[ last update: 05.19.2014 ]

The (new) Cadillac Database©

The Cadillac V16

Part 1k
Roster of Survivors

Series 452-452A
1930-1931 [part 2]

Return to The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page
or to the "V-16" index page

 

Surviving Sixteens
of the first generation
by domestic (U.S.) coach builders

Body
Style
Body Number Engine
Number
Latest available information

Phaeton

?

700991

This custom 4-passenger special phaeton by Murphy, designed by the late, great Frank Q. Hershey started life as a roadster; it was not built on a bare chassis as I initially believed. Walter Montgomery Murphy set up business in Pasadena, CA, in 1917. One of the firm's notable styling features in the thirties were large, chrome-plated hinges (as seen on this car). I first saw this car in the Self Starter for August 1963; at that time it had been acquired by CLC member Robert Taunton, while on honeymoon with his new bride. Robert did the initial ground-up restoration after the car got hit by a drunk (?) taxi-driver in California.  In the eighties the car was owned by Donald Westerdale. It was the object of an article in AQ for the fourth quarter 1984. In 1962, it was painted green and had a green top and red leather interior. It was owned at one time by Charles and Anita Howard; beautifully restored it got an award at Meadowbrook in 1995. The car was listed in the 2002 CLC Directory as belonging to J. McMullen, MI. Late extra [2/2007]: the car was auctioned off as part of the McMullen Collection on June 9, 2007 in Lapeer, Michigan [info from V16 enthusiast and owner, Chris Cummings]. A full description and history of the car is currently [May 2007] available on the RM Auction site. The catalogue estimate is between $850,000 and $1,000,000. I initially thought it would be a hard sell on today's market for over $400K.  Well, it turns out I was WRONG! The reported selling price was actually  $1,056,000 !!! 

This full write-up is provided courtesy of RM Auctions (I met their London auctiioneer, Max G., in Amelia Island in April, 2011):

Unlike other luxury car makers of the day, Cadillac did not commonly allow the sales of bare chassis to coachbuilders. As a result, custom-built bodies on the V16 chassis were extremely rare, with Cadillac records showing only five such orders released from the factory. Consequently, if a customer wanted the power and elegance of a Cadillac V16, but a custom body to his own taste, his only choice was to order a complete car, and of course, the choice was almost always the rumble seat roadster, which was the least expensive model in the line. Once delivered the factory body would be removed and discarded or sold off, and the coachbuilder would then install the new coachwork.

The example offered here is one of these cars. It was shipped on April 17th, 1930 as a standard Fleetwood roadster, for delivery to San Francisco for a special project by one of the most noteworthy figures in the early history of the automobile on the west coast, Charles S. Howard.

Although Howard is best known in popular culture as the owner of Triple Crown winner “Sea Biscuit”, he was also the California distributor for Buick – which no doubt influenced his choice of the Cadillac V16, GM’s flagship car. 

Howard was also known to Murphy, having commissioned at least one other car from this well regarded Pasadena coachbuilder. In their employ was a talented young designer named Franklin Q. Hershey, who at the age of 23, already had six years of experience designing some of the most beautiful automobiles of the classic era. 

Having come to Murphy at the age of 17, he had been given a very unique opportunity to prove his skills. Hershey had demonstrated that he had the ability to put himself inside his client’s mind and bring out what would be some of the most beautifully styled classic automobiles of the day. Hailed as rolling works of art, Hershey’s designs are highly sought after by collectors today. 

For this one-off phaeton Hershey gave it the “California” look – a largely open car, with thin pillars and a light appearance. One of the most notable features of the car is the swept-back rake of the windscreen. Rather than using the industry norm of a nearly up-right flat windshield, Hershey’s design featured a rearward slope at nearly 22 degrees, giving the car the appearance of speed even when standing still. 

Perhaps the most attractive feature of the car is its dual purpose character. Although fully enclosed as a convertible sedan, it was cleverly designed such that the windows could be lowered (at which point they would disappear under flush chrome covers), the center posts removed, and the rear windscreen raised, giving the look and feel of a true open car. While others have tried to achieve the same dual purpose design, none were more successful than Franklin Hershey’s design for Charles Howard.

Details of this car’s immediate ownership after Mr. Howard’s tenure (if any) are not known, but by 1961 Norman Taunton of Galt, California heard a rumor about the existence of the car. He was on his honeymoon, driving his Model A Ford, when he tracked down the car in the San Francisco area. He had been looking for a sporty open classic, and made a deal almost immediately. Unfortunately, as Taunton relates in a 1962 letter published in the Cadillac LaSalle Self Starter magazine, on the way home with the car, he was struck by a taxi driver, damaging the car in the right rear.

He decided to take the car apart and restore it, and in the process he stripped the original dark green paint off the car, but never got around to finishing it. In the meantime, he had gotten to know Jimmy Brucker, whose father owned “Movieland, Cars of the Stars”. Brucker tried for ten years to buy the car before he was finally successful in closing the deal in the late 1960s. 

According to Brucker, the car was in amazing condition, and so solid that the doors could be closed and latched with one finger. Although Brucker would keep the car for about ten years, he still hadn’t gotten around to starting the restoration when he sold it to another California enthusiast, Don Westerdale, in the late 1970s.

Westerdale completed the restoration over the next four or five years, showing it a number of times. The finished car was featured in Automobile Quarterly, Volume 22, No. 4, published in late 1984. Not long afterward, Westerdale sold it to noted California collector John Mozart - in about 1985. John maintained the car and made small improvements during the nearly ten years he owned it before selling it to well known collector Jim King of Berkely, MA in September of 1991.

King sold the car to John McMullen in September of 1994 where it was treated to a thorough upgrade to return the car to concours condition, including a top quality repaint, changing the car from two tones of red to its current combination of dark maroon and a deep high gloss black. The interior is fitted in plush maroon leather, with the rear passenger compartment fitted with its own roll-up center window as well as a clock and remote speedometer mounted to the back of the front seat in a handsome wooden casing. The steering wheel, dash, and gauges have all been restored to as new condition. It is well equipped, including its original Cadillac Goddess mascot, dual covered side mount spares with rear view mirrors, a permanently mounted rear storage trunk, and stainless steel wire wheels with wide whitewall tires. 

From 1996 to 2004, the car has been shown at only a handful of events where it has always been rewarded with top honors. One of the highlights of John McMullen’s ownership of this Murphy Phaeton came at the 1997 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, when the car was judged best in class. On hand was Franklin Hershey, who was reunited with his masterpiece. Sadly, it would be the last concours this talented stylist would be able to attend, as he passed away at the age of 90 just a couple of months later. 

In more recent years this car has been invited to be exhibited as such prestigious venues as Amelia Island, Bay Harbor, Meadow Brook, and the Glenmore Gathering, where it has consistently been selected as Best in Class and often Best in Show. It has also gained top honors with the Classic Car Club of America, being awarded National Junior, Senior and Premier awards.

