Photo: Hyman LTD St Louis Missouri
With 682 horsepower worth of V8 amazingness to play with, the Cadillac Escalade-V is the most insane Caddy of the 21st century. End of the story, bar none. Nothing Cadillac has built in the last 22 years even comes close. But almost 90 years ago, Cadillac used to build a car that was even more outrageous in some respects.
This is a 1934 Cadillac V-16 Convertible, it's a part of the first generation of V16-powered Cadillacs. A landmark series of cars for the brand that proved in its golden years, the company was equal in terms of quality to the likes of Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and the rest of the European luxury car aristocracy. You can't say the same about Cadillacs made in later years, especially from the late 70s through the early 2000s.
Ordered via Randall-Donaldson Cadillac in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, this "Victoria" style coach-built body was built for one thing and one thing only: long-distance leisure drives across America's ever-expanding network of roads and highways. With a 154-inch wheelbase, it's nearly 20 full inches longer than a 2023 Escalade ESV. Whereas the Escalade could easily fit seven people, the V-16 only bothered seating five. It's the first class airliner approach to seating arrangements.
With 185 horsepower at its disposal, this 452 cubic-inch (7.4-liter) monster was one of the most powerful automobile engines in the world in its day. V-16s could cruise at 80 mph (128.7 kph) all day long with enough pit stops. Most estimates peg the top speed at around 93 mph (150 km/h). With plush burgundy leather upholstery and matching maroon paint on the outside, there's no way a modern Cadillac can have even remotely the same level of swagger.
That's why an asking price via Hyman LTD in St Louis, Missouri, of $1,575,000 is actually not unreasonable at all. For some context, you could buy around ten Escalade-Vs for the same money.
Ordered via Randall-Donaldson Cadillac in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, this "Victoria" style coach-built body was built for one thing and one thing only: long-distance leisure drives across America's ever-expanding network of roads and highways. With a 154-inch wheelbase, it's nearly 20 full inches longer than a 2023 Escalade ESV. Whereas the Escalade could easily fit seven people, the V-16 only bothered seating five. It's the first class airliner approach to seating arrangements.
With 185 horsepower at its disposal, this 452 cubic-inch (7.4-liter) monster was one of the most powerful automobile engines in the world in its day. V-16s could cruise at 80 mph (128.7 kph) all day long with enough pit stops. Most estimates peg the top speed at around 93 mph (150 km/h). With plush burgundy leather upholstery and matching maroon paint on the outside, there's no way a modern Cadillac can have even remotely the same level of swagger.
That's why an asking price via Hyman LTD in St Louis, Missouri, of $1,575,000 is actually not unreasonable at all. For some context, you could buy around ten Escalade-Vs for the same money.
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