2009 Cadillac Day at the Larz Anderson Museum of Trans­portation

On Sunday May 17, 2009 Dick Shappy was invited to the Larz Anderson Museum of Trans­portation in Brook­line, Mass­achu­setts to be the guest speaker on Cadillac Day. Dick has been restoring and collecting Cadillac cars for the past thirty- five years and is currently displaying two of his restorations at the museum.

Larz Anderson Auto Museum is located in the Anderson Carriage House on the grounds of Larz Anderson Park in Brook­line, Mass­achu­setts and is the oldest collection of motorcars in the United States.

Dick began his lecture by describing various aspects of one of his many V-16 Cadillac cars. On display at the time of his lecture was his 1930 V-16 All Weather Phaeton which is in the final stages of restoration. He also talked about the early days of the Fleetwood Body Company when it was located in Fleetwood, Penn­syl­vania. The attendees were then brought to the rear of the museum where Dick's 1912 Cadillac is also on display. Both cars were very special in the early history of the Cadillac Car Company as the 1912 cars offered electric starting as well as electric lights. Cadillac introduced their sixteen cylinder line in 1930, and it was interesting to see two of these milestone cars on display at the same time during Dick's lecture. After a question and answer session, Dick invited the crowd to see his 1911 Cadillac Demi Tonneau which he hopes to have finished and displayed for the first time at the Portsmouth Abbey in Rhode Island on Father's Day.