Veesixteen

"Veesixteen" [aka "Mr Cadillac"] is the nom-de-plume of the creator/compiler of the "Cadillac Database": www.cadillacdatabase.org. The latter is an electronic reference source for automobile enthusiasts interested in the first hundred years of the history, production and styling of Cadillac automobiles (1902-2003). It took five years for him to assemble enough material for a first Internet venture, in May 1997. Since then, regular additions have increased the collection to some 8,500 screen pages and more than 40,000 images. It is believed to be the largest, most complete and most varied hobby resource in the world for one-marque car enthusiasts.

In 1999, the Cadillac Motor Car Division of GM presented him with the "Henry Leland Award" for outstanding service in honoring the marque and furthering the aims of the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc. (Leland founded the Cadillac Automobile Co. in August 1902 and the first Cadillac automobile left the factory in October 1902).

In 2000, he got the "E.P. Ingersoll Award" of the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), recognizing excellence in presentation of automotive history in a medium other than print (E. P. Ingersoll was founder of Automotive Industries and first to see the market for a magazine for motorists, in 1895).

In 2001, he got also the "Maurice Hendry Award" for excellence in journalistic contributions related to America's premier marque (Maurice Hendry is a New Zealander, author, in 1972, of the definitve history of the Cadillac automobile).

In June, 1999, "Veesixteen" donated his "Cadillac Database" to the Museum and Research Center of the Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Inc. In 2011 he handed over to CLC member, Jean-Claude Franchitti, responsibility for all new inputs and for keeping the collection up-to-date.

The name "Veesixteen" comes from a series of Cadillac cars built from 1930-1940 and powered by a "V"-type engine having two banks of 8 cylinders mounted together in a "V" configuration, hence "V-16". He is a Scot although he was raised and schooled partly in Scotland, partly in France and partly in Switzerland, where he served for 30 years a specialized agency of the United Nations. English and French are both his mother tongues; he is also quite fluent in Spanish and German and can read Italian with relative ease. He is married, and has three grown children; his wife and he chose South Carolina, USA, as their place of retirement.