One would expect that with an original restoration nearing 25 years of age – even one as well cared for as this – a certain amount of upgrading would be required. It is a testimonial to the quality of the workmanship to date that even the most particular collector is unlikely to find more than a few areas needing attention to return the car to front rank concours quality.

Any sixteen cylinder Cadillac is an important car, but the McMullen collection Murphy bodied example is one of the most significant V16s extant. A true one-off, designed by one of the most legendary figures of the classic era, it will offer its next caretaker the opportunity to enjoy its beauty for years to come. It seems fitting that it find its next long term owner in this, the 100th anniversary of the birth of its creator, Franklin Q. Hershey.

Award History

1996 Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance First in Class
1997 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance First in Class
1998 Grand Experience CCCA Best of Show
1998 Bumpers for Babies Best of Show
1998 Cars on Campus Concours People’s Choice & Best of Show
1999 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Most Elegant Cadillac 
2002 Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance Most Elegant Car, John Dodge Award & Best Featured Cadillac
2003 Bay Harbor Best of Show
2004 Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance Most Significant GM Product
2004 Glenmore Gathering Award of Distinction

 

  V6mphy3.jpg (11522 bytes)     V6MPHY.JPG (12440 bytes)
(Left) Photo taken in William Land Park, Sacramento, CA, Courtesy Craig Watrous [ © 1962, Craig Watrous ]
(Right) The restored car with top in place

v6murphy.jpg (15932 bytes)     v6MurphS.JPG (22916 bytes)     V6Murph.jpg (5379 bytes)
The car appears to have been repainted a darker green and has got a new black top; photos,  possibly Pebble Beach, in 2005

V6MurphX.jpg (9101 bytes)

    
(right) Amelia Island Concours d'Elégance, March 2012
[ Photo: © 2012, Gita Saunders ]

 

Roadster

?

?

2-passenger roadster by  Rollston; this car was formerly owned (1979) by Peter W.Hinrichs, of Mequon,WI. For many years a "mystery", the car's identity was finally revealed during restoration; the underside of the windshield was stamped "Rollston, July 1932".  In 2002, this car was owned by Robert M. Lee of Reno, NV. It made a first appearance at the Pebble Beach concours d'Elégance in August, 2002.

 

v6rllstn.jpg (9882 bytes)
In this sixties photo you can see that someone tried to "upgrade"
the car to a 1933-34 model by adding "skirts" to the open fenders

V6rlst1.jpg (7156 bytes)          v6_Rollston.jpg (9621 bytes)
I may be wrong but I don't think the car was designed with those front fender skirts; these came into fashion only in 1933
The car has survived and was seen at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elégance in  2002, 2005 and 2008 (images 2, 3 and 4)

    

 

Town Car

?

?

By  Waterhouse; it is not believed to have survived.

 

 

 

Surviving Sixteens
of the first generation
by foreign coach builders

Body
Style
Body Number Engine
Number
Latest available information

Town
Brougham

? ?

Bronckhorst (or Bronkhorst) [Netherlands]) Special V-16 7-passenger Ľ-window brougham with canework on lower rear quarters [like Fleetwood style #4264-B but a longer body, with quarter windows added, full-sized jump seats folding into partition].  I am wondering if this might not be a conversion from the 1930 V-16 Town Brougham  tour car, Fleetwood style #4264-B?  These views are from the 30's French trade magazine, Auto-Carrosserie No. 92, Figs. 16-18. The car is mentioned also in an earlier salon report for the same magazine [maybe No. 91] of which I do not have a copy.  The images below are  Xerox copies, hence the relatively poor quality. The car is not believed to have survived.

 

v6bkhs3.jpg (7987 bytes)

Bkhrstin.jpg (6270 bytes)     v6bronkc.jpg (7405 bytes)
This could be the European tour car style 4264B with a modified 
rear body (addition of quarter windows and full width jump seats)

Brnkhrst.jpg (8760 bytes)
The premises of the Dutch coachbuilding firm

 

Town Car

?

?

By  Kellner [Alexis of Germany or Georges of Paris]; in any case it is not believed to have survived.

 


 

 

Boattail
Speedster

? Between
703136
and
703152

Farina [Italy] Factory records [which I have not seen] reveal that the chassis of this car left Detroit on July 17, 1931, bound for Turin, Italy [that month, only 17 cars/chassis were completed, they were #703136 to 703152]. The special, boat-tailed speedster or "tiger-shoot" car was commissioned by the wealthy Maharajah of Orccha, one of India's princely states before the country gained independence in 1947. The Self Starter issue for June, 1965, carried a factory photo of the car, the same one that I got from the PF archives in 1975 and that I wrote about in the Classic Car magazine for June 1976. Dave Towell, Cadillac dealer and collector of Akron, OH, wrote me in September 1976 to say that he had bought the car in April that year, from the late Sheikh Mukhtar, a Pakistani actor and film director who had acquired it in 1960, directly form the Maharajah, for a reported 7000 rupees (circa $560).  In 1976, the car had barely 12K miles on the odometer.  The car's presence in the USA sparked much interest; Bill Mitchell, then Director of GM Styling, went to Akron to examine it. Gita and I went to see Dave's cars too, in June 1978, on our first trip to the USA. Grand memories! I understand that Dave paid $105,000 for the car.  It arrived in Akron in July 1976. He did almost no restoration work on the car before selling it again. The car was later acquired by Tom Barrett, then by Jack Frederick and Fran Roxas who, in my opinion, "over-restored" it. The roadster was featured shortly thereafter in AQ, Vol. 20, #4, in its new black garb with an unlikely red velour interior (!). In the eighties, Ken Behring acquired it for his renowned Blackhawk collection in Danville, CA. This particular ad appeared in the CLC's  Self-Starter magazine in August, 1983:   1930 V16 Boat-tail "The ultimate 50s hot rod".  The car was being offered for sale by a Mr. Jack Wenger of Broadway, VA (I assume it was this same car). Motor Trend ran an article on the car, in March 1985. According to the Self Starter for July, 2001, the current owner is Robert Lee of Sparks, NV. Rare and "exotic" Cadillacs like this one have a habit of turning up in the most unexpected places and at the oddest times; their tale is often told, distorted, embellished, often for the sole purpose of increasing the car's marketability. Late Extra (5/2010): I'm not sure if there is any truth to a rumor that the car is to be repainted back to black with red trim [the repaint colors selected by Jack Frederick and Fran Roxas in the 80s] for upcoming show (in 2010?) of Pinin Farina custom jobs.   It sounds odd indeed (and very expensive).  Will the car be repainted, again, back to the original PF color scheme, after that show? Note: Members of a classic car forum in India have discussed this car; they seriously doubt the accuracy of information about it on internet sites (including mine?) and in magazines like Motor Trend. According to the current Maharaja of Orccha, HH Madhugar Shah, whose father ordered this car, it remained in use with the Orccha family at least until the late fifties and would drop him off and pick him up from school. He asserted that it was never designed, nor used,  for hunting tigers; that was just a myth! One of the original "V-16" hubcaps still survives in the Orccha garages. According to one member of the forum, the Pinin Farina speedster and a rare Duesenberg SSJ with body Gurney-Nutting that had belonged to India's princely Holkar family, were smuggled abroad by actor Sheik Mukhtar and traded for a pair of new 1960 Chevy Impalas! Another members, Nigel Davis with whom I have been in contact, remembers seeing the car in the late sixties when it was still owned by film actor and director Sheik Mukhtar. It's licence tag read "ORCCHA 1"; he said it was parked on the road; Mukhtar had come to visit a famous Indian story-writer. Nigel was a little boy at that time but he still remembers the car. Years later he read in Motor Trend how Mukhtar had found the car buried in the ground with the boat tail sticking out. He bought it and later took it out of the country, though Pakistan, and sold.Will the truth ever be known?

