1930 Cadillac Series 452A V16 Roadster

Today, Cadillac represents luxury in the United States. However, by the beginning of the 1930s, the General Motors brand was yet to truly make its mark. That moment would come in January of 1930 at the New York Auto Show.

Cadillac Automobile Company would be founded, amazingly enough, as a result of a fall-out between Henry Ford and some of his investors. Named after the French explorer that founded Detroit in 1701, the Cadillac Automobile Company would be founded almost exactly 200 years later when it opened its doors in August 1902.

In the early days, getting and maintaining orders was the important matter of the day. Therefore, luxury automobiles would not be the first introduction people would have with the Cadillac name. However, it wouldn't be long before people would begin to recognize their early Runabout and Tonneau designs were simply better built than most.

Awards and recognition would quickly follow and this would attract the attention of General Motors. Being a part of a large conglomerate, Cadillac would be able to focus on building a specific line of automobiles. General Motors already knew what it had in mind and Cadillac would become the company's luxury line with many of its cars being custom-built designs.

All throughout the next couple of decades Cadillac would be reliable and fine automobile. However, the line was yet to make its mark on a worldwide stage. The name was well-known and respected as a maker of fine luxury automobiles, but that was mostly within the United States. Then, in 1930, Cadillac would make a deliberate move that would put it in a rare class the world over.

Under a great cloud of secrecy Cadillac would develop a 16-cylinder engine, the first to be built by scratch. There was only one other manufacturer in the world that had ever introduced a 16-cylinder engine in a production automobile and that was the elite automaker Bugatti. Now, in one moment, Cadillac entered rarified company.

Producing 175hp from the 452 cu.in. engine, Cadillac had an engine that offered performance. Fleetwood would be one of the coachbuilders assigned the task of capturing that performance in an equally-evocative design.

Situated in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish country, Fleetwood would be named for the town located within a stone's throw of the Reading & Lehigh railroad line. The company would be a family affair and would get its beginnings as a blacksmith shop. However, when the company turned its hands to building custom bodies for the automobile industry, Fleetwood would truly come into its own. And, while there would be many coachbuilders that would design and build bodies that sat atop Cadillac chassis, Fleetwood would become, by far, one of the most desirable and coveted.

One of those highly coveted Cadillac V-16s would be a roadster built by Fleetwood bearing engine number 70161.

Completed in 1930, the 16-cylinder engine would be transported to have itself mated with one of Fleetwood's most popular designs, body style 4302, or what was the Roadster. Upon completion, the Cadillac would be transported to Fitzhenry Cadillac Company of Worcester, Massachusetts. Completed in Boone Brown and trimmed in Thorne Maroon, the roadster would be held in Worcester for its first owner, none other than Matthew Whittall Sr.

Whittall Sr. was a prominent member of society owning most all of the mills in the area. Besides being a Master Mason, Whittall would be well known for building a number of other community buildings and for his 'summer' place, which was known as 'Juniper Hall'.

Apparently, the performance of the Roadster deeply bothered Whittall and he would trade the car to another dealer. This is where the Moir family comes into the picture.

Passing by the Baker Ford Company, John Moir Sr. would see the Cadillac and would determine to own to the car. Seeing that it was the heart of the Great Depression, Moir would get a reasonable deal on the car and would use it routinely, right up until the outbreak of the Second World War when gas rationing began to take hold of the nation.

Moir Sr's son would train as a belly gunner in B-24s during the war and afterward would be given the Cadillac for his own use. Over the next few years, Moir Jr. would use the Cadillac going to and fro until retiring the automobile sometime later. But even though the Moirs would discontinue using the Cadillac for their everyday vehicle, they would never sell it. Instead, they would store the car away, keeping it in its highly original condition all the way up through the 1990s when it would be restored by Curt Hardee.

Since the car remained in its original state before the restoration, it was relatively easy to keep it original when all was said and done. The livery would remain the same, as well as all of the other little details that made it a Fleetwood Cadillac.

A little more than eight decades, the 1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster by Fleetwood has remained in the care of the Moir family. In fact, it truly had become a member of the family, an old dear friend. And like those old family members that always has a story to tell, this particular roadster, with its highly original and first-hand feel tells a story of a period of luxury now gone by, but a symbol that still tells the story of how Cadillac became a premier luxury car builder.

Offered at the 2014 RM Auction's Hershey event, the 1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster would draw estimates ranging from between $450,000 and $650,000. However, when the spirited bidding came to an end, the 1930 Cadillac would garner an astonishing $1,100,000!

Sources:
'Fleetwood Metal Body Co.', (http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/f/fleetwood/fleetwood.htm). Coachbuilt.com. http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/f/fleetwood/fleetwood.htm. Retrieved 7 October 2014.

'Lot 109: 1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster by Fleetwood', (http://www.rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1070511). RM Auctions. http://www.rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1070511. Retrieved 7 October 2014.

Wikipedia contributors, 'Cadillac', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 7 October 2014, 02:22 UTC, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cadillac&oldid=628574494 accessed 7 October 2014

By Jeremy McMullen