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18/10/2021 9:25 am
This 1955 Harley Earl designed LaSalle ll GM Motorama concept car was built in an attempt to resurrect the LaSalle marque that disappeared with the advent of WWll. The fiberglass body was, of course, another derivative of the Corvette as was the Olds F88. The design cue that survived was the side coves that graced later C-1s. Most interesting was the the experimental aluminum block, fuel injected DOHC V6 that powered this car. Unfortunately this engine with current assembly line technology being woefully inadequate, would have to be hand built and therefore prohibitively expensive. This roadster was rescued from the Warhoops Junkyard in Sterling Heights, Michigan along with 3 other GM concept cars in 1988 by Joseph E Bortz where they were tossed in the late '50s, and now resides, fully restored in his collection.
18/10/2021 1:57 pm
The first in Minichamps's series.
I have them all eleven.
Too bad they stopped producing them.
Also too bad they started giving them strange colors.
18/10/2021 2:16 pm
Great photos, but that does nothing for me. My eyes see really ugly!
John Merritt
South Lyon, Michigan - USA
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Topic starter
18/10/2021 7:01 pm
Great photos, but that does nothing for me. My eyes see really ugly!
I think of all the GM Motorama concept cars of that era, this is the ugliest of the group. I agree.
18/10/2021 7:13 pm
I have all of these in 1/43 scale. Most of the GM Motorama cars were unattractive in my opinion but I guess they were going for shock value.
21/10/2021 2:08 am
Glad they have saved several of these General Motors dream cars from the Motorama era. The designs are always intriguing and show hints and previews of some upcoming production classics !
21/10/2021 6:22 am
Many of the Motorama-era dream cars had intentionally exaggerated design cues as they were meant to get a reaction to and to test out, those particular aspects of design. Almost always, things would be "toned-down" and made production-ready should a dream design continue on with the styling/ feasible production phase.
I might imagine, using Rich's excellent images of the LaSalle II dream car, that perhaps if this one had continued on, it might have been targeted as a Cadillac-companion sports car, either a somewhat longer, more luxurious Corvette (a bit like the XLR Cadillac from more recently) or maybe a kind of 4 seater "Thunderbird-style" sports roadster possibly using some sort of "hideaway" tonneau feature for the back two seats.
It could use a boosted Cadillac V-8 engine (maybe supercharged or fuel injected or with a alcohol injection) and have a rear-drive set up, with possibly even a rear transaxle for a Hydramatic. Something that would set it apart from a Corvette (or Chevrolet would scream bloody murder) and yet also be a sports-style Cadillac companion ...... kind of a personal luxury-sports car.
Here I used Rich's side image to lengthen (maybe a bit too much ?) the LaSalle II. This was done pretty basically and obviously, by using a reversed "front clip" to achieve this. But anyway, you get the idea that maybe some of these dreamcars could be further styled and made a bit less extreme to get something that might be more widely appealing and able to make a product that could be sold or at least increase traffic into, let's say, Cadillac dealerships. If someone comes to see a LaSalle II luxury sports rocket but ultimately gets a Coupe DeVille or Series 60, the more radical offering has kind of done it's job.
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