Unknown scale or origin

Unknown, alleged 1931 Cadillac roadster

GUISVAL, SPAIN

   
A pair of cute diecast V-16 (?) convertible coupes
from the author's former collection (circa 3-4" long) 

UNIDENTIFIED, USA (?)

A rumble-seat roadster made of wood
[ Photo:  Internet, 2001 ]

GARTON TOYS, USA

Upper LH medallion reads: Garton - Good Toys since 1879; this tinplate sign
depicts a La Salle pedal car (1:3 scale?) of the late twenties or early thirties

Circa 1:64 scale

RACING CHAMPIONS, USA (?)

Superb Fleetwood-bodied 1930-31 vee-sixteen, style #4276 coupe
by Racing Champions, 1999 (#249); excellent detail despite small scale

Here is a hot-rodded version of the same toy

Circa 1:48 scale

RENWALL, USA

   
Renwall (USA) offered in the sixties (right) a 1:48 scale model of the popular V-16,
style #4260 sport phaeton; the company proposed a simpler kit some years later (left)

Revell 1931 Cadillac Phaeton. 1:48 scale, kit# H-1272; perhaps Revell acquired the
Renwall molds for the above kit, for here is a very similar toy, in identical scale

The built-up kit from my former collection

Circa 1:43 scale

ALTAYA, SPAIN

   
Described as US President Hoover's "limousine", this is a fine scale model
of Fleetwood's V16 style #4380 all-weather phaeton; to my knowledge
no such car was used as an official parade car by any US president 
[ photos:  Courtesy "Forum 43" - Internet ]

DANBURY MINT (?), USA

   
This pewter special phaeton, Fleetwood style #4260
is believed to be from the Danbury Mint

DEPARTMENT 56, USA

   
The toy car (left) is NOT a Cadillac; I merely included this diorama because
it depicts the showroom of the "Hensly" Cadillac dealership in the early thirties

IXO, CHINA

     
Advertised on Ebay as a Museum Quality replica

   
Nice replicas of Al Capone's alleged V-16 limousine

Although the underside of the toy reads "Cadillac V-16 - 1931"
those skirts did not appear on Cadillacs until 1933

ELEGANCE, FRANCE
( Claude Thibivilliers )

The custom-built V-16 models of Elegance, France
based on mass-produced Solido toys (France)

   
Left: #1212, Fleetwood Madame X style #4155; right: #503, Fleetwood style #4264-B

   
Left: #32, Fleetwood style #4285 convertible Victoria (with erroneous straight sill instead
of the curved, coach sill); right: #30, Fleetwood style #4302 roadster (missing the folded top)

   
Left: custom-built hearse based on a mass-produced toy by Solido, France [on this one,
the landau bars are mounted upside down!]; right: #36, imaginary fire engine on V-16 chassis

Richly finished replica of Cadillac’s 1930 Fleetwood Fleetbourne Town Brougham for 7 passengers, on the V16 chassis, finished in a deep Merlot/black combination
and red/black, both from Elegance Models. Handcrafted in resin, builder Claude Thibivilliers based his design on the aforementioned Solido die-cast models. Ref. No. 504.
Photo courtesy GM in Miniature, Veloce Publishing. Author, Randall Olson.

Though not always 100% accurate in over-all styling detail, these are among the
finest,  rarest and (quite naturally) the most expensive of all 1:43 scale model
Cadillacs I have ever seen; they are made in France, in limited numbers, by a friend
and master craftsman, Claude Thibivilliers of Pijol, under the Elegance label;
they are of such high quality that I have reserved this full page to them

ERTL, USA

This blister pack hides what could be a V-16 convertible coupe

FRANKLIN MINT, USA

  
1930 V-16 convertible coupe, again Fleetwood style #4235, this time by the Franklin Mint, USA

HALLMARK, USA

   
New for 2001, this 1:43 scale 1931 Cadillac roadster
by Hallmark, depicts  Fleetwood V-16 style #4302

MESQUITE MODELS, USA
ENCHANTMENT LAND COACHBUILDERS, USA (?)

Flanks read: CADILLAC V-12, official 1931
pacemaker, Indianapolis 500 Sweepstakes

MIYASHITA, JAPAN

Click here to see a similar toy by Miyashita, Japan

MINI AUTO EMPORIUM (MAE), CANADA

   
#12 and 112a, issued in 1984
[ Photo: Argus de la Miniature - � 1988, E. Flament ]
The front grille unfortunately is much too wide on this otherwise nice model

R.D. MARMANDE, FRANCE

Hand-whittled and painted balsa-wood and plastic replica by RDM [Ren� Daffaure,
Marmande, France] of a unique, boat-tailed speedster on the V-16 chassis, commissioned
from Gian Battista, aka Pinin, Farina by the wealthy Maharajah of Orccha, ruler
of Bhopal, a former Indian princely state. I'm not sure these were the original
colors but one thing is sure, the car was used for tiger-shooting by the Maharajah!

