When it came to exclusivity and automobile bragging rights, Cadillac buyers who got behind the wheel of a Series 90 in 1938 had plenty to boast about, as they could tell all their friends that it was the only car brand made in America to offer V16 power at the time. Whoever ends up with this 1938 Cadillac Series 90 sedan here on eBay will have even more to vaunt, as it comes with some impressive history, including a couple of prominent past owners. This beauty is in Bremerton, Washington. If you want it, check it out in person; bidding is already up to $16,600.
For a vehicle not far from becoming a centenarian, it’s a treat that so much of its past is known, including being delivered to a Hollywood film studio when new. It’s thought to have been driven by none other than Darryl Zanuck, a noted film producer and co-founder of 20th Century Fox. The Cadillac also spent time in the collection of Roy Warshewsky, the creator of the J.C. Whitney automobile catalog, and was later purchased by Estee Lauder heir Ronald Lauder.
This one’s not only beautiful but also quite rare, as only 514 Series 90s were built during its three years of production, from 1938 to 1940. According to the seller, of that number, just 18 were of the seven-passenger town car design like this car, known as style #9053. One of my favorite features is the removable roof section up front, but that’s only one of the many fine attributes here, with others including the suicide doors, fender-mounted spare tire covers, and the Winged Goddess hood ornament, which also serves as a latch.
The back seat looks more like a padded couch, and with the additional jump seats, there’s room for five occupants in the rear compartment. The chauffeur’s quarters are separated by a roll-up glass partition, trimmed in beautiful wood on all sides. Up front, the driver enjoys black leather seating, with the steering wheel and left door panel showing some wear. However, both the front and rear areas look quite good overall.
Equally impressive is the powerplant, a 431 cubic-inch V16 engine which includes a pair of carburetors. 185 horsepower may not sound high for modern cars, but it was a lot back then, providing plenty of smooth pep to move the heavy Cadillac around nicely. Although this one’s not quite immaculate, it appears very well preserved for the most part, and I’d probably focus on continuing to provide this 1938 Cadillac Series 90 with a high-level of care instead of making any improvements immediately. Any thoughts to share here, or ideas on how much this beauty might sell for?
What a wonderful car!
Somehow, I don’t envision Darryl Zanuck piloting this one, though, unless his telling the chauffeur where to go qualifies as driving…
Telltale lights under the speedo. Drive, pass and city. I’m guessing a three speed and these show in what gear it is.
Drive, pass and city denote the headlight use – upper, lower and parking (the last having, with the switch on, all exterior lights illuminated except not the headlights).
For the headlights: high beams, low beams and headlights out with all the other (parking, rear, etc.) exterior lamps on.
I don’t doubt that. These engines run so smooth that you could easily forget to upshift. One year at Hot August Nights there was a Caddy sitting there idling. I didn’t believe it until I saw the fan blade turning.
I’m always amazed that Cadillac spent the money during the great depression to design an all new V-16 engine. This one, a 1938 was the first year for that new 135 degree V flathead engine as opposed to the 45 degree OHV engine which made its debut in 1930.
I’m always amazed that Cadillac spent the money during the great depression to design an all new V-16 engine. This one, a 1938 was the first year for that new 135 degree V flathead engine as opposed to the 45 degree OHV engine which made its debut in 1930. Leno recently did one of his you tube videos on another one. I made some commentary on the differences between those two engines and it prompted a lot of discussion. Here’s the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QBqE_avRcY
This car is indeed beautiful and the basis for Avon’s Solid Gold Cadillac decanter that was very
popular when I was a teen age (1969). So much so in fact, that the company built a life size replica that ran and drove too. It
used a town car body crammed with all the latest and greatest stuff that Cadillac was running that year. You know, things like
that silky smooth 472 V-8, a T400
auto tranny, and a posi rear out back, modern brakes, and air conditioning. And worry not O
pre war Caddy fan. Avon’s car was built from a stripped and rusty shell of a town car found in
a South Georgia junkyard. The car made all the rounds at custom car shows and the like before it showed up at the very first Street Rod Nationals in Peoria Illinois in 1970, where I saw it some 56 years ago. And for the sum of just $5, you could
chauffered around in grand style
too. And yeah, I plunked down a
fiver for that privilege along with a lot of other folks as well. It was
the most fun you could have that
Summer. Me? I got to enjoy the
Nats for a day before leaving town to play a package show in
Muskateen, Iowa. Sometimes, I
wonder what happened to the car
and will we someday see it on BF? Dunno. But what a Summer
that was!
