Regular bodies by Fisher
(no known survivors)

 

Job #168 [16 units, plus 1 custom job]   this is Fisher's regular convertible coupe style for 2 passengers, that could accommodate 2 more passengers in the rumble seat mounted in the trunk area;  a custom job derived from this basic Fisher style was also built; the latter car  (job #LX2903) is listed separately, below..

Fisher job #168:  convertible coupe for two passengers   
(units built: 16 + 1 custom)

 

Job #152 [3 units]  this is a close-coupled sedan for 5-passengers in which the rear seat is located just ahead of the rear axle.

Fisher job #152:  town sedan for five passengers
(units built: 3)

Job #159 [3 units,  plus two custom jobs]  this is a sedan for 5-passengers with light-weight auxiliary seating for 2 occasional passengers;  two custom jobs were derived from this regular Fisher sedan style;  the latter two cars (jobs #2651X and #2911LX) are listed below

Fisher job #159:  sedan for five passengers
(units built: 3 + 2 custom)

Job #172 [2 units]  this is a regular 2-door "Victoria" coupe for 5-passengers

Fisher job #172:  coupe for five passengers
(units built: 2)

Job #158 [unique - plus two custom jobs]  this is a regular coupe for 2-passengers, with a rumble seat in the trunk area for two more occasional passengers; two specially trimmed jobs built  in 1930 used the same basic body shell (jobs #2902LS and #LX2904); these are listed below: 

Fisher job #158:  coupe for two passengers
(units built: 1 + 2 custom)

Job #162 [unique  - plus one custom job]  a sedan style for 7-passengers built on the 143-inch wheel base chassis; it was built in 1931; a second similar body was used for a custom job in 1930 (job #2951LX); it is listed below. 

Fisher job #162:  sedan for seven passengers
(units built: 1 + 1 custom)

 

The custom bodies by Fisher
(no known survivors)

Factory custom bodies were not uncommon; many were built for the personal use of GM/Cadillac executives.  At the same time, the company was able to test public reaction to novel styling ideas (this practice continued on into the fifties, on a lesser scale, with the Motorama dream cars and show cars).

Below are listed the special jobs by Fisher on the V16 chassis.

 

Job #2651X [unique]  This job number puts paid to my earlier theory that the initial two digits of the Fisher custom jobs probably indicated the year when they were commissioned.   This was a specially trimmed car derived from regular Fisher job #159, a sedan for 5 passengers that is described above.  Unfortunately I have no details about its special features or its initial destination.

My own impression of Fisher custom job #2651X

 

Job #2901LX [unique] This was a special, unique Fisher-built 7-passenger sedan on the 1931 V16 chassis. As mentioned above, the custom jobs all were issued an "X", "LX" or "LS" number in numerical sequence - presumably starting with "1"; if that is the case, then this is the 2901st custom job built by Fisher or Fleetwood .  Its unique feature was its curved, "coach" sill.  The "montage" below shows how well a regular Fisher sedan for 7 passengers could be married to a V16 chassis in the "42..." group.

My own impression of Fisher custom job #2901LX
I am guessing that paint and trim were done to special order

 

Job #2902LS [unique]   This was a specially trimmed car derived from regular Fisher job #158, described above.  Unfortunately I have no details about its special features or its destination. I have no explanation either why this car was issued an "LS" suffix in lieu of the more common "LX" suffix;  I am guessing "Livery - Special" as opposed to "Livery - Extra Special"

My own impression of Fisher custom job #2902LS;
I am guessing that paint and trim were done to special order

 

Job #LX2903 [unique]   This was a specially trimmed car derived from the regular Fisher convertible coupe style, #168, described above.  Unfortunately I have no details about its special features or its initial destination.

My own impression of Fisher custom job #LX2903;
I am guessing that paint and trim were done to special order

 

Job #LX2904 [unique] Again, this was a specially trimmed car derived from regular Fisher job #158, described above.  Unfortunately I have no details about its special features or its destination. 

