1929 Cadillac 341B 7-Passenger Imperial Sedan – On The Brink Of Modernity, But It Still Took Nine Steps To Start The Engine

Right front 3q view of a blue 1929 Cadillac formal sedan with side mount spare tires and whitewall tires

1929 Cadillac 341B Fisher 7-passenger Imperial Sedan in Calumet Blue and black / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

I found an auction listing for this 1929 Cadillac Imperial limousine while looking for pictures for a different article, and while I only ended up using one photo of the car in that post, I thought this handsome relic of Jazz Age luxury deserved a closer look.

Cadillac Motors V-8 badge on the grille of a 1929 Cadillac

1929 Cadillac 341B / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

If pre-WW2 Classics aren’t your area of expertise, the first thing you probably ask on seeing a car like this is probably, “Okay, so what is it?” Most cars of this era were available in a dizzying array of body styles, some hard to tell apart without careful inspection, some so different it’s hard to believe they share the same chassis.

Right side view of a Calumet Blue 1929 Cadillac formal sedan with a black roof and whitewall tires

1929 Cadillac 341-B Fisher 7-passenger Imperial sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

The blue car (Calumet Blue with a black roof) is a 1929 Series 341-B, which identifies the chassis, wearing body style 8630, which is a seven-passenger Imperial Sedan, a formal sedan with a divider window. This was the most expensive of the less-lavish Fisher Body styles, with a base price of $3,895, $600 more than the rumble seat convertible coupe shown below:

Left side view of a tan 1929 Cadillac convertible coupe with red wire wheels and whitewall tires

1929 Cadillac 341B Fisher 2/4-passenger convertible coupe / Corey Escobar — RM Sotheby’s

 

If you use an inflation adjustment calculator, it’ll tell you that price is the equivalent of about $72,800 in May 2025, which undersells how much money that was for most people in 1929. MeasuringWorth estimates its “relative worth” as $147,119, which is probably closer to the mark. For comparison, you could get a pretty nice 1929 Ford Model A Town Sedan for $695 (a relative worth of about $26,251).

Cadillac 341 V-8 engine in a 1929 Cadillac

1929 Cadillac 341 cu. in. L-head V-8 / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

You might be aware that in the ’30s, Cadillac offered a range of spectacular 12- and 16-cylinder engines. This isn’t one of those, which were still a year or so in the future. In 1929, Cadillac had only a V-8, an L-head engine displacing about 341 cubic inches (5,578 cc) — hence the “341” part of the model designation — and making about 90 hp. That wasn’t bad for 1929, but even the lightest Cadillac body style had a shipping weight of almost 4,700 lb, and an Imperial Sedan weighed at least 5,180 lb, not including fuel or other fluids.

Right rear 3q view of a blue 1929 Cadillac sedan with side mount spare tires and whitewall tires

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

On the plus side, Cadillac now had a Silent Synchro-Mesh three-speed transmission with synchronization between second and third, so the chauffeur didn’t have to worry so much about being fired for grinding the gears.

I say “chauffeur” because this was very definitely a limousine, with a glass divider between the passenger compartment and the front seat. The driver got a plain black leather bench, which wasn’t adjustable.

Front seat of a 1929 Cadillac 7-pasenger Imperial sedan

1929 Cadillac 341-B 7-passenger Imperial sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

One consolation was that the driver’s compartment was at least enclosed. Some of the fancier Fleetwood styles Cadillac offered, like the Transformable Town Cabriolet (below), forced the driver to sit out in the rain, just to show off the owner’s wealth.

Right side view of a gray 1929 Cadillac 341B Fleetwood Transformable Town Cabriolet with red wire wheels, side mount spares, and whitewall tires

1929 Cadillac 341B Fleetwood Transformable Town Cabriolet / Bob Abbott — CCCA

 

The paying customers sat in the rear seat, which was well-padded and upholstered in mohair velvet or broadcloth, with a folding footrest. The gold rope is an assist cord, to help a passenger extract themselves from the seat with some dignity.

Rear seat of a 1929 Cadillac 7-passenger Imperial, with gray broadcloth upholstery

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

For safety, the divider window that limited the chauffeur’s ability to eavesdrop (which could be lowered with the crank) was now Security-Plate safety glass, as were all the windows on 1929 Cadillacs.

Divider window and robe cord in a 1929 Cadillac 7-passenger Imperial

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

The rope on the divider was a robe cord, for carrying a lap robe — essentially a big, luxurious blanket to keep rear passengers from freezing to death. A heater was still an extra-cost option (about $32), and it wasn’t very effective. Below the robe cord were two folding jump seats, which were what differentiated the seven-passenger Imperial from the $150 cheaper five-passenger version. They were intended for maids, footmen, or maybe bodyguards:

Jump seats in a 1929 Cadillac 7-passenger sedan, upholstered in gray cloth

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

The signor and signora in back got fancy ashtrays on the quarter panels, which the dealer guide describes as having “oxidized silver finish, with oval escutcheon plates inset with Catalin stone” …

Ashtray in the back of a 1929 Cadillac 7-passenger Imperial

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

… and a bud vase behind each rear side window:

Bud vase with paper flower in the back of a 1929 Cadillac 7-passenger Imperial

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

Incidentally, car radios were available in 1929, but they weren’t yet offered as factory equipment at Cadillac, I think because the wiring and antenna installation were too complicated. A Cadillac dealer could presumably have arranged an installation, which on an Imperial Sedan like this would probably have been in the rear compartment.

Rear view of a blue and black 1929 Cadillac sedan with a black leatherette trunk on a rack above the bumper

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

For a car this size — the wheelbase was a whopping 140 inches — there wasn’t much luggage space. The trunk was really a trunk, carried on a folding rack. You paid $25 for the rack, and the trunk itself ranged from $60 to $100.

