Lasalle II's at the Petersen Museum

[TJ Hopland]

This just popped up in my 'you may also like' videos on the old you tube,  Its a video about the Lasalle II concept cars from the 50's which have survived and are apparently now on display at the Petersen Museum.  Seemed like a decently done video with some history and back story.  Thought it was well done and interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVnMoESV8EY


How many knew about these cars?  I had no idea they existed or any of the story about what the concept could have been in the GM family.  The brake drum hub idea did go into production on some Pontiacs in the 60's and as noted some of the styling ended up on the C2? Vettes. They also mentioned independent suspension which also made it to the C3?  Vettes in 63 I think.

It would have been pretty interesting if the Lasalle came back anything like those concepts.  A luxury version of a Corvette?   Not sure what to think of the 4 door other than did anyone ever end up building anything like it.   

How about that engine?  Anyone ever hear about that before or anything like it?  It sounded pretty ambitious for the time.  Was anyone doing anything similar at the time for automobiles?  I think there was some aircraft stuff that complicated.   Did they just scale that back and that was the aluminum V8 from the early 60's?

Lots of other interesting things I'm sure others picked up in the video or from other sources that we could talk about here. 

[James Landi]

 T.J.

Thanks for posting this video... the gentleman's narrative, though speculative at times, is engaging.  I think his contention that GM was building on WINGS is likely true... the styling of the Seville 2 would create a distinct departure from the wing stacking that was on the brink of flight in '55.  Certainly wish they had built those cars, they are still attractive today.   James

[Tom Boehm]

There has been a number of stories in the Self Starter about these cars over the last 20+ years.

The owner of these cars, Joe Bortz, was awarded the "Lasalle Discovery Award" by the Cadillac and Lasalle Club in 2013. The club gives this award occasionally to people who preserve the legacy of the Lasalle car brand. In the case of Joe Bortz the name of the award is particularly appropriate.

I always wondered how much he paid the owner of the junkyard for these cars. How do you arrive at a price for something that there is no comparable but is also incomplete and in pieces?