My own impression of Fisher custom job #LX2904;
again, I am guessing that paint and trim were done to special order

Job #LX2905 [unique]  This was a 5-passenger special town sedan mounted on the V16 chassis. It was built for a GM executive. The official order number in Fisher records is 7877. Details about this special car are included in an article entitled "The mysterious and elusive Madam X" by New Zealand's Maurice Hendry, an authority on the Cadillac; the story appeared in Car Collector in June 1981. Presumably it was ordered before the car below [LX2913] although the body was mounted on a later V16 chassis (#702388) and completed in July 1930. This was a special 5-passenger town sedan with many "Madame X" features such as chrome window reveals and a flat, 18° slanting windshield. Two-tone gray in color, the moldings, fenders and chassis were painted "Desert Sand". Striping and wheels were Tokio ivory (white). The car was delivered to the executive garage in July 1930 for the private use of C.H. Clise, a top-notch GM official.

My own impression of Fisher custom job #LX2905

 

Job #2911LX [unique]  This was a specially trimmed car derived from regular Fisher job #159, described above.   Unfortunately I have no details about its special features or its destination.

My own impression of Fisher custom job #2911LX;
again, I am guessing that paint and trim were done to special order

 

Job #LX2913 [unique] Although a higher number than job #2905, above, this car was built on a V16 chassis for 1930, whereas the latter car was built on a 1931 chassis.  As related by Maurice Hendry, this car was a special 2-door, 5-passenger coupe also with lots of "Madame X" features. In addition it had chrome wire wheels, including the two side-mounted spares. The body was mounted on V16 chassis #702117 in June 1930; the Fisher body order was #7878. The fact that it was built for one De Witt Page would seen to belie my theory about a car for GM livery service, unless Mr. Page was a GM VIP or the car was placed at his disposal for another reason. Trimmed in plain Wiese upholstery piped with silver leather, the car featured a radio and spotlight. The color was two-tone green with silver leaf striping, the chassis being the same color as the fenders. It was shipped on 21 June 1930 to Tabor Cadillac in Hartford, CT.

My own impression of Fisher custom job #LX2913

 

Special style 2951LX [unique] This custom Fisher job is derived from regular Fisher style #162, a sedan style for 7-passenger sedan;it was built in 1931. Old factory photographs of these custom jobs by Fisher and Fleetwood on the V16 chassis  may have gone unnoticed owing to the possible absence of any V16 distinguishing characteristics.

 

My own impression of Fisher custom job #LX2951LX
I am guessing that only the paint and trim were done to special order

 

Job #30-X [unique]  This car was a standard Fisher 7-passenger sedan mounted for test and demonstration purposes on the V-16 chassis; the o.a. length was 211", o.a. width: 74¾".  That body style featured side cowl ventilators, a cord-type robe rail, adjustable foot rail, vanity set with upholstery inset, folding arm rest in the center of the rear seat back, dome lights with a toggle switch in both front and rear compartments (which also lighted when the doors were opened), assist cords, ¼-windows, curtains on the back light (rear window) and the ¼-windows, full lowering glass division, a telephone to chauffeur, Fisher "VV" windshield, a leather trimmed front compartment, flush-fitting broad auxiliary seats in the separate rear compartment folding flat against the partition when not in use.

Unique Fisher job #30X: sedan for seven passengers [factory test car]
(units built: 1)

This factory photo of Fisher Job #30X seems to counter
my theory about the Fisher sixteens having the
regular Fleetwood hood with the five louver doors!
On the other hand, it may be the only exception.

 

The custom bodies Fleetwood
(no known survivors)

 

Special style 2950X [unique]: This was a unique Fleetwood styled 7-passenger sedan built in 1931. I have no indication about its special features and assume that it may have been another test car.  I am guessing that the basic car (prior to any custom modifications)  was a regular 7-pass. sedan in the "43..." group (image, below)

My guess as that this unique style was derived from
Fleetwood style #4375S, the regular 7-pass. sedan. 
(the image used here, therefore, is the same as for style #4375S)

 

