Cadillac V-12

Cadillac V-12
Overview
Manufacturer	Cadillac (General Motors)
Production	1930–1937
Assembly	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Designer	Harley Earl
Body and chassis
Class	Full-size luxury car
Body style	2-door convertible 4-door convertible 2-door coupe 4-door sedan 4-door town car 4-door limousine
Layout	FR layout
Platform	D-body
Powertrain
Engine	368 cu in (6.0 L) CadillacV12
Transmission	3-speed synchromeshmanual

Series 370
1931 Cadillac Series 370A roadster, with open rumble seat and sidemount spare
Overview
Model years	1931–1935
Body and chassis
Related	Cadillac Series 452 Cadillac Series 355
Dimensions
Wheelbase	1931: 140.0 in (3,556 mm) 143.0 in (3,632 mm) 1932–33: 134.0 in (3,404 mm) 140.0 in (3,556 mm) 1934–35: 146.0 in (3,708 mm) Commercial: 1931: 152.0 in (3,861 mm) 1932–33: 156.0 in (3,962 mm)
Length	1931: 209.0 in (5,309 mm) 1932–33: 207.0 in (5,258 mm) and 213.0 in (5,410 mm) 1934–35: 216.0 in (5,486 mm)
Width	1931: 73.6 in (1,869 mm) 1932–35: 77.0 in (1,956 mm)
Height	1931: 72.5 in (1,842 mm) 1932–33: 71.5 in (1,816 mm) 1934–35: 69.5 in (1,765 mm)
Curb weight	5,200–6,200 lb (2,400–2,800 kg)

Series 80/85
Overview
Model years	1936–1937
Body and chassis
Platform	Series 80: C-body Series 85: D-body
Related	Series 80: Cadillac Series 70 Buick Roadmaster Series 85: Cadillac Series 90 Cadillac Series 75 Buick Limited
Dimensions
Wheelbase	Series 80: 131.0 in (3,327 mm) Series 85: 138.0 in (3,505 mm) Commercial: 156.0 in (3,962 mm)
Length	Series 80: 206.3 in (5,240 mm) 1936 Series 85: 213.5 in (5,420 mm) 1937 Series 85: 215.9 in (5,480 mm)
Width	74.4 in (1,890 mm)
Height	69.5 in (1,770 mm)
Curb weight	4,900–5,500 lb (2,200–2,500 kg)

The Cadillac V-12 is a top-of-the-line car that was manufactured by Cadillac from the 1931 through the 1937 model years. All were furnished with custom bodies, and the car was built in relatively small numbers. A total of 10,903 were made in the seven model years that the automobile was built, with the majority having been constructed in its inaugural year. It was Cadillac's first, and is to date, Cadillac's only standard production V-12 powered car.

In the mid to late 1920s a number of luxury car manufacturers began work developing multicylinder engines. Not to be outdone, Cadillac began work on two different multicylinder engines, a V-12 and a V-16. Larry Fisher, Cadillac General Manager, leaked to the press information about the V-12, hoping to keep the V-16 a secret.

Owen Nacker, who designed the Cadillac V-16 engine, also designed the Cadillac V-12 engine, and it shared the tooling and many of the components of the V-16. The V-12 was essentially a truncated V-16, with a bore of 3.125" instead of 3", giving it a displacement of 368 cubic inches. It shared the V-16's 45 degree bank angle., rather than the 60 degree angle that would have been ideal. The V-12 was less powerful than the V-16, generating 135 versus 175 horsepower. Both engines featured overhead valves in the first generation.

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 (102 mm) 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.