LaSalle 1927-1940 - little brother of the Cadillac

Premium

LaSalle 1927-1940 - little brother of the Cadillac

This article was auto-translated. We apologize if some words are confusing or simply amusing. Would you like to help us improve?

Created in 2012

Text:

Roger Gloor

Photos:

Oldtimer Galerie Toffen

2

Erik Fuller - Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

2

Tommy Lee Byrd - Great Race

1

DSC_0113

1

- Courtesy RM Sotheby's

1

TedIsGraphic - Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

1

Bryan Regan - Courtesy RM Sotheby's

1

Archiv

1

10

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

LaSalle 345A Town Sedan (1931) - offered at the DolderClassics auction of the Oldtimer Galerie Toffen on June 10, 2012

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

LaSalle 345B Fisher Sport Phaeton (1932) - no price for the LaSalle Schatzmann - Pebble Beach 2012 (L1-08)

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

LaSalle 340 Five-Passenger Fleetshire Phaeton by Fleetwood (1930) - as lot 143 at the RM/Sotheby's auction in Hershey 2015

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

LaSalle 340 Seven-Passenger Fleetlands Touring by Fleetwood (1930) - as lot 182 at the RM/Sotheby's auction in Hershey 2015

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

LaSalle 345A Town Sedan (1931) - offered at the auction of the Oldtimer Gallery on April 23, 2016 in Toffen

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

LaSalle Convertible (1940) - Great Race Rally USA - June 24 to July 2, 2017

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

LaSalle Series 50 Convertible Coupe (1934) - as lot 234 at the RM/Sotheby's auction in Hershey 2017

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

LaSalle V-8 Seven-Passenger Touring (1931) - as lot 246 at the RM/Sotheby's auction in Hershey 2017

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

LaSalle V-8 Convertible Coupe (1933) - as lot 273 at the RM/Sotheby's auction in Hershey 2017

You have only

1 out of 10

images seen in high resolution

Summary

There were around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of them have disappeared. LaSalle, which once belonged to General Motors, is one of these vanished brands. Initially still frequently produced and sold, a low quickly followed and even after a restart, interest from buyers waned at some point. The brand simply lacked the prestige of its competitor Packard and that of its big brother Cadillac.

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Because Alfred P. Sloan Jr., the top boss of General Motors, saw a gap between Buick and Cadillac, he created LaSalle as another corporate brand in 1927, after the name of the French explorer and Mississippi explorer; after all, Cadillac and Chevrolet also had French-language names. As the Cadillac's smaller brother, LaSalle was intended to be somewhat less conservative. The design came from Harley Earl, who was then hired as head of the newly created GM Art and Color department, probably the first design studio in the automotive industry to be separated from the development department. Initially, the LaSalle cars, built to Cadillac quality standards, were technical and stylistic pacesetters for GM's top brand. However, the initially brilliant success of the new brand was a flash in the pan, and with the crisis of the early 1930s, annual sales fell from 15,000 to 23,000 to just 3,500 units.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

Continue reading this article for free?

Images of this article

Source: