1930 Cadillac CV Roadster

This car is known as the 'Buck Jones Cadillac.' It is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece crafted for Hollywood star Buck Jones in the early 1930s. Buck Jones' widow stated: 'Buck had many unique automobiles and this one was custom built for him in Southern California in the early 1930s.' This vehicle has many unusual features: a custom-built body designed by Harley Earl, a V-12 Cadillac engine, dual down draft Winfield racing carburetors, 147-inch wheelbase, and 190 horsepower. The car was built by Earl Coachworks.

The Detroit, MI based Cadillac Company offered three different and very distinct chassis and drive trains, a V8, V12 and the massive V16 in 1931. The series 355-A had eight cylinders, the 370-A had twelve-cylinders, and a continuation of the 1930 and 1931 series 452 and 452-A V-16. A total of 10,717 automobile were produced.

Over 5725 370A vehicles were produced from 1930 to 1931. It was available in the two door coupe, 4 door limousine, 2 door roadster, 4 door sedan and the 2 door Tourer. Model year sales were 5,733.

The 370-A series was very similar to the 1930-31 V-16 except some bodies were built by Fisher, but all body interiors were built by Fleetwood.

The headlights were smaller in diameter than the V-16 headlights by one inch, and the instrument panel was very similar to the V-8 panel. It also had ball shaped dual rear headlights like the V-8 and dual hors that were smaller than on the V-16.
The front tread was the same as the V-8, and the frame had divergent side rails like the Series 355. Rear springs were mounted under the frame rails.

The sedans had two wheelbases, 140' and 143', though the semi-commercial unit had a 152' wheelbase.

Featuring very fine Fleetwood coachwork in standard Fisher bodies, the Fleetwood Body Company was also located in Detroit Michigan.

With a OHV V12 engine, 368 cid and 135 hp, the 370A was priced at $4,895 when new. Able to reach 160km/h, the Cadillac Fleetwood Sport Phaeton came with a narrow-angle V16 power unit.

The 370-A engine had dual intake silencers that were slightly smaller than the single unit on the V-8 engine. The silencers were positioned at the rear were the V-16 vacuum tanks were mounted.
It also had carburetors that were reversed yet very similar to the V-16 so the air inlet was located at the rear.
The V-16 oil filter was mounted on the center of the dash near a single vacuum tank.
The Cadillac V-12 was the official pace car in 1931 for the Indianapolis 500.

By Jessica Donaldson