 

V6pfab.jpg (9560 bytes)
The pith-helmeted, mustachioed gentleman lighting a smoke on the left is the
wealthy Maharajah of Orccha; his car carries the tag "ORCCHA 1"


V6pfaa.jpg (11168 bytes)
The car is seen here, in India, in the early sixties, with sidemounts removed
and the skimpy weather canopy in place; it is fitted with very British,
flick-up turn signal indicators [just ahead of the upper front door hinge]

30PFpinkPF.jpg (26191 bytes)     v6PFrr.jpg (11604 bytes)

V6pfac.jpg (11520 bytes)
Sheikh Mukhtar painted the car this fuchsia hue [above 2 rows, in different lighting];
it was still like this when Dave Towell brought it to the USA and later sold it to Tom Barrett III

V6pf_us2.jpg (8402 bytes)
[ Click on image for larger view ]

    
Photo (right):  courtesy Automobile Quarterly

31pfa.jpg (65584 bytes)     31pfb.jpg (77961 bytes)

31pfc.jpg (62025 bytes)     31pfd.jpg (75200 bytes)

31pfe.jpg (82618 bytes)     31pfg.jpg (96429 bytes)     

 31pfh.jpg (102435 bytes)     31pff.jpg (68693 bytes)
Photos in above 4 rows: © ConceptCarz.com

 

v630pfrdst1c.jpg (95949 bytes)
The original Farina colors are not known but from this factory photo
you can see that they were not those chosen by Fran Roxas, who restored it;

the later repaint (pale blue and cream) probably are closer to reality

v630pfrdst2b.jpg (20408 bytes)     V6pf30.jpg (17476 bytes)     v6Orccha2.jpg (8813 bytes)

    v6Orccha.jpg (22375 bytes)     31PForccha.jpg (10971 bytes)   
In these two rows: This is how the car looked at Pebble Beach, in 2005; it appears to have been repainted closer to the Farina original, above;
in addition, the scarlet  velour seat material [installed by Fran Roxas?] appears to have been replaced  by more plausible, dark brown leather

v6OrcchaInt.jpg (58927 bytes)

 

Convertible
Victoria?
?

702873

Lancefield [England] According to Matt Larson of the CLC, this engine/chassis combination had RHD and was exported to England in 1930.  I initially thought it had got a saloon [sedan] body designed by Van den Plas and possibly built by Lancefield in England.  This former "mystery V16" was offered for sale by auction by the Kruse organization in 1996 (lot #696).  It was described as a V16 convertible (?) of 1930 [actually 1931, from the VIN] with RHD and body by Lancefield of England. The colors were given as cream and green.   The upper photo, below is from the collection of Gregg D. Merksamer of the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH); others are from the internet. Late extra (Oct., 2010): The car was brought to my attention again by owner-enthusiast and V-16 "sleuth", Chris Cummings. Chris said: This car was bodied by Lancefield in England. It is reputed to have been among a small group of bare chassis shipped to Van Den Plas, from where it made its way to the UK. Manny Dragone purchased it in Europe about ten years ago, sold it to a buyer in Connecticut, and recently took it back in trade for another car. Mr. Dragone did some paint and upholstery work some years ago, and some work had been done on the car before he bought it. He says that the seller told him the car had been exhibited at the London Motor Show in 1931 .   I have read a few reports of the 1931 London Motor Show at Olympia, in specialized UK magazines of the period; there was no mention of this custom job; the only such job mentioned was a limousine-landaulet with body by Van den Plas (described below)]. Chris pointed me to the web page of the Manny Dragone classic car collection in Bridgeport, CT, where the car resides. It is said to be an excellent older restoration and is fitted with a high speed rear axle. The car is for sale for $650,000!  BTW, I have seen a drawing of a V-16 by Lancefield, but the latter is not a convertible.

 

V6lance1.jpg (8805 bytes)     V6lance2.jpg (9477 bytes)

V6lance3.jpg (7385 bytes)     V6lance4.jpg (5558 bytes)
This custom job features a straight sill with overlapping
body work, and a horizontal belt molding

[ Photos, above 2 rows:  Internet, June, 2004 ]

              
Until recently, the car had these special wheel discs (over wire wheels?)
[ Photos, above row:  Internet, October, 2010 ]

    
Amelia Island Concours d'Elégance, March 2012; now the  car sports chrome wire wheels
[ Photos, above 2 rows: © 2012, Gita Saunders ]

 

Town car

?

702073

Nordberg [Sweden] town car on 1930 chassis #702042. This car was ordered by Torsten Krüger (the Swedish industrialist), son of Ernst Krüger, the "Safety Match King" and younger brother of Ivar Krüger whose unethical business practices ended with his suicide (or was it murder???) in Paris, in 1932. Torsten helped run the family match business. In 1933, he was sentenced to a year in jail for a so-called  "economical swindle" (no details available). Krüger owned many classic cars including a Bentley and a Duesenberg.  He even owned his own island (Bullerö) in the Swedish archipelago. There, he would entertain celebrities like Mary Pickford, Errol Flynn and Charlie Chaplin, taking them for cruises aboard his luxury motor yacht, M/V United Spirit, a legendary Swedish luxury yacht that he built in 1934.   The Nordberg town landaulet was then acquired by Swedish media mogul, Vetus Pettersson, in Malmö. The third and current (2010) owner is Helge Kaarinen, owner of Sparreholm Castle and car museum; he currently (2010) lives in London. This car is in its original state and has never been restored.  The coach-builder, Nordberg, passed on in 1977; he had built many interesting custom bodies on Cadillac chassis, including a number of them for the Swedish Royal family under the reign of King Gustaf V.  Correction for October, 2011 (submitted by V16 "guru" and friend, Chris Cummings):  Chris says that this Norberb custom is not the Kruger car, as I mentioned in error, above. This Norberg creation (below) was built on spec by the Ostermans car dealership in Stockholm. Chris wrote: The car sat in the showrooms (the “Marble Halls”) for several years before Pettersson wandered in, not very impressively dressed. The salesmen tried to give him the bum’s rush, but he homed in on the V-16 town car and bought it off the showroom floor. Chris added  that the Kruger car was a Fleetwood style 4375 owned by Anders Wald’s friend, Tage Jingnert.

