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Prewar - Lasalle vs Cadillac

Started by joeceretti, October 22, 2013, 08:08:00 AM

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joeceretti

This may be a naive question but, why do I get the impression that the Lasalles are more desirable than the Cadillacs?


The Tassie Devil(le)

I think the LaSalles were nicer looking, and from what I understand from listening to others, Cadillac dropped the LaSalle line because it was starting to outsell the Cadillac.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Dan LeBlanc

I'd have to agree with Art and Bruce.

Although I've got my hands full with my Fleetwood and my Chevy, LaSalles are some mighty attractive and comfortable cars.  I'd like to own one someday as I thought their styling had just a bit of an upper hand over the Cadillacs of the day.
Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

Barry M Wheeler #2189

Yesterday, Bill Hedge and I got a ten minute ride in the hills on the outside of La Porte, IN, in Lar's Kneller's 1941 Series 61 coupe. I haven't been in the front seat of a '41 (that is moving) for years, and it felt great. If you want to know why LaSalle is no more, go over this car carefully.

Packard was Cadillac's biggest competitor. "Ask the man who owns one." Yeah, ask about why the cheapest Packard is a six, with stamped grill parts. If you want an eight, you can pay a little more, but it still has materials of lesser quality that the 180.

Now enter the Series 61 Cadillac. It has the same grill as the Series 75. Same wheel covers. Same skirts, SAME engine. It is a CADILLAC, all the way through. And it was priced less than $1400. You couldn't even get in the door to see one. All of a sudden, those stylish LaSalles on the used car lot were, well, used cars.

For some reason, when I was growing up in the 40s, people did not realize that Harley Earl was genius enough, to style GM cars so they simply couldn't "see" that that "big" Pontiac or Olds 98 had the same doors as that Cadillac 61. That those myriads of Buick Specials and Centuries might look a little like that Cadillac from the left rear. Naww!!

He had built brand loyalty to the public so well that owners would swear on a stack of bibles that their car was unique all the way around. More room, more power, more everything. And to those loyal LaSalle owners, that couldn't get a new one now. "You'll have to be satisfied with a new Cadillac,  I daresay they didn't take long to make the switch.

When they could buy a LaSalle, it WAS a great bargain. But that new '41 Cadillac was an even greater bargain.
Barry M. Wheeler #2189


1981 Cadillac Seville
1991 Cadillac Seville

gary griffin


Just a little input here. According to the book "LaSalle, Cadillac's Companion Car here are a few statistics.

During the 14 years that LaSalle was produced they sold 205,241  VS Cadillac's  205,315 .

Initially they sold about 1/3 of the number of Cadillacs but the depression in 1929 reversed the trend and LaSalle sold 22,961  Vs 19,004 by Cadillac.

From 1933 to 1940 LaSalle outsold Cadillac every year.  There were various reasons of course, LaSalle had more styling changes and appealed to the younger set than Cadillac and cost a little less and were less ostentatious for those not wanting to show their success for various reasons but still wanted the reliability and comfort of  a Cadillac.

When I was young every good hot rod had a LaSalle transmission because they were considered bullet proof.
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

joeceretti

#5
It seems to me that Packard was an influence on all of this. They felt a need, and I think a valid one at that, to compete and try to kill Packard. When Packard was gone, the Lasalle was no longer needed. It only served, at that point, to cut into the Cadillac profits. The corporate decision seems clear, Lasalle has to go.

But all that doesn't answer the question as to why there is a fondness for Lasalle in some members above the feeling one gets for the Cadillac.

I love my Sixty Special, with all it's quirks and difficult to get parts. I am sure I would enjoy a Lasalle just the same. Just not sure if I would love it more.

Today I installed my newly restored generator and my newly restored fuel pump. They are both beautiful. Then I took it for a test drive and it started to stall and run rough. THE CARB! It's leaking out a seal. It's a Carter WDO and should be a Stromberg AAV-26.

