[ last
update: 12.28.2007 ]
The (new) Cadillac Database©
The Cadillac
V16
Series
452D or Series 60, Series 35-90, 36-90, 37-90
1934
Part 3
First Generation
Production Records
Return to The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page
or to the "V-16" index page
(le résumé en français se trouve en bas de page)
| Series
452D/60 |
Series
35-90 |
Series
36-90 |
Series
37-90 |
| 1934 |
1935 |
1936 |
1937 |
Vee-sixteen styling remained
basically unchanged throughout the four-year period from 1934 to 1937. The only noticeable
difference was in the 1934 cars; these were fitted with twin-bar or bi-plane bumpers
superimposed on two "bullet"-type stanchions. These bumpers were less sturdy
than the later kind and many owners of a 1934 V16 subsequently had the bi-plane bumpers
replaced by the new, flat, single-bar type of 1935-1937. Not only did that improve
the effectiveness of the bumpers but also it was a cheap way to "upgrade" the
car by one, two or even three years!
 
Tall, slender grille and continuation of matching
hood and fender spears
This is the 1934 style with the bi-plane bumpers
Interior trim, proposal from
Book(s) of Fleetwood for 1934 and 1935
|
Following the success of the
aerodynamic show car built for the World's Fair, Chicago, 1934, there was a new trend to
conceal the spare tire in the trunk of the automobile. The popularity of
side-mounted spare wheels was waning, although these could still be ordered optionally.
Two different tire storage options were offered, depending on the body style selected:
 
Left: trunk storage for single spare in the larger
sedan styles
Right: different layout in convertible styles and town sedans
|
Three pages of the 71-page book of
Fleetwood styles for 1934 list special features as well as optional equipment and
accessories. Space constraints prohibit my listing all of them here; however,
I shall gladly send you copies of these 3 pages if you are interested and will kindly send
me a SSAE [you may find my mailing address in the "Introduction" section of the
Database].
Items could be added or even deleted
[no credit]; these included hardware cases, wood paneling, adjustable seating,
special pockets, hassocks, foot rails, rubber mats, grip handles, curtains, sheepskin
rugs, clocks, parcel hammocks, pillows, arm rests, dome lights, robes, auxiliary seats,
quarter windows, leather roof coverings. Another popular accessory was the
Fleetwood, swing-out luggage rack. It is shown below in the closed and open
positions:
 
Fold-out trunk rack
|
Technical innovations in 1934
(all-models) included the new, so-called "knee-action" front suspension which is
illustrated below for those of you who understand the marvels of machines and mechanisms.
Knee-Action front suspension
|
Fisher bodies were not offered or
built on the V16 chassis from 1934-1937. Also, there was a single wheel base
for the V16 chassis this year; it stood at a massive 154". On this chassis were
built the longest, stock, passenger-cars in the world, with the exception - perhaps
- of Ettore Bugatti's "Royale" models; but then only a half dozen of the
latter were ever built.
Click here
to see a (non-exhaustive) list of survivors and to view some more photos.
The table below summarizes
vee-sixteen production for the four model years from 1934 through 1937. The bodies
were the same, in fact, for all four years.
One of the first sixteens to come off the production
line in 1934;
it is aptly surrounded by a few important GM/Cadillac people:
from L-R: three Fisher brothers (1st. Larry, 3rd. Alfred J.)
then Nicholas Dreystadt, William Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen
and Ernest W. Seaholm
|
Production
numbers
of the 1934-37 Cadillac V-16
[in ascending order of rarity]
Sixteens with the two-piece, "V" windshield |
Style
Number |
Body Type |
Units Built |
Notes1 |
| 1934 |
1935 |
1936 |
1937 |
Total |
| 5875 |
7-pass. Limousine |
9 |
14 |
24 |
24 |
71 |
-- |
| 5880 |
Convertible sedan
with partition and division glass |
5 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
20 |
$7850 |
| 5876 |
2-pass. Coupe |
5 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
12 |
$7400 |
| 5833S |
Club sedan |
2 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
$7250 |
| 5875S |
7-pass.sedan |
5 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
-- |
| 5825 |
7-pass. Town car |
4 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
9 |
$8850 |
| 5899 |
Aerodynamic coupe |
3 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
-- |
| 5875FL |
7-pass. Limousine
[leather roof] |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
$7850 |
| 5885 |
5-pass. Convertible |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
$7850 |
| 5835 |
2-pass.convertible |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
$7550 |
| 5830FL |
5-pass. Limousine
[leather roof] |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
$7800 |
| 5833 |
5-pass Limousine |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
-- |
| 5830S |
5-pass. Sedan |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
$7300 |
| 5825C |
7-pass. Limousine-
Landaulet [Body #38] |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
This unique car is reported to
have cost $17,000! |
| 5830 |
5-pass. Limousine |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
-- |
| 5875SF |
7-pass Formal sedan |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
-- |
| 5875H4 |
7-pass. Limousine
[4" added interior height] |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
-- |
| 5880S |
Convertible sedan
[without division] |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
-- |
| 5891 |
7-pass. Town
brougham
[with quarter windows] |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
$8750 |
| 5891B |
7-pass. Town
brougham
[no quarter windows] |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
-- |
|
Totals |
41 |
35 |
49 |
47 |
172 |
-- |
The
styles in the next table were available
with both flat and "V" windshields
 
