Fantasy Collection: Cadillac Sixteen

 When it comes to ultra-luxury cars, the British appear to be the current world leaders. Although they are both presently owned by German automakers, the current offerings of Bentley and Rolls-Royce are nevertheless the products of time-honored English craftsmanship, chock full of painstakingly-assembled swathes of metal, rubber, wood, leather and wool. Sure, Mercedes-Benz’s 21^st century revival of Maybach attempted to take a bite out of BMW and VW’s UK outposts, but considering Stuttgart’s decision earlier this year to (finally) pull the plug on the grandiose gambit, we’re going to go ahead and call it a failure.

 Of course, the Brits didn’t always have the hyper-premium motorcar market to themselves. For most of the prior century leading up to WWII, the Germans, French, Italians, Americans and even the Swiss built cars that were as much works of art as they were machines. Cadillac – despite (or is that because of?) being under theGeneral Motors umbrella – was no different, building huge automobiles, including a variety of V16-powered models. It was these paragons of opulence that Cadillac sought to pay tribute to when creating the concept car you see before you, the 2003 Sixteen concept.

Although the super-long hood and short deck proportions certainly hearken back to the Depression Era leviathans, the lines and details are far, far removed from those of its ancestors which, rather than being fitted with bodies at the factory, would be sold as bare chassis, and the buyer would pick a coachbuilder likeFleetwood or LeBaron to construct and install a body. Instead, the Sixteen’s styling is a combination of the brand’s “Art & Science” styling language, with a large helping of the milestone 1967 Eldorado mixed in for good measure. Many of its styling cues (such as the big mesh grille and narrow headlights) soon found their way onto production Cadillacs like the third generation Escalade and second generation CTS.

But one thing that definitely hasn’t wound up in showrooms (and likely never will, thanks to government fuel economy regs) is what’s under this beautiful beast’s two-piece piano-hinged hood: The staggering V16 engine. Featuring two-valves-per-cylinder and displacing 13.6L(!), Cadillac claimed this monster produces 1,000hp…without forced induction. Great Henry Leland’s ghost that’s a lot of muscle.

                                        Source