1930 Cadillac Series 452A V16 All-Weather Phaeton by Murphy

Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company when Henry Ford departed. Henry M. Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Company persuaded the remaining partners to continue the automobile business using Leland's proven 1-cylinder engine. On August 22, 1903, the company was renamed the Cadillac Automobile Company.

The Cadillac's biggest selling point was precision manufacturing and reliability based on winning the British Dewar trophy for the most important advancement of the year in the automobile industry. General Motors acquired the company in 1909. Cadillac's introduction of V-12 and V-16 powered cars in 1930 kicked off the 'cylinder wars' among the American luxury marques leading Packard to introduce their line of twelves. The V-16 powered 90 Series was Cadillac's top-of-the-line car until production ceased in 1940. The 90 Series rode on a 154-inch wheelbase with a 452 cubic-inch V-16 engine delivering 185 horsepower. The bodies featured GM's all-steel Turret Top with Vee windshields. Only 52 were produced in 1936, all built to order.

The Aerodynamic Coupe body style was the production version of the show car built for Chicago's 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair and represented a When the 1906 earthquake hit San Francisco, very few automobile dealerships survived. The Charles Howard Buick dealership did and fortune allowed him to sell cars to those in need. Howard became a very successful dealer on the west coast and became interested in Pasadena coachbuilder Walter M. Murphy.

Charles himself ordered a V-16 Cadillac. This car left the factory as a standard Fleetwood-bodied roadster, shipped to Charles S. Howard, the San Francisco-based California distributor for Buick (and eventual owner of Seabiscuit, the legendary triple-crown winning racehorse). Howard's aim was to have a custom-built V-16. As was standard practice at the time, Cadillac did not sell a V-16 chassis to a coachbuilder. If a client wanted custom coachwork, they usually purchased the most inexpensive model, removed the body to be sold off, and installed the new custom body. Howard had previously used Murphy, the respected coachbuilder from Pasadena, and commissioned them to build his special V-16.

A young and very talented Murphy designer, Franklin Hershey, gave the car a 'California' look, with very thin pillars and a light appearance. The most striking feature was a 22-degree, racked-back windshield, used instead of the typical, almost vertical, style. The finished car had a dual-purpose character. Fully enclosed as a convertible sedan, it was designed so that the windows could be lowered and concealed by flush chrome covers. With the center posts removed, and the rear windscreen raised, the car had the look and feel of a true open car.

Special features found on this car include inlaid interior woodwork, a second windshield for rear seat passengers, and a slightly raked windshield. This gave the car the appearance of a dual-cowl phaeton when the top was lowered. Number 701203 was a body style designated for the V16 Cadillac built from 1930 to 1931. It was put on a 148-inch wheelbase and boasted a 165 horsepower from the 452 cubic-inch engine.

The only option noted on this car is the wire-spoke wheels, the fender-mounted spare tire, and the faster 4.07 to 1 rear axle. It is one of just 105 built in 1930 at a cost of $5,350. The color scheme has been duplicated from the original Cadillac colors from 1930.

The completed car was enjoyed by the Howards for many years. It then passed through the hands of many well-known collectors before its acquisition by the current owner.

First restored around 1984, the restoration was thoroughly upgraded with new paint and other details to bring it back to concours quality in 1995. The present owner acquired this superb and rare custom V-16 Cadillac very recently.

Cadillac scooped the luxury market with the mid-1930 introduction of their series 452 sixteen-cylinder super luxury car. This individual custom creation from the Walter M. Murphy Company of Pasadena, California, was built for Charles Howard, owner of the famed racehorse Seabiscuit. Murphy is best known for building Duesenberg bodies, but Howard obviously preferred the new Cadillac chassis for his car. The silky-smooth V-16 employed hydraulic valve silencers, and period press reported that the loudest noise heard at idle was 'the spark of the contact points.'

The interior of this example features gold-finished hardware with windows edged in walnut. Cloth sun visors, shaped like abstract leaves, feature screw heads that imitate pearls.

This 36-90 Aero-Dynamic Coupe is one of only four produced in 1936. The $8,150 price tag made it one of the most expensive Cadillacs in 1936. The Series 90 models were fitted with Fleetwood coachwork and only 52 were produced on the 154-inch wheelbase. 24 of those were 7-passenger limousines. This Aero 5-passenger coupe is one of only 4 produced in 1936.

The Coupe was powered by the overhead-valve, 452-cubic-inch, V-16 engine producing 165 horsepower and 320 foot/pounds of torque.

It is believed that this Cadillac remained with Mr. Howard into the postwar 1940s. in the late 1940s or early 1950s, the Cadillac was in Mendocino County possibly in Charles Jr.'s ownership, and still wearing its original Algonquin Green livery. Its next known owner, Dr. Robert N. Craycroft of Los Angeles, California. It is possible that Dr. Craycroft acquired the Cadillac directly from its first owners. Dr. Craycroft later transferred ownership of the Cadillac around 1959 to his friend Bob Gillespie.

Norman Taunton bought the car out of the basement of Fazackerly Cadillac in San Francisco during his honeymoon in 1961. He repainted the car its correct Algonquin Green but otherwise preserved it as-acquired, including its original red leather upholstery and hand-hammered trim hardware, as well as the speedometer and clock supplied by Murphy for rear-seat passengers.

In the late 1960s, ownership passed to the Brucker Family, of Movieworld museum fame, in Buena Park, California, who sold it roughly a decade later to Don Westerdale of Los Angeles. Mr. Westerdale undertook the Cadillac's first true restoration before selling it in 1985 to collector John Mozart. The next owner was Jim King of Beverly, Massachusetts, then in 1994 to John McMullen of Lapeer, Michigan. While in Mr. McMullen's ownership, the Murphy V-16 was restored anew by Brian Joseph's Classic & Exotic Service of Troy, Michigan. It went on to be shown at numerous concours d'elegance, winning its class at Meadowbrook in 1996 and at Pebble Beach in 1997, among many other laurels.

Paul Andrews of White Settlement, Texas acquired the Cadillac in 2007 from the McMullen stable and remained with him for the next eight years. Its current owner bought the car from the Andrews Collection in 2015.