Left: flat windshield version of the limousine
for 7 passengers (style 6275) [Photo: © Dick Whittington]
Right: the more common version with split "V' windshield; as you can see, the
V16 was one HUGE automobile
|
Sixteens with the one-piece, flat windshield |
Style
Number |
Body Type |
Units Built |
Notes1 |
| 1934 |
1935 |
1936 |
1937 |
Total |
| 6275 |
7-pass. Limousine |
9 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
$7550 |
| 6275S |
7-pass Sedan |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
$7350 |
| 6233S |
5-pass Town sedan |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
unk. |
| 6275B |
7-pass. Formal sedan
[no quarter windows] |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
unk. |
| 6275H3 |
7-pass Limousine
[with 3"
additional headroom] |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
unk. |
|
Totals |
14 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
28 |
|
Remainder of V16 production
from 1934 to 1937 |
Style
Number |
Body Type |
Units Built |
Notes1 |
| 1934 |
1935 |
1936 |
1937 |
Total |
| n/a |
Chassis/engine only2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
3 [chassis cost $6250] |
| n/a |
Unknown: blank
data sheets in factory records |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
[1937 car = 5130316] |
|
Totals |
5 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
12 |
-- |
|
Grand
Totals |
60 |
50 |
52 |
50 |
212 |
-- |
1
Prices shown in the "Notes" column are from the 1937 price list
dated October 20, 1936 (that was kindly supplied to me by Dennis Derion); they
include a new, $250-$300 destination charge. In 1935, prices went down
$200 from 1934. in 1936 prices diminished again from $150-to $200, depending on the
model.
2
According to Stan Squires, owner and admirer of these sixteens, the bare chassis
released in 1936 had numbers 5110234, 5110242 and 5110246; two bare chassis were exported
in 1937, viz. #5130328 (which went to Switzerland) and
#51030348; he mentions another 1937 chassis (#5130316) for which the factory build sheet
was lost (BTW, the cost of a bare V16 chassis/engine combination in 1937 was $6250
3
Of the seven bare V16 chassis released by the factory between 1934 and 1937, at least two
went to Brunn of New York (one from 1935 and one from 1936). Of the five
remaining, two were exported (one to Canada - year not known - and one to
Switzerland in 1937); there appears to be no records of the destination of the three
remaining chassis.
Some
factory and catalog photos
most drawings are from the 1934 book of Fleetwood designs
[from 1935 to 1937 the cars had the new, flat, single bar bumper]
Nota: The actual artist's renderings in the 1934 Fleetwood catalog do not show
the three fender moldings ("spears") that are typical of all sixteens built from
1933 through 1940. I have added them to each drawing for greater realism.
Style
#5875
 
The line drawing, right, from a factory
merchansdising brochure appears
to take some liberty with the rear roof line, compared to the other drawing at left
 
