1939 Cadillac Series 90 7-Passenger Sedan

Near the close of 1929, Cadillac President Lawrence Fisher dispatched a letter to both his dealers and the motoring press on December 10th. The new 16-cylinder Cadillac was to be displayed at the New York International Automobile Show on January 4th, 1930. The car was also to appear at the General Motors Salon in the Hotel Astor and on 57th Street, just off 5th Avenue, in the two-story building that housed the permanent Cadillac Salon of Uppercu Cadillac, a dealership under the leadership of one Inglis M. Uppercu.

The coachbuilder Fleetwood had a design office located on the second floor of the aforementioned Cadillac Salon. The office housed the senior design staff along with several draftsmen who completed the final drawings of bodies and components based on specifications given to them by both designers and engineers. Twenty-five percent of all V-16 Cadillacs would be delivered to New York City buyers in 1930 and 1931

With the Great Depression settling in, it was not long before Cadillac would realize that the V-16 was the wrong car for the wrong time. Nevertheless, it did ignite the cylinder wars and put Cadillac in the lead.

The V-16 was introduced in 1930, and a V-12 model followed in 1931. The Cadillac V-8 powered models continue to sell in steady numbers, helping Cadillac's bottom line during difficult economic times.

This example is a seven-passenger Sixteen Sedan, style number 39-9023, and has no Imperial division or divider window. It has rear jump seats in the passenger compartment and is one of one-hundred thirty-eight V-16s produced for 1939 and one of just eighteen touring sedans built that year. It has its original beige cloth interior in the front and back, and it shows just 72,000 miles from new. There is a black exterior, dual side-mount spare tires, and white sidewall tires.

The car received its AACA First Junior at Hershey in 1970 and wears CCCA badge number 517, from when it was honored with a National First Prize in 1971.

The car wears an older restoration.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2014