A 16-cylinder engine for just over 100,000?
16-cylinder engines have always been spectacular and exotic. Today, the 16-cylinder is associated with Bugatti, but there was also the Cizeta V16T with a transverse engine.
However, the 16-cylinder engine had already enjoyed a heyday before World War II, as Marmon and Cadillac used it to make a maximum impression.
Today, these engineering gems can be found in a wide range of price categories, depending on the body style and rarity of the respective cars.
We found one example in the catalog of Broad Arrow Auctions. The 1936 Cadillac Series 90 V-16 Five-Passenger Town Sedan, offered at the Quail auction on August 13, was estimated at a comparatively modest USD 150,000 to 175,000 (approx. EUR 131,830 to 153,800, approx. CHF 122,650 to 143,090).
The sedan body was built by Fleetwood and is apparently the only surviving example of this type out of the three originally built.
Over the past few years, more than USD 340,000 has been invested in restoration and maintenance work; money that was apparently not optimally spent in terms of preserving value, but which today guarantees that this interesting automobile is in a condition that is certainly above average.
Incidentally, this rare car is being offered without a reserve price, so the final price could end up even lower than the estimate—which is somewhat surprising given its Pebble Beach class victory (in 1998). It will be interesting to see for how much this elegant pre-war sedan with its 16-cylinder engine changes hands in August.
P.S. Previous auction results for Cadillac V16s can be found in the auction database.
