saw this at my local machine shop and now i'm thinking about what it would fit in. Probably won't buy it, but thought I'd post it anyway. 38' Cadillac V16
That'd be the 135º V angle, wouldn't it? The earlier V16s were on the more conventional 45º V, I believe.
I know where there's 28 LaSalle cowl that would help give you the start on a cool & unusual project. Build your own frame & maybe make it a speedster: LaSalle Cowl
1938 V-16: series 38-90 431 cubic inch 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" bore and stroke 6.8:1 compression 175 h.p. @ 3600 r.p.m.
A little on the pricy side I bet. Seems odd that Cad went from OHV 16s to a flathead but guys that ought to know told me the flathead was a better motor. Not as pretty.
Even if the numbers aren't what you'd expect in a 16, you gotta admit it wout just look bad *** in a car. Definately would make people stop and say "Holy ****"
Hold on now! I agree with GeorgiaDawg. 175 horses would have been VERY uncommon for 1938, for one thing, and that is ONLY rated at 3,600 rpms. Run that baby up to at least 4,500 on the dyno & I'll bet the hp would grow significantly. Anyway, PRETTY (and clean!) motor. When did Caddy DROP the 16? Runs in my mind Packard even dropped their V-12 after the '40 model year.
Great stories and history with this early Cadillac flathead stuff. The attached pic is awesome with this what looks to be V12 engine in this hot rod.
You are right. The first models were OHV. See the picture just above, which i think is a 16 and not a 12. Really nice looking engines.. It's surprizing how many variations of the Cad 16 there were considering the low volume and fairly short production. GM didn't care what it cost, they wanted the best.
Joe Pannak of Roto-Faze ran a V12 Cad 1932 i believe. In his chopped 34Ford coup at El Mirage with a V8-71 crank driven blower in A/Blown Fuel Alt for years. Thing went in the 180mph range and sounded really fast. He still has it. Neat car.
Too much rotatiing weight for it to run much higher RPM's. But once you get all that m*** to moving it DOES pull. Relatively tiny pistons for a big motor though.
dabirdguy, YEAH! They sure designed 'em DIFFERENTLY back then, didn't they? Their GOALS, though, THEN, were probably very DIFFERENT from what car engineers were shooting for from the mid-'50s onward. And thoughts? And either way, I will always have a soft spot for the PRE-war cars, even though my love is for the era of the original American "Horsepower Race."
Dave Blake, what a kook! This car is sitting on the patio of my girlfriends, fathers house rotting away. Apparently after Dave died his kids couldn't find a place to store it. Those poor folks, [hack-cough] The engine looks very modern. Most would peg it to be an 80's powerplant..
The V-12 OHV '34 was a cover car for PHR in one of its early issues, circa '62. Had to be the same car. The early series 12's and 16's were a super styling job, very slick and detailed engines. The flathead ones were too, in a monolithic sort of way, but kind of featureless looking.
The cad was pretty cool, but the Marmon V16 had it covered big time. 200 hp, OHV, all aluminum, fork and blade rods, dual mags so it would run as an inline 8... OOPS. Another bigeffin picture... SORRY!
Here's a couple of pics of a '31 Caddy V-16 that I helped broker a deal on a year or so ago for a fellow HAMBer. What a piece of machinery........
The Jalopy Journal
