V16 survivors, custom jobs

Body Style	Body Number	Engine Number	Latest available information
Boattail Speedster	?	?	Farina [Italy] Factory records [which I have not seen] reveal that the chassis of this car left Detroit on July 17, 1931, bound for Turin, Italy [that month, only 17 cars/chassis were completed, they were #703136 to 703152]. The special, boat-tailed speedster or "tiger-shoot" car was commissioned by the wealthy Maharajah of Orccha, one of India's princely states before the country gained independence in 1947. The Self Starter issue for June, 1965, carried a factory photo of the car, the same one that I got from the PF archives in 1975 and that I wrote about in the Classic Car magazine for June 1976. Dave Towell, Cadillac dealer and collector of Akron, OH, wrote me in September 1976 to say that he had bought the car in April that year (1965), from the late Sheikh Mukhtar, a Pakistani (?) actor and film director who had acquired it in 1960, directly form the Maharajah, for a reported 7000 rupees (circa $560). In 1976, the car had barely 12K miles on the odometer. The car's presence in the USA sparked much interest; Bill Mitchell, then Director of GM Styling, went to Akron to examine it. Gita and I went to see Dave's cars too, in June 1978, on our first trip to the USA. Grand memories! I understand that Dave paid $105,000 for the car¹. It arrived in Akron in July 1976. He did almost no restoration work on the car before selling it again. The car was later acquired by Tom Barrett, then by Jack Frederick and Fran Roxas who, in my opinion, "over-restored" it. The roadster was featured shortly thereafter in AQ, Vol. 20, #4, in its new black garb with an unlikely red velour interior (!). In the eighties, Ken Behring acquired it for his renowned Blackhawk collection in Danville, CA. Motor Trend ran an article on the car, in March 1985. According to the Self Starter for July, 2001, the current owner is Robert Lee. Rare and "exotic" Cadillacs like this one have a habit of turning up in the most unexpected places and at the oddest times; their tale is often told, distorted, embellished, often for the sole purpose of increasing the car's marketability and potential selling price. This particular ad appeared in the CLC's Self-Starter magazine in August, 1983: 1930 V16 Boat-tail "The ultimate 50s hot rod". The car was being offered for sale by a Mr. Jack Wenger of Broadway, VA (I assume it was this same car). _________________________________________________ ¹ Members of a classic car forum in India have discussed this car; they seriously doubt the accuracy of information about it on internet sites (including mine?) and in magazines like Motor Trend. According to the current Maharaja of Orchha, HH Madhugar Shah, whose father ordered this car, it remained in use with the Orchha family at least until the late fifties and would drop him off and pick him up from school. He asserted that it was never designed, nor used, for hunting tigers; that was just a myth! One of the original "V-16" hubcaps still survives in the Orchha garages. According to one member of the forum, the Pinin Farina speedster and a rare Duesenberg SSJ with body Gurney-Nutting that had belonged to India's princely Holkar family, were smuggled abroad by actor Sheik Mukhtar and traded for a pair of new 1960 Chevy Impalas! Another members, Nigel Davis with whom I have been in contact, remembers seeing the car in the late sixties when it was still owned by film actor and director Sheik Mukhtar. It's licence tag read "ORCCHA 1"; he said it was parked on the road; Mukhtar had come to visit a famous Indian story-writer. Nigel was a little boy at that time but he still remembers the car. Years later he read in Motor Trend how Mukhtar had found the car buried in the ground with the boat tail sticking out. He bought it and later took it out of the country, though Pakistan, and sold it for a reported Ł105,000 [$105,000].Will the truth ever be known?
