Cadillac V-12
Encyclopedia
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|The 1931 Model 370A V-12 was introduced in October 1930. A V-12 roadster was used as the pace car at the Indianapolis 500
. The Cadillac V-12 had a shorter wheelbase than the Cadillac V-16, with a choice of 140 in (3,556 mm) or 143 in (3,632 mm), compared to the V-16's 148 in (3,759 mm), but it offered a similar choice of Fisher
and Fleetwood
semi-custom bodies. It was difficult to tell a Cadillac V-12 from a Cadillac V-16 unless you were close enough to read the figure "12" mounted on the headlight tie bar, but the hood was four inches shorter, and the headlights and horns smaller than a V-16's. More significantly, the V-12 cost about $2,000 less for each bodystyle, starting at $3,795. The Cadillac V-12 might have been lower in prestige than the Cadillac V-16, but it joined a select group of 1930s cars with multicylinder engines, namely those manufactured by Franklin
, Hispano-Suiza
, Horch
, Lagonda
, Maybach
, Packard
, Rolls-Royce
, Tatra
, Voisin
, Walter
, Marmon and Lincoln
. Moreover, thanks to its lower price, it immediately outsold the Cadillac V-16 with 5,733 sold in the 1931 model year, versus a mere 363 for the V-16.
The appearance of the 1932 Series 370B benefited from a radiator shell that flared on the top, more flaring fenders and curved running boards. Mechanical changes included a stiffer frame, and a Cuno self-cleaning oil filter mounted at the right hand side of the clutch housing. Dual Detroit Lubricator carburetors were used in place of the Cadillac/Johnson carburetors that had been standard equipment on Cadillacs for 20 years. Largely thanks to the deepening Great Depression
sales plunged to 1740 units.
Styling changes to the 1933 Series 370C included a V-shaped grill that blended into the painted radiator shell, a radiator cap hidden under the hood, and skirts on the front and rear fenders for a more streamlined look. Fisher no-draft individually controlled vent windows were a new standard feature. Sales fell further to 953 cars.
The 1934 Series 370D was restyled yet again but this time was mounted on a completely new chassis. The radiator grill slanted rearward with a central bar and five horizontal sections, the windshield sloped even more rearward, headlights were enclosed in new teardrop housings mounted on streamlined supports, the horns joined the radiator cap under the hood, the spare tire was concealed under a new beaver tail deck on most models and the whole car sat approximately 2 inches lower. Significant mechanical advancements included dual X-frame chassis construction, "Knee-Action
" front coil spring suspension that greatly reduced unsprung weight and Hotchkiss steering. The 1935 Series 370E saw the addition of the Fisher Turret Top on Fisher bodied cars and an increase in horsepower to 150. Sales over the two years combined totaled only 1098.
The Cadillac V-12 was renamed the Series 80 and 85 in 1936. The Series 80 and 85 featured a 131" and 138" wheelbase respectively. All V-12s were now Fleetwood bodied and had Turret Tops. A total of 901 V-12s were sold in 1936.
In 1937 the Series 80 was dropped leaving only the long wheelbase Series 85. The only significant mechanical changes were the adoption of an oil-bath air cleaner and a pressure radiator cap. Sales were only 478.
But sales for both the V-12 and V-16 had been poor due to the Great Depression. Furthermore, the horsepower gap between the V-8 and V-16, both arithmetically and geometrically, shrank with the introduction of the new generation of engines. It is likely that GM decided it could only afford to develop one multicylinder engine replacement, and that the one that distinguished itself most in terms of the number of cylinders, smoothness, quiet and power was the one that was worth the expense.
In any case the classic multicylinder era for American cars was drawing to a close. Packard ceased production of its V-12 in 1940 and Cadillac ceased production of the redesigned V-16 the following year. Only Lincoln's V-12 would last beyond WW II, and its production came to an end after the 1948 model year.
Reports of new V-12 developments reappeared in the late 1980's. Cadillac showed the fully working Cadillac Solitaire concept in 1989, equipped with a Lotus-designed 6.6 liter DOHC 48-valve V-12 with multiport fuel injection.
A Northstar
-based V-12 was featured in the Cadillac Cien
concept car of 2001, and tested by Cadillac engineers as a engine for a Cadillac Escalade
with somewhat improved performance. An AutoWeek report in 2007 claimed a V-12 in the design phase was to be based on the High Feature V6.
