[ last update: 03.25.2010 ]

The (new) Cadillac Database©

The Cadillac V16

 

Part 5b

Special Job #9006
1938

 

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Two of these huge convertible sedans for 7-8 passengers were built by Fleetwood on a special chassis of 165" wheel base, powered by the mighty sixteen-cylinder engine.  They were used up to the mid-fifties as parade vehicles and  security cars by the occupants of the White House and their "guardians".

Communications equipment (telephone and two-way radio) as well as special gun racks and pistol holsters were part of the standard equipment of these two cars.  A short flag staff was placed on each front fender, one for the Stars and Stripes, the other for the Presidential flag.  A large police siren and red emergency light were mounted on the LH front fender.

Surprisingly, both these cars have survived.   Their V-16 engines were removed after WW2 and replaced with less fuel-hungry V-eights.  One of them, car #2 dubbed the Queen Mary,  was owned for many years by well-known Cadillac dealer, Jack Tallman of Decatur, IL.  I visited Jack in 1978 and he was kind enough to let me drive it.  The other car, #1 dubbed the Queen Elizabeth,  was acquired in the early eighties by a Belgian collector, Charly de Pauw (the name of the vendor is not known).  When Mr. de Pauw died, the car joined the Mahy collection and was exhibited at "Autoworld", the National Automobile Museum of Belgium, in Brussels. This car and a similar design on a stretched 1956 V-8 chassis were later sold at auction for a reported $1,600,000! They reside in a private collection in Florida.

This is car #2 of only two built. Below are some more photos of this amazing vehicle:

 

 

V69006f.jpg (9649 bytes)
In this picture we see both of the 1938 security cars. 
The one in the background carries the presidential escort

 

V69006h.jpg (8379 bytes)

V69006g.jpg (10607 bytes)
Harry Truman and Franklin D. Roosevelt both used the huge
1938 convertible sedan for official parades and visits of state

 

 

V69006b.jpg (12589 bytes)

 

V69006c.jpg (11381 bytes)

 

These two photos show the car owned by Jack Tallman of Decatur, IL. 
Both photos are © J. Tallman; they were given to the author by Mr. Tallman in the seventies

 

 

 

V69006i.jpg (11022 bytes)

 

V69006a.jpg (8737 bytes)

 

The car on the left was on display, until recently, at the National Automobile Museum of Belgium. 
The pistol-packing 4-year-old in the photo on the right is my son Jamie; he is now considerably older. 
[ Both photos: © 1978, Yann Saunders ]

 

 

 

V69006j.jpg (14662 bytes)
The two pictures on this row were taken on the occasion of
"The Cadillac-LaSalle Experience", in Michigan, in June 1993

 

V69006k.jpg (15800 bytes)
The photo above and the one on the left are reproduced
courtesy of  Ms. Katie Robbins, CCCA
 

This car was reportedly sold at a Kruse auction in Auburn, IN, May 1999.  The description of lot #884 reads follows: This car was specially built for the use of the Secret Service and the President of the USA. It is in original condition [in fact the V16 engine has been removed and replaced with a V8] and is equipped with siren, flag staffs, pistol holders, built-in gun rack, extra pockets, running boards for six Secret Service agents outside and seats for eight passengers inside. This is strictly a parade car, used with the top down. This particular car was used by three presidents including Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eiesenhower.   The car apparently sold for $275,000 [much less than the other Presidential that was sold at auction just one year earlier.

 

 

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© 1996, Yann Saunders and the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc.
[ Background image:  Artist's view made up by Yann Saunders ]