The pith-helmeted, mustachioed gentleman lighting a smoke on the left is the wealthy Maharajah of Orccha; his car carries the tag "ORCCHA 1" The car is seen here, in India, in the early sixties, with sidemounts removed and the skimpy weather canopy in place; it is fitted with very British, flick-up turn signal indicators [just ahead of the upper front door hinge] Sheikh Mukhtar painted the car this fuchsia hue [above 2 rows, in different lighting]; it was still like this when Dave Towell brought it to the USA and later sold it to Tom Barrett III [ Click on image for larger view ] The original Farina colors are not known but from this factory photo you can see that they were not those chosen by Fran Roxas, who restored it This is how the car looked at Pebble Beach, in 2005; it appears to have been repainted closer to the Farina original, above; in addition, the scarlet velour seat material [installed by Fran Roxas?] appears to have been replaced by more plausible, dark brown leather
Convertible Victoria?	?	702873	Lancefield [England] According to Matt Larson of the CLC, this engine/chassis combination had RHD and was exported to England in 1930. I believe it got originally a saloon body designed by Van den Plas and possibly built by Lancefield in England. In any case, this "mystery V16" was offered for sale by auction by the Kruse organization in 1996 (lot #696). It was described as a V16 convertible (?) of 1930 with RHD and body by Lancefield of England. The colors were given as cream and green. I have seen a drawing of a V-16 by Lancefield, but the latter is not a convertible. The upper photo, below is from the collection of Gregg D. Merksamer of the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH); others are from Internet. More info on this car would be appreciated.
This custom job features a straight sill with overlapping body work, and a horizontal belt molding [ actual colors below ] [ Photos, above 2 rows: Internet, June, 2004 ]
Town car	?	702073	Nordberg [Sweden] town car on chassis #702042; the first owner was Swedish publisher Vetus Petersson. The coach-builder, Nordberg, passed on in 1977; he had built many interesting custom bodies on Cadillac chassis, including a number of them for the Swedish Royal family under the reign of Gustaf V.
Photo: courtesy Olle Ljungstrom
Part Convertible Sedan [ex-4260]	n/a	700979	Saoutchik [France] Chassis # 7-101(?), formerly body #2 of the 85 units built, this was one of the six European tour cars (the original sport phaeton body was put later on another V16 chassis). This special body was built by Paris' Jacques Saoutchik. It is a special, semi-convertible sedan with a sliding roof; a transparent roof panel lines up with the rear window when the roof is pushed fully back. This rare car lay abandoned for a few years in a Paris garage whose owners wanted to auction it off for the amount of an unpaid repair/storage bill; the lady owner eventually paid up, at the last minute. The car was bought later by French auto dealer, Johnny Thuysbaert and stored for some time in his château, near Nantes. Major repairs are assumed to have been carried out in 1964 by the Francis workshops near Paris [there was a story and some photos in France's Auto-Journal for August 6, 1964]. The car was then acquired by the late Serge Pozzoli, former editor of France's Fanatique de l'Automobile, who stored it in a warehouse at Av. Jean-Jaurčs, in Paris, near the "Poker" beer warehouse owned by Hubert Le Gallais who subsequently bought it from Pozzoli; he showed it at various meets in and around Paris in the late sixties and early seventies. I visited Mr. Le Gallais in the early seventies and photographed the car at his home in Le Pavé du Roi near Fontainebleau; at that time the car was dark blue with a dark brown roof. Later, he moved to Brittany (NW France). In the late eighties or early nineties (I am guessing) the car was sold by Mr.Le Gallais and it was returned to the U.S.A. where it was completely restored. The body was removed from the European tour car chassis [#701554] and put on V16 chassis #700979 (presumably to match the European tour car with its original chassis and drive train); that car had been ordered originally by Cadillac engineer, Charles F. Kettering. When the car was restored in the USA, the original Marchal headlights were replaced with Grebels, I guess to match the accessory, cowl spotlights (personally, I preferred the huge Marchals). A new top was made and the hood ports were chrome-plated; a central fog-light was added and the car got new paint. It made a noted appearance at the "Cadillac-La Salle Experience" meet at the Gilmore Museum, Hickory Corner, MI, in June 1993. At that time, it was owned by Barnie Glieberman of West Bloomfield, MI; the car was shown again at Meadowbrook, in 1995. It was later reported to be for sale at the annual Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, AZ [year???]; it is said to have been bid to $325,000; the program mentioned "Lot #9, color silver/blue, rare Saoutchik body with retractable 2-position sunroof that rolls back to an open roof over the passenger compartment. Lights by "Stephen Grabel" [mis-spelling of Stéphane Grebel]. Show quality restoration. Pebble-Beach winner. Asking price $325,000" ...I imagine that Mr. Le Gallais had sold it for less than $50,000! Late Extra [1/2001]: The car has a new owner; he spoke to George Kovarda who has a number of photos of this car prior to and during the initial stages of restoration. He does not believe Kovarda was working for Fran Roxas at the time he had the car. Also, he only had the body there for the purpose of making it back into a convertible sedan for Fred Weber. After Fred hired Marc Ohm to run his "in house" restorations, they took the body back from George; they decided not to make it a convertible after all, but to put the sliding roof top back on the car. The new owner thinks that Saoutchik may have built the car initially as a convertible sedan and someone else may have built the sliding sunroof later; there was a tag on the top with the name of a firm in Paris [my guess is that Saoutchik did in fact design the special top but had it installed by a specialist in the French capital]. Latest [8/2007]: the car found a new home during the Gooding & Co auction at Pebble Beach on August 18,2007, where it achieved a record price of $462,000 [thanks, Chris Cummings, for updating this entry].