As to the car pictures formerly included in this entry
[and that I have now moved to the correct page] they showed a car with painted metal sidemount covers; Chris identified it correctly as a Fleetwood Series 4155) that lives in the Haynes Museum in Somerset, England.

 

v630nrbg2.jpg (58383 bytes)    

         v6NrdbrgRR.jpg (53205 bytes)
On display in the Nordberg showroom, 1930 (?)
[ Photos:  courtesy Olle Ljungstrom and Fred Summers ]

V6nbrg0.jpg (8521 bytes)     v6nrbg3.jpg (4906 bytes)     v6nrbg4.jpg (3367 bytes)     V6nrbg5.jpg (7991 bytes)

 v630nberg4.jpg (54079 bytes)     v6Nordb2.jpg (57922 bytes)

 

Part Convertible Sedan
[ex-4260]

n/a


701554
then
700979

Saoutchik [France]

Chassis # 7-101(?), formerly body #2 of the 85 units built, this was one of the six European tour cars (the original sport phaeton body was put later on another V16 chassis). This sport phaeton was Fisher order #2587; it was shipped to Copenhagen, Denmark on June 11, 1930 for the European promotional tour.  Upholstery was Radel Spanish grain leather #2400, trim style 19 (or 1930?);  the entire hood, cowl and body panels were painted in R&M Indiana gray (Duco #20157), as were the wheel hubs, spokes and felloes.  The molding and the hood and cowl vents all  were painted Saxon gray (Duco? #2445519);  fenders and chassis were painted Ravenwood brown (Duco #5782). The finish moldings on top of the belt were chrome-plated. Wire wheels (six) were mounted, including two in the fenders; the original tires had black side walls.  A travel trunk was mounted in the rear.  Paris' Jacques Saoutchik later mounted a sedan body on this engine/chassis combination; it had a special sliding roof with a transparent roof that panel lined up with the rear window when the roof was fully retracted [note that during the time that car remained in France, it carried French tags "8651RK2"; when it was sold at an RM auction in May, 2011, it had the same license tags!?!?]. The car is believed to have been owned in 1960 by an elderly lady (89 years old at the time); it was to have been sold at auction by a Paris garage, but an agent of the owner turned up in the nick of time to pay an outstanding repair bill. The subsequent sequence of events in this car's life is unclear; one former owner is said to have been the Marquis of Goulaine, who reortedly sold it later to a nephew of the Count of Paris. It is said to have been also for some time in the possession of  French auto dealer, Johnny Thuysbaert who stored it his château, near Nantes.  Major repairs are assumed to have been carried out in 1964 by the Francis workshops near Paris; the story is related in France's weekly  Auto-Journal for August 6, 1964; there are some photos.  The car was then apparently acquired  by the late Serge Pozzoli, former editor of  France's Fanatique de l'Automobile, who stored it in a warehouse at Av. Jean-Jaurčs, in Paris, near the "Poker" beer warehouse owned by  Hubert Le Gallais. Hubert subsequently bought it from Pozzoli and showed it at various meets in and around Paris in the late sixties and early seventies. I visited him in the early seventies and photographed the car at his restaurant-home in Le Pavé du Roi near Fontainebleau; at that time the car was dark blue with a dark brown roof.  Later, Le Gallais moved to Brittany (NW France) where he opened another restaurant. I lost track of the V-16 in the late seventies and discovered, later, that it had returned to the USA (in the mid-to-late-eighties or even early nineties): there it was completely restored to the highest standards by respected restorer Fran Roxas of Alsip, Illinois for Fred Weber of St. Louis, Missouri. During restoration, the Saoutchik body was removed from the Cadillac chassis on which it was originally built [VIN 701554]. Roxas then put the Saoutchik body onto chassis VIN 700979, another correct V-16 chassis that had received originally a Fleetwood four-door sedan body; interestingly the latter chassis was originally ordered new by C.F. “Boss” Kettering, the creator of the self starter, Delco, and a leading GM engineer who went on to develop the Parade of Progress, that chassis in itself, therefore, is of historical importance. During restoration, the original Marchal headlights mounted by Saoutchik were replaced with Grebels, I guess to match the accessory, cowl spotlights (personally, I preferred the huge Marchals).  A new top was made and the hood ports were chrome-plated; a central fog-light was added and the car got new paint. After the restoration was completed, it was purchased by Detroit-area real estate developer Bernie Glieberman of West Bloomfield, MI; it garnered noteworthy results. Major awards included a Class Award at Pebble Beach in 1991 and at Meadow Brook in 1995 where it won Best in Class and the Engineering in Excellence Trophy. It made a noted appearance at the "Cadillac-La Salle Experience" meet at the Gilmore Museum, Hickory Corner, MI, in June 1993.  The car was shown again at Meadowbrook, in 1995. It was later reported to be for sale at the annual Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, AZ [year???]; it is said to have been bid to $325,000; the program mentioned "Lot #9, color silver/blue, rare Saoutchik body with retractable 2-position sunroof  that rolls back to an open roof over the passenger compartment. Lights by "Stephen Grabel" [typical BJ mis-spelling of Stéphane Grebel].  Show quality restoration. Pebble-Beach winner. Asking price $325,000"  ...I imagine that Mr. Le Gallais had probably sold it for less than $50,000! Late Extra [1/2001]: The last-but-one owner acquired the automobile in January 2001. This outstanding V-16 has won awards at the Pebble Beach Concours, with yet another Class Award, and Amelia Island, where it received the trophy for Most Elegant Closed Car, as well as at Palos Verdes and Newport Beach. Recently in the care of noted restorers Alan Taylor and Mosier Restorations, the car benefited from both a cosmetic upgrading and a mechanical freshening in order to prepare the car for touring as well as show purposes. The owner spoke to George Kovarda, who has a number of photos of this car prior to and during the initial stages of restoration in the USA. He does not believe Kovarda was working for Fran Roxas at the time he had the car. Also, he only had the body there for the purpose of making it back into a convertible sedan for Fred Weber. After Fred hired Marc Ohm to run his "in house" restorations, they took the body back from George; they decided not to make it a convertible after all, but to put the sliding roof top back on the car. The new owner thinks that Saoutchik may have built the car initially as a convertible sedan and someone else may have built the sliding sunroof later; I doubt it; there was a tag on the top with the name of a firm in Paris; my best guess is that Saoutchik did in fact design the special top but had it installed by a specialist in the French capital]. Later [8/2007]:   the car found a new home during the Gooding & Co auction at Pebble Beach on August 18, 2007, where it achieved a record price of $462,000 [thanks, Chris Cummings, for this update].  Later still [3/2011]:  Chris advised that the car was  being offered at auction, in May 2011, during the prestigious Villa d'Este venue on lake Como.  We shall hear more about it soon. Even later [4/2011]:  My daughter, Kelly, attended the show with her fiancé; she didn’t quite get her photos right! Latest [5/2011]:  Gita and I were honored to be able to attend the Amelia Island Concours, where this car (among many others) was sold once again.

