1949 Cadillac Imperial Sedan, series 75 - SCV 12 🇮🇹

This Cadillac was ordered by the Vatican to be a back-up to the 1947 Cadillac, 1 SCV, assigned to the personal use of the pope. Like all of the limousines in the Vatican fleet, it also was used to chauffeur dignitaries to and from papal visits and often served in the papal motorcade. Upon the new car’s arrival at the Garage Nobile, it was assigned license plate 2 SCV and prepared for its demanding role. Later the license plate was changed to SCV 12  when the car was used mostly for chauffeuring heads of states and other dignitaries. One of just 626 Cadillac Imperial Sedans produced in 1949, this was the most popular of the series 75 cars offered.  It is unclear how many Cadillacs were exported in 1949.

After many years of faithful service, the car was sold and ended up as a rental car in Rome. Located and purchased by The NB Center in 2003. The car was in relatively good condition,  requiring a mechanical overhaul and thorough cleaning of the exterior and interior, but was otherwise left as found. Today, the car displays a patina of originality that cannot be duplicated in a restored car. 

Company
General Motors

Make
Cadillac

Model
49-7533X

Body Style
Imperial Sedan, 4-dr, 7-pass.

Body Manufacture
Fleetwood Body Company

Model year
1949

Wheelbase
146.75 inches

Length
236.625  inches

Engine
V8, OHV, 331 cid

Horsepower
160 @ 3600 rpm

Transmission
Hydra-Matic automatic transmission

Original Base Price
$5,170

Brand Production
92, 554 model year

This Car Production
626

1949 was a big year for Cadillac. While Cadillac used pre-war engines and body styles for 1946 and managed some conservative updates for 1947- 48, 1949 broke the mold with the first all new Cadillac of the post-war period.

The biggest news was the new engine. The overhead valve V8, displacing 331 cubic inches, was a marvel of modern engineering. This new engine was lighter, more powerful and less stressed than the engine it replaced. Variations would power Cadillacs for much of the next decade. It was on the strength of the new engine that Cadillac won Motor Trend Magazine’s first ever “Car of the Year” for 1949.

The innovation did not stop with the engines. The new 1949 bodies were lower with visibly lower rooflines. The front fenders flowed right into the doors, you could no longer tell where one ended and the other began. Grilles became more integrated into the front of the car. While at the rear,  the first vestiges of tail fins appeared in the form of tail lights that sat on top of the fenders.

The new bodies were available in the entry level series 61 and volume leading series 62 along with series 60 Special. 1949 would be the last year for the pre-war body styles used on the series 75, the largest and most luxurious Cadillac model. However, they utilized the new engine and updated dashboards like the rest of the product line. Whether Cadillac thought its wealthiest clients were too conservative for real change and they needed to test the waters or the company couldn’t ready new luxury body designs on time, is not clear. 

To understand the Vatican Limousine Collection of the NB Center you need to understand why the Vatican had American cars in the first place. In 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was created by the unification, both voluntary and forced, of the small countries and city-states that made-up the Italian peninsula. Many of the areas taken by the unification were Papal States, under the direct rule of the pope. The pope and the ruling body of the papacy, called the Holy See, retreated from these seized lands to the Leonine City on the shore of the Tiber river across from central Rome. This became the de facto headquarters of the Papacy and by extension the seat of the Catholic Church.

The new King and parliament of the Kingdom of Italy had no wish to be seen suppressing the Church or the pope, after all, the vast majority of Italians were Catholic.  Through an act of the Parliament, called the “Law of Papal Guarantees”, the Kingdom of Italy granted certain powers and sovereign prerogatives to the pope. But, because this law was created by the government of the Kingdom and the pope did not recognize the rights or powers of the Kingdom, the pope did not accept this law. He declared himself a prisoner of the Leonine City, aka the Vatican, unable to leave the grounds for fear the Kingdom of Italy may seize the Vatican as their own. This stalemate,  called the “Roman Question”, remained the status quo from 1861 through 1929.

The government of dictator Benito Mussolini finally negotiated an end to the Roman Question through the Lateran Pacts. This agreement, made February 1929, created the independent sovereign State of Vatican City and granted the full legal and political independence of the pope from the nation of Italy.

For the first time since 1861, the pope was free to move about outside the Vatican. Since no pope had left the Vatican since 1861, they never needed a car. While cars did exist inside the Vatican and the pope had even been given cars prior to this time, they never really had any place to go. To mark the occasion of the signing of the pact, the American Graham brothers, owners of the Graham-Paige Motor Company, donated a car to the Vatican for the use of Pope Pius XI. This 1929 Graham Paige 837 Landaulet by LeBaron became the first car for the exclusive use of a pope outside of the Vatican walls.

The car proved very reliable and comfortable. While the pope had other cars at his disposal, the Graham became the chosen vehicle. The car served both Pius XI and Pius XII  before it was retired from regular use in 1947. The car can still be seen today in the Vatican museum.

In the years since the Graham entered the papal fleet, the Vatican came to appreciate that American cars were less expensive, easier to maintain and less gaudy than the offerings of most European manufacturers. In 1932, the Vatican began to purchase cars from General Motors. In that year they purchased several Buicks and a couple Cadillacs. This was followed in 1938 with the purchase of two Buicks and two Cadillacs. While other brands were purchased for various duties, all the cars dedicated to transporting dignitaries of all types, except the pope, through the end of World War II, were Buicks or Cadillacs

Immediately after the war, the Vatican placed an order for a custom Cadillac for the exclusive use of Pope Pius XII. This car was delivered in 1947 and soon followed by orders for another Cadillac, Packards and eventually Chryslers. American cars dominated the transport of dignitaries and the pope, at the Vatican until the mid-1960s.

Today, the largest collection of Vatican cars outside of the Vatican are in the NB Center collection. From a 1932 Cadillac to a 1965 Checker Marathon, including the Cadillac  customized by Derham Body Company for the use of the pope starting in 1947, these cars survive because Nicola Bulgari and the staff of the NB Center set about to locate, save and preserve these artifacts while documenting their history.