The Saoutchik car in Paris' Francis workshops, circa 1964 The restored car on show near Paris in the seventies (left) and at Fontainebleau, circa 1973-74 (right) (top photo and left) As restored and offered for sale by auction in Scottsdale, AZ, 2000 (center and right) Pebble Beach concours d'élégance, August 2002 [ in the latter 2 views you can see the sliding roof portion pulled back ] Preceding five photos courtesy of Elliott Dolin, the new owner, 2001 Digital photos don't like tight-woven grilles (center image); note grille detail at right with Grebel headlights in lieu of the original Marchal lamps Beautiful cabinetry in this French custom creation; note division winder and duplicate instruments in rear (right) [ These five photos courtesy "Jim", Pebble Beach, Aug. 2002 ]
Limousine Landaulet	[556]	702297	Van den Plas [England and Belgium] This one left the factory on September 7, 1930, bound for London and the Olympia Motor Show. may be the same car I saw advertised in the Self Starter in July, 1959, by a Mr. Jeffrey Watts of Levittown, PA. His ad reads: "1930-31 Cadillac V16 with English built body; originally owned by Guinness of stout fame; designed by Van den Plas and built by Lendrum and Hartmann, Ltd. RHD, compartmented [i.e. limousine division?], folding landau back, English headlights (large), upholstery moth eaten but beautiful, paint rough, mechanically looks excellent ($300 ...or may be less)". So far as I know, the car was offered for sale at a "Movieland - Cars of the Stars" auction in Hollywood, in May 1974; Roy Schneider told me it was in a deplorable state and did not find a buyer; it needed "everything" including a highly talented enthusiast with some heavy funding. In his list of survivors, Rick Leforge attributes this one to "Lyon Classic Cars, L.A." It appears it was acquired at some time by the late "Cadillac Jim" Pearson of Kansas City; he still had it in 1976. He subsequently sold it to James.C. Leake, a well-known collector and dealer from Tulsa, OK. This car has RHD [one of the rare few built this way!] and lots of wood inlays. Mr. Leake said of the car in 1977: "It has the greatest amount of inlaid walnut wood throughout the car that I have ever seen and there is also much brass." It was still undergoing a full restoration when I saw it and photographed it from every angle in Tulsa in June, 1978. In the late seventies the odometer reading was 56K miles. This car is listed also among the Database "Dream cars" for 1930. Van den Plas described it as a special Cadillac "Saloon Landaulette De Luxe" mounted on the V16 chassis. Initially, it was painted powder blue with black roof and fenders; styling features include slender vertical windshield posts, flick up turn-signal indicators, a flat windshield, This car has the rare, split instrument panel of the "Madame X" cars built in Fleetwood, PA (e.g. style #4108C), opening rear roof section behind the rear seat passengers, a rear seat speedometer [ŕ la Fleetwood style 4260], an intercom, a rear foot- warmer, doors reaching down to partly cover the frame rails and "suicide" rear doors; the descriptive text in the Van den Plas catalog states: "As supplied to The Hon. A.E. Guinness" (head of the Guinness family of beer fame?). It was first shown at London's Earl's Court in 1930 together with a regular Fleetwood "Madame X" style 4175; it may have gone on to the Paris Salon after that. Late Extra: I re-discovered the Van den Plas town car in a Dutch museum, when Gita and I were vacationing in Holland, in September 2001 [PHOTOS BELOW]
This artist's drawing is from an original, 1930 Van den Plas catalog [ Photo: courtesy the late Gene Babow ] Somehow, the restored car found its way to Holland [ Photos: Š 2001, Yann Saunders ]
Limousine Landaulet	???	???	Van den Plas [Belgium] possibly built by Lancefield in England. I got a telephone call in June, 2004, from the grandson of this car's first owner, a wealthy Pakistani gentleman; this car survives in Pakistan and we shall certainly be hearing more about it. Lancefield built a similar car on the V12 chassis, designated a "special Cadillac Town Cabriolet De Luxe" (a 5-pass. town car with forward facing opera seats). It is fitted with cycle fenders and retractable (?) steps in lieu of running boards. Both doors are hinged at the center post ("B" pillar). Originally light-colored, the body is now black or dark gray. The coach type sill on the car is similar to that used on Fleetwood