[ missing ]

Another version (#112b) has a non-original secondary windshield
for the tonneau, wire wheels, Trippe road lights and two spotlights

RIO, ITALY

       
Rio of Italy had these two Cadillac 1/43 scale die-cast toys to offer in 1980 and 1981;
Left: #76 open (1980), right # 77 closed (1981); both depict
Fleetwood style #4235 convertible coupe on the V-16 chassis for 1930-31

   
Same toys but ordered in these two special colors (blue and yellow)

TO BE IDENTIFIED

          
1931 V-16 roadsters

       
1930-31 imaginary funeral car, a conversion from a Fleetwood style 4264B town brougham

Circa 1:32 scale

PYRO PLASTICS, USA

This is the built-up special phaeton kit from my former collection

   
Pyro Plastics (USA) also offered in the sixties these flawless 1:32 scale
construction kits of two superb Fleetwood-bodied vee-sixteen models,
namely style #4260 special phaeton (top) and #4212 town car (bottom)
The Cadillac V-16 models of 1930-31 enjoyed great popularity with the US
model makers in the early seventies; in fact some have been re-issued

Again, the built-up kit from my own, former collection

SIGNATURE, ASIA

   
Fleetwood style #4302 V16 roadster

UNIDENTIFIED, USA

Crystal objet d'art depicting the Cadillac sport phaeton

    
These two tin toys in approx. 1:32 scale are identified as "1929 Cadillacs";
admittedly, there is a slight resemblance with a Cadillac town sedan (top two toys)
and phaeton (lower two toys), but the hood vents would make these 1930 Cadillac models

1:25 scale

JO-HAN, USA

Some of the most finely detailed plastic promotional cars and
construction kits were built by Jo-Han in the USA, from around 1958
to 1980.  The Gold Cup series, that included also a couple of custom jobs
from 1966, offered the three spectacular V-16 models below.  These are
the very toys that started my "collectomania", in the early sixties.
Switch to this page to view the full series of these detailed replicas

The 1930-31 Cadillac V-16 convertible coupe (Fleetwood style #4235) 

The built-up kit from my former collection

   
The 1930-31 Cadillac V-16 sport phaeton (Fleetwood style #4260, special phaeton)
and the built-up kit that was the first ever Cadillac toy in my former collection

   
The 1930-31 Cadillac V-16 town brougham (Fleetwood style #4264B) 

I doubt that any of these elegant models were ever painted red;
mine was finished in more conservative black!
My friend Bob Waldock of Sandusky, OH, who owns one of these
"toys" in 1:1 scale (converted from another town car style) painted it red!

WENGER, TERRY (USA)

This is an amateur-built model of an imaginary pick-up truck on the Cadillac
V-16 chassis for 1930-31;  it was built by V-16 owner-enthusiast, Terry Wenger,
on the basis of Jo-Han's 1931phaeton kit, combined with a '34 Ford pick up body.
[ Photo:  Self Starter, June 2006 ]

B.H. PIAN (aka "Travancore"), INDIA

   
Custom 1931 V-16 boattail roadster commissioned from Battista Farina, Italy, by the Maharajah of Orccha,
one of India's "princely States" prior to independence in 1947; the model is a conversion from Jo-Han's
1/25 scale V-16 phaeton; the boattail is carved from a solid piece of balsa wood and the front fenders consists
of modified Duesenberg rear fenders; balsa wedges were attached and shaped to from the rear fenders
[ Photos: � 2008 and courtesy of the model-maker ]

1:24 scale

BANTHRICO, USA

   
Banthrico 1974 Metal Bank in the form of a 1930 Cadillac V-16 roadster

FRANKLIN MINT, USA

   
The made-up 1:24 scale models of the Franklin Mint enjoy great popularity ...among the moneyed buyers!
this one depicts Fleetwood style #4375 imperial sedan, one of which was used by mobster, Al Capone

Revised edition based on the same model - the regular V16 limousine;
it's hard to distinguish on these models if the car has the correct, raised Fleetwood hood;
the origional car is located in the Browning/Kimball Unioon Station Museum, Utah.

