Cadillac sold only 300 V-16s in 1932—but it was the result of the Great Depression, and no reflection on the quality of the automobile itself. Not only was the V-16 superbly engineered, but fresh new styling also gave it a sporty air, care of the lengthened hood, lowered roofline, more curved fenders, and streamlined headlamp shells. It was a powerful, costly machine that looked the part and was among the most visually distinctive of its era.

Some of the V-16 styles once produced by Fleetwood were handed over to Fisher for 1932, though they lost nothing in their beauty of line and quality of construction. Among these was the all-weather phaeton, style number 32-16-273, of which just 13 examples were made. As the Fisher bodies were also used on V-8 and V-12 chassis, bodies were numbered higher than the actual production run, with the highest known being the car offered here, body number 16.

Fitted with engine number 1400290, the Cadillac was shipped to the agency in the Kingsbridge area of the Bronx, with the build record noting “Tag B. Baruch.” This interesting notation, made when Cadillac wanted to note a buyer awaiting delivery, likely refers to Bernard Baruch, the legendary Wall Street financier who served as an important advisor to both Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt on defense production during both world wars. At the time of the Cadillac’s construction, he was one of the United States’ wealthiest, most powerful, and most influential men.

In 1952 the V-16 was discovered at a gas station in Limerick, Pennsylvania by Stephen Loyd Sr, owner of an apple orchard near Pottstown. In a reminiscence of his time with the car, Mr. Loyd wrote that the gas station owner had asked $500. “I went home and asked my wife if I had the $500.00 and she said that she thought she could scrape it up—I went down with the money, got the title and towed it home.” Mr. Loyd began rebuilding the car’s engine without success and soon acquired a 1932 V-16 seven-passenger sedan which donated its original engine—number 1400211—to the car, where it remains.

The V-16 languished unrestored as other priorities of life took hold for its owner. Finally, during the 1970s, it was brought to the Wendling Brothers, well-known early restorers in Reading, Pennsylvania, who completed its full restoration by 1980. Following this, the car was “borrowed” by the Franklin Mint as the basis for their popular 1:24-scale die-cast version.

After remaining with the Loyd family for a full 40 years, the Cadillac was sold in 1992 to John Covan of Alpharetta, Georgia, from whom Charles J. Noto purchased the car in 2001. Mr. Noto and John Barbato soon undertook a fresh restoration in the Noto Collection’s in-house facility, which utterly transformed the car with a striking black livery, striped in red, and accented by a red leather interior. It retains the options described on its build sheet, including the Goddess of Speed radiator mascot and dual side-mounted spares, and is also equipped with a trunk and side-mount mirrors and covers, as well as a limousine-style division window. Following restoration, the car received its Antique Automobile Club of America Senior First Prize in 2006, and a Senior First Prize from the Cadillac-LaSalle Club in 2008.

A beautiful specimen of the 1932 V-16, in exquisite colors and a most desirable convertible body style, this Cadillac would accent any Full Classic stable.