After a long trend of declining prices, Ford Model As are starting to bring good money again. While a Model A is a perfect car for those who want to dip their tow in antique automobile ownership, there are alternatives. Take for example this 1927 Cadillac Model 314 seven-passenger sedan for sale on eBay in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. This magnificent Caddy appears to be an older restoration. However, the seller states that it is in running and driving condition. The most interesting aspect of the sale of this V-8-powered luxury car is that it may end up selling for the price of a more upmarket Ford Model A in similar condition. Bidding is currently at a reasonable $16,600 with four days left. Is this a bargain in disguise?
Cars from the twenties can be rather daunting to a new collector. Earlier models were still somewhat primitive compared to cars of the thirties. Mechanical brakes, Babbit bearings, and the extensive use of wood in the bodies of these vehicles add another layer of complexity to restoring and driving these cars. They were made during a time when roads were mostly unpaved, the idea of a cross-country trip was almost impossible, and speeds were low in comparison to today. Yet they did their job well in the context that they were in.
By the late twenties, people had discovered that they liked a little extra power under the hood. While Ford hung on tenaciously to four-cylinder engines, Chevrolet and Plymouth were hard at work adding another two cylinders to get a leg up on Henry and his popular Model A. Luxury makers were also adding cylinders to both propel around increasingly heavy vehicles and to have a sales advantage over their many competitors. One also has to remember that there hadn’t been a major consolidation of the industry and the roaring economy supported far more makers than would be practical just a few short years later.
In 1926, Cadillac introduced their Model 314. Production of this particular model would last just two years and many different body styles were built on this chassis. Power was from a V-8 L-head engine with an interesting 90-degree cross-plane crankshaft. These were said to be smoother than the much more common 180-degree flat plane crankshafts more commonly seen. One also has to remember that Cadillac was at the top of the General Motors hierarchy and was usually where new advances in technology landed first. Luxury cars then and now were huge producers of profit despite having much smaller sales numbers than more plebian offerings. GM was also able to exercise its economy of scale to build cars cheaper than competitors and offer them in far more markets.
The Cadillac you see here is unfortunately being offered for sale due to an illness. We are given precious little information in the ad other than that the car runs and drives well. It is also said to be clean and well-maintained. The pictures reveal a car that looks ready to hit the show field. Unfortunately, it was not pulled out of the garage for better photographs. That may be because cranking up and driving a car like this has almost become a lost art. We joke about manual transmissions becoming an anti-theft device at this point. A choke and a lack of synchronization in the gears of a manual transmission of this era take that to a whole different level.
Still, these are easy tasks to master with the proper training. If one is not afraid to take a chance on a vehicle of this era, this Cadillac has a lot going for it. Build quality is spectacular on these Cadillacs and they can easily be driven without fuss on secondary roads. While one might fear to embark on a full restoration of a rough car, all of the hard work and expense has been done already. Historic trends for the pricing of these vehicles also suggest that this car might be sold for not a lot more than the current high bid. If you want a great twenties-era car, this may be the car to bid on.
Do you have a desire for a late twenties classic? Would you rather have this Cadillac than a similarly priced Ford Model A? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Is it bulletproof?
Golly, Howard, it’s the right color. I guess they paraded FDR around for a spell in Capone’s car. It was bulletproof, available, and virtually unscathed considering the violent era it was used in.
There was a couple, used to come to the annual antique auto meets in a ’27 Cadillac. They dressed up in Capone fashion and even had a Thompson machine gun and a sawed off shotgun plus an assortment of sidearms. Funny that some idiot panicked and called the cops who showed up wanting to check out the “illegal” weapons. All the weapons were completely inert and used for props at a local photo booth where you could dress up as willd west outlaws, Titanic passengers or bootleggers. But they looked real enough. I guess the Caddy owner was a lawyer and he threw so much legal jargon at them that they left not knowing if they were punched, bored or spread on with a putty knife.
Caddys and Lincolns of this era are a little too fancy for me. I like V8s but I prefer Ford flatheads with all their tempermental behaviors.
I remember when we got our Chevy Tahoe. A friend of mine liked the principle but decided to go for the Cadillac Escalade. You know, the Caddy hasn’t got anything more than the Tahoe, except maybe an ATR hidden in there somewhere. My late MIL got attracted to the Cadillac version of the Chevy Equinox. And yes, it had more gadgets. Sure was a nice vehicle to drive though.
Hey pal, glad SOMEONE got the Capone reference, even though, his was a 1928. I’m sure that was what the owner here was going for. You may remember my Capone story from N.Wis., can you imagine seeing this roll into town, with several others, I doubt he traveled alone, in a town with dirt streets, and horses still, maybe a couple Model Ts. I’d say it had to be someone important.
