This elegant Cadillac V-16 seven-passenger Imperial Sedan was, according to its build sheet, originally dispatched to the Don Lee dealership in San Francisco in November of 1930. Per its build sheet, it was reserved for rush delivery to Adelaide Hillhouse Ford, a somewhat reclusive Palo Alto-based socialite, writer, and artist, best-remembered for several books of poetry, including The Fabric of the Loom. Afterward it remained in California, as during the 1960s and 1970s it was owned by John S. Porter of Poway, near San Diego.

Later the Cadillac was acquired from Mr. Porter by the renowned collector Bob Bahre of Maine, who in 1987 sold it as an excellent, almost entirely complete original and unrestored car to Fred Weber of St. Louis, Missouri, who at the time was amassing a vast V-16 collection. Under Mr. Weber’s ownership the car was restored by his own shop under the care of the well-known technician Marc Ohm, with the fitment of a formal, leather-covered “blind-quarter” roofline with decorative landau irons—a change available to Imperial sedan buyers in 1930 at a cost of $300.

In the fall of 1991 the Cadillac was sold from the Weber collection to longtime collector Peter Schlacter of Milan, Ohio, who in turn sold it in the mid-1990s to Al Johnson of Surrey, British Columbia. The car remained in the Johnson family until 2013, when it joined the collection of its present owner. During his ownership its restoration has been well-preserved in extremely attractive overall condition, while the car was also depicted and its history thoroughly described in a chapter of historian Chris Cummings’s book, More Cadillac V-16s Lost and Found.

Still rich-appearing in its deep red and black livery, with beautiful grey wool broadcloth and black leather upholstery, this is a very impressive survivor of the Cadillac V-16, ideal for further showing or as a capacious, unique Classic Car Club of America CARavan entrant for its next connoisseur owner. It boasts an excellent history and unusual, desirable specification that few other V-16s can match.