The Cadillac Automobile Company was founded in 1902 by Henry Leland who had a successful background in the manufacture of firearms and precision machine tools. His initial foray into the nascent motor industry was as the manufacturer of engines and gearbox parts for the successful Oldsmobile curved-dash runabout.

When he decided to make motor cars in his own right he named his company – appropriately, as it happened – after de la Mothe Cadillac, the Frenchman who founded the settlement which became Detroit.

Although General Motors took Cadillac over in 1909, Leland continued to control the firm until 1917 and his insistence upon engineering excellence survived.

The 1914 Cadillac became the American pioneer of the V8 motor car engine using a design by an Englishman, McCall White, whom Leland had recruited from Napier. Cadillac also gave the industry one of its quantum leaps in technology in 1929 when constant mesh between top and second speeds was introduced. This device was based upon the work of E.A. Thompson, who had patented his idea in 1922 and was marketed as Synchromesh.

Another Cadillac first, in 1930, was the announcement of America’s largest capacity motor car engine and the world’s first production V16. Cadillac survived the depression and emerged after the Second World War as America’s most prestigious car manufacturer, eclipsing Packard.

The excellent example of a V16 pictured here has two-seater roadster and dickey bodywork, which is most likely original coachwork coming from another chassis. It is made of steel, has beautiful black paintwork and chrome plating, and a beige fabric top. The interior has red leather seats and red carpets, and is in excellent order throughout. It is a truly beautiful motor car, combining engineering of extraordinary innovation and quality for its time with considerable period elegance. The car is also said to be in excellent mechanical condition.

This 1930 Cadillac V16 Roadster Review and Buyer's Guide appeared in the June, 1997 Issue of Sports Car Market Magazine.