Capone had pipelines all over the place. A lot of booze came through the Sweetgrass Hills but that also went to places like Lolo, MT and Havre, MT where there was a lot of honkytonk activity. It was rumored that there were some ranchers along those routes that became quite wealthy providing the right of way. Some of the communities had networks of tunnels running under the streets…
Are these full of wooden frames, I had a 1936 Chev coupe once and only sold it because the timber was starting to get all loose at the joints, sure I can weld but timber work is not my thing.
There was quite a bit of wood used in the body. The body was essentially a wood frame with metal formed on the outside. It worked quite well as GM used it until 1937 when it came out with its all-steel bodies by Fisher. Frames and undercarriages were all steel. Well, in this case the wheel spokes were wood. They were still well-made but one of the biggest disadvantages of wood over a steel frame is that wood could hold onto moisture and that raised hell with the steel sheeting.
If this stays under 20K then someone is going to get a great deal.A little elbow grease to clean it up again and this car will look great. Love the dash. wish I was in a better place.
I think that current caddys are overpriced but this one looks to be really reasonable. Best wishes to new owner. Treat it right and enjoy.
At the way the market is going, I am considering dumping some of the many 60s and 70s things I have and buying something of this era. I have never owned a pre war unit but don’t want to restore one. beautiful copy here. The dash is like some of the furnishings I have from this time.
I think tow should be toe, dipping your toe.
He may have had it right at “tow”, as a car guy oun, but hopefully you won’t need to tow this, just put your toe on the gas pedal
Intrested in what else is in the collection?
Check the other listings from this seller on Ebay. A nice little collection. Sad that illness has caused the sale.
Actually not so little. Quite a few cars under wraps in the background.
what a steal at twenty grand, you couldn’t come close to restoring it for tripple that amount!
Hi Geo! Long time no see! Good to see you posting on BF again. And yes
Howard, I have heard all those stories
about Al Capone from the older folks
I hung around with. To hear them tell
it, my hometown of Bloomington Illinois was a hideout for Capone and
his gang when Elliot Ness was turning
up the heat in Chicago during the 30s.
In fact, Greenwood Mobile Home Park
used to be a tourist court with small
cabins where folks could spend the
night while traveling cross country.
The cabins were taken out and the land was then used for mobile homes. My late ex FIL told me that
When he was a young man, Capone and his cronies gave him a ride to
town at one time! He told me that all
the gentlem in the car were well dressed and were driving the armored
’28 Caddy you mentioned. He told me
that he recognized Capone from the
newsreels and said that he had no
fear of riding to town with them. He
Would continue telling that story till
the day he passed away in early 1990.
Sad to say it, but cars like this are
a rather hard sell today–no matter how nice the car might be. Unless a young person today was raised around such cars like this, I don’t see
young folks today buying a car like this at all…but I certainly would!
Merry Christmas to all from our house to yours.
Hi Kenneth, and Merry Christmas to you! Haven’t ventured too far away from home as retirement is not lucrative. I ended up going back to work.
I always found Capone fascinating. His absolute gall in what he did goes beyond anyone’s imagination. Just think how far he could’ve gone if he had been legitimate.
Thanks Geo and Merry Christmas to
you and yours as well. Like you, I tried retiring and went absolutely bonkers till I went back to work in ’20.
The only time I’ve taken off since then
was to help my SIL and niece care for
my late MIL who had end stage dementia. I’m back to work now and
feelin’ great. Not much time to putt
around my workshop but you know how that goes. Take care man.
In 1999 I was informed of a vintage car collection in a building in a small town just south of Frederick, MD. I did some sleuthing and finally found the building, then the owner.
He said all the cars inside had belonged to his father who had bought them all in the 1960. The man never drove the cars, just stored them away for decades. The building was a fairly new metal pole barn with a concrete floor and no windows, only skylights. The current owner had built the building & had the cars towed there for safe keeping after his father’s death.
There were [if I remember right] 15 Cadillacs including 2 V-12 cars and 4 V-16 limousines; 2 early “narrow V” engine versions and 2 later “wide V” engine versions. Also had a single 1939 Packard 12 limousine The oldest car there was an armored 1928 Fleetwood-bodied Cadillac V8 sedan, light tan with black fenders. He said the car weighed in at 6 tons. He also claimed the car was bought new by Capone, and that he had all the papers to prove it.
I tried to buy the Packard 12, but his asking price for each of the cars was based on values for fully restored cars, not unrestored cars that had not run in 30 years. [He wanted $95,000 for the Packard, it was worth about $20,000 tops.] I went back by the place about 2015, but while the building was there, the cars were long gone, and the current property owner said he didn’t know where the cars ended up. I do know the “genuine” Al Capone armored 1928 Cadillac sedan is now in a car museum out west. Have often wondered if it’s the same car I saw years ago.