There has always been demand for bespoke luxury cars to opulently show status , wealth and power and there are really few better car to illustrate that way of thinking better than this 1941 poor people-crushing Cadillac that was built for Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor and his wife to potter about in while they were in the US around the middle of that decade.
The ex-king and his American wife used it for 11 years, then it disappeared in 1952, being believed to have been destroyed. However, now it’s mysteriously back and it’s going under the hammer during the Art of the Automobile auction on November 21 – it’s expected to fetch up to $800,000 / €580,000.
RM Auctions adds more background to the car, nicknamed “the Duchess” saying that “not a single body panel on the Windsors’ car matched any other 1941 Cadillac . The hood, trunk, fenders, fender skirts, roof, and doors were all crafted by hand, and all interior appointments were hand-fitted.” It had a streamlined fender shape that was unique to it, and an innovative way of designing a car for the age.
One would expect the rear accommodations to be sumptuous and well-appointed, and with the enormous sofa taking up most of the space it was very obviously the case here too. There were even special compartments for the (actual) duchess to put her jewels in while the two travelled – they must have been a hefty burden to wear…
Even more special was the attention to detail observed in the front, and on the dashboard.
RM Auctions' description of the car reads: “The Duke was a well-known enthusiast of automobiles and aircraft, Cadillac expected that he would take the wheel of this car on occasion. As a result, unusually for a limousine of the time , the front compartment was detailed to be as elegant and opulent as the rear, including its own radio, with a manually controlled roof-mounted antenna and buttons preset to New York City AM stations of the era.”
By Andrei Nedelea