 

     
The Saoutchik car in Paris' Francis workshops, circa 1964

         Saousv5.jpg (13521 bytes)     v6Saou1b.jpg (45437 bytes)
These French license plates were issued in Paris (Seine region) between 10 March and 1 April, 1936; the restored car is on show, here,   near Paris. in the seventies

 v6saou4.jpg (49183 bytes)    
 I photographed her at the Pavé du Roi,  in Fontainebleau, France, circa 1973-74 (left)


This text for the restored car (above, right) asserts "...rare Grebel lights";
in fact, Saoutchik had fitted the car with Marchal headlamps and Grebel spotlights;
during restoration the Marchals were traded for a pair of matching Grebels   

v630saox.jpg (11412 bytes)     ss707_v6Saou.jpg (7588 bytes)
(top photo and left) As restored and offered for sale by auction in Scottsdale, AZ, 2000
(center and right) Pebble Beach concours d'Elégance, August 2002
[ in the latter 2 views you can see the sliding roof portion pulled back ]

v630sa1e.jpg (9945 bytes)     v630sa1a.jpg (6195 bytes)

v630sa1b.jpg (6234 bytes)     v630sa1c.jpg (8341 bytes)     v630sa1d.jpg (6023 bytes)
Preceding five photos courtesy of  Elliott Dolin, the new owner, 2001

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      saou_a.JPG (7996 bytes)     Saou_a1.jpg (7410 bytes)           v6Saou1.jpg (15237 bytes)
Digital photos don't like tight-woven grilles (center image);
note grille detail at right with Grebel headlights in lieu of the original Marchal lamps

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Beautiful cabinetry in this French custom creation;
note division winder and duplicate instruments in rear (right)
[ Pebble Beach photos in this set, courtesy "Jim",  Aug. 2002 ]

    

v6-31Saou.JPG (39399 bytes)    
Whoever restored the car in the USA replaced the original Marchal headlights  with Grebels, to match the accessory, cowl spotlights;
in addition to new paint and top, the hood ports were chrome-plated and a central fog-light added

v6SaouRM1.jpg (41028 bytes)     v6saourm2.jpg (39857 bytes)

V630saou1.jpg (54017 bytes)    
Surprising as it may seem the restored car, offered for sale at auction by RM in 2011,
carries the same French license plates as were issued, in Paris,  in 1936
[ Photos: © and courtesy RM auctions ]

 

Limousine
Landaulet

[556]

702297

Van den Plas [England and Belgium] This one (and the one below it) left the factory on  July 9, 1930,  bound for London and the Olympia Motor Show. It is the same car I saw advertised in the Self Starter in July, 1959, by a Mr. Jeffrey Watts of Levittown, PA. His ad reads: "1930-31 Cadillac V16 with English built body; originally owned by Guinness of stout fame; designed by Van den Plas and built by [Lancefield for Van den Plas?] Lendrum and Hartmann, Ltd. RHD, compartmented [i.e. limousine division?], folding landau back, English headlights (large), upholstery moth eaten but beautiful, paint rough, mechanically looks excellent ($300 ...or may be less)".  So far as I know, the car was offered for sale at a "Movieland - Cars of the Stars" auction in Hollywood, in May 1974; Roy Schneider told me it was in a deplorable state and did not find a buyer; it needed "everything" including a highly talented enthusiast with some heavy funding. In his list of survivors, Rick Leforge attributes this one to "Lyon Classic Cars, L.A."  It appears it was acquired at some time by the late "Cadillac Jim" Pearson of Kansas City; he still had it in 1976. He subsequently sold it to James.C. Leake, a well-known collector and dealer from Tulsa, OK. This car and the one below has RHD [one of the rare few built this way!] and lots of wood inlays.  Mr. Leake said of the car in 1977: "It has the greatest amount of inlaid walnut wood throughout the car that I have ever seen and there is also much brass." It was still undergoing a full restoration when I saw it and photographed it from every angle in Tulsa in June, 1978.  In the late seventies the odometer reading was 56K miles (Note that in the most recent advertisement for the car - in Apr. 2014 - the mileage is stated to be 54,693). This car is listed also among the Database "Dream cars" for 1930. Van den Plas described it as a special Cadillac "Saloon Landaulette De Luxe" mounted on the V16 chassis. Initially, it was painted powder blue with black roof and fenders; styling features include slender vertical windshield posts, flick up turn-signal indicators, a flat windshield, This car has the rare, split instrument panel of the "Madame X" cars built in Fleetwood, PA (e.g. style #4108C) [ERROR] opening rear roof section behind the rear seat passengers, a rear seat speedometer [ŕ la Fleetwood style 4260], an intercom, a rear foot-warmer, doors reaching down to partly cover the frame rails and "suicide" rear doors; the descriptive text in the Van den Plas catalog states: "As supplied to The Hon. A.E. Guinness" (head of the Guinness family of beer fame).  It was first shown at London's Earl's Court in 1930 together with a regular Fleetwood "Madame X" style 4175; it may have gone on to the Paris Salon after that. Late Extra:  I re-discovered the Van den Plas town car in a  Dutch museum, when Gita and I were vacationing in Holland, in September 2001. Even later (Jan. 2013):  The car was offered for sale by Bonhams of London and Paris. Latest (Apr. 2014):  The car has again turned for sale at auction, this time from Lucky Collector Car Auctions of Tacoma (WA) during their Spring Classic. Their catalog description pretty well follows mine from 1978, including the mistake I made as to the instrument panel configuration; in fact the car features the regular instrument panel used on most Sixteens even before production was moved from Fleetwood (PA) to Detroit (MI) in the spring of 1930.  Re.: "Hon. Arthur Ernest Guinness: Sir Arthur Ernest GUINNESS, was a wealthy Irish brewer whose beer still carries the family name. He was born on Nov, 2,  1876 and died in 1949. In 1903, he married Marie Clotilde Russell, granddaughter of Lord Arthur Lennox. The couple had three daughters, Aileen Sibell, Maureen Constance and Oonagh, known collectively as the Golden (Guinness) Girls, with enviable social positions and, of course, lots of money. It was Mr. Guinness who commissioned Lendrum & Hartmann, the London Cadillac dealer, to supply him with a custom landaulet on Cadillac V-16 chassis.

Trivia: This car came up for  in the classifieds of the British Motor magazine dated April 4, 1934.  It was described as a: Limousine Landolet [sic], 1930 Cad, double enclosed Vanden Plas, leather, forward occasionals, Ł295, Alpe and Saunders, Providence Court, North Audley St (opposite Selfridges). Note that in the issue of the British monthly magazine, Motor, for October 16, 1935, on p.176, there is an ad for a special Barker Cabriolet Body, dark blue in color, mounted on a Cadillac V8 chassis [no year indicated]. It was being offered for sale, for Ł200, by (again) none other than the Hon. A E Guinness, 17, Grosvenor Pl. London SW1.