Special style 3289B [unique]: It seems my initial assumptions about this rare, custom model were wrong. I had seen three other Fleetwood styles starting with digits "32" and these were built in 1928 on the 152" wheel base chassis.  My hunch, therefore, was that this body was built on a 152" wheel base chassis, although records indicate it was built in 1931. In March 2001, I acquired from Cadillac V16 aficionado, Craig Watrous, a set of Fleetwood designer's drawings of special designs for the 1930-31 V16.  One of these portrayed style #3289A, which I assume to be the closest to 3289B as I could ever hope to find.  My opinion now is that this design was adapted in 1930-31 from a town brougham style that may have been proposed by Fleetwood in 1928.  The Master Parts list describes it is having a chrome finished, solid bronze, "V"-type windshield frame, wide auxiliary seats and a leather covered roof. In the absence of any factory photo my new guess, therefore, is that unique style #3289-B was a variation on Fleetwood style #3289-A, below; as stated before, it was not unusual for Fleetwood to use digits very close to a regular styling code digits for bodies in the same basic "family", in this case the town brougham identified by final digits "91". Final digits "89" are just two down from "91", the regular brougham with ¼-windows and painted metal roof. Fleetwood proposed style #3289-A is shown on the first row, below, right. Below it is my impression of actual Fleetwood style #3289-B, in which the flat windshield has been replaced with a "V"-shaped one.

   
My initial guess was that this unique style was derived from Fleetwood's regular town brougham style #4391 (left); 
however, records indicate that style #3289-B  had a leather roof covering whereas style #4391 had a plain painted metal roof;
in March 2001 I was fortunate to acquire a Fleetwood drawing of a proposed style #3289-A (above), which leads me to think
that style #3289-B was very similar, except for its recorded "V"-type windshield (see modified drawing immediately above)

The coach lamps add a touch of aristocratic elegance to this cane-bodied town brougham

Special style 3981 [unique on V16 chassis]: Initial digits "39" identify the Fleetwood custom styles on the 140" wheel base V8 Cadillac chassis for 1930. Final digits "81" identify the 1930 Cadillac "Fleetwind" [seen spelled as "Fleetwing"] sedanette, a regular Fleetwood styling proposal for the V8 chassis that year. Features include Burbank top with headlining, enclosed rear quarters, no partition, collapsible center pillars, stationary top, stationary front seat, foot cushions, robe strap,  folding arm rests front and rear. This model is best described as a closed, 5-passenger car with the look of a phaeton with top up (e.g. V16 style #4380).  It was a popular model on both the Cadillac and LaSalle V8 chassis in 1930. I assume that one of these airy, so-called "sedanette" bodies was mounted on a V16 chassis to satisfy the whim of a wealthy buyer.  In lieu of the dipped belt molding of a regular sixteen phaeton (e.g. style #4380) this custom job had a horizontal molding all round, as there was no need to accommodate a folding top.

Cadillac "Fleetwind" sedanette on the V16 chassis for 1930

 

Special style 3991 [unique on V16 chassis]: Initial digits "39" identify the Fleetwood custom styles on the 140" wheel base V8 Cadillac chassis for 1930. Final digits "81" identify the 1930 Cadillac "Fleetwind"

Artist's rendering of Cadillac style #3991 on the V8 chassis

 

 

Some "oddities" from Fleetwood


Cadillac did not offer the sixteen with right-hand drive, yet a few early
examples, bound for foreign lands, were so equipped at the factory. This
one was commissioned by an Indian potentate, the Maharajah of Tikari. 
It was fitted with RH drive for export to India, where driving is on the left
because that country was a part of the British Empire until independence in 1947

 
  
Once again, I am responsible for the montage (left) made up of  bits and pieces of other Fleetwood drawings
excerpted from the 1930 V16 catalog. To date, however, I have not been able to resolve the mystery of
this car.  It is a sixteen-cylinder model of 1930-31, but the body is that of a Fleetwood sport phaeton from
1929, to which a "Le Baronesque" sweep panel has been added.  I have seen no reference to this car in 
any Cadillac archival records, and yet it exists.   It is rumored that a sixteen was returned to the plant
by its owner, with a request to Fleetwood to replace the body [which style?] with this sport phaeton type.

   
  The photo on the left was taken in New Jersey [by my estimation,  in the late sixties] where the car was for many years an
attraction of the Long Island Motor Museum.  It reappeared some twenty years later on the classic car auction circuit
(RH Photo) but I have not been able to determine its present whereabouts. If anyone recognizes the car [that Le Baron
hood is unmistakable, right?] I shall be glad to update this Database entry.   A car like this can not go unnoticed!