Above two rows, Fleetwood style 5875, "V"
windshield limousine for seven passengers 1934 (9 units), 1935 (14 units),
1936 (24 units), 1937 (24 units). Total: 71 units. Below: factory photo of
this, the most prolific body style on sixteens of this era. The colored
illustration is from the 1937 Cadillac product catalog; to the right of it is a
factory photograph of the same body style
This (better) image is from The Book of
Fleetwood for 1936, the original
of which was loaned to me kindly by Z. Taylor Vinson of Alexandria, VA;
you will note that the cars are identical but for the design of the bumpers
|
Style
#5880
This designer's drawing is from The Book of
Fleetwood for 1934
 
Fleetwood style 5880, convertible sedan for five
passengers: 1934 (9 units), 1935 (14 units),
1936 (24 units), 1937 (24 units). Total: 20 units The colored illustration
below, left, is from the
1937 Cadillac product catalog; to the right of it is a factory photograph of the
same body style
This (other) image is from The Book of
Fleetwood for 1936
 
Factory photos of the huge, V-16 convertible sedan
for 1935
|
Style
#6275
Fleetwood style 6275, flat windshield limousine for
seven passengers
1934 (9 units), 1935 (7 units), 1936 (none), 1937 (none). Total: 16 units
|
Style
#5876
 
Above two rows, Fleetwood style 5876, "V"
windshield stationary coupe for two passengers
1934 (5 units), 1935 (2 units), 1936 (1 units), 1937 (4 units). Total: 12
units
|
Style
#5833-S
Fleetwood style 5833S, "V" windshield town
sedan for five passengers
1934 (2 units), 1935 (4 units), 1936 (3 units), 1937 (2 units). Total: 11
units
[The same model, taken from
the 1936 Book of Fleetwood ]
|
Style
#5875-S
 
Fleetwood style 5875S, "V" windshield sedan
for seven passengers
1934 (4 units), 1935 (2 units), 1936 (1 units), 1937 (2 units). Total: 9
units
Large, folding auxiliary seats are located in the partition (photo, below)
|
Style
#5825
Fleetwood style 5825, "V" windshield town
car for seven passengers 1934 (4 units), 1935 (2 units), 1936 (1 units),
1937 (2 units). Total: 9 units The car shown has engine #5100003 of the 1934
V16 production; this car was featured
in a colorful ad of the time which asserted that it was car #27 [i.e. engine
$5100027] of the 1934 production;
in fact it was the third V16 off the production line and presumably had body #1 of
the four town cars built in 1934
[style 5825]; it was shipped in January 1934; the second car of this style did not
ship until May-June 1934 and
consequently could not have been featured in an ad that was dated January 1934;
below a news photo (left)
and the layout of the driving compartment with its removable leather
roof cover (right)
 
Of the four units built in 1934, this one was
commissioned by Mrs. Franklin E. Vilas of 118 East 93rd Street, New York. She
is seen here, about to enter her superb, chauffeur-driven Cadillac town car in
front of the Plaza Hotel on New York's Fifth Avenue.
Starting in 1933, paint was optional in lieu of chrome-plating on items such as the
radiator shroud, headlight pods and wheel covers
This (better) image is from The Book of
Fleetwood for 1936
|
Style
#5899
Fleetwood style #5899, "V" windshield
aerodynamic coupe for five passengers.
This car is derived from the prototype or pre-production model built the previous
year
(1933) and exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair entitled A Century of
progress;
1934 (3 units), 1935 (none were offered), 1936 (4 units), 1937 (1 unit).
Total: 8 units.
On display in a Cadillac show room,
one of the four aero coupes built in 1936
[The updated 5899 from 1936 Book of Fleetwood. Note different bumpers ]
|
Style
#6275-S
Fleetwood style #6275-S, flat windshield sedan for
seven passengers
1934 (5 units), 1935 (2 units), 1936 (none), 1937 (none). Total: 7 units
|
Style
#5875-FL
Fleetwood style #5875-FL, "V" windshield
formal limousine for seven passengers
1934 (2 units), 1935 (1 unit), 1936 (1 unit), 1937 (2 units). Total: 6 units
|
Style
#5885
Fleetwood style #5885, "V" windshield
convertible Victoria for five passengers
1934 (1 unit), 1935 (2 units), 1936 (none), 1937 (2 units). Total: 5 units
|
Style
#5835
Top: artist's rendering of Fleetwood style
#5835, "V" windshield convertible coupe for two passengers; immediately above:
factory photo depicting this lovely Fleetwood style, complete with sidemounts
1934 (2 units), 1935 (none), 1936 (2 units), 1937 (none)
Total: 4 units
|
Style
#5830-FL
 
