The Greatest Cadillacs Of All Time

When Cadillac dropped the Cadillac V16 in 1930, it was expensive, exclusive, custom finished to order, and featured the first V16 engine in the US. It was designed to be more powerful and smoother than any car before it, and Cadillac nailed it. The motoring press loved it, the public loved it, and the people that could afford it loved it. It was a defining moment for Cadillac as a luxury brand, but its timing was terrible. Planning had started for the new car in 1926, but it didn’t land until a year after the Wall Street crash of 1929. That meant Cadillac announced the most expensive car in America just in time for The Great Depression. By April of 1930, Cadillac had built 2,000 V16s to order, but then sales dropped off a cliff. In October, only 54 were built. Pictures below are a 1930 Cadillac V16 Sport Phaeton with bodywork by Fleetwood.