In
1955, Harley Earl's Art & Colour Section created two Cadillac
LaSalle II dream cars for display in their GM Motorama shows.
The Motoramas of the 1950s were showcases of technical and styling
innovations which toured large cities of North America. Visitors
were given a glimpse of future automobiles, whilst being entertained
by orchestras and dance performances. The LaSalle II four-door
hardtop sedan, featured centre-opening doors similar to those
seen on Eldorado Brougham's of 1957-58 and Corvette-like side
scallops. The LaSalle hardtop rode on a compact 108inch wheelbase,
measured 180 inches long, and stood just 50 inches high, but
still managed to accommodate six. GM described this as "a new
concept in passenger sedan styling, directed to recapture the
distinctive exclusiveness and high quality craftsmanship of
the original LaSalle." Most onlookers thought the Buck Rogers
styling ridiculous. The uni-body construction methods did prove
predictive. The sills served as main structural members and
housed exhaust components. The LaSalle II Roadster was similar
in design but featured unusual open rear wheels. Both LaSalle's
wore 1940 style vertical grille openings, Dagmar bumper guards
and the 'LaS' insignia as used in the marques early years. Interestingly,
these cars were the inspiration for the front end design of
the 1957 Plymouth, when Hal Pilky (Plymouth chief designer)
went to the New York auto show and saw the roll-under LaSalle
II grille and decided that was what he wanted on the Plymouths.
It was thought that both of the LaSalle II's were sent to the
crusher, but the roadster survived, hidden in the back corner
of Warhoops Salvage Yard and was acquired in the 1990s by Joe
Bortz, a Chicago area nightclub owner who has made a significant
investment in restoring concept cars.
Text by Peter Grist
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External
review by Philip Francis
I was the design engineer of this car's engine. A point of interest
in this design was the placement of the valves and chamber shape.
This system was used in the mystery engine of 1963 which was
a sensation at Daytona that year. The valve geometry has been
used in the big block engine since 1965 and has been dubbed
"porcupine".
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