Home General Asylum

General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

'55 Cadillac LaSalle




The LaSalle Roadster II is a concept car developed by General Motors. During the mid '50s, some GM executives decided to revive the LaSalle nameplate which was a sister brand to Cadillac. GM design chief Harley Earl was delighted with the idea and instructed his crew at the Art & Colour Section to come up with two different concepts.

One was a small roadster that was introduced alongside a six-passenger sports coupe. Both vehicles were named LaSalle II to signify the reemergence of the brand. Buck Rogers handled the styling of the new LaSalles and he used some bold design cues, together with some features from LaSalle's production cars.

The concept was officially unveiled at the 1955 GM Motorama. Some of the car's peculiar traits included a vertical slatted grille, side exhaust, open rear wheels, and floating Dagmar bumperettes. None of these features were worthy of production, but they helped in distinguishing the LaSalle from the car it borrowed a lot from - the Corvette.

GM engineers devised a unibody construction that depended on strength provided by the side sills of the chassis. These helped in containing the exhaust which likely easily overheated the cabin, particularly in the coupe. Sadly, GM installed fake V6 engines with a concept valve train which included dual overhead camshafts.









This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
  • '55 Cadillac LaSalle - Green Lantern 19:23:11 12/13/16 (0)

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.