Al Capones 1930 V16

[Charles D. Barnette #1465]

What happened to Al Capones 1930 Cadillac V16 (body by Fleetwood)? The story I am getting is that the car eventually went to a movie theater owner who displayed the car at his various movie houses around the country until word reached him he better get the car off the streets. At that time he stored the car in a barn in DeQueen, Arkansas, where the barn burned destroying the car. Salvage rights went to a person who then gave the "Fleetwood" nameplate to a now local member of my car club in Texarkana. I am trying to verify all of this. Does anyone have information on this? Where would the "Fleetwood" nameplate have been located on the car? Charles D. Barnette.

[Yann Saunders, CLC #12588]

I thought the Capone Fleetwood V-16 was part of the Imperial Palace collection in Vegas.  My web site includes also a few other (alleged?) Capone Cadillacs:
 
www.car-nection.com/yann/Dbas_txt/Starcar.htm

[Vince Taliano #13852]

AL CAPONE’S 1930 BULLETPROOF V-16 CADILLAC
BY CHRIS CARLISLE AND IMPERIAL PALACE
 
Since a frequent method of settling disputes in the Roaring 1920’s was to blow up a rival’s car or rake it with machine gun fire, Al Capone had a 1930 V-16 Cadillac built for reportedly $30,000 to his specifications with unique “safety features” such as:

* Top speed of 120 MPH thanks to a 452 cubic inch motor and a 16 cylinder high compression valve in head engine
* Bulletproof glass in the windshield and side windows
* Quarter-inch armor plate lining the driver’s compartment
* Three-inch portholes in the side windows one inch from the bottom of the glass.  Occupants could stick their Thompson sub-machine guns through the handy holes and spray the area around the car.
* A tube through the floorboard for dropping one-inch roofing nails into the path of lawmen or rival gangsters in hot pursuit.
* A pressure can and tubing to introduce oil to exhaust system to create a smoke screen.

After Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and sent to prison, his Cadillac soon fell into disrepair. It was totally forgotten. It was eventually brought back to life in the early sixties by a gentleman by the name of Mr. Paul R. Eakins, who passed away in 1990. He had rebuilt it from top to bottom bringing back its history and original form as the crime czar Al Capone once had it. Morris “Red” Rudensky, Al Capones cellmate at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in 1932, authenticated the car in 1975.  

Mr. Eakins toured the country in shows with the car and people were awestruck at the bulletproof capabilities of this beautiful machine. Eventually he sold the car in 1982 to the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas. The car remained on display until 1998 when Mr. Sid Craig purchased the vehicle.  The car remains one of the most famous Cadillacs ever produced.

[Rusty Shepherd CLC 6397]

How strong would a tailwind need to be in order for Capones car to reach a top speed of 120 MPH? Or could its amazing performance be due to the combination of a "452 cubic inch motor" and a "16 cylinder high compression valve-in-head engine" (this must have been 1930s era hybrid technology).

[Charles D. Barnette #1465]

Thanks to all for setting the record straight. Of course it needs to be said that there is a Franklin Mint replica of the car in 1/24 scale although I believe the model is no longer being made. It is so easy for rumors to circulate that are unfounded. Thanks goodness for the collective wisdom and knowledge of our club! Charles D. Barnette

[Terry Wenger CLC # 1800]

Speaking of Al Capone V-16s, does anyone know the whereabouts of his 1940 V-16 Formal Sedan(40-9059)Serial number 5320031? It is pictured in "Cadillac, The Complete Seventy Year History" by Maurice Hendry, was maroon with a tan cloth top and was owned by collector Mills Lane in the early seventies.

Terry Wenger

[Chris Cummings]

The V-16 engine (sixteen cylinders) produced by Cadillac for the 1930 through 1937 model years displaced 452 cubic inches and was an overhead valve (valve-in-head) engine. If that qualifies as "hybrid," so be it.

