1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster
- Engine
- 452 cu in V16
- Colour
- Boone Brown and Thorne Maroon
A 1930 Cadillac Series 452 V-16 Roadster with Fleetwood coachwork, delivered new to a Massachusetts mill owner's family before passing to John Moir, Sr. in 1933 for a reported $500. It remained within the Moir family for 81 years, driven by John Moir, Jr. at Harvard and later preserved as the centrepiece of his celebrated 'A to Z' automobile collection. Restored in the 1990s to its original Boone Brown and Thorn Maroon livery, retaining its original engine, chassis, and body, it earned a CCCA Primary First Prize in 1997.
Ownership
- —Auction saleSold US$1,105,000
- 2024-01-25Auction saleEstimate US$1,000,000 – US$1,200,000
- 1930 → 1933Factory deliveryMatthew Whittall Jr.partial documentation
Car delivered new via Fitzhenry Cadillac of Worcester, Massachusetts. Whittall found the car's performance unsettling and traded it for a more docile Lincoln K, with Depression-era social pressures possibly also contributing.
- 1933 → 1933Private saleBaker Ford Companypartial documentation
Lincoln dealership in Brookline, Massachusetts that accepted the Cadillac as a trade-in from Whittall before selling it to Moir Sr.
- 1933 →Private saleJohn Moir Sr.full documentation
Purchased for approximately $500 from the dealership; drove it until wartime fuel rationing made it impractical, then gifted it to his son after World War II. Family wealth derived from the sale of Chase & Sanborn Coffee to General Mills.
- → 2014InheritanceJohn Moir Jr.full documentation
Used the car during roughly three and a half years at Harvard and for commuting, then stored it in preserved original condition until commissioning a restoration by Curt Hardee in the early 1990s. Parted with the car as part of a full collection dispersal due to advancing age after 81 years of family ownership.
Competition
- 1997Classic Car Club of AmericaCCCA Primary judgingFirst Prize with 98.25 points
Concours-style judging event where the car earned the CCCA Primary First Prize award shortly after its restoration by Curt Hardee.
Maintenance & restoration
- —RestorationCurt Hardee
Comprehensive restoration carried out to return the car to its original factory colour scheme; retained all original mechanical and body components with the exception of the radiator mascot and spare-tyre mirror fittings, which were replaced.
Work was commissioned by John Moir, Jr. and performed at Hardee's shop in Hooksett, New Hampshire, sometime in the early 1990s. A radiator stone guard was added as the sole non-original addition.
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