This is a 1931 V-12 Cadillac Boattail Speedster. The Cadillac & LaSalle Club classified it as a "1931 4702 RDS Convertible Coupe with Custom Boattail Coachwork" when placing it in their 2023 Calendar. Now, Cadillac did not make such a model, so this is a coachbuilder production. To me, this is a stunning automobile and the one that I have proclaimed I would own when I died. I have been blessed to own many wonderful cars, but this one is my all time favorite. As I look forward to my 86th birthday and have developed some life threatening medical conditions, it is sadly time to sell her. She is not perfect. She is a wonderful driver, head turner and great car to show at reginal and national shows. I wish that I had all of her history but I don't. Here is what I know: She was purchased from a classic car restoration shop in Ontario, CA (Batista Automotive, Inc.) in 1989 by Dee Howard of reverse-thruster fame. When Mr. Howard was in his 80s, it was sold to an attorney in San Antonio, TX who had a small car collection. I bought it from his widow in 2011. I got a random call several years ago from a woman in Nevada saying that her husband had done some work on the car in the 1970s and that the coachbuilder was Murphy. I have talked with two of Dee Howard employees who knew the car in the 1990s and both said that it was coach built "back in the day".
The transition from non-boat tail to boat tail in the body is flawless in my view (far superior to any similar examples that I have seen). The coachbuilding was clearly many years ago and the lining of the trunk-like rear compartment testifies to this. The engine started life in a sedan, so is a replacement or there was a remaking of the entire coach (maybe you have another theory). It starts and drives well up to the mid-40s when it develops a front end shimmy. Depending on how you drive it, popping out of second gear can happen. I have learned how to avoid this with experience. A big heavy car with mechanical brakes is not going to stop on a dime, even with the original vacuum assist system. All 6 tires were replaced with new ones a few years ago. The fuel gage does not work. The speedometer works about half the time I drive it, but the odometer seems to always work. I had the clock rebuilt and it works, but has to come out and be shaken around from time to time to get it re-started. I love this car and feel that her value is well above the asking price, but it just does not make sense to have my dear wife have to figure out how to sell it. Lots of "stuff" will come with this car. Things like a letter from the restoration shop, copies of repair manuals, drawings and engravings of drawings that I made of it, 2023 Cadillac & LaSalle Club calendar (they came to me, asking to use a photo that was taken by them at a national meet), etc.
