When Westerns ruled the American movie house in the 1920s, few stars stood taller than Buck Jones. The one-time actual working cowboy, US Army veteran, Wild West show performer, and stuntman had worked his way up the Hollywood ladder, eventually serving as the backup and body double to the legendary Tom Mix, and finally achieving his own position as one of the leading cowboy actors of his generation. His numerous films—all but one of them Westerns—cemented him in the public consciousness as the hero of young boys and role model of men.

Jones’ widow, Dell, corresponding with a later owner, recounted that her husband “was always fascinated with automobiles and even raced cars for a while at the Indianapolis Speedway…Buck had many unique automobiles and this one was custom built for him in Southern California in the early ‘30s.” Based on an apparently used 1931 Cadillac V-12 limousine, the Jones speedster was ahead of its time in many ways. Built around the cowl, windshield, and front doors of a 1928 Cadillac dual-cowl phaeton body, it incorporated a handmade streamlined radiator shell, modified 1934 Cadillac “biplane” bumpers, rounded pontoon-style fenders in an Auburn speedster vogue, and a dramatic tapered, rounded tail that carried the spare wheel between two towering tailfins. Under the hood, the Cadillac V-12 was warmed up with two Winfield downdraft carburetors on special manifolds.

Mrs. Jones attributed the car as having been designed by Harley Earl and built by his family’s Earl Coach and Body Works, but by this time the Earl firm was a thing of the past, with its scion fully employed by General Motors. It is more likely that the work was completed by another custom shop in the Los Angeles area, perhaps that of the Don Lee Cadillac dealership, which was more than capable of doing its own custom work and often did. The result was the famous cowboy’s pride and joy; he appeared with it in publicity photographs alongside Helen Twelvetrees, his co-star in 1939’s Unmarried—in one, Jones’ emblem clearly appears on one of the tailfins!

Around 1940, Jones gifted the Cadillac to Ted Corder, the actor’s longtime friend and occasional stunt double. Corder retained the car until 1947, when he sold it, with about 13,000 miles on the odometer, to 18-year-old Charles A. Wentland. Mr. Wentland drove his new toy for several years before being drafted at the start of the Korean War, at which point the car was resold through Mr. Corder to Dave Barr, owner of the Susanville, California, airport. It was then taken to Southern California, sold, and disappeared.

In the late 1980s the Cadillac reappeared, disassembled, in Minnesota. Mr. Wentland and his son, Kirk, an avid automobile collector, learned of its existence and were ecstatic to reacquire it in 1989. Restoration was begun but progressed only off and on for two decades. Eventually it was decided to pass the car to a new owner, and in February 2005 it was purchased by Jon Janofsky. Soon afterward it became one of the final automobiles to join the renowned collection of Otis Chandler in Oxnard, California. Unfortunately, Mr. Chandler passed away several months later, and the Cadillac was sold from his estate in 2006 to Lee Munder of Florida. It remained in Mr. Munder’s collection for nearly two decades. During that time it was featured in the special class, Cars of the Cowboys, at the 2015 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. Today it is presented as a nearly completed restoration, wearing primed bodywork with a cowhide interior, and awaits completion in the care of its next owner.

Few Hollywood “star cars” of the Classic Era survive, and fewer still were owned by such a recognizable figure of the period as Buck Jones, one of the kings of the cowboys—a man who in his time stood in the hearts of women and the memory of men. The same power is held by his Cadillac, a one-of-a-kind creation that to this day draws as much attention as the pop and crackle of flashbulbs.