Actually, the museum car is quire different; the scale-model depicts Fleetwood style#4375, the doors being hinged at the "A" and "C" pillars,
whereas the  museum car is  Fleetwood style #3982, both front and rear doors being hinged at the "B" pillars

UNIDENTIFIED, USA

   
Left: 1930-31 V-16, Fleetwood style #4260 sport phaeton
Right: 1930-31 V-16, Fleetwood style #4264B razor-edged town brougham
[ I can't remember where I found these beautiful,  hand carved, wooden
scale models of the 1930-31 Cadillac V16 - possibly  in the CCCA magazine ]

LACHMAN &CO., DETROIT, USA

     
This 24kt gold-plated, circa 1:18 scale model of the bespoke Cadillac V-16 roadster (Fleetwood
style #4302), is believed to have been  commissioned by the Cadillac Motor Car Division of GM,
from Lachman & Co, Detroit, to be awarded annually to worthy service personnel in Cadillac's
national service organization.  Like the 1906-07 Model K and the 1912 "award" models
described earlier, I imagine it is VERY RARE [again, possibly fewer than fifty pieces]; I guess
it too was issued in the mid-eighties; this one is also from the Ansell Sackett collection  
[ Photo: Self Starter, CLC ]

Circa 1:12 scale

DANBURY MINT (USA)

          
This superb replica has over 1,300 parts; it features battery-powered lights, illuminated instrument panel, tail-lights operated
by the mini brake pedal, operating steering wheel and turning road lights, adjustable seat; a masyerpiece of mini-engineering

The exceptionally detailed model depicts the 1931
Cadillac roadster, Fleetwood style #4302 on the V-16 chassis
[Photo:  � W.E. Bomgardner,  AACA]

UNKNOWN (USA)

China model of V-16 roadster, style 4302
seen at Saratoga Motor Museum, Saratoga, NY, (2009)

Not a toy, per se, but a 3-dimensional "K-Ranch" entrance "ornament"

Circa 1:3 scale

UNIDENTIFIED, USA

This possibly unique model in 1:3-scale depicts the 1931
Cadillac dual cowl, sport phaeton by Fleetwood on the V-12 chassis
[Photo:  � W.E. Bomgardner,  AACA]

 

Lorsque j'ai vendu ma collection � un Monsieur de Z�rich, au mois de juillet 1989, elle comportait � l'�poque environ 750 pi�ces diff�rentes. Depuis lors, de nombreux nouveaux mod�les sont apparus sur le march�; par ailleurs j'ai d�couvert plusieurs jouets parmi les anciens qui manquaient � ma collection. J'estime aujourd'hui � plus de 900 le nombre  de jouets et miniatures Cadillac et La Salle propos�s aux collectionnaires s�rieux, voire illumin�s.

En revanche je constate que les fabricants sont nombreux � innonder le march� de mod�les ayant d�j� paru chez d'autres, quoique de couleurs ou d'�chelles differentes. Parmi ces jouets populaires "� r�p�tition" figurent la voiturette Cadillac de 1903, le coup� de 1913, le spider et le convertible V16 de 1930-31, le torp�do V16 de 1932, les mod�les Eldorado de 1953, 1957 et 1959 de m�me que le coup� Eldorado de 1967 � traction AV.

J'ai longtemps souhait� voir appara�tre sur le march� de la minaiature les Cadillac et La Salle les plus belles, y compris les voitures de r�ve, fabriqu�es dans les ann�es vingt, trente et quarante. Nous savons plus ou moins tous � quoi ressemble le spider V16 de 1930; � quand, enfin, des torp�dos, torp�dos sport, coup�s, coup� Victoria, berlines, berlines d'apparat, limousines, coup�s chauffeur et grandes remises de la marque.

Il y a regain de popularit� pour certains modeles d'apr�s-guerre et notamment les berlines et coup�s � pavillon fuyant, le premier Coup� de Ville (1949), les rares berlines Eldorado Brougham de 1957-58, quelques mod�les des ann�es soixante, les coup�s Eldorado � traction AV et gros V8 [8 litres] des ann�es soixante-dix, de m�me que la Seville des ann�es quatre-vingt "� malle anglaise".  On en souhaitetrait d'autres encore.

Qui n'a pas r�v� de poss�der un jour, pour de vrai, un superbe cabriolet Eldorado de 1953, dont seuls 532 exemplaires furent construits? Malheureusement, il n'y a pas un nombre suffisant de survivants pour satisfaire la demande. Cependant, ceux d'entre nous qui ont la chance de rouler ou d'esp�rer rouler en Cadillac "ordinaire" d'avant ou d'apr�s-guerre, nous aimerions bien pouvoir nous procurer des mod�les r�duits de celles-l� aussi, en dehors des mod�les de r�ve hors de port�e de nous tous.