The Cadillac Sixteen
concept utilized an all-aluminium pushrod V-16 engine based on the same architecture as GM's then-current small-block V-8 developments. A production version with a base V-8 and the option of the V-12 engine was planned, but was never approved for production and was ultimately shelved around 2008.
|-
|The 1931 Model 370A V-12 was introduced in October 1930. A V-12 roadster was used as the pace car at the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
. The Cadillac V-12 had a shorter wheelbase than the Cadillac V-16, with a choice of 140 in (3,556 mm) or 143 in (3,632 mm), compared to the V-16's 148 in (3,759 mm), but it offered a similar choice of Fisher
Fisher Body
Fisher Body is an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan; it is now an operating division of General Motors Company...
and Fleetwood
Fleetwood Metal Body
Fleetwood Metal Body was an automobile coachbuilder. The name derives from Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, home of the company at the start, and lived on for decades in the form of the Cadillac Fleetwood and various Fleetwood trim lines on Cadillac cars....
semi-custom bodies. It was difficult to tell a Cadillac V-12 from a Cadillac V-16 unless you were close enough to read the figure "12" mounted on the headlight tie bar, but the hood was four inches shorter, and the headlights and horns smaller than a V-16's. More significantly, the V-12 cost about $2,000 less for each bodystyle, starting at $3,795. The Cadillac V-12 might have been lower in prestige than the Cadillac V-16, but it joined a select group of 1930s cars with multicylinder engines, namely those manufactured by Franklin
Franklin (automobile)
The Franklin Automobile Company was a manufacturer of automobiles in the United States between 1902 and 1934 in Syracuse, New York. Herbert H. Franklin, the founder, began his career in the metal die casting business before establishing his automobile enterprise.Franklin founded the H. H. Franklin...
, Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza was a Spanish automotive and engineering firm, best known for its luxury cars and aviation engines in the pre-World War II period of the twentieth century. In 1923, its French subsidiary became a semi-autonomous partnership with the parent company and is now part of the French SAFRAN...
, Horch
Horch
Horch was a car brand manufactured in Germany by August Horch & Cie, at the beginning of the 20th century.-History at a Glance:The company was established first by August Horch and his first business partner Salli Herz on November 14, 1899 at Ehrenfeld, Cologne. August Horch was a former production...
, Lagonda
Lagonda
Lagonda is a British luxury car marque, founded as a company in 1906 in Staines, Middlesex by a former opera singer from Ohio, but of Scottish ancestry, named Wilbur Gunn . He named the company after a river near the town of his birth, Springfield, Ohio, United States...
, Maybach
Maybach
Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH is a German luxury car manufacturer. It was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son. The company was originally a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and was itself known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1912.Today, the ultra-luxury car brand is owned by...
, Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
, Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
, Tatra
Tatra (car)
Tatra is a vehicle manufacturer in Kopřivnice, Czech Republic. The company was founded in 1850 as Schustala & Company later renamed Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriksgesellschaft, a wagon and carriage manufacturer, and in 1897 produced the first motor car in central Europe, the Präsident. In 1918, it...
, Voisin
Avions Voisin
Avions Voisin was a French luxury automobile brand established by Gabriel Voisin.Gabriel B. Voisin was an aviation pioneer and manufacturer who in 1919 started producing cars using Knight-type sleeve valve engines at Issy-les-Moulineaux, an industrial suburb to the South West of Paris.Former...
, Walter
Walter Engines
The Walter Aircraft Engines was a company that manufactures aircraft engines, particularly the M601 turboprop. Based in Prague, Czech Republic, the company has been a subsidiary of GE Aviation since July 2008.-History:...
, Marmon and Lincoln
Lincoln (automobile)
Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
. Moreover, thanks to its lower price, it immediately outsold the Cadillac V-16 with 5,733 sold in the 1931 model year, versus a mere 363 for the V-16.
The appearance of the 1932 Series 370B benefited from a radiator shell that flared on the top, more flaring fenders and curved running boards. Mechanical changes included a stiffer frame, and a Cuno self-cleaning oil filter mounted at the right hand side of the clutch housing. Dual Detroit Lubricator carburetors were used in place of the Cadillac/Johnson carburetors that had been standard equipment on Cadillacs for 20 years. Largely thanks to the deepening Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
sales plunged to 1740 units.
Styling changes to the 1933 Series 370C included a V-shaped grill that blended into the painted radiator shell, a radiator cap hidden under the hood, and skirts on the front and rear fenders for a more streamlined look. Fisher no-draft individually controlled vent windows were a new standard feature. Sales fell further to 953 cars.
