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30/09/2010, 22:14
By MURRAY HUBBARD
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It is great story of survival that one of the iconic names in automotive history - Cadillac not only exists, but manufactured this magnificent 1934 Cadillac 355D V8 town sedan. Just two years earlier, in 1932, Cadillac was at the crossroads.
In 1932 USA was gripped the Great Depression and Cadillac sales were through the floor. The company discriminated against black would-be customers by not allowing them into dealerships. The bottom line was Cadillac cars were designed for the upper-crust of US society. Then GM President, Alfred P. Sloan, convened a committee to look at whether the Cadillac line should continue.
It is worth quoting a Sloan adage, The business of business is business. In other words, when it came to customers, everyone was a potential Cadillac buyer. At the meeting to decide Cadillac's fate, Caddy President, Nicholas Dreystadt gave an impassioned speech in which he implored Cadillac be allowed to advertise their products to potential black customers. The GM Board agreed and by 1934 the year of our featured town sedan Cadillac had returned to profitability. By 1940 Cadillac sales rose ten-fold.
Our featured Caddy is from the New Zealand's Wanaka's Motor Museum and is a fine example of the 355 line that lasted from 1931 to 1935. The 1934 line was notable for body changes that made the car look more streamlined than the 1933 model. The radiator grille took on a more laid-back angle and is flanked by longer, bullet-shaped headlights. These were carried on the mudguards by long, angled stalks. Interestingly, on the V-16 powered Caddys, the headlights were attached to the grille surround. In addition, the V-16 cars also had a split V-style windscreen, as opposed to the single, flat screen on the V8 models.
The other distinguishing points of difference were the badging with the V8 and V12 badges on the right-hand side of the radiator grille, and a similar badge on the front of the bonnet side-vents, on both sides. This car also features twin spare tyres mounted into the front mudguards, which were an option . Cadillac was the first manufacturer to include the spare wheel in the boot, so these extra spares were either for appearance or the owner saw a need for many spares on the basis of the type of roads and amount of travel the car was expected to perform. Also note the sporty and aerodynamic style of the front mudguards, a far cry from the bicycle-style mudguards, or fenders, seen on many cars until the automobile art deco period which started in the early 1930s.
Perhaps the simplest way to ID a 1934 model Caddy is the unique spring-mounted, two-bar front and rear bumper bars, also known as `bi-plane' bumpers. These spring-mounted bumpers were designed to retract about two inches under light impact, but proved to be not as sturdy as the conventional single bar bumper. They were dropped for the 1935 model, but provide a great design cue for the 1934 models. 
The Series 355D models sat on either 128 inch or 136 inch chassis with Fisher being a major builder of bodies for Cadillac along with Fleetwood. The 1934 models were powered by a 353 cubic inch (5.8 litre) V8 that produced 88 kW of power at 3000 rpm and 201 Nm of torque from an extremely low 1000 rpm. Power was put to the rear wheels via a three speed manual gearbox. The engine featured a cast iron block with aluminium pistons and crankcase. All up the impressive Caddy weighed north of two tonnes.
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