sixteens with style codes in the "42.." series. Six wire wheels (with side-mounted spares) are fitted. In the advertising brochure I saw in Washington, the text for the V12 version reads as follows: "This body is fitted with de Ville extension [removable curtain over the driving area] but it is otherwise designed as a Town Cabriolet with Fixed Head. (...) No running boards are fitted, steps being made to open with the doors. A distinguishing feature is the special type of wings fitted [cycle fenders]. Seating accommodation - The back seat is designed for two but can accommodate a third and two occasional seats are fitted, facing forward. The driving seat is very roomy and is designed specially for the comfort of the owner-driver. Colour scheme optional, and a choice of the very finest cloths and soft leathers. As supplied to Captain F.W. Hartman [CEO of Lendrum & Hartman, GM's British outlet in England] and Major E. Howard". Among the classifieds in England's Motor magazine for March 24, 1931, is an ad for this sports saloon painted French grey and fitted with a sunshine roof. The advertised cost was Ł2350.
. (Left) The Lancefield car, with cycle fenders, hidden step plates and center-closing doors (Right) a similar sport sedan by Van den Plas on the V16 chassis, with center-hinged doors and RHD; in the latter car the step plates are visible, even with the doors closed; in my opinion, the car on the right is largely derived from the designer's drawing on the left *[ B&W Photo: Sixteen Cylinder Motor Cars, by Roy Schneider ]* Possibly this car, believed to be also located in Pakistan Seventy years later! The car has only 7000 miles and has sat in dry storage for some fifty years; it certainly will require a lot of restoration [ These two photos: Š2004, courtesy of the owner ]
[Mystery 1]	?	?	The photo below was provided kindly by V-16 enthusiast, Nigel Davis, who is familiar with the old car scene in India and Pakistan. This rare survivor turned up at an auction in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, a former Indian princely state during the British rule over the Indian sub-continent, which lapsed at midnight on August 14, 1947. Bahawalpur acceded to the Dominion of Pakistan on October 7, 1947 and was merged into the state of West Paklistan on October 14, 1955 (the Nawab [ruler] at the time is said to be of Arabic origin, claiming descent from Abbas, progenitor of the Abassi Caliphs of Baghdad and Cairo). Like most rulers of the former princely states, the last Nawab, Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V, had untold wealth which enabled him to acquire many superb automobiles. Twenty-six of these were released and sold at auction in 2004, after being locked up for decades owing to some family litigation (some have already found their way west). The auction held in Bahawalpur, on May 9, 2004, generated over ten million Rupees (circa $250,000) in revenue. Included among the lots were fourteen Rolls Royce models and two Cadillacs. It is believed that the Cadillac, below, could NOT be sold as it was still subject to a lien of some kind. From the photo it is impossible to determine the body style, although it appears to be a closed car. The view through the windshield reveals it to be a right-hand drive configuration. Unless it was converted later, it may be one of only a handful of RHD cars built for export in 1930-31. Note how the "V-16" emblem on this car is mounted squarely on the radiator stone guard, rather than on the usual stanchion between the headlights. Perhaps the new owner will make himself/herself known and we may be ble to add more details about this car's history later. The second V-16 that actually sold is believed to by the Van den Plas tourer listed above. I await confirmation. Enthusiast Nigel Davis suspects that this is one of the two Cadillac cars that came from the Nawab's estate but could not be sold owing to some form of lien on the vehicle; a second Cadillac (perhaps the Van den Plas tourer, above) is believed to have been acquired during the 2004 auction by Azizur Rashid Abbasi for one million Rupees (circa $25,000) [ Photo: courtesy Nigel Davis, 2008 ]
[Mystery 2]	?	?	Listed for sale at the Kruse auction in Auburn, IN, 9/1999 [lot #1068], was this "16 cyl. unknown exterior - Kingston custom De Luxe body. This is a very rare limited produced car" [sic]. It was reported to have been sold for $160,000. Anybody know more about this car?