The 1934 Series 370D was restyled yet again but this time was mounted on a completely new chassis. The radiator grill slanted rearward with a central bar and five horizontal sections, the windshield sloped even more rearward, headlights were enclosed in new teardrop housings mounted on streamlined supports, the horns joined the radiator cap under the hood, the spare tire was concealed under a new beaver tail deck on most models and the whole car sat approximately 2 inches lower. Significant mechanical advancements included dual X-frame chassis construction, "Knee-Action
Dubonnet suspension
Dubonnet suspension was a system of independent front suspension and steering popular mainly in the 1930s and 1940s. Not very durable unless exactingly maintained, it was soon replaced by other versions. It consisted of a rigidly mounted axle beam in which the sprung steering and suspension arms...
" front coil spring suspension that greatly reduced unsprung weight and Hotchkiss steering. The 1935 Series 370E saw the addition of the Fisher Turret Top on Fisher bodied cars and an increase in horsepower to 150. Sales over the two years combined totaled only 1098.
Series 80/85 (1936-1937)
The Cadillac V-12 was renamed the Series 80 and 85 in 1936. The Series 80 and 85 featured a 131" and 138" wheelbase respectively. All V-12s were now Fleetwood bodied and had Turret Tops. A total of 901 V-12s were sold in 1936.
In 1937 the Series 80 was dropped leaving only the long wheelbase Series 85. The only significant mechanical changes were the adoption of an oil-bath air cleaner and a pressure radiator cap. Sales were only 478.
Thanatopsis
Cadillac redesigned its V-8 and V-16 for the 1936 and 1938 model years respectively, so the question naturally arises, why did Cadillac allow the V-12 to expire after the 1937 model year? The new monobloc V-8 was stiffer mechanically and had more reliable seals than the preceding generation. Both the new V-8 and V-16 were more efficient in terms of horsepower per cubic inch than the preceding versions. One or both of these advantages could easily have been conferred on a replacement for the V-12.But sales for both the V-12 and V-16 had been poor due to the Great Depression. Furthermore, the horsepower gap between the V-8 and V-16, both arithmetically and geometrically, shrank with the introduction of the new generation of engines. It is likely that GM decided it could only afford to develop one multicylinder engine replacement, and that the one that distinguished itself most in terms of the number of cylinders, smoothness, quiet and power was the one that was worth the expense.
In any case the classic multicylinder era for American cars was drawing to a close. Packard ceased production of its V-12 in 1940 and Cadillac ceased production of the redesigned V-16 the following year. Only Lincoln's V-12 would last beyond WW II, and its production came to an end after the 1948 model year.
Later developments
As part of the General Motors V-Future program, Cadillac had an overhead cam V-12 slated for production in the late 1960s. The program led to a fiberglass mockup of a V-12 powered Eldorado coupe that remained hidden from public view until an article appeared in Special Interest Autos in 1984.Reports of new V-12 developments reappeared in the late 1980's. Cadillac showed the fully working Cadillac Solitaire concept in 1989, equipped with a Lotus-designed 6.6 liter DOHC 48-valve V-12 with multiport fuel injection.
A Northstar
Northstar engine series
The Northstar engine series of automobile engines is General Motors' most technically complex 90° V engine architecture. The family is most associated with Cadillac's Northstar V8, but the family has also seen use at Oldsmobile...
-based V-12 was featured in the Cadillac Cien
Cadillac Cien
The Cadillac Cien was a concept car created by Cadillac and unveiled at the 2002 Detroit Auto Show to celebrate Cadillac's 100th anniversary...
concept car of 2001, and tested by Cadillac engineers as a engine for a Cadillac Escalade
Cadillac Escalade
The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury sport utility vehicle sold by the General Motors luxury brand, Cadillac. It was the division's first major entry into the popular SUV market. The Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year in response to German and Japanese competitors and to Ford's...
with somewhat improved performance. An AutoWeek report in 2007 claimed a V-12 in the design phase was to be based on the High Feature V6.
The Cadillac Sixteen
Cadillac Sixteen
The Cadillac Sixteen was a prototype of a stylish and high performance automobile first presented by Cadillac in 2003.The vehicle was equipped with a 32-valve V16 concept engine displacing 13.6 liters and was mated to a four-speed, electronically controlled, automatic transmission driving the rear...
concept utilized an all-aluminium pushrod V-16 engine based on the same architecture as GM's then-current small-block V-8 developments. A production version with a base V-8 and the option of the V-12 engine was planned, but was never approved for production and was ultimately shelved around 2008.
External links
- Yann Saunders and the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc. (1996–2004). The (new) Cadillac Database©: The Cadillac engine. Retrieved November 14, 2011 from http://cadillacdatabase.net/Dbas_txt/engines.htm.