Cadillac La Salle II Hardtop Sedan, 1955
XP32, LaSalle II sedan (special order #2217) shown at 1955 Motorama [currently in the Joe Bortz collection, Chicago].
Cadillac La Salle II Hardtop Sedan, 1955
This was the companion car to the La Salle II roadster.
It was loaded with futuristic, practical items including a light,
aluminum, fuel-injected, double OHC V-6 engine, independent rear
suspension, brake drums cast directly in alloy wheels. Photo McC p.310.
Noteworthy on this sedan is the so-called dog-leg "A" pillar and the
compound-curve windshield extending far up into the roof area. The
latter was featured again on the production Cadillac Eldorado Brougham
models for 1959.
Cadillac La Salle II Hardtop Sedan, 1955
In 1955, Harley Earl’s Art and Color Section created two Cadillac
LaSalle II dream cars for display in the 1955 GM Motorama shows. One was
a small four-door hardtop sedan. The other was a two-seat convertible
roadster. Compact V6 experimental aluminum engines powered both. Both
LaSalles had 1940’s style vertical grille openings, Dagmar bumper guards
and the LaS insignia as used in the marques' early years.
Cadillac La Salle II Hardtop Sedan, 1955
The hardtop sedan had rear-hinged back doors with seating for six
despite a compact 108-inch wheelbase. Overall length was just
180-inches, height a mere 50-inches. The lowness was partly achieved
with 13-inch tires. Other features included unit construction, a big
compound-curve windshield, concave body side ellipses and semi-exposed
rear wheels.
Cadillac La Salle II Hardtop Sedan, 1955
The other LaSalle II, the two-seat roadster convertible, had a
fiberglass body with concave body side panels behind the front wheel
openings. It was extremely short with a chopped-off rear end with fully
opened rear fenders. Chassis side rails housed the exhaust pipes, which
exited just ahead of the back wheels.
Cadillac La Salle II Hardtop Sedan, 1955 - on display at the Waldorf Astoria
Both LaSalle II’s were strictly for show and never intended for
showrooms. Sent to the crusher, both the four-door hardtop and roadster
were instead hidden in the back corner of a salvage yard and were
acquired ca. 1990 by a Chicago area nightclub owner, Joe Bortz, who has
made a significant investment in restoring GM Motorama cars.
If
the 1955 LaSalle II concept car roadster evoked the Corvette, the
LaSalle II hardtop sedan concept, pictured here, epitomized sporting
elegance.
Source: General Motors Archive