I haven't been able to find one. I am loath to rebuild the Carter, even though it is a very good carb, because it is not the carb that belongs.

Anyone have an AAV-26 laying around unused they want to sell me so I can have it rebuilt? This Carter belongs on a Lasalle, not a Cadillac. (That's a joke)


EDIT: I made a mistake. It's supposed to be an AAV-25.

tozerco

I stopped counting at eight on ebay right now....
John Tozer
#7946

'37 7513
'37 7533

Barry M Wheeler #2189

Art. I know you and the other Lassie owners are right. That feeling is there for many. I was gassing up the 41-6719F once, and the owner said, "Now if you had a LaSalle, you'd really have something, right? And I was pouring gas in a car that they only made 95 of... But, sorry to say, I've never felt "that" way about a LaSalle. It's just the lower priced car to me, and that's that.

It's probably just me, as I've also "hated" 1959s from the first instant I saw one at the Indy auto show. I don't think I hardly glanced at that nice row of them in Boston at all.
Barry M. Wheeler #2189


1981 Cadillac Seville
1991 Cadillac Seville

Brian Laurance

#8
Quote from: gary griffin on October 23, 2013, 10:59:43 AM
Joe

   Packard was part of the equation but it outlasted LaSalle by 16 years (Plus the Packabaker years when it was joined with Studebaker as they both went down the drain).

   Henry Leland started the Cadillac company from scratch (He had precision machine shop) and he was a provider of engines for Ransom Olds, Oldsmobiles before he produced the first Cadillac. As Cadillac progressed He was enticed to join Billy Durants concoction called General Motors (Another long story) which turned out to be not so good for him (Short Version) so he started the Packard company. Both were founded on the principle of great cars through great engineering and were both initially successful for many years but since Packard was a stand alone company they tried to cover too much of the market by lowering prices by making an array of models. Leland was a genius of precision engineering and his Oldsmobile engines had 26% higher than those built by others for Oldsmobile due to the high quality he demanded.   Both cars were very high quality for their times and the  "Ask the man who owns one"  Packard slogan is still considered one of the greatest advertising slogans of all time.

Henry Leland launched the Lincoln automobile -- not Packard -- after he left Cadillac.  The Packard automobile actually dated from 1899, and the company was started by James Ward Packard and William Doud Packard.

Among the explanations I've read for the decision to eliminate the LaSalle brand is that the price gap between Buick and Cadillac was narrowing in the late-1930's and early-1940's.  Under the leadership of Harlow Curtice, Buick's Series 80 Roadmaster and Series 90 Limited models were moving up-market, and Buick's effort to team with the Brunn Co. for a custom body program was perceived as a threat to Cadillac's stature at the top of the GM ladder.  By the 1941 models, Buick's compound carbureted OHV straight-8's vied with Packard for the top horsepower rating in the industry.  Legend has it that Cadillac began complaining bitterly to top GM management, forcing Buick to terminate its custom body ambitions.  Even so, Buick's standard catalog included massive convertible sedans, as well as formal sedans with divider glass in the Series 80 and 90 cars and limousines in the Series 90.  The fact is that the LaSalle was becoming increasingly squeezed between the high-end Buicks and the lower-end Cadillacs.

gary griffin

#9
Thanks Brian,

   I know that you are absolutely correct and that I made a gross error on this one. I am removing it to avoid confusion as I was obviously confused. Mixed up the stories and I am sorry.
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

Tito Sobrinho

Brian is right.

"Red" Curtice besides looking at Brunn, he was looking also at the European Coachbuilders for Buick's custom bodies. It was a no, no for the Cadillac management
From the book ..."The Classic Era" by Beverly R. Kimes

The Packard 6 (110) had stamped louvers but not the grille that was the same as the 8 (120). The 6 salved the company
From the book...Packard- "A History of the Motor Car and the Company"
Tito S.

1949 CCP 6267X  (First Series)

Thanks to Frank Hershey for its design and thanks to Harry Barr, Ed Cole, John Gordon and Byron Ellis for its engine.