 

Custom bodies, domestic and foreign
(in alphabetical order by coach builder)

 

Bronkhorst (Hilversum, Netherlands)

I doubt if many V16 fans have seen this car before. I found the pictures, initially, in 1995, in an old, French coach-building magazine from the thirties entitled "La Carrosserie Automobile" [#92]; better ones were supplied later by Frans Vrijaldenhoven of the Netherlands. Only few details were provided in the French magazine, including the name of the coach builder, Bronkhorst.  From that name, I guessed that the origin was Holland [i.e. the Netherlands]; this was confirmed in April 2001 by Frans, a fellow member of the Society of Automotive Historians [SAH]; Frans sent also a short history of the company that was started in the 19th century by J. Bronkhorst, Sr., a Hilversum blacksmith.   Bronkhorst began repairing horse-drawn carriages and went on to design and build them too; in 1905, the company obtained a commission from Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands to build such vehicles also for the Royal Dutch carriage house.  Later, the brothers Bronkhorst  made custom bodies for wealthy clients on imported automobile chassis; they acquired also a considerable reputation for commercial vehicles built in the retro style (with square cornered roofs, silver door handles and opera lights) for the funeral trade; these were, built on the 1933 Buick chassis¹.  Similar funeral cars were built later on the 1939 Chevrolet Master-Imperial chassis on 124-inch wheel base; these were sold through GM Continental in Antwerp, Belgium.  In the thirties, the brothers built also convertible bodies on Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Graham chassis; later, ambulance bodies and town car styles were added to the program. The factory premises were severely damaged during WW2.  As neither brother had any successor, the business finally was closed down in 1948. 

The particular car we see here looks very much like Fleetwood style #4264-B [version 2, with French canework applied to the rear body]. I wondered if this might be a modified version of that Fleetwood town brougham; indeed, the first of the six units built [only three had the cane] was sent to Europe, in June 1930, along with five other sixteens, to promote the new models.  I had some doubts, later, when I noticed that the body was longer than the regular Fleetwood creation [see interior views below]. In addition, the Bronkhorst car is fitted with large, rear quarter windows as well as what appear to be regular Fleetwood double throw-back auxiliary seats. Unfortunately, the low resolution, diminutive photos do not reveal details such as the two inner corner lights, the Fleetwood designed chrome-plated hardware, the smoking set in the division panel, the concealed pocket in side arm rests, the telephone in the slash pocket on the RH ¼-panel,  above the arm rest, the "porthole" in the division glass, the silk curtains on all the windows in rear compartment including the division, the folding arm rest in the center of the rear seat back, the two arm slings, the additional slash pocket on RH ¼-panel, above the arm rest for a hand mirror and the clock on the division header bar.  It is possible, however, to make out the finish panels on the rear doors.  

    
Brick buildings like the one housing the J. Bronkhorst coach works [right] are typical of those found in many
Dutch towns.  The custom V16 town brougham dwarfs the entrance to the tunnel passing under the building
[these two photos are published here courtesy Frans Vrijaldenhoven, a Dutch automotive historian and writer]

       
Frans also supplied the image on the left, above; the one in the center is from an old issue of the French
trade magazine "Auto Carrosserie" from April 1931; in that magazine there is a reference to an earlier issue
in which this car is also described; unfortunately, I do not have a copy; I took the photo (right) of the interior
of a re-bodied Fleetwood style 4264-B; the Bronkhorst car is longer, as witnessed by the position of the
rear seat and the presence of full, double throw-back jump seats in lieu of the opera seats seen at the right

¹  Three such cars found their way to the USA where they were mistakenly described as having come from
     the Royal Dutch carriage house

 

Eureka (USA)

The Eureka Company of Rock Falls, IL, is believed to have built at least one funeral car on the V16 chassis for 1930-31. From the photo, below, it would appear to have been a conversion of a regular Fleetwood town car style (probably #4325)

 
Eureka,  Rock Falls, IN
[probably a conversion on a town car body]
[not known to have survived]

 

Farina (Italy)

Gian-Battista Farina [1895-1966] a.k.a Pinin or "the little guy", younger brother of Giovanni, Italian automobile designer and coach-builder, started working for his brother then branched off on his own. In 1920, at the age of 25 he spent 2 months in the USA, of which 50 days in Detroit. Fifteen years later, in 1930, at the age of 35 he founded the Stabilimenti Pinin Farina located on Corso Trapani in Milan. Farina designed many bodies for the Cadillac chassis including, in the first year of operation, a unique boat-tail speedster on the Series 452 V16 chassis - largely inspired by a Hispano Suiza speedster with a boat-tail body by Gallé - for the Maharajah of Orccha; that car has survived and is presently (2000) in the USA where, in my opinion, it was unfortunately over-restored.

