1926 Cadillac Series 314 Sedan

By the start of 1924, Cadillac had produced over 160,000 V8-engine automobiles. Ernest Seaholm had recently been promoted to chief engineer and would oversee Cadillac's technical developments for the following two decades. During this era, it was common to design a V8 as two four-cylinder engines on a common 'flat' crankshaft, which worked well enough, though prone to imbalance. One of Seaholm's first projects he would oversee in his new position was a groundbreaking engine, introduced in 1924, and utilizing a balanced, two-plane crankshaft counterweighted with rod journals at 90 degrees to one another. This is the same configuration and setup used in modern V8 engines. The result was a remarkably smooth operation and, thanks to a lighter flywheel, developed more power. Another major improvement to the new V-63 model Cadillacs was four-wheel braking, although the system was mechanical, not hydraulic, as used by Duesenberg and Chrysler.

The new Cadillac Series 314 was introduced at the beginning of August 1925 and is considered a 1926 model. They were a re-engineered version of the V-63, and received its name from the engine displacement size. It weighed 250 pounds less than its predecessor and had nearly 10 percent more power. Instead of increasing the price, Cadillac reduced the cost by as much as $500 for its customers.

This particular 1926 Cadillac Series 314 Limousine Sedan was shipped from the factory on August 14th of 1924 and delivered 11 days later to customer J.L Boyer of Greenville, Ohio. It has a 132-inch Chassis Custom with disc wheels. The original body is not known, but the current body is much like several that Cadillac offered to the professional and livery trade, with a slanted windshield and opera windows in the rear quarter. There are vertical cowl ventilators on each side and side lamps that are flared into the cowl, an unusual setup for Cadillacs of this period.

Charles Baldwin of Colorado Springs, Colorado, sold this Cadillac to the Merrick Auto Museum in 1996. It is finished in maroon with red moldings, black fenders, and body-color disc wheels with Lester whitewall tires. The interior is upholstered in brown mohair, and the floor is carpeted in the same theme.

The engine found the bay matches the factory build record.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2020