Pair Of Unique 1930s-Era Cadillac Fleetwood V16s To Be Displayed At Pebble Beach
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It’s that time again for America’s fanciest, most exclusive car show, the Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance. And along with the classic car show happening, automakers will be bringing a few unique vehicles of their own to display. For Lamborghini, it’s the Sesto Elemento and Urus concepts. For BMW it will be a new Zagato roadster concept. And for Cadillac, it will be a pair of one-of-a-kind Cadillac Fleetwood V-16 coach builds.
They are the 1934 rumbleseat roadster model 5802 and a 1937 Phaeton model 5859.
Back in the day, and for the right amount of coin, buyers could order from Cadillac’s made-to-order Fleetwood collection, where both cars were featured in the “build books” that customers used to select options for their cars. Believe it or not, all other body styles were selected and built at one point or another, except these two.
Fast forward to 1984, where automobile restorer and coachbuilder Fran Roxas had the V16-powered Phaeton 5859 and Roadster 5802 built from scratch, using only the original blueprints of Cadillac designer John Hampshire. Since their existence, have won best-in-class awards at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
To put a price on their relevance, the Phaeton 5859 sold for $962,500, while the Roadster 5802 for a loftier $1,001,000 at a recent auction.
Also present at Pebble Beach will once again be the beloved Ciel Concept. Though we wonder what else Cadillac has in store for the classy car show…
What else? How about the 2014 CTS!
Wow, I guess Cadillac was the standard of the world at one time. These cars are incredible. They should also bring: 57 Biarritz, 68 Eldorado and a 76 Eldo convertible. A 1980 Coupe DeVille might be nice- that is the last decent last Cadillac built before the V-8-6-4 debacle and the string of bad engines that ruined their reputation. A red ATS might be nice. I sure hope they don’t show any of the modern FWD rental cars they make.
Michael….Cadillac really was the cat’s meow once…..hopefully the brand is back with a solid reputation and a build quality that keeps it out of the garage and out on the street where it belongs…we can only hope….I am sure thinking about another one…ATS of course!
I’m just frustrated over all the junk they have put out from 1981 to around 2006. The 07 RWD CTS is the first Cadillac I’d consider since 1980. I had an 84 CDV with the HD 4100 motor- coolant leaked into the oil through the head gasket, SAME issue with a 95 Seville Northstar. Meanwhile, I see RWD 1989 Lexus LS’s all over the roads still.
Only new car that hasn’t be released yet that I can think of them bringing is the ELR, whether it’s the same concept from a couple years ago, or a more production looking version.
I posted that, it’s funny, half the time “andrew” is displayed for the post and half it’s Required: Name. And yes I enter andrew in the name bar.
That’s not supposed to happen, Andrew. Could I contact you privately about this?
- lex
That’s not supposed to happen, Andrew. Could I contact you privately about this?
- Alex
Yea no prob
hmm, a Cadillac couple of classic, forgotten, custom v16, Cadillac designs were built and sold for $962,500 and $1,001,000 at auction huh? interesting…
yet modern Cadillac’s can’t seem to make a dent in Europe yet the “real” Top Gear host and audience can’t get enough of the Cadillac Sixteen Concept or the Cadillac Ciel Concept. (in fact James May was so smitten he flew to the US and actually did a segment on the Sixteen, as well as drove it. they even brought it back to the TG studio for everyone to ‘oooh and aawe’ over. Jeremy Clarkson thought it was so fantastic and loved the idea of a V16 engine so much so he was confounded that GM had no plans to build, what he thought, was everything a Cadillac should be.)
yet GM and by proxy Cadillac INSIST on econo-luxury offerings (as if the two could co-exist) and “me too” 3 series fighters and Euro-style aping their way to failure over seas.
it’s sad, because if the just studied and distilled the essence of Cadillac’s past success and put it into practice, they wouldn’t be floundering now – they just don’t get it.
funny how everyone else does though: http://motorld.com/17426/top-gear-review-cadillac-sixteen