As an online automotive publication, it’s natural that we sit in front of our computers for the better part of the day writing, reading, and researching everything and anything car-related. More often than not, we trip over an item from another publication that catches our eye, and today was one of those days.

Our friends over at The Daily Drive just hosted an article discussing the various different V-16 Cadillac concept cars, and with us being huge fans of GM’s luxury brand we had to put our spin on it here.

Cadillac, widely known for building some of the most innovative, powerful, and beautiful cars this side of the pond, have toyed on and off with a 16-cylinder engine since the 1930’s.

During the entire decade of the ’30s, Cadillac offered it’s customer base  a V-16 option that provided the buyer with a powerful for the era luxury car that provided up to 185hp on demand.

That number may seem pathetic today, but it was astonishing in those days. However, after 1940 with America at war and a shift in production from elegant luxury to military machinery, priorities had changed.

This one is from 1963, a time where hidden headlamps had yet to actually see production in any car up to that point. It looks a little Eldorado-ish to us.

Even after the war, Cadillac would never produce a V-16 engine for any production vehicle again. But that didn’t stop them from toying with the idea in the ’60s with several prototypes that many have never seen, and again in 2003 with the Sixteen concept car.

This 3:8 scale model was put together in 1961 of what a sixteen cylinder Cadillac could look like if it were built.

With the EPA breathing down our necks about CO2 emissions and fuel economy, it’s almost certain that we’ll never see one in production again, unfortunately. So take a minute to look at the collection of photos we’ve gathered for you here, courtesy of The Daily Drive. 

The last V-16 we've seen Cadillac produce was this concept car from 2003.