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Sweet Sixteen: 1931

San Francisco circa 1931. "V-16 at Don Lee Cadillac agency." A sixteen-cylinder leviathan beached on the shoals of the Great Depression. One of these cars might cost as much as 10 Chevrolets. 5x7 glass negative by Chris Helin. View full size.

San Francisco circa 1931. "V-16 at Don Lee Cadillac agency." A sixteen-cylinder leviathan beached on the shoals of the Great Depression. One of these cars might cost as much as 10 Chevrolets. 5x7 glass negative by Chris Helin. View full size.

 

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All the goodies.

Not only a Caddy but dual side mounts, accessory fog lamps that turn with the front wheels, radiator stone guard and whitewalls both inside & outside the tire. Plus all that chrome that's oh so rare today.

It was priced at just over $1 per pound

Weighing in at 165 pounds shy of 3 tons, this Cadillac V-16 sedan would have had a factory sticker price of $5950. A well restored one now might run 30 times that amount or more. And sedans are at the bottom of the current 1931 Cadillac V-16 price scale. Dual cowl phaetons are at the high end.

Still there

The Cadillac dealership, one of many on San Francisco's Van Ness Avenue Auto Row has been converted into a multiplex that preserves the showroom's beauty.

Beached but far from Belly Up

Despite the dire economic situation prevailing during that decade, Cadillac managed to keep the V-16 in production until the 1940 model year, even redesigning the engine in the late '30s. Marmon, alas, was not so fortunate, and the Peerless V-16 was stillborn.

As a kid, I had the distributor cap from a deceased family member's '31 or '32 Caddy V-16. I used it for storing drafting pens, and it held a whole set very nicely.

Reflections on a Bumper

The photographer and his assistant, "Legs."

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