1930 Cadillac V16 Roadster
The Cadillac V-16 (also known as the Cadillac Sixteen) was Cadillac’s top-of-the-line model from its January 1930 launch until 1940. The V16 powered car was a first in the United States, both extremely expensive and exclusive, with every chassis being custom-finished to order. Only 4,076 were constructed in its 11-year run, with the majority built in its debut year before the Great Depression took strong hold. The onset of World War II reduced the sales, resulting in its demise.
As the 1920s drew to a close, Cadillac was enjoying considerable success in the hotly contested luxury car market. Locked in a tight battle with its cross-town rivals at Packard, General Motors made a bold move by adding La Salle as a stylish junior companion brand to Cadillac. Harley Earl, who is widely considered as the father of American car styling, was first hired to design the La Salle, and with its immediate success, he was put in charge of the newly created Art and Color Department at GM where he would soon make his mark on the rest of the GM lineup.
The V16 engine was a marvel of engineering elegance. It utilized hydraulic valve adjustment, which resulted in an extremely quiet engine. The narrow, 45-degree V16 produced 320 foot-pounds of torque, resulting in a very smooth-running motor. In fact, Cadillac stated the “critical listening test” for the V16 was that you hear nothing more than the spark of the contact points at idle. The engine was finished in glossy enamel, porcelain and chrome. With ribbed cylinder head covers, it was a thing of beauty.
The high-quality restoration set off the elegant roadster, with its superb combination of a grey body and slate-coloured wings. The leather upholstery is in excellent condition, while all the instruments are to the correct original specification. The pair of imposing spare wheels on the front wings, the searchlights on either side of the windscreen and the additional pivoting headlamps, not to mention the magnificent steel trunk: the utmost care was taken over every detail.
One car which propelled the Cadillac name more than any other was the V16. Built to each customer’s individual taste, it became an American icon of prestige and helped the company out-perform Packard and their V12. Cadillac initially prepared the V16 to prodigiously power its flagship model with more cylinders than anything else available. The introductory brochure proudly claimed “Sixteen-cylinder powering, complete individuality in style ”that, in brief, is the story of the Cadillac V16.”