You know( oh, here it comes) this only shows how time seems to erase everything we held dear. This car has provenance up the ying yang, and while many may not have heard of Mr. Zanuck, you’ve surely seen his movies on the vintage movie channel, Roy Warshawsky, J.C. WHITNEY for heavens sake, and Estee Lauder guy, the makeup guru, yet, crickets, and not even mentioning what a fantastic car this was for the 30s. Maybe this will help, important owners of these cars included, but not limited to: General Patton was killed in one, the irony there is off the scale, Frank “The Enforcer” Nitti, the notorious Chicago gangster had one, and even W.C. Fields had one, with a martini mixer in the back,,,,and nothing? There I go, turn the page,,,
HoA- just to make you feel better I am envisioning myself sitting alongside William Powell in the back :) as long as I can remember every time I see one of these in a movie I always think I should I’ve been born much earlier, but then, of course I would probably just be the chauffeur.:)
Another Old Man memory….as a little kid in the late Fifties we had a neighbor who was very well known in the radio business of the postwar America… Cy Harris. He had a fire engine. I think it was an old La France ; he also owned the French opera singer Lili Pons’ 1930’s Packard town car. It was parked in a concrete block garage across the road from our place.As a car nut kid I was over there a lot checking it out.
Hi Howard, just a quick minor correction; Patton’s Cadillac limo was a series 75, the V8 version of this car. The limo was sold after the Army was finished with it, and it was restored to it’s original US Army specifications and is currently on display in a museum in [I believe] France. A Youtube video of the car is available, the title is “1938 Cadillac Model 75 General Patton’s Crash Car”
This car belongs in an auction house not on eBay next to bric-a-brac. 16k for essentially a turnkey V-`16 Cadillac is peanuts. I just checked. It’s up to 40k, but still a bargain.
The bidding is up over $40K at the moment on Sunday morning with three more days for bidding. Not my cup of tea, but it will turn heads wherever it goes.
Magnificant – Americana at its very best for the day.
I the early 70s I spent summers with my grandmother in Cripple Creek. A Texas gentleman had bought a building unseen. I had the privilege of entering the building with him for the first time in many years. Through the dusty haze and limited light you could just make out the silhouette of a number of old cars. A V16 Cadillac was one of them. There were Lincoln, Pierce Arrow, Buick, and Chrysler, represented. The fellow cleaned the cars and building up and created a museum.
Quick question about the driver’s area. Were these cars equipped with a removable section hard top or canvass cover?
I had a professor at the University of Florida between 1965 and 1970 who drove one identical to this. I always wanted to talk to him about it but could not get him to tell me about it. He had hand controls on it because he walked with crutches. I never could understand how he operated the clutch but he wasn’t going to get into a discussion about the car. He would talk to me about his corncob pipe, however.
He parked in the parking place next to the university president’s new black 98 Oldsmobile. Apparently, in the state of Florida, high government officials drove 98 Oldsmobiles – Cadillac luxury at a justifiable price.
I love this car, even though it is exceedingly expensive, and wonderfully impractical to own and drive. I love it because it brings back my youth, when lesser 1938 automobiles freely roamed the roads, and we so admired these grandly opulent Packards and Cadillacs which we could not dream of owning. That alone is reason enough to want it!
Beautiful, I own it’s little brother a1939 7533f limousine. Mine was bought new by a judge in New Jersey in Sept of 1939. The interior is the same as this 90 series except the chauffeur’s compartment is covered by the steel roof. When I compare my 1940 Mercury and my Cadillac it’s easy to see what the upper crust experienced ! So much fun to drive .
What an exquisite piece of rolling art history. Incredibly beautifully built… just think about everything that’s happened in the world after this car met the road. Thanks for posting this.
I would hate to drive it in the rain.
$60,100 on Sunday at 1 pm pacific time and 3 days to go.
Whoever buys it is going to make some serious money after they take it to one of the high end wealth attracting auctions where the Billionaires go to find cars like this. I’m pretty sure not too many of them would lower themselves to look for a collectors car on anything called “Barn Finds” for fear the other Billionaires would exile them from all the snobatoriums in which they get together to laugh at all the folks that are only worth $999,999,999 and less. Not now, I’m right in the middle of a Rothchild type that have millionaires that mow their lawns LOL!
James Bond sent one of these to an ignominious end! Sean Connery, driving an elegant blue Sunbeam Alpine with wire wheels in the film Dr. No, sent one filled with bad guys down a cliff in Jamaica.
Reminds me of the Addams Family movie. Way cool.
Now THAT’S a CADILLAC!!
INDEED!!!
Back in the early 60’s my folks and I embarked on a trip to the west coast, camping in a ’58 Nomad wagon. We spent the night in a gas station parking lot somewhere in southern California. Behind the station sat a very decent ’38 V16 Cadillac with the fabric cover over the chauffeur compartment. Didn’t have a camera so didn’t get any pictures except for the one forever etched in my brain! I’ve often wondered what became of that car – could it be this very car???? Probably not but sure hope it still survives!