Lot details
Registration No: DS 9106
Chassis No: X-57-906
Mot Expiry: Sept 2012

In 1908 Cadillac became the first American manufacturer to win the Royal Automobile Club's prestigious Dewar Trophy after three of its cars circulated the newly opened Brooklands track, were stripped down and reassembled with each other's parts and then fired up and driven off again! Known thereafter as the 'Standard of the World' due to its engineering excellence, Cadillac won the Dewar Trophy again in 1912. Introduced two years later as a replacement for the four-cylinder Model 30, the large luxurious Type 51 will be remembered as one of the first production cars to be powered by a mass-produced V8 engine - a technological advance that created invaluable kudos for the Cadillac marque. The similar model Types 53, 55, 57, 59 and 61 between them carried the design through to 1923, when it was considerably updated to create the Type V63. The Type 51 and all related versions were powered by the new 90-deg V8 of 5154cc that featured L-heads and produced some 31bhp. The unit was allied to a three-speed manual transmission. The Type 57 variant was in production between 1917 and 1919 and following a rigorous selection process distinguished itself by being chosen to ferry America's military top brass during The Great War.

The vendor purchased this Fisher-bodied Type 57 Victoria Coupe while on a business trip to New Orleans in 1988, acquiring it from a Mr. Dodge who had discovered the Caddy in the basement of a Montana Cadillac dealer some sixteen years earlier. Based in Brazil at the time, but owning a home in the south of England, the seller opted to have the car shipped to England and displayed in the late Paul Foulkes-Halbard's motor museum at Filching Manor, Sussex, where it remained until his return to the UK during 1992. Subsequently UK registered and brought up to good running order, the car was then regularly used for the next ten years - achieving trips of 80 miles at a time, during which it was cruised at up to 50mph. Recently recommissioned following a period of dry storage with a stainless steel exhaust and new period-type tyres, the Victoria Coupe remains in remarkably original condition and pleasingly retains its factory-fitted engine and build plate. Taxed and tested until September 2012, it is anticipated that this delightful Caddy will arrive at Buxton under its own power.