Above:  factory photo of the Farina speedster in 1931
Below:  the 1928 boat-tailed Hispano-Suiza  by Gallé that
probably inspired the Farina car, 2-3 years later

   

The Farina car was commissioned by the Maharaja of Orccha, one of the princely
Indian states before the country freed itself from  British rule in 1947

  
The two photos, above, were taken in Pakistan, in the early sixties



In the early sixties the car was acquired by a Pakistani film director, Sheikh Mukhtar. 
He had the car starring in a movie (photo above) in which he played the role of an Indian Maharaja

 
In the above photo and in the five shots below, you can see the car as it looked in the late sixties
when it was acquired by Akron, OH, Cadillac dealer Dave Towell.  He did not believe
this was the original color scheme but was unable to determine what the latter had been

          

  

  
Above:  before restoration in the eighties
Below (4 photos) "over-restoration" by Fran Roxas, Chicago, IL

  

  
This car survives

 

Kellner (France)

The Parisian coach-builder, Alexis Kellner is believed to have built this town landaulet on the V16 chassis for 1930.  This is the only known photo of that car

V16 town landaulet for 7-passengers
by Paris' Alexis Kellner
[this one apparently did not survive]

 

Murphy (USA)

Walter Montgomery Murphy, since 1917 in Pasadena CA  Designed by Franklin Q. Hershey. One of Murphy's notable styling features in the thirties were large, chrome-plated hinges.  Owned by Charles and Anita Howard, the beautifully restored car got an award at 1995 Meadowbrook. Current owner is John McMullen [???]

  

 
Murphy, Pasadena, CA:  sport phaeton for 4 passengers [this car survives]

 

Nordberg (Sweden)

As recalled to me by Swedish V16 aficionado, Olle Ljungstrom, the Swedish coach-builder, Gustaf Nordberg, built this town landaulet on the V16 chassis for 1930.  It was acquired by Swedish publishing magnate, Vetus Peterson who bought it right off the showroom floor, to the amazement of the Cadillac dealer who thought he was "just looking".

  

Interior of the Nordberg car, which has survived

 

Rollston (USA)

Rollston built at least two roadsters on the Cadillac chassis, including this racy one with the V16 power train for 1930-31.  It has survived.   The photo on the right was taken by the late Gene Babow on the occasion of a car meet in the seventies.

In the sixties, before restoration

   
Rollston, 1930-31 V16 roadster [this car has survived]

 

Saoutchik (France) #1

Jacques Saoutchik was an avant-garde Parisian coach-builder who loved to apply vast expanses of chrome to his custom creations.  He built this nicely-proportioned convertible Victoria on the V16 chassis for 1930-31.

 
This line drawing is made up of parts of
Fleetwood designer's drawings

  
Saoutchik, Paris, designed and built this 5-pass, convertible Victoria
Note the broad, chrome belt molding running from the radiator to the rear quarter
panel, as well as the "sunburst" design on the inner door panel
[this car is not known to have survived]

 

Saoutchik (France) #2

Saoutchik somehow was able to acquired the special Fleetwood phaeton (style #4260) that was one of six cars sent on a promotional tour of Europe in June of 1930.  He removed the original body and replaced it with a hard-top sedan body that features an ingenious sliding top;  the latter has a skylight which, when it is "folded" back, aligns with the rear window.  The car has an interesting story that I shall relate one of these days.

  
Left:  Fleetwood style #4260, the European tour car
Right: the Saoutchik conversion undergoing repairs
in the Francis workshops in Paris, in 1964.

