Vehicle Description
FROM THE MISSOULA AUTO MUSEUM COLLECTION: Vehicle to be offered for Auction sale WITHOUT RESERVE and SOLD to the highest bidder January 19th - 22nd, 2017 at Russo and Steele's 17th Annual Scottsdale Arizona Auction at the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Please contact us for more information.
With a young Bill Mitchell now heading the Cadillac styling studio under the direction of Harley Earl, the new 1938 Cadillac models solidified General Motors' position at the worldwide forefront of automotive design. In fact, by 1938, Cadillac was the undisputed king of luxury cars in America, surviving while its longstanding competitors including Pierce-Arrow, Duesenberg, Marmon, Stutz, and Franklin slowly disappeared.
Cadillac's model lines were streamlined for 1938 along five models. The V-12 Series 85 was dropped, leaving the V-8 Series 38-60, 38-60S (Sixty Special), 38-65, and 38-75 and 38-90 V-16 lines. Series 70 and the Fisher-bodied Series 75 Specials were also dropped, but a Convertible Sedan was added to Series 65. Series 60 was Cadillac's most important passenger-car line, restyled with a squared-off grille treatment composed of horizontal bars extending around front and sides of the nose. Three sets of four chrome bars adorned the side panel louvers. The hood was a modern front-opening "alligator mouth" style and the headlights were located between the grille and front fenders.
Mechanical updates for 1938 made the great Cadillac models even better than before, with a level of sophistication, ease of operation, and drivability that was second to none. Among the refinements was a steering-column gear shift, horns repositioned just behind the grille, movement of the battery under the right-hand side of the hood, a transverse muffler just behind the fuel tank, redesigned wheels, "Synchro-Flex" flywheel and hypoid rear axle, and deletion of the oil filter. Riding atop a generous 124-inch wheelbase length, this streamlined, Fisher-bodied 1938 Cadillac Series 38-60 V-8 Sedan weighed nearly 4,000 pounds and was priced from $1,775 when new. Just 1,295 examples were produced for 1938, far fewer than the 60 Special that year.
A Grand National First Prize winner in AACA show circles, this 1938 Cadillac Series 38-60 sedan is an outstanding prewar classic car that is capable of being driven daily if desired. Continuing to benefit handsomely from an excellent restoration and maintenance by professionals, it demonstrates why Cadillac had taken pride of place as America's leading luxury manufacturer during the immediate prewar era.
