1938 Cadillac Series 90

Cadillac and Marmon were the only two American manufacturers to offer a V16-powered passenger car; the Cadillac model, unlike the Marmon, would remain in production for over a decade. It was announced in January of 1930, beating the Marmon to market, and proved to be popular - despite the Great Depression - with no less than 3,251 examples sold in the first year alone. The design of the V16 engine is credited to Owen Nacker and it was conceived in the Roaring Twenties as the pinnacle of luxury motoring. Throughout the 1930s, a number of changes were made, the styling updated as fashions changed, but sales gradually declined to the deepening economic conditions. In 1938, another recession hit North America, with unemployment rising dramatically and sales of passenger cars falling by 49 percent. The expensive overhead-valve V16 gave was to the less complex L-head design, which offered more power but with the same smoothness. The 431 cubic-inch short-stroke engine of the Series 90 was essentially two eights, with a 135-degree vee and twin carburetors, twin manifold and distributors, coils, fuel pumps, twin oil bath cleaners, and even two water pumps. The engine was of cast iron construction with compact cylinders with 'square' dimensions of 3¼ inches bore and stroke. It was 115 pounds lighter than the V-12 and 250 pounds lighter than the 452 V-16. The engine developed 185 horsepower at 3,600 RPM, with power sent to the semi-floating rear axle via a three-speed selective synchromesh transmission operated from a column change.

The Series 90 rested on the same 141-inch wheelbase as the Series 75 eight-cylinder models and had many of the same features. Both were offered with a wide range of body styles by in-house coachbuilder Fleetwood. With a staggering base price of $5,440, a total of 315 examples of the V16 Cadillac were built in 1938. This number would continue to decline dramatically over the next two years and just 138 and 61 cars were produced in 1939 and 1940 respectively.

The 1938 V16 Cadillac had a wheelbase that was 13 inches shorter than the 1937 V16, and its length was 38 inches shorter. The 1938 bodies, however, were equal (and sometimes larger) than the previous year's bodies. This was made possible by fitting the nearly flat engine low in the frame and placing the back cylinders behind the firewall line under the toe board.

By the end of the 1940 model year, Cadillac was forced to recognize that this new V16 was no longer economical to produce. It was dropped from the line-up, by which time just 514 or 515 of these automobiles had been built. Just 61 were built in 1940.

by Daniel Vaughan | May 2019