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As the world sank deeper into the Great Depression, automobile manufactures clamored for any customers who still had money and were willing to purchase cars, let alone the finest cars. Car companies provided potential buyers a dizzying array of choices of body styles, the highest level of craftsmanship available and the benefits of the finest engineering they could offer. Cadillac’s fortunes depended on luring in the customers who could both afford the cars and were willing to be seen in them during such hard times.
The Cadillac series 452-C was the top of the line V16 powered offering and it did not cut any corners. Available in nearly 70 body styles on two wheelbases. The smooth and powerful V16 engine displaced 452 cubic inches and boasted 185 horsepower. The engine could propel even the largest and heaviest of the body’s offered at 80 miles per hour.
Cadillac advertising leading into the 1933 model year made the pitch for exclusivity by stating that only 400 V16 cars would be produced that year. As it unfolded, 1933 would be the biggest challenge faced by Cadillac in the company's history. Sales plummeted to a level not seen since Cadillac’s fledgling days before 1909. The 400 V16 cars never materialized. Only 125 V16 of all body styles were manufactured. -
Company
General Motors
Make
Cadillac
Model
452-C, style 5575
Body Style
Limousine, 4-dr, 7-pass
Body Manufacture
Fleetwood Body
Model year
1933
Wheelbase
145 inches
Length
222 inches
Engine
V16, OHV, 452 cid
Horsepower
185 hp @ 3400 rpm
Transmission
3-speed manual
Original Base Price
$ 6,600
Brand Production
3,173
This Car Production
32 -
The V16 7-passenger limousine with body by Fleetwood was the most “common” V16 powered Cadillac of 1933.
The NB Center car, style 5575 is the 25th of 32 of these bodies made. The very first of these cars produced was purchased by American comedian and celebrity Will Rogers. This style was intended to be chauffeur driven with a division window separating the drivers compartment from the rear passenger compartment. Fold down “jump” seats in the rear allowed for up to five passengers behind the chauffeur.
This car was ordered new by Seeley W. Mudd for his wife Della M. Mudd. S. W. Mudd was a mining engineer who developed a copper mine in Arizona, a gold mine in Colorado and eventually a copper mine in Cyprus. His vast wealth allowed for such a lavish purchase during the Depression.
The car has retained a remarkable degree of originality with all of the factory mechanicals and upholstery intact, even most of the paint is original factory applied. With less than 60,000 miles from new, this remarkable time capsule is one of the few opportunities to experience what a top-of-line car felt like in 1933.