1931 Cadillac Series 370-A Twelve Fleetwood Phaeton

The Fleetwood Metal Body Company of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania was founded on April 1st of 1909. It was an independent automobile body builder until being acquired in 1925 by the Fisher Body Company, a division of General Motors. It remained in Fleetwood until 1931 when it moved to Detroit.

The Fleetwood Metal Body Company quickly established a reputation as a builder of fine aluminum and wood automobile bodies. Their customers included royalty from India and Japan, presidents of Poland and the United States, and American movie idols.

This particular Cadillac 370A V-12 wears body style 4760 and is one of 128 examples produced. The Five-Passenger Sport Phaeton was the work of Fleetwood.

The car was part of the Dr. Barbara Mae Atwood collection for many years. It is finished in a muted shade of orange with brown fenders and a dark brown cloth convertible top with light brown piping. There are whitewall tires and chrome spoke wheels that are painted the same brown as the fenders. There are twin side mounts enclosed in metal covers and carrying rearview mirrors. In the front are a chrome radiator stone guard and a set of Pilot-Ray driving lights. In the back is a large trunk on the rear folding trunk rack. The interior is done in tan leather upholstery with light brown carpeting and the dashboard gauges are contained in a centrally located oval. The rear passenger compartment has a folding foot rested and its own windshield while the driver and front passenger have folding wind-wings to control the breeze at speed. For foul weather, there is a set of side curtains contained in its own pouch in the trunk.

This car rests on a 140-inch wheelbase and is powered by a 368 cubic-inch overhead valve V12 engine offering 135 horsepower and mated to a three-speed manual transmission.