Fleetwood style #5830FL, "V" windshield
formal limousine for five passengers; opera seats were included
1934 (none), 1935 (none), 1936 (3 units), 1937 (none). Total: 3 units
|
Style
#5833
Fleetwood style #5833, "V" windshield town
limousine for five passengers
1934 (1 unit), 1935 (2 units), 1936 (none), 1937 (none). Total: 3 units
This is the unique V-16 town limousine built in 1934
[ Factory photo ]
|
Style
#5830-S
Fleetwood style #5830S, "V" windshield
sedan for five passengers (outwardly similar to style #5875S, above,
but without auxiliary seating inside; 1934 (none), 1935 (1 unit), 1936 (1 unit),
1937 (none). Total: 2 units
|
Style
#6233-S
 
Fleetwood style 6233S, flat windshield town sedan for
five passengers;
1934 (none), 1935 (2 units), 1936 (none), 1937 (none). Total: 2 units.
RH Photo: interior layout
This (better) image is from The Book of
Fleetwood for 1936
|
Style
#6275-B
Fleetwood style #6275-B, special flat windshield
sedan for seven passengers;
outwardly similar to style #6275 but without the leather roof insert;
1934 (none), 1935 (2 units), 1936 (none), 1937 (none). Total: 2 units
|
The
unique Fleetwood styles
built from 1934 to 1937
1934
Style
#5830
Fleetwood style #5830, "V" windshield
limousine for five passengers;
outwardly similar to style #5875, above, but without auxiliary seating inside
|
Style
#5880-S
Fleetwood style #5880S, "V" windshield
convertible sedan for five passengers;
outwardly similar to style #5880, above, but without the secondary windshield
This is the new version, with stronger bumpers front
and rear, for 1935-1937
|
1935
Style
#5875-SF
Fleetwood style #5875SF, "V" windshield
formal sedan for seven passengers,
outwardly similar to style #5875FL, above, but without partition and glass division
|
Style
#5891-B
Fleetwood style #5891B, special "V"
windshield town brougham for seven passengers;
outwardly similar to style #5825, except rear quarters are painted metal,
in lieu of leather; contrary to style #5891, there are no quarter windows
|
Style
#6275-H3
Fleetwood style #6275H3, flat windshield limousine
for seven passengers;
outwardly similar to style #6275, above, but with 3" of extra interior
headroom
|
1936
Style
#5825-C
Fleetwood style #5825C, special "V"
windshield town landaulet for seven passengers:
outwardly similar to style #5825 but with folding roof over sear seat area;
Above: catalog illustration from the 1934 book of Fleetwood designs:
Below: (left) coach builders fitting the integral roof luggage rack;
(right) the finished car, which cost a reported $17,000
 
One of the most expensive of all Cadillacs [that is
until the Seville models of 1976] was this custom
designed and hand-finished town landaulet. It appears in factory records as
Fleetwood style #5825C [body #38].
According to Automobile Topics for July, 1936 this hand-made landaulet was
commissioned by an Eastern motorist
and cost a reported $17,000. The collapsible rear quarters were covered in
imported black leather and all the
interior hardware was hand-wrought in natural brass. All the interior hardware was
finished so as to match
the tan whipcord upholstery; the texture of the latter was so fine that it looked
much like broadcloth.
At $13.074 in 1957, even the bespoke Eldorado Brougham was cheaper!
I wonder who owned this
almost chrome-free vee-sixteen and what happened to it. Photos:
courtesy GM/Cadillac.
In his book,
"Fleetwood - The Company and the Coachcraft", James J. Schild identifies this
car as Body #38, although
only one unit was built and only nine of the regular Fleetwood style #5825 were
built in the period from 1934-1937
|
1937
Style
#5875-H4
Fleetwood style #5875H4, "V" windshield
limousine for seven passengers;
outwardly similar to style #5875, above, but with 4" of extra interior
headroom
|
Style
#5891
Fleetwood style #5891, "V" windshield town
brougham for seven passengers;
rear quarters are painted metal in lieu of leathers; there are large quarter
windows
|
Proposed but not Built
This is Fleetwood proposal #5812, a town car with
leather roof covering
This design #5812MB ["metal back" ]is similar to the one above, but vith
plain painted roof
This 1935 propsal (#5857), was
a long and sleek touring car for 7 passengers
|
The custom bodies by independent coach builders
built from 1934 to 1937
1934
Only a single bare chassis of the 1934 vee-sixteen
production went to an independent
coach-builder. Unfortunately, we have no record of the body type that it
received.
The photo, above, is of a town car
conversion on a regular 1934 Fleetwood style;
my guess is that this particular car, built for Danish South Pole explorer,
Admiral Byrd, started its life as a limousine before being converted into
this stunning, cane-bodied town car; the "V" windshield and curved
at the base of the "A" pillar suggest Fleetwood style #5875
|
1935
 