 

         
The artist's drawing (top) is from an original, 1930 Van den Plas catalog; that image (in B&W) was used again in
supplement lxiv to Britain's  Motor magazine (March 24, 1931? , to advertise this car (?) in the classifieds

    
[ Photos: courtesy the late Gene Babow ]

      
Somehow, the restored car found its way to Holland
[ Photos: © 2001, Yann Saunders ]

    
At one time or another the car was seen at auction (as here); unfortunately, I don't have the date(s) or venue(s) at this writing

         
In a museum in Holland

    

    

    

    

    


[Photos in above 7 rows: Lucky auction catalog]

 

Limousine
Landaulet

???

702298

Van den Plas [Belgium] again possibly built by Lancefield, in England, for Lendrum & Hartman, the London Cadillac dealer. It left the factory in July of 1930 and is presumed to have been exported to London, as was also the other Van den Plas creation, above. I got a telephone call in June, 2004, from the grandson of this car's first owner, a wealthy Pakistani gentleman; this car survives in Pakistan and we shall certainly be hearing more about itLancefield built a similar car on the V12 chassis, designated a "special Cadillac Town Cabriolet De Luxe" (a 5-pass. town car with forward facing opera seats). It is fitted with cycle fenders and retractable (?) steps in lieu of running boards. Both doors are hinged at the center post ("B" pillar). Originally light-colored, the body is now black or dark blue; the original headlights have gone (perhaps replaced with Grebel models). The coach type sill on the car is similar to that used on Fleetwood sixteens with style codes in the "42.." series. Six wire wheels (with side-mounted spares) are fitted (both tires appear to have been missing for some time). In the advertising brochure I saw in Washington, the text for the V12 version reads as follows: "This body is fitted with de Ville extension [removable curtain over the driving area] but it is otherwise designed as a Town Cabriolet with Fixed Head. (...) No running boards are fitted, steps being made to open with the doors. A distinguishing feature is the special type of wings fitted [cycle fenders]. Seating accommodation - The back seat is designed for two but can accommodate a third and two occasional seats are fitted, facing forward. The driving seat is very roomy and is designed specially for the comfort of the owner-driver. Colour scheme optional, and a choice of the very finest cloths and soft leathers. As supplied to Captain F.W. Hartman and Major E. Howard" [Captain Hartman was CEO of Lendrum & Hartman, the long-standing Cadillac-LaSalle sales outlet in London's fashionable Albermarle street, at numbers 26B and C; he entered many of his personal Cadillacs in concours d'Elégance, at home and abroad, where he won many premier awards. Service and maintenance of the Cadillacs and LaSalles was ensured at Old Oak Lane, in Willesden].  Among the classifieds in England's Motor magazine for March 24, 1931, is an ad for this sports saloon painted French grey and fitted with a sunshine roof.  The advertised cost was Ł2350. The "full frontal" photo below was provided kindly by V-16 enthusiast, Nigel Davis, who is familiar with the old car scene in India and Pakistan. This rare survivor turned up at an auction in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, a former Indian princely state during the British rule over the Indian sub-continent, which lapsed at midnight on August 14, 1947. Bahawalpur acceded to the Dominion of Pakistan on October 7, 1947 and was merged into the state of West Pakistan on October 14, 1955 (the Nawab [ruler] at the time is said to be of Arabic origin, claiming descent from Abbas, progenitor of the Abassi Caliphs of Baghdad and Cairo). Like most rulers of the former princely states, the last Nawab, Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V, had untold wealth which enabled him to acquire many superb automobiles. Twenty-six of these were released and sold at auction in 2004, after being locked up for decades owing to some family litigation (some have already found their way west). The auction held in Bahawalpur, on May 9, 2004, generated over ten million Rupees (circa $250,000) in revenue. Included among the lots were fourteen Rolls Royce models and two Cadillacs. It is believed that the Cadillac, below, could NOT be sold as it was still subject to a lien of some kind. Note how the "V-16" emblem on this car is mounted squarely on the radiator stone guard, rather than on the usual stanchion between the headlights. I would like to year back from the Pakistani gentleman who bought this car to my attention in 2004. The second RH drive V-16 that actually sold is believed to by the Van den Plas tourer listed above.  I await confirmation.

 

V6-Lncefld.jpg (52772 bytes)    
(Left) The Lancefield car, with cycle fenders, hidden step plates and center-closing doors
(Right) a similar sport sedan by Van den Plas  on the V16 chassis, with center-hinged doors
and  RHD; in the latter car the step plates are visible, even with the doors closed; in my
opinion, the car  on the right is
largely derived from the designer's drawing on the left
[ B&W Photo:  Sixteen Cylinder Motor Cars, by Roy Schneider ]

    
Perhaps it was this image (and the blown-up text) that was used in supplement lxiv to
the classifieds in Britain's  Motor magazine (March 24, 1931?)


The Lucky Nabab in his heday!


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v6PakiC.JPG (73094 bytes)     v6PakiD.JPG (57472 bytes)    

v6PakiE.JPG (73554 bytes)     v6PakiH.JPG (56837 bytes)
The car has survived and is located in Pakistan [2004]
The car has only 7000 miles and has sat in dry storage
for some fifty years; it certainly will require a lot of restoration
[ These two  photos:  ©2004, courtesy of the owner ]

Enthusiast Nigel Davis suspects that this is one of the two Cadillac cars that came from the Nawab's
estate but could not be sold owing to some form of lien on the vehicle; a second Cadillac
(perhaps the Van den Plas tourer, above) is believed to have been acquired   during
the 2004 auction by Azizur Rashid Abbasi for one million Rupees (circa $25,000)
[ Photo:  courtesy Nigel Davis, 2008 ]

    
(Left) This more recent photo appeared on "Flickr" in October, 2012 (its provenance is not known at this time)
(Right) This rear view of the car came
courtesy of Nigel Davis (Oct. 2013); again its provenance is not known

 

LATE EXTRA

This You Tube video clip of the car being started
for the first time in decades is currently (2013-13)
circulating on the Internet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFT5y8USaFo

 

 

[Mystery 2]

?

?

