1938 Cadillac Series 60 Roadster

The Great Depression was a difficult period of time, especially for the luxury car market. Cadillac's 1933 sales slipped to just 6,736 units, an 84% decline. In 1934, Nicholas Dreystadt was promoted from his position at Cadillac's Clark Avenue plant to General Manager of GM's Cadillac Division. Efficiency of production costs was no higher than GM's lower-priced Chevrolets. Because they still sold for luxury prices, Cadillac became GM's most profitable car per unit.

He was aided by the development of the Monobloc V-8, so named because the head was cast integrally with the block. Cheaper to build, the new engine was more reliable while giving better performance. The engine was so good, that it continued unchanged from its debut in 1936 until 1948. Cadillac closed the $900 gap between the Lasalle and Cadillac's least expensive models with the introduction of the Series 60.

This is an extremely rare Cadillac - it features custom coachwork by a firm that rarely built bodies for Cadillac - Brunn. By the early 1930s, nearly all custom coachwork on the Cadillac chassis came from GM-owned Fleetwood Body.

It was built for Ralph Pulitzer of New York, a member of the Pulitzer newspaper family, which created the famous Pulitzer Prize. The cut-down doors give this car the look of a roadster from an earlier era. It is believed to be the last roadster built on the Cadillac chassis.

The Series 60 was powered by the legendary 346 cubic-inch Cadillac V-8 that developed 130 horsepower.