pucciManuli - A Remarkable Collection

1931 Cadillac Roadster
Beginning in 1930, Cadillac produced a monstrous sixteen-cylinder engine, making its debut to the automotive community at the Detroit Opera House just prior to the Detroit Auto Show.  This was the largest number of cylinders to power an automobile of all time.  The hood that housed the engine was intimidating, larger and longer than any other vehicle.  Up to this point, there were only a few manufacturers that produced a twelve-cylinder engine, mechanical achievements in their own right.

The introduction of this sixteen-cylinder engine, with 7.410 cubic centimeters of size generating 165 horsepower at 3,200 RPM, was historical and seen as revolutionary at the time.  Cadillac’s decision to make V-16 powered cars in the depths of the Depression has sparked controversy for over 70 years. Never thought of as a profit center, these smooth, silent and sophisticated V-16 cars firmly planted Cadillac as the #1 luxury carmaker in America, surpassing Packard and Pierce-Arrow. 

And while the Cadillac Roadster was regarded as the “Car of Dreams” in the 30s, it suffered somewhat from its image as a “Gangster” car, since this exact model happened to be the preference of the Chicago mafia.  At that time, it was no problem to purchase such an expensive car, as the mafia was able to tap into their extensive cash reserves resulting from alcohol smuggling during the prohibition era.

About the Model…
Handmade in Germany, Arcurio’s limited edition Cadillac Roadster is crafted in a scale of 1:12 according to Cadillac’s original plans.  Five (5) different types of premium European woods are used: Alder, Ash, Beech, Pine and Maple.  The wood itself is left completely natural, using only olive oil and wax to finish each model, not paint or other chemicals.  And all 108 parts are individually hand assembled with great care and perfection to ensure each wood grain seamlessly matches the next.

Included on each model is a removable hood, side doors with locks that can be opened, folding top that can be opened using the car’s original mechanism, folding back seats, front wheels with functional steering, opening rear trunk, handcrafted spoke wheels, dashboard with many details, and two (2) spare wheels embedded within the fenders.  In addition, each Roadster comes complete with a brass plate engraved with its own unique production number.

Models, or rather miniatures, have been made by man since he learned to stand upright – in the very beginning as objects of religion, and then as presents or for decoration.  In those early days, materials used were bone, stone, or rock and wood – materials readily available.  Tools were crude in the extreme, so the results were crude. 

Accuracy of representation developed as man’s skill to invent and use tools and new materials grew, and this trend continues to the present day.
 By the 14th and 15th centuries, these skills had developed to an extraordinary degree as can be seen in full size artifacts and miniatures made by armorers and instrument makers.  The majority of models, however, were still rather crude – mostly ships, the “votif” models made to hang in churches by way of thanksgiving for journey’s end and a safe return.  As they were intended to be hung and, therefore, seen only from underneath, guns are exaggerated, hull shapes simple, deck fittings almost nonexistent and rigging inaccurate.


By the 17th and 18th centuries, standards and faithfulness to prototype had changed dramatically as, for example, the model ships built for the Navy Board.  These were built by the finest craftsmen, mostly of box and fruitwood as three-dimensional pictures of proposals for future ships so that My Lords of the Admiralty were better able to judge design.  These models were incredibly accurate in shape and detail, and many have survived, located in museums and private collections around the world.  They are important, not only as a record of ship design of the period, but as the first truly accurate models.


During the 19th century, with the coming of the Industrial Revolution, three-dimensional miniatures were made for different reasons.  Steam, the motif power at that time is very powerful and, logically, a small machine, if it is going to explode, will make less of a bang than the full size machine.  Many development models were made, mainly by instrument makers and then by that rapidly developing genre – the engineer.  As the 19th century progressed, on the one hand the making of a model became part of an apprentice engineer’s life – his test piece had to be of a very high standard to pass.  On the other hand the salesman needed a model for the same practical reason as did my Lords of Admiralty, all those years before. 


About this time, miniatures began to be made, originally by those same self-same apprentices, now full-fledged engineers, for fun, in their leisure hours – and thus was born amateur model-making as we know it today.  In parallel, there were commercial organizations making models, kits and toys, as for example, Stevens Model Dockyard, Bassett-Lowke and many others, all trying to satisfy an insatiable desire by man to own miniatures of things he wished to remember for one reason or another.
 Models have, however, been made for entirely different and particular purposes; e.g. the bone model ships made by French prisoners of war in England between about 1775 and 1815 (they were made to supplement their rations), or Patent Models made as part of the inventive process.  These fall outside the mainstream of model making, but are historically important in their own right.



Now, at the end of the 20th Century, a different problem has arisen.  The commercially trained skills of apprenticed engineers are gradually dying out as man’s quest toward computerization develops, and discerning collectors, who understand and seek quality, generally have neither the time nor the skill to make aesthetically pleasing and ever more accurate miniatures themselves. 

Long may serious and discerning collectors exist who demand the best; satisfying their demands will preserve and continue the necessary skills, which will otherwise, gradually, be lost forever.