NEW, Jan. 2013: (information from Chris Cummings) Surfacing in time for the Bonhams Scottsdale auction later this month [Jan. 2013] is a fascinating ambulance conversion of a 1930 V-16 Series 4375-S seven-passenger sedan. The engine is from a Series 4361-S town sedan. The coachbuilder kept the original wheelbase (148") but lengthened the rear quarter of the body significantly and created a side-hung rear entrance. The fenders appear to be customized 1930 Cadillac parts, with skirting and a streamlining effect. The rear fenders are extended to go with the new body length. The fronts are styled to look like 1934 Packard fenders. The stock 1930 radiator is enclosed in a shell that looks like a 1934-1935 Cadillac V-8 or V-12 part, but matches up nicely with a 1930 hood and allows the 1930 radiator filler neck to protrude. The grille is very similar to (but different from) the '34-'35 Cadillac counterpart. The engine has a second generator on the driver's side and a voltage regulator for it on the firewall (understandable in view of the extra lighting and siren an ambulace would carry). Somebody did a LOT of work on this beast. License plates are 1956 California. I'm speculating from the grey paint and the shape of the scraped-off lettering that it may have served a naval base, perhaps during WWII. See the Bonhams website.  Late Extra: (from Chris again) The car was sold for $44,850, including a $5,850 premium.

Note:  Because the chassis of this car was first used for a Fleetwood sedan style "4375-S", I have included it also im the section relating to those models.

 

    

         

    

 

[Mystery 3]

?

?

Listed for sale at the Kruse auction in Auburn, IN, 9/1999 [lot #1068], was this "16 cyl. unknown exterior - Kingston custom De Luxe body.   This is a very rare limited produced car" [sic].  It was reported to have been sold for $160,000. Anybody know more about this car?

V630kngs.jpg (3779 bytes)

 

[ex-4375] ? 700132 In 1934, this engine was put in a Chrysler Le Baron dual-cowl phaeton by power-boat racing star, Lou Fageol. At last news (8/2005), this unusual Cadillac-powered car was owned by Laurence (Byron) Dorcy [art. in SS, 9/2005]. Where is it today? 
 

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These three photos  courtesy of the late Gene Babow

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These two, from CLC  Self Starter magazine, 9/2005

 

[ex-????] ? 701866 This most unusual V-16 powered hot rod was brought to my attention by a dedicated V-16 owner-enthusiast, Chris Cummings. It was built in the 40s.  About that car, Chris wrote this wonderful piece, based on information gleaned from old racing and hot rod magazines [sorry for the condensed presentation!]:.  Craig Carash of Sandpoint, Idaho has a very special remembrance of his late uncle Bill Carash.  It is a beautifully designed and executed, hand built roadster from the golden age, if you will, of west coast hot rodding.  And it’s powered by a Cadillac V-16 engine.  In 1945, at the age of 17, Bill Carash did what a lot of California teenagers did at that time.  He set out to build a hot rod.  Only they weren’t generally known as hot rods back then.  They might be called customs, or roadsters.  Or just cars.  People just went to the local used car lots or salvage yards and looked for a strong but lightweight chassis, and maybe a light body (like a coupe or roadster).  Some builders looked to military surplus sources and used things like aircraft belly tanks to make super streamlined vehicles.  And, of course, you needed an engine.  Some worked with the four cylinder Fords.  Others started with flathead Ford V-8s.  Some adventurous folks sought out the big power plants that drove the great luxury cars of the previous generation – Marmons, Duesenbergs, Cadillacs.  Bill Carash started with the engine and built the rest of the car around it.  He cruised wrecking yards until he located a junked Cadillac V-16, out of which he bought the engine and transmission.  That serial number of the engine he acquired was 701866, which means that the donor car was shipped during June of 1930.  It took him a couple of years to accomplish a thorough overhaul and reassembly, and then he began building the rest of the car.  The engine is only mildly modified – two Stromberg 97 downdraft carburetors replace the Detroit Lubricator updraft units it came with.  And the fuel is fed by an electric pump.  Again looking to wrecking yards, Carash selected the frame, front axle and steering components from a 1936 Plymouth.  Semi-eliptics spring the front of the car with a single transverse leaf spring in the rear.  He substantially reinforced the chassis and prepared it to accept and support the big Cadillac engine.  The rear axle came from a Ford, and between that and the Cadillac transmission Carash inserted a Columbia overdrive unit.  Taking into account the gear ratios and the rolling radius of the 7.00 x 16 tires, the theoretical top speed in overdrive was estimated at 138 mph.  A great deal of the work in constructing the car was done by Carash himself.  He had a professional shop do some of the body panels, be he bent and welded his own bumpers (“nerf bars” in the parlance of the day).  A raked windshield offers some protection to the occupants, but this car is all about the open air.  The result of all the work was a nicely proportioned, skillfully finished roadster, reminiscent of some of the open-wheeled Indianapolis 500 race cars of the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. The annual car show in Oakland, California was an established event by the late 1940s.  Bill Carash and some of his friends petitioned the people in charge of the show for the chance to show their cars, and an area was set aside for them.  That Oakland Roadster Show evolved into the National Roadster Show, and it’s now known as the Grand National Roadster Show.  The Carash Custom was shown there in 1950, and it took First Place for originality in the Street Division, and third place in the Construction Street Division.  On March 14, 1950 Mr. Wilbur Shaw, President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation paid Bill Carash a tremendous compliment.  Mr. Shaw’s wrote as follows: "Dear Mr. Carash, You certainly have built a very unusual and beautiful automobile and I would like nothing better than to be able to use it for a pace car.  However, we are committed entirely to American manufacturers and there just wouldn’t ever be a possibility of our getting it in as a pace car. Thank you very much for your interest and a lot of good luck with it. Sincerely yours,  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corp., WILBUR SHAW, President."  If the Carash roadster had run as a pace car at the Indianapolis 500, it would have been the only time that a Cadillac V-16-powered automobile paced the race.  The 1931 pace car was a Cadillac V-16  convertible coupe [it was actually a V-12, Chris], driven by none other than the legendary Cadillac test driver Willard “Big Bill” Rader [another unique Fleetwood style #4260A was one of the official cars used during the Indianapolis 500 race in 1930; it too was driven by Bill Willard].   There would be a 1934 LaSalle pace car, but no other Cadillac product paced at the Brickyard until a 1973 Eldorado did the honors. Bill Carash’s roadster was profiled in the November, 1949 issue of Hot Rod magazine.  In January 1951, it graced the cover of Mechanix Illustrated, Tom McCahill’s magazine that pioneered the road testing of new cars for readers.  A detailed article including the car’s history, its construction and descriptions of its performance on the road appeared in the April 1955 number of Rod and Custom.  The author of the Rod and Custom article was treated to a ride in the car on a highway outside Oakland and found the experience to be “one of the great motoring thrills of a lifetime.”  He went on to say that “the car’s center of gravity was so low and the bite of the chassis so good that it seemed that a Grand Prix Ferrari, detuned for street use, could have no more to offer.”1 The last time the car was licensed to drive on the road was 1956.  After that the car pretty much stayed home.  Mr. Carash continued to tweak the roadster and work on it, off and on, for the rest of his life.  During summer visits, his nephew Craig would ask to see the roadster and then head immediately to the barn where it was kept.  Bill let Craig sit in the driver’s seat and would tell him about the car, and say that he was fixing it up for him. In 1999, Bill Carash passed away, leaving no children, only Craig and two nieces.  Settling his estate turned out to be a difficult process that took time, but ultimately Craig got the roadster that had engendered so many happy experiences and fond memories.  He quickly set about getting the car running, replacing all of the fluids, rebuilding the fuel system and the radiator.  The first time he ever saw the car run was when he got it started.  He recounts that he has driven the car only about four miles, but he and his wife enjoyed a short ride in it recently.  “It is a hoot!” he says. The Carash roadster is a remarkable piece of American automotive history.  The hot rods of the forties and fifties were products of the individual creativity and personality of dedicated car guys.  And unlike today, when custom cars and street rods are largely “big ticket” items, most of the post-war roadsters were built by folks on limited budgets who had to be creative and resourceful.  As such, the cars they created display widely varying degrees of polish and finesse.  Some are clearly homebuilt, even crude.  Others, like this car, present an integrated design, neatly executed, where everything looks like it really belongs.  In January 2009, the Carash roadster made a reprise appearance at the 60th Grand National Roadster Show.   A special section of the show entitled “Twice in a Lifetime” featured cars that had been in the show at least once before.  A few days earlier, Craig Carash had discovered the actual plaque given to his uncle as a participant in the 1950 show.  Displayed with the car were photographs and reprints of some of the period articles about the car.  The cream and orange color scheme was a change that Bill Carash decided to make in the late 1950s from the original flame red paint job.  Other than that, the car was very much the way it had been in 1950.  Craig Carash wants to continue the process of fixing up his uncle’s pride and joy, reinstalling a correct generator, and determining whether he needs to install a fan (Bill Carash apparently believed that the V-16’s original fan was not needed).   Craig intends to preserve and enjoy this legacy from his uncle for years to come.
 

