For Sale: 1931 Cadillac V12 in Saint Louis, Missouri

Cars and Hollywood have long gone together like peanut butter and jelly. The early days of film coincided with the automobile's rapid development, and when Hollywood's first stars tasted success from the lucrative new world of motion pictures, spectacular cars were usually high on their shopping lists. Some actors had a penchant for great cars, such as silent movie star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who had several coachbuilt vehicles designed by Harley J. Earl, notably a spectacularly grand 1919 Pierce-Arrow Model 66. Of course, there are the twin Duesenberg SSJ Speedsters owned by Gary Cooper and Clark Gable, respectively, and leading ladies also had their picks - the likes of Carole Lombard and her Pierce Arrow, or Greta Garbo and her litany of cars from Packard, Rolls-Royce, and a Duesenberg by Fernandez et Darrin.
In days of silent film, the Western reigned supreme, turning the humble American Cowboy into a glamorous, swashbuckling hero, usually accompanied by his faithful horse, his trusty Colt six-shooter, or perhaps an indigenous sidekick. In 1914, a young man with a penchant for adventure named Charles Frederick Gebhart emerged on the silent film scene under the screen name "Buck Jones." A handsome fellow with an adventuresome past (two stints in the US Army from age 16, an actual working cowboy, and a performer in a wild west show), Buck arrived in Hollywood as a bit player and stuntman, making his way through the ranks, going from $5 a day to $150 a week as backup and body double to the great Tom Mix.
In 1920, Buck Jones landed his first starring role in The Last Straw and soon became one of the top cowboy actors of his day alongside Mix, Ken Maynard, and Hoot Gibson. As "talkies" took over, Jones was one of the few to adapt and sustain his stardom through ebbs and flows of a rapidly evolving industry, even putting his deep voice to use narrating a cowboy adventure series on the radio.
Such success afforded Jones the means to indulge in cars and it is said that he had quite a number of them through the years. Our focus is this wonderfully extravagant 1931 Cadillac Series 370 V12 custom roadster. GM archives pertaining to this engine number show it was shipped to Don Lee, Inc in Los Angeles on October 7, 1930, and originally equipped as a seven-passenger Imperial Sedan. Perhaps around 1936, the car came into Buck Jones's ownership and was rebodied as this wild 2-passenger roadster, the antithesis to Buck's calm, cool, on-screen demeanor. Jones's widow, Del Jones, later recounted that Buck had numerous custom cars, and her account supports the belief that it was designed for him by the legendary Harley J. Earl. There are certainly Earl styling cues, though accounts of who actually constructed it are less clear, as Earl was full-time in Detroit by 1927 and Don Lee Coachworks had been wound down the same year.
Period images on file show Buck Jones with the distinctive Cadillac roadster and its streamlined radiator housing, frenched-in '36 Ford headlamps, teardrop fenders, and a dramatic tapering tail with a central rib and two large tail fins - undoubtedly an early signature of Harley Earl's aesthetic. The lightweight body would have boosted performance, while a pair of downdraft carburetors on special manifolds squeeze a bit more from the OHV V12.
Historical accounts suggest Buck Jones gave the Cadillac to his friend and stunt double, Ted Corder in 1940, and Buck tragically passed two years later in the Coconut Grove fire in Boston. According to an article by Kirk Wentland in "The Self Starter" magazine (November/December 1998), Kirk's father Charles first saw the car in 1947 in the basement of a Susanville, California tire shop run by Charles' uncle, Ted Corder. When Ted was drafted into the Korean war, the car was sold to Dave Barr, also of Susanville, then disappeared for some time. Kirk Wentland rediscovered the car many years later in 1989, as an incomplete project at Odyssey Restorations in Spring Lake Park, Minnesota. Upon inspecting and verifying it as the Buck Jones roadster, he bought it and returned it to California for reassembly.
In 2005, the Cadillac, still unfinished, was sold to Jon Janofsky, who subsequently sold it to the great collector Otis Chandler, undoubtedly cognizant of its significance in Hollywood history. Following the dispersal of Chandler's collection in 2006, it was acquired by the most recent owner and has remained in their possession since, and was a featured participant in the special "Cowboy Cars" class at the 2015 Amelia Island Concours.
Finished in satin black over cowhide upholstery as it has been for many years, the car retains the fascinating details that appear in period photos - including the marvelous, streamlined radiator shell, the dramatic fins, and modified '34 Cadillac bi-plane bumpers. Some elements have been altered, notably the headlights, which are mounted lower in the front fenders. Mr. Wentland has long maintained the car was designed by Harley Earl, as does Harley's grandson, Richard Earl, who has endorsed it as an Earl design. A series of fantastic period photos on file depict Buck Jones with the car (note the Buck Jones emblem on the fin!) and track it through its later stages.
Early custom cars like this are a fascinating sidebar in motoring history, and this example- combining the greatness of the Cadillac V12, the star power of Buck Jones, and ties to the legendary designer Harley J. Earl, will undoubtedly open many opportunities for its next custodian to enjoy and share with the world.

Offers welcome and trades considered.