Whaddyacallit #58 - SOLVED - Buck Jones' 1931 Cadillac Roadster

[Ray B.]

Ever seen this ?

Please, respond below and let us know the make of the car posted here, as well as its original owner.

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Also, please be sure to check out our other puzzles, and, please post a puzzle of your own if you'd like - the more, the merrier.

Thanks!

[Otto Puzzell]

An Auburn of some sort?

[Ray B.]

Not an Auburn

[Otto Puzzell]

A variation on a Vertical 8 Studebaker?

[Ray B.]

A variation on a Vertical 8 Studebaker?

Are you sure you mean Studebaker ?
Neither a Stude, neither a Vertical 8 anyway.

[Otto Puzzell]

D'oh! I meant Stutz.

[Ray B.]

Not a Stutz. The maker is still active (but this is a variation, for sure).

[Paul Jaray]

Is that a Bentley? I know I have this pic somewhere, but....

[Ray B.]

Is that a Bentley? I know I have this pic somewhere, but....

Not a Bentley.

[Otto Puzzell]

Cadillac?

[Otto Puzzell]

OK - '31 Cadillac roadster. No idea who built it. 

[Ray B.]

1931 Cadillac is correct. Roadster it seems to be, but it didn't start its life as a roadster.
The point is yours already, but can you tell me who designed it, modified it and who was the owner.
The designer is very famous. The owner also was at the time.

[Paul Jaray]

I knew i saw it somewhere...this time I'll let Mister K. answer....
(even because besides these pics there is not much further....)

[Ray B.]

(even because besides these pics there is not much further....)

That's where you're wrong...

[Paul Jaray]

...where I found them....

[Otto Puzzell]

Mr K's got no idea - bring it on home, Mr. J!

[Paul Jaray]

I left it to you because I though there were more details with my pics  , but I've got to go deeper for more, there is a good hint on the fin...but these days I've not much time. I found were my pics comes from, but also there, I can't add much to what you said..so I'll let you answer not because I'm generous, but because I can't do otherwise! (but I will try later....)

[Otto Puzzell]

I'll have a look tomorrow morning - the rest of my day is packed with work and then road-time.

[@re]

Funny, this - I didn't know anything about this at all, but a simple Google search with the words 1931 cadillac roadster tailfins gave me all the answers. The car is based on a 1931 Cadillac V12 roadster, was designed by Harley Earl (his first real car design, it seems) and the owner was American singer and guitarist Buck Owens.

[Ray B.]

@re, you've found something new: it is the work of Harley Earl (not his first by far, which was the 1927 LaSalle).
But its owner was not Buck Owens, and it was not based on a roadster. As often, things you find on the internet are not always true.

[@re]

[Paul Jaray]

The car was for the Hollywood's movie star Buck Jones, here's more...

[Paul Jaray]

...there is a good hint on the fin...

It really was!

[Ray B.]

Done !
As you will see below, the car was originally not a roadster but a limo,  a 7-passenger Imperial Sedan.
Now, Paul having found the last of the story, this makes 3 partial answers from 3 AutoPuzzlers. What do I do with the points...? I'll sleep over it and decide later.

[Ray B.]

Two points for a single puzzle, a tough one, is OK. Three seems too much. Here's what I did:
KarnUtz deserve the first point because he found the car was a 1931 Cadillac. That was the toughest part.
@re found the builder, Paul Jaray the owner. I just flipped a coin to decide who would get the second point. @re won.