[ex-4375]	?	700132	In 1934, this engine was put in a Chrysler Le Baron dual-cowl phaeton by power-boat racing star, Lou Fageol. At last news (8/2005), this unusual Cadillac-powered car was owned by Laurence (Byron) Dorcy [art. in SS, 9/2005]
These three photos courtesy of the late Gene Babow These two, from CLC Self Starter magazine, 9/2005
[ex-4220]	?	701530	This town car (one of only 9 built in 1930-31) was originally shipped to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Currently [2/2000] the motor is in Spain (near Alicante) and is powering a custom racer (below). The owner needs a V16 distributor cap. Any ideas?
*Not clearly visible, the name Cadillac* spelled diagonally across the grille**
[???]	?	?	This red racer was offered for sale on eBay in late 2004; it was said to be powered by a 16-cylinder Cadillac engine [the designer's drawing is marked "Cadillac V-16"]; apparently the car was sold but all attempts - by msyelf and other enthusiasts - to get precise information about the car and its power plant failed miserably. Perhaps the buyer might be interested in having his car listed in the roster.
[ Photo: courtesy "Trombinoscope" ]

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Š 1996, Yann Saunders and the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc.
[ Background image: Surviving Fleetwood style 4375S; Yann Saunders' collection ]

Body Style	Body Number	Engine Number	Latest available information
Phaeton	?	700991	This custom 4-passenger special phaeton by Murphy, designed by the late, great Frank Q. Hershey started life as a roadster; it was not built on a bare chassis as I initially believed. Walter Montgomery Murphy set up business in Pasadena, CA, in 1917. One of the firm's notable styling freatures in the thirties were large, chrome-plated hinges (as seen on this car). I first saw this car in the Self Starter for August 1963; at that time it had been acquired by CLC member Robert Taunton, while on honeymoon with his new bride. Robert did the initial ground-up restoration after the car got hit by a drunk (?) taxi-driver in California. In the eighties the car was owned by Donald Westerdale. It was the object of an article in AQ for the fourth quarter 1984. In 1962, it was painted green and had a green top and red leather interior. It was owned at one time by Charles and Anita Howard; beautifully restored it got an award at Meadowbrook in 1995. The car was listed in the 2002 CLC Directory as belonging to J. McMullen, MI. Late extra [2/2007]: the car was auctioned off as part of the McMullen Collection on June 9, 2007 in Lapeer, Michigan [info from V16 enthusiast and owner, Chris Cummings]. A full description and history of the car is currently [May 2007] available on the RM Auction site. The catalogue estimate is between $850,000 and $1,000,000. I initially thought it would be a hard sell on today's market for over $400K. Well, it turns out I was WRONG! The reported selling price was actually $1,056,000 !!!
(Left) Photo taken in William Land Park, Sacramento, CA, Courtesy Craig Watrous [ Š 1962, Craig Watrous ] (Right) The restored car with top in place The car appears to have been repainted and has got a new black top; photos, possibly Pebble Beach, in 2005
Roadster	?	?	2-passenger roadster by Rollston; this car was formerly owned (1979) by Peter W.Hinrichs, of Mequon,WI. For many years a "mystery", the car's identity was finally revealed during restoration; the underside of the windshield was stamped "Rollston, July 1932". In 2002, this car was owned by Robert M. Lee of Reno, NV. It made a first appearance at the Pebble Beach concours d'élégance in August, 2002.
In this sixties photo you can see that someone tried to "upgrade" the car to a 1933-34 model by adding "skirts" to the open fenders I may be wrong but I don't think the car was designed with those front fender skirts; these came into fashion only in 1933 The car has survived and was seen at the Pebble Beach (?) Concours d'Elegance in 2002 (center) and 2005 (right)