I believe this custom job by Don Lee of
Hollywood is a conversion of a regular Fleetwood style;
it is a radio broadcasting vehicle belonging to the Don Lee Broadcasting Studios
|
Cadillac released only a single bare chassis from
the 1935 vee-sixteen production;
it was delivered to Brunn of New York who installed this limousine
landaulet body with sharply raked windshield
|
Paris coach builder,
Henri Chapron, drew this proposal for a town car
on the V-16 chassis for 1935-36; there is no indication that it was ever built
|
1936
In 1936, three bare chassis were released to
independent coach-builders; these were engine numbers 5110234, 5110242 and
5110246. One of these chassis got a razor-edged town car body by Brunn of Buffalo,
New York [photo, below]. Of the other two, nothing has come to light to date
Of the three bare vee-sixteen chassis that Cadillac
released in 1936
only this razor-edged town car by Brunn of New York has come to light.
Photo: courtesy the late Dave Holls
|
1937
Only two bare chassis were released
in 1937; these were engine numbers 5031316 and 5130328. Of the first one no
photographic record has been uncovered to date The latter chassis was exported to
Switzerland through the GM facility at Antwerp, Belgium. A unique (and huge) convertible
coupe body with fully enclosed fenders was fashioned for it [photo, below] by Willy
Hartmann of Lausanne, a little known coach-builder at the time. Presumably that is
why this car is frequently claimed to have a body designed by the better-known
Italo-French carrossiers, Figoni and Falaschi; indeed, the latter team had built a similar
style the previous year on a Delahaye 135M chassis.
 
Left: the custom V-16 roadster in August
1937, outside the Hartmann workshops in Lausanne's Laborde area
Right: Philippe Barraud, the first owner, outside his home with V-16 convertible
coupe and a young Jack Daniel
|
Conversion by Meteor of Piqua, OH, on a
re-bodied 1937 vee-sixteen chassis for the
Detroit Fire Department, this huge ambulance was donated to the department
by its
Fire Chief, Paxton Mendelssohn, who had worked for many years for the Fisher
Brothers.
In 1951 it was put on a V-8 chassis and remained in service into the seventies
|
 
The two foregoing filigree images are from the
71-page book illustrating the Cadillac Fleetwood Program for 1934. These two
cars are listed in the section Special Individual Fleetwood Custom Bodies,
on pp. 67-69; neither of them were built. They are
Fleetwood proposals #5802, a roadster for two passengers and #5859, a sport phaeton
for five passengers with secondary cowl
and windshield. In the eighties, however, an automobile stylist of
repute, Strother McMinn, and a talented restorer and technician
named Fran Roxas, of Alsip, IL, combined their respective skills to build from
scratch, on two existing V-16 chassis, two cars based
on these artist renderings. There has been much debate among experts as to what
category these Sixteens belong to. They are not
replicas, since neither of them was ever built by Cadillac or Fleetwood; they are
not re-bodied cars, since no part of an existing
body was "replaced"; the only category that seems appropriate is
"Modern Classic" (the chassis effectively is classic,
and the body is modern). Since they are definitely not authentic they have to
be considered "fakes".
|
(résumé en français)
Le tableau résume la fabrication des
212 chassis/moteur V16 Cadillac des années 1934 à 1937. On pourra admirer quelques
survivants en cliquant ici.
|
Return to The (New) Cadillac Database© Index Page
or to the "V-16" index page
© 1996,
Yann Saunders and the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc.
[ Background image: the powerful frontal image of the Sixteens for 1934-37 ]