The official Cadillac Victoria model name on this coupe does not seem appropriate, as a Victoria coupe usually has a back seat, a longer cab and an ample-size window behind each door.
This so-called Victoria replaced the more window-full Landaulet coupe of 1915, and was one of Cadillac's best-looking cars for the 1916 season. The decorative landau irons on either side gave this coupe the look of a convertible, and the tiny opera windows on either side lent added class. As you'll notice, the body of this coupe towered majestically above the ground, dwarfing the ladies who display some of 1916's fashions in this illustration.
Cadillac had introduced its first V-8 engine in the 1915 model (in the latter months of 1914), and in late 1915, the new 1916 models arrived with a more stylish curve to the roofline, a higher hood more in harmony with the cab and a new four-door sedan to replace the 1915 center-door type.
By 1916, Cadillac had grown from the little one-cylinder "putt-putt" of 1902 to a large luxury car with the 1915 V-8 engine being a crowning achievement.
According to an original 1916 Cadillac advertisement (published in Travel magazine in April 1916), "The prestige of a motor car no longer depends on mere name, surrounded by a fictitious atmosphere of aristocracy.”
"The only aristocracy in motor cars, now, is an aristocracy of merit," the ad continued, stating that Cadillac's reputation was gained by its quality, not by name alone.