 
Parading in Paris in the seventies

       
The Saoutchik car following its "over-restoration" in the USA, in the eighties.
The original Marchal headlights were replaced with Grebels, to match the cowl-mounted spotlights;
other modifications included chrome-plating the hood ventilator doors

 

[Unknown (Spain)]

These photos were sent to me by a Spanish Cadillac enthusiast who acquired this odd-looking V16 recer in Argentina.  The engine is #701530; it was initially put in a Fleetwood town car, style #4220 that was shipped to Buenos Aires in 1930.  I have yet to find out if the current body was built in Argentina or in Spain.  The current owner informs me that the car has a faulty distribution cap;  he is desperately looking for a replacement unit to get the car running again.  Across the radiator grille are the words "Cadillac V16" in script; I assume this was a later add-on.

    
This scratch-built Cadillac V16 racing car is located in Alicante (Spain)
The engine (# 701530) was first installed in a town car (Fleetwood style #4220)
that found its way to Argentina (two V16s were exported to that country)

   
Diagonally across the front of the grille is the name "Cadillac V16"
(unfortunately it is not visible in this small, low resolution digital image)
The car survives and is undergoing restoration (a distributor cap is needed!)

 

Van den Plas (Belgium and UK) #1

Cadillac chassis were popular with the Belgian coach-builder, who also had part of his operations in England.  This RH drive V16, described as a sports saloon (close-coupled sedan) is believed to be a Van den Plas design built in England, possibly by the British coach-builders Lancefield (any confirmation from England would be appreciated).

Styling features include step plates in  lieu of   regular running boards, and large, exposed, chrome-plated door hinges

Van den Plas, B/UK
Sports saloon [sedan] for 5 passengers
This body may have been built by Lancefield, in the UK,  to VdP specs

 

Van den Plas (Belgium and UK) #2

This car was on display on stand #36 at the London Motor Show, Olympia, in October 1930;
it was put there by General Motors Ltd., The Hyde, Hendon, London, N.W. 9; it was
described as a 57.5 HP Cadillac with 16 cylinders, having a bore and stroke of 77x102mm
(6799cc), coil ignition, pump cooling, disc clutch, 3-speed unit gear box, spiral bevel,
½E [elliptic?] front and rear springs, 7.50x19in. tires on wire heels with four-wheel
vacuum servo brakes.  Annual tax was given as £58 and the price of the chassis as £1500
(the line-drawing is my own, using parts of other Fleetwood drawings).



This is an artist's rendering of the same car from a Van den Plas
product catalog published in the UK [ZTV collection, Washington]
   
    
Here is the same car after a full restoration in the J.C. Leake workshops, Tulsa, OK in the seventies
I took many photos of this car during the restoration process and will write more about it soon

The instrument panel of the Van den Plas V16 landaulet is like
this one used in the Pennsylvania-built "Madame X" sixteens

 

Voll &Ruhrbeck (Germany)

Before such operations largely disappeared, with the onslaught of WW2, many independent German coach-builders like Erdmann & Rossi, Kellner, Voll & Ruhrbeck created fine coachwork on many domestic and foreign chassis, including the Cadillac.  This rare example of a sharp-looking roadster by Voll & Ruhrbeck, with dual, rear-mounted spares, was built on the V16 chassis. 

The chances of it having survived the rigors of war are slim.   Such was the unfortunate fate also of a number of French custom jobs that were "requisitioned" by the German occupational forces in the early forties and promptly dispatched to Berlin (the spoils of war!). I know of one custom job, a town car with body by Paris' Fernandez and Darrin, on the V8 chassis, that actually survived WW2 and is currently back in the USA.

 
Voll & Ruhrbeck, Berlin, D
roadster for 2 passengers
[not known to have survived]

 

Waterhouse (USA)

Waterhouse was rarely commissioned to build any coachwork for Cadillac.  According to Roy Schneider, to whom we owe the definitive history of the Cadillac V 16 models, this may be the only Cadillac ever done by them. It is a town car   landaulet, i.e. a style that features a fully collapsible roof behind the rear seat passengers.

 
Waterhouse, USA:  7-pass touring town landaulet
[is not known to have survived]

 

 

(résumé en français)

Dans cette page se trouve la liste des Cadillac à moteur seize cylindres habillées de carrosseries spéciales par les deux carrossiers attitrés de la firme (Fisher et Fleetwood), de même que celles qui furent habillées par des carrossiers indépendents, aussi bien aux Etats-Unis qu'en Europe.