1938 Cadillac Imperial Touring Sedan, 7533- SCV 14 🇮🇹

The Vatican State ordered a pair of identical 1938 Cadillac Imperial Touring Sedans. This one, identified by its Vatican issued  license plate SCV 14, served the same purpose as its twin, to transport dignitaries on business and visits to the Vatican. This particular car was used to transport the Finnish delegation on a visit to Pope Pius XII in February 1940.

Vatican license plates had a meaning—the lower the number the higher the importance. This car played back up to its twin, which carried plate SCV 11.  After serving a long life of service to the Vatican, the car was sold to the Conti Company, suppliers of vehicles to the movie industry. In its new capacity, the car appeared in many motion pictures, most notably, it was featured prominently in the movie “Patton” starring George C. Scott as the controversial American general.

After many decades of service to the movie industry, the car was acquired by The NB Center in January 2016. The car received a thorough restoration back to its as delivered glory before joining the other Vatican Limousines in the collection. 

Company
General Motors

Make
Cadillac

Model
38-7533

Body Style
Imperial touring Sedan, 4- door,  8-pass.

Body Manufacture
Fleetwood  Body Co.

Model year
1938

Wheelbase
141 inches

Length
220.625  inches

Engine
V8, L-head, 346 cid

Horsepower
135 @ 3400 rpm

Transmission
3-speed manual

Original Base Price
$3,360

Brand Production
9,375  model year

This Car Production
479

Cadillac was facing a crisis in 1933 as the Great Depression was choking off sales of all cars. Nicholas Dreystadt was appointed general manager of the Cadillac division in June 1934 with a mandate to turn around the ailing division.  He quickly set about cutting costs and modernizing production while still retaining the essence of Cadillac.  He reduced the number of  body styles available while instituting a policy of sharing bodies and component parts with other GM divisions. He was responsible for the introduction of all steel bodies in 1936 and the discontinuation of the V12 engine the same year.

Dreystadt’s  efforts to cut costs and modernize the cars paid off.  From a low of just 6,736 cars produced in the calendar year 1933, production grew to 45,223 in 1937 before dipping to 27,613 in the calendar year 1938 because of an economic downturn.

Dreystadt kept Cadillac styling relatively conservative. The cars evolved over time without making radical changes. Consequently, the 1938 cars looked very similar to the 1937 cars. The Imperial Touring Sedan was the most popular of all series 75 cars offered with 479 produced. Only 1,911 series 75 Cadillacs of all body styles were produced in 1938 and fewer than 100 were shipped overseas. 

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.