Vintage Cars, 1930 Cadillac V-16

The 1930 CADILLAC V-16 ALL WEATHER PHAETON, is one of several hundred interesting vehicles in THE EARLY AMERICAN MUSEUM, Silver Springs, Florida. This has one of the thirteen aluminum bodies built by Fleetwood Body Corp. of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, for Cadillacs debut of the V-16. Fleetwood was acquired by Fisher Body in 1925, the year prior to General Motors purchase of Fisher Body Corporation.

The cars first owner was Mr. Harold Pryor, a V.P. of GM’s Frigidair Division who retired about ten years later, taking the car with him to his farm at Midway, Ohio north of Dayton. The car was stored on the second floor of a large barn during the war years due to gasoline rationing and it’s six tires turned to “aid the war effort”. Here the car remained for almost another ten years until purchased by Mr. H. Boyd Keys of Dayton, Ohio with only 11,300 miles on the speedometer. The only 19” tires available at the time were Montgomery-Ward Riversides and aside from the tires everything was original as when it left the factory twenty-years before. Mr. Keys drove the car very little over the next year before selling it to John C. Delameter of Richmond Indiana – a student at Purdue at the time, so it caught the eye of many wishful owners on the Lafayette Campus for another couple of years until acquired for $1,500.00 by the Early American Museum in 1954, the year of it’s opening.

With only 22,083 miles it is possibly the lowest original mileage V-16 in almost original condition throughout, with it’s like new Bedford-cord upholstering, top covering an two-tone paint job, with but one slight alteration in the color of the two-tone from light brown to cream. The interior is intact in every accessory, even the Jaeger 8-day wind clock. To lift the hood for a look at the massive V-16 power plant it is as sparkling as it looked years ago. This is not a restored classic, it’s age has been added gracefully over the years.

Model - All Weather Phaeton
Motor - V-16
Bore & Stroke - 3" x 4"
Horsepower - 57.60
Wheelbase - 148"
Tire Size - 7:50-19
Weight - 5675 lbs
Factory List - $6,650.00