Sleek and long with pearl white paint, the Faster Than Ever Cadillac V16 Concept car is bound to be one of the faster cars in your collection.
The Cadillac V16 debuted in 2004 in black metal flake paint and bling wheels. It was a very fast mainline car for that year. However, in 2005, things got even better for the Cadillac V16. It was equipped with nickel plated axles and Faster Than Ever wheels, as were all the cars in the Faster Than Ever series. The nickel plated axles created much less friction than standard axles and the Faster Than Ever wheels with their open and light design had less rotational inertia. Long story short, it was a great combination to turn the Cadillac V16 into a downhill racing monster!
Aside from the Faster Than Ever wheel and axle combination, the Cadillac V16 has several other features that make it a great racer. It’s long smooth flowing lines make it quite aerodynamic. This helps reduce the amount of wind resistance the car encounters as it speeds down the track. While this may not be the most important factor, it is still a factor. Some may think that these cars don’t reach speeds great enough to cause much wind resistance, but you have to “scale” your thinking. While they may not seem fast to you or me, in a typical downhill race these cars are reaching SCALE speeds of over 400 mph! Definitely fast enough to cause wind resistance on a small scale, which is what we are dealing with...1/64 scale to be exact.
Another advantage that the Cadillac V16 enjoys is it’s wide body. Coming in at just under 1 and ¼ inches wide, it’s nearly as wide as the Hot Wheels orange track that it typically races on. Hot Wheels orange track is about 1 and ½ inches wide. Wider cars tend to run faster as they bounce around less on the track. This means they keep more of their speed as they travel the length of the track.
The Cadillac is also very long, measuring 3 and ¼ inches. Longer cars also tend to run faster. They run faster because they run straighter. And remember, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.
The one thing that the Cadillac doesn’t have going for it is it’s weight. Weighing in at only 41 grams, it’s definitely not the heaviest car Mattel has made. But that’s the norm in the mainline cars these days. Gone are the days of both metal bodies and bases. It’s usually now only one or the other. If the Cadillac had a bit more weight it would be unstoppable. As it stands now, it is still one of the top stock performers, and if you find a good one, it will put up a fight against anything Mattel has made, heavy or light.
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