701866ac.JPG (131877 bytes)

701866ab.jpg (22547 bytes)     701866aa.jpg (17201 bytes)     701866ad.JPG (19737 bytes)
At far left, the late Bill Carash with his own custom-built, V-16 racer
[ Photos:  courtesy Chris Cummings ]

 

[ex-4220] ? 701530 This former town car (one of only 9 built in 1930-31) was originally shipped to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Currently [2/2000] the motor is in Spain (near Alicante) and is powering a custom racer (below). The owner needs a V16 distributor cap. Any ideas?
 

v6racerAE.jpg (33145 bytes)     v6racerAA.jpg (32074 bytes)     v6racerAF.jpg (37386 bytes)
Not clearly visible in these pics (left & center), the name Cadillac spelled diagonally across the grille

         v6racerAC.jpg (45273 bytes)


    
V6racerAD.jpg (53856 bytes)

 

[ex-4291] ? 702342 This (British) Alvis racing car, located in Germany,  is powered by the V-16 motor removed (ignominiously?) from a splendid  1930-31 Fleetwood-designed  town car, style 4291, of which a mere 14 units were built. To me, this is tantamount to removing the engines of the Titanic to power a Mississippi steamboat!  But, hey, at least the old dear is still serving the purpose for which it was designed, being to power an automobile. Thanks Chris Cummings for bringing the car to my attention. Here's the information Chris gleaned off the Internet about this "curio":  Based around a 1939 Alvis Silver Crest chassis (the Coventry marque's lightest pre-WW2 design to feature independent transverse-leaf front suspension), 'HEH 856' had already been reconfigured as a Special by the time it entered the current ownership in 1996. Hankering after something more exciting (not to mention VSCC eligible), the vendor commissioned Edwards Motorsport of Warrington to fit a 1930 Cadillac V16 7.4 litre engine in place of the incumbent (non-original) Jaguar 4.2 litre unit. Sourced from the late John Willment's estate [I wonder if the engine was still in the original town car at the time], the American powerplant was thoroughly overhauled prior to installation (reground / re-whitemetalled / fully balanced crankshaft, new high compression pistons, reprofiled camshaft etc). Breathing via eight SU carburettors and developing some 280bhp and 410lbft of torque, it drives the back wheels via an Alvis Speed 25 four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox and 3.5:1 rear axle ratio (the latter taken from a Land Rover). Given a new tail-section by the renowned panel beater Peter Claridge, the two-seater also boasts a hydraulic clutch, 'Brooklands' style exhaust system and hydraulic 12-inch drum brakes. Riding on 19-inch wire wheels shod with Dunlop racing tyres (6.00-front / 7.00-rear), the self-starting 'HEH 856' has just passed a MOT test. One of many toys in the seller's collection, the Alvis-Cadillac ran at the VSCC's SeeRed Donington Park meeting some three years ago but has since seen little use. Intended for sprints, hillclimbs and occasional road trips, we are informed by Simon Blakeney-Edwards of Edwards Motorsport that the Special would benefit from an oil-cooler over longer journeys and ideally a longer steering drop arm. An intriguing and surely unique alternative to something like a Bentley 3/8, this wonderful Anglo-American hotrod is offered for sale with the aforementioned MOT certificate and VSCC buff form. Chris also got this mail from the vendor in Germany:  Christopher, my car is an Alvis Special which had been used for hill climb racing in GB. I do not know the exact date when the V16 had been transplanted but it fits in and looks and sounds great. Actually I am working on two main issues: cooling and power generation. The cooling is poor due to the small air inlet in the front. This was no problem during hillclimb racing for a 2 km distance, but doesn’t work for longer trips without additional electric fans. Therefore I would like to upgrade and restore the generator. But actually I'm not quite sure how to disassemble the generator without causing problems with the timing chain. Later, Chris was kind enough to give Franc the information he needed to remove the generator; he sent him a couple of images from the slide films that Cadillac sent the service people to illustrate that job. It was Chris also who found out the engine number as well as the Cadillac model in which it was originally mounted.
 

702342b.jpg (16060 bytes)     702342a.jpg (14281 bytes)

 

[???] ? ? Here's another custom racer  fitted with a Cadillac type 452-452A engine.  It was recently acquired from a collector in California by my friend Dick Shappy of Rhode Island.  I had got some pics of the car in May, 2011 but have not found time to upload them.
 


This car?

 

[???] ? ? Here's another custom racer apparently fitted with a Cadillac V-16 engine.  Details anyone ?
 

 modrnracer.jpg (7315 bytes)

 

[???] ? ? This red racer was offered for sale on Ebay in late 2004; it was said to be powered by a 16-cylinder Cadillac engine [the designer's drawing is marked "Cadillac V-16"]; apparently the car was sold but all attempts - by myself and other enthusiasts - to get precise information about the car and its power plant failed miserably.  Perhaps the buyer might be interested in having his car listed in the roster.

    

    

         

    
[ Photo:  courtesy "Trombinoscope" ]

 

    

Return to The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page
or go back to Part 1 of the list of 1930-31 survivors
or go back to the V16 index page


© 1996, Yann Saunders and the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc.
[ Background image: Surviving Fleetwood style 4375S; Yann Saunders' collection ]