Accessory trunk on the back of a 1929 Cadillac sedan

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

You also paid extra for the side mounts and spare tires (a set of six wire wheels ran an extra $250 over the standard wooden wheels), and for the tire-mounted side mirrors (an extra $30).

Side mount spare with tire-mounted rear view mirror on a 1929 Cadillac

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

The other big questions people are likely to have about this are, “How do you even start it?” and “Is it hard to drive?” I can’t claim to have driven a car of this vintage, but the owner’s manual suggests that you could drive a 1929 Cadillac almost like a later car. The accelerator, brake, and clutch work in a fairly orthodox manner. As mentioned, second and third gear were now synchronized, and there were huge four-wheel drums (new and improved for 1929, though still mechanical), so you could stop reasonably well within the limits of the car’s performance.

However, figuring out where the minor controls were located might take a bit of study for a modern driver — for instance, the light controls were on the steering wheel along with the hand throttle:

Closeup of the steering wheel hub of a 1929 Cadillac

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

The dashboard, finished in black Duco lacquer with nickeled moldings around the gauges, was full of minor controls the manual assured were only occasionally necessary, like the manual spark control (usually only needed to adjust for low-octane fuel).

Dashboard of a 1929 Cadillac sedan with a black leather seat

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

Starting, especially with a cold engine, could be a bit of a project. The ignition lock was separate from the ignition switch (which was on the other side of the instrument panel), and the actual electric starter motor was controlled by a pedal to the right of the accelerator.

Closeup of the instrument panel of a 1929 Cadillac

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

The bigger challenge was that if the engine was cold, you had to pull out and hold the carburetor enrichment button (the black knob to the left of the odometer) while cranking the engine, and set the hand throttle high enough to keep the engine from stalling before it warmed up. Also, there was a manual control on the dashboard to open the carburetor heat riser. The manual describes the starting procedure like this:

  1. Make sure that the transmission control lever is in neutral. [In cold weather, the manual also recommended releasing the clutch, although it wasn’t strictly required.]
  2. Place the throttle lever about one-fourth the way down from the idling position.
  3. See that the carburetor heat control lever is all the way toward “Heat On.”
  4. Switch on the ignition.
  5. Unless the engine is still warm, pull back the carburetor enriching button and hold it back. If the engine is still warm, do not pull back the enriching button unless the engine fails to start on the normal mixture.
  6. Push the starter pedal forward and hold it until the engine starts. Release it immediately as soon as the engine starts.
  7. Let the carburetor enriching button partly in as soon as the engine starts, and all the way in as soon as the engine is warm enough to permit it.
  8. Note whether pressure is indicated on the oil pressure gauge and stop the engine at once if no pressure is indicated.
  9. Move the throttle lever up to the idling position as soon as the engine is warm enough to permit it.

Over the next few years, Cadillac would gradually automate more of these functions, with a starter button instead of a pedal and automatic enrichment controls. The above procedure probably wasn’t TOO bad, but you can see why some owners would have been happier to leave all that fuss to the chauffeur.

Front view of a blue 1929 Cadillac sedan

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

Although it definitely looks more modern than a Model T Ford, this Cadillac doesn’t yet have independent front suspension or hydraulic brakes, and for all its craftsmanship, the body still has a lot of wood framing beneath its metal skin, which Fisher Body considered quieter and more solid than all-steel construction.

Windscreen with external sun visor and windshield wipers on a blue 1929 Cadillac

1929 Cadillac 341B 7-passenger Imperial Sedan / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

Cars like this 1929 Cadillac were still in an interesting transitional period. They were rapidly becoming easier to operate and easier to handle, with fewer of the arcane rituals required by older cars. They were still fairly primitive, but they were increasingly self-conscious of their limitations, which cars in this class were beginning to paper over with gadgets.

Hood ornament on a 1929 Cadillac

The hood ornament cost an extra $12 on a 1929 Cadillac / Teddy Pieper — RM Auctions

 

For at least 60 years, it’s been common for automotive pundits to complain about encroaching technology: Road tests of the ’60s and ’70s seemed to complain about every new warning light or automated convenience, and today, we’re beset by touchscreens and electronics. If there was one real overriding difference about the cars of 90 to 100 years ago, it was that back then, carmakers — and a lot of car buyers — were positively straining for modernity. If you’d told the average Cadillac buyer that in not too many years, the cars would have automatic chokes and self-shifting transmissions, I think their reaction would have been, “Oh, thank g*d.” It wasn’t a love of technology for its own sake, but an awareness that the state of the art was still lagging behind both need and demand. Catching up would take another decade.

Related Reading

Curbside Classic: 1925 Ford Model T – A Short Encounter With A Century-Old Legend (by Steve Lenius)
Auction Classic: The Rapid Evolution Of American Cars, part 1 of 4 1903-1912 (by Jon Stephenson)
Auction Classic: The Rapid Evolution Of American Cars, part 2 of 4 – 1914-1919 (by Jon Stephenson)
The Rapid Evolution Of American Cars, Part 3 of 4: 1920-1930 (by Jon Stephenson)
Auction Classics: The Rapid Evolution Of American Cars, Part 4 of 4 1931-1939 (by Jon Stephenson)
Curbside Classic: 1929 Ford Model A – The Best Ford Ever – Maybe Even The Best Car Ever (by Paul N)
Museum Classic: 1929 Auburn Cabin Speedster (by Kevin Martin)
1929 Cadillac/LaSalle Synchro-Mesh Transmission – “Shifting Is Made Simple And Clashing Of Gears Is Ended” (by me)