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Those WERE the Days!Affordable elegance of yesteryear can still make a girl purr today.
by Hot Rod Kitten Lisa (reviewing cars from days gone by)
Archie:
Boy the way Glenn Miller played, Edith: …and you knew who you were then, I can remember signing these lyrics from the TV show All in the Family at
the top of my lungs as we drove to school – it’s a wonder my mother had any hair
left after those early morning sing-alongs that must have made her want to rip
it out from the roots. I vaguely knew who Glenn Miller was, I knew Herbert
Hoover had been President, but what the heck was a LaSalle?
The LaSalle was introduced by General Motors in 1927 but disappeared from
GM’s line up by 1940. Alfred P. Sloan, who was the CEO of GM had a plan –
he was pretty much the original “What’s it going to take to put you in this
car…” guy. His plan had a car for every step of the American car-buying
income ladder. The Chevrolet was a starter car, then you moved up the
ladder into an Oakland (eventually Pontiac), then an Oldsmobile, a Buick, and
ultimately a Cadillac. Sloan’s price and prestige ladder kept American
families in the GM line cars--except that Packard had found the chink in Sloan’s
armor. Now mind you the price of a top of line Buick was about $1,925 and
entry level Cadillac was $3,195 – but that was a pretty big leap for families to
make, especially when you consider that most car installment plans were 18
months (not those 72 month, drawn out, blood-letting sessions we now have.)
Those pesky Packards snuck right into that Buick-Cadillac gap with a smaller and
more affordable car, and Buick owners were jumping ship by the carloads for
Packards.
The LaSalle made its debut on March 5, 1927 with a $2,685 price tag – just
$100 more than a similar Packard. In road tests on GM’s proving track with
“Big Bill” Rader and Gus Bell, the new V-8 design under the LaSalle’s hood
clocked in speeds around 95.2 mph, just a few miles per hour under the winning
time of 97.5 mph at that year’s Indy 500 race. The LaSalle saved the day when it came to giving GM customers a new place in
the luxury line up. They actually set the stage for a smaller yet elegant
car for the upwardly mobile family.
By 1940, Cadillac introduced its Series 61 model and that brought the high
prestige Cadillac closer to the budgets of more American family households, but
sadly, it spelled the end for the LaSalle. By 1941, the LaSalle only made
it to the design boards and never to the production line. Interestingly,
the Cadillac Seville so popular in the 1970s as a new, small luxury sedan was
almost called a LaSalle too – a tip of the hat to the car that “ran great” in
“those days.” Take a look at today’s Cadillacs at
Cadillac.com and see if you can still spot some of Harley Earl’s
sophisticated lines in their designs. Good taste never goes out of style! On a personal note, I wish my grandpa was still around; he used to drive
Cadillacs to Los Angeles and up to Fresno for GM, he was even hired to be a
driver for some wealthy older women who wanted to tour (show off) in their
Cadillacs around California. I spent days upon days of my childhood in the
backseat of his big Cadillac Coupe de Ville in the early ‘70s. I wonder what he
thought of the LaSalle? I know I like ‘em! The Female Factor: This car is like a velvet pillow for an elegant
discerning kitten!
Photos taken at Downshifters of Brooklyn Car Show – March 27, 2010 1939 LaSalle, Model 5019, Owned by Stephen P. Boyd |
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Well, 30 plus years later
and I’m purring now that I’ve met a LaSalle up close and personal. After
finding out a bit more about the LaSalle’s history, I’d really like to snuggle
up in one!
To close the gap, Sloan and
his President/General Manager Lawrence P. Fisher decided to launch a companion
to the Cadillac (named for a French explorer) with the moniker of LaSalle (one
of Cadillac’s explorer pals). They traveled out to California to meet Don
Lee, who was developing quite a side business customizing Cadillacs with the
help of his stylist, Harley Earl. Unlike the cookie cutter Fords rolling
off the line, GM was giving buyers lots of options; so Sloan and Fisher wanted
to find out what consumers wanted so he could tool the line properly. And
this Earl kid really seemed to have an eye!
Then the Depression hit.
During those dark years, the LaSalle was retooled to be more like the Buick and
less like the Cadillac, but Earl still kept the lines elegant. The 1939
LaSalle returned more to the Cadillac styling and GM even offered a sunroof in
the final year of production.