1936 Cadillac V16 Limousine

  The 1936 Cadillac V-16 (Series 36-90) was a continuation of the 1935 cars. Built to order only, nearly half of the fifty-two units were seven passenger limousines. As with V-8 and V-12 lines, Fleetwood bodies for the V-16 now used the all steel Turret Top. All body styles had Vee windshields. A minor mechanical change involved the use of the "Peak-load" generator  The Cadillac V-16 (sometimes known as the Cadillac Sixteen) was Cadillac's top-of-the-line car from its January 1930 launch until production ceased in 1940 as the war in Europe reduced the sales. All were finished to custom order, and the car was built in very small numbers; only 4076 cars were constructed in the eleven years the model was offered. The majority of these were built in the single year of 1930, before the Great Depression really took hold. This was the first V16 powered car to reach production status in the United States. After the peak in V-16 orders in mid-1930, production fell precipitously. During October 1930, only 54 cars were built. The lowest figures for the 452/452A cars of 1930–31 were August 1931 (seven units) and November 1931 (six units). Minimum production continued throughout the rest of the decade with a mere 50 units being in 1935, 52 units in 1936, and in 1937 only another 50 inits wete built. Not surprisingly, Cadillac later estimated that they lost money on every single V-16 they sold.Production of the original V-16 continued under various model names through 1937.