved in favour of the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R American Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans programme.

Cadillac will return to endurance racing with a Hypercar entry in 2023, alongside Toyota, Peugeot, Porsche, Ferrari, Audi, BMW, Acura, Glickenhaus and ByKOLLES.