The purported 120 m.p.h. top speed does seem somewhat wishful.  In stock form, a 1930 V-16 could propel car with a roadster body and no extraneous weight to speeds in excess of 100 m.p.h., and a test car is reported to have been travelling more than 110 m.p.h. on GMs prooving ground track when it lost a tire and crashed.  But the Capone car is a large sedan (around 6,000 lbs before addition of armor plating in the doors and bulletproof glass).  A fellow I know owns a 1930 V-16 sedan (five-passenger - slightly lighter than the Capone car) that his father bought new.  He says his father got the car up to 95 m.p.h. once, but that he himself only took it to 90.  Mechanical brakes with 1930-era linings and materials would have been seriouisly challenged at such speeds.

The write-up that Vince provided on the Capone car doesnt mention any engine modifications that might compensate for the added weight, and enable the car to reach 120 m.p.h.

Chris Cummings

[donnasweets]

What happened to Al Capones 1930 Cadillac V16 (body by Fleetwood)? The story I am getting is that the car eventually went to a movie theater owner who displayed the car at his various movie houses around the country until word reached him he better get the car off the streets. At that time he stored the car in a barn in DeQueen, Arkansas, where the barn burned destroying the car. Salvage rights went to a person who then gave the "Fleetwood" nameplate to a now local member of my car club in Texarkana. I am trying to verify all of this. Does anyone have information on this? Where would the "Fleetwood" nameplate have been located on the car? Charles D. Barnette.

I grew up in cartersburg, Indiana.  My father bought a car in greencastle, indiana around 1961 or 1962 that was suppose to be Al capone's car.  I was only 10 at the time, but I remember it was bulletproof and and was made of armour.  My father sold the car around 1965 or 66 to someone due to my mom and dad were going through a divorce.  I would like to verify this info.  My name is Donna Guevremont, anyone know, please inform me. My dad's name was donald minton.

[Chris Cummings]

The following ad appeared in the Self Starter, February, 1968, and I quote:

1940 Cadillac V-16 Custom Imperial Limo.  Custom built for Al Capone the Gangster.  Note:  This is not a misprint, have the certification, dash plaque, and license that reads as follows, 'Custom Built for Al Capone'.  Original cost $25,000.00.  This car was built for Mr. Capone and wife after his return from Prison, formerly in a large museum, recent professional $10,000 restoration by, Gus Reuter, New York.  Can furnish bills, and data to certify.  Must sell or will trade for acreage in Central Florida, or will take a new Cadillac in trade, color photos $1.00.  C.E. Burke Drawer. AO Apopka, Fla. phone 305-889-2921

I didn't have any contact with the seller at the time, I can't vouvh for his bona fides, and I do not know if he or the car are still around.

Chris Cummings

[Otto Skorzeny]

When Capone was sent to prison in 1931, the Treasury Dept. confiscated his custom built Cadillac and used it for Franklin Roosevelt's limousine. It had bullet proof glass, armored body work and run flat tires.

Maybe Charles Barnett knows what became of the first one since he seems to know all about the presidential limos.

[Chris Cummings]

Last August, Bonhams sold the 1930 Cadillac Series 4375 V-16 imperial sedan (engine number 701617) that was purported to have been Al Capone's custom armored limousine.  The occasion was Bonhams's Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia auction at the Quail Lodge Resort and Golf Club in Monterey, California. The car was lot number 229 and the sale price was $309,500, including buyer's premium. 

Chris Cummings

[wsidejack]

Donna Guevremont

The car you mentioned, that your father acquired in Greencastle, IN, I have an interest in it as well.

I have no idea where it is now, but I might know a little bit about it's earlier history.

Do you remember any specific details about it? What year and model? I presume it was a Cadillac because you are posting in this forum.

Who did he buy it from? A private owner or some government agency?

Thanks,

John Binder
708-287-9118

[Bob Hoffmann CLC#96]

This topic is 11 YEARS old!! Try sending Donna an email.