1931 Cadillac Series 452-A Sixteen Convertible Coupe

This 1931 V-16 Coach Sill Coupe Convertible (style 4235) left the factory on October 30th of 1930 and had been built for the 1931 Chicago Auto Salon. It offers roll-up windows to provide fully closed comfort, but maintains the dashing top-down roadster spirit. The superbly redesigned profile, in which Fleetwood dropped the bodyline lower than the frame sills, produced a leaner, avant-garde contour than that of its predecessors. The advent of the Cadillac V16, featured at the core of this automobile, along with other models of the early 1930s, helped put Cadillac on the map as one of the leading automakers of the era. Cadillac built 90 of these models in 1930, and only four in 1931, of which this was the first.

This Cadillac was delivered new to the Drake Hotel in downtown Chicago and was bound for the Chicago Auto Show. It was acquired from the show floor by Pat Carr, a gentleman from Casper, Wyoming, who owned the Grand Hotel there, along with oil holdings in Texas and casinos in South Dakota. The car was later gifted to his son and later owned by Mr. Dolph of Goose Egg Springs Wyoming. The car was later put into storage where it remained until after World War II when it was acquired by Oscar Annis of Alcova, Wyoming. In 1965, it was acquired by Arvin Martensen of Loveland, Colorado, and the owner of the Antique Auto House. Early in 1969, the Antique Auto House and all of its assets, including the 1931 Cadillac V-16 Coach Sill Convertible were purchased by John Bergquist. Mr. Bergquist would disperse the auto houses assets later that year and the car was purchased by Lawton Clark of Amarillo Texas.

Mr. Jim Pearson purchased the car in 1976 and in the mid-1980s was acquired by Dick Gold of Minnesota. In 1990 it came into the ownership of its current caretaker.

The current owner used the car for several years before embarking on a restoration with the work being performed by Jim Pearson in Kansas City (and a prior owner). During the restoration process, Mr. Pearson passed away. The rest of the restoration was handled by his son, Sonny Elliot. The multi-year restoration, which brought the car back to its correct build sheet specification (including its original colors), was completed in 2019. Since completion, the car has only traveled a few test miles.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2020