Automobile Brand's Of The Past..,: 1955 Cadillac La Salle II Roadster

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

1955 Cadillac La Salle II Roadster

Cadillac La Salle II Roadster, 1955

XP34, LaSalle II roadster (special order #2220), shown at 1955 Motorama, car also currently in Joe Bortz collection, Chicago

Cadillac La Salle II Roadster, 1955

This was the companion car to the Cadillac La Salle II 4-door pillarless hardtop. The front of both cars is atypical of other Cadillac show cars of the fifties although the small fender grilles above the front bumper ends reappeared on production Cadillacs in 1957. The rear of the Cadillac La Salle II show-cars emulates that of early Chevrolet Corvette models. These two show cars were attempts by Cadillac to revive the La Salle name, which had gone out of circulation in 1941 Other similar attempts were made again in the mid-sixties, and a third time in the early seventies, when the name was proposed for what later became the compact Seville.

GM design chief Harley Earl spearheaded the 1955 Cadillac LaSalle II series concept cars for that year's GM Motorama traveling auto show.

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 Roadster, 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 Roadster, 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.

Bortz Auto Collection Archives

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.

history.gmheritagecenter.com