Preserving A LaSalle
Contributed by Cher and Jack Gallagher
Background
The LaSalle by Cadillac was manufactured from 1927 to 1940 and was designed by the legendary Harley Earl, who brought a first to Cadillac design – Style! The car and it’s place in the product line history of Cadillac was the brain child of Alfred Sloan, the Chairman of General Motors. His primary purpose was to offer a competitively priced alternative primarily to compete with Pontiac, Oakland and Chevrolet. But LaSalle was still a Cadillac product, and over it’s fourteen year run, 205,179 were built with 23,028 being in 1939. The car weighs in at 3,635 pounds with a 322 cu in L-head V-8 cast iron block and cylinder head. And LaSalle was all Cadillac in its design and components without the Cadillac price.
History: 1939 LaSalle Series 50 Touring Sedan
The original owner from the Corning New York area remains undiscovered. The second owner was a Robert Shay, the owner of Shay Oil Company in Penn Yan, New York. Those two owners had the car up to 1981 or the first forty-two years. Steven Crouse and his wife Peggy, also of Penn Yan, purchased the car and very shortly moved to Arlington, Virginia, and brought the LaSalle Series 50 Touring Sedan with them.
Fast forward to May of 1997 when Vern Parker, the Automotive Editor of the Washington Times who was researching an antique Ford in Arlington, stuck up a conversation with a neighbor who identified that a few blocks up the street there was another antique car garaged. No one answered the doorbell, but Vern, looking through the garage window identified the car under the cover as a LaSalle. Vern returned several times and finally caught up to Mr. Crouse, who at the time, was sitting at his dinning room table writing an ad to sell the car. An immediate down payment to hold the car was tendered, and a few days later the sale was completed.
In 1984 Vern joined the Washington Times, and over Vern’s thirty-two year career he wrote about the automotive industry. In May of 1988 his every Friday “Out of the Past” article highlighting an antique car, at least twenty years old, appeared. When Vern finally retired and the last article was published in September of 2013, Vern had authored over one thousand antique car stories. His annual “Out of the Past Revue Car Show” was only for cars that were the subject of a Vern story, regardless of who now may own the car.
Fast forward again to May of 2023, Vern was downsizing and moving into his daughter’s home to accommodate some health issues. The LaSalle had to be relocated as his home was about to be sold. The LaSalle had not moved or been started in more than five years. Vern reached out for help, and one thing lead to another, and that’s how Cher and I entered the chain of ownership.
Since we have acquired the ‘39 LaSalle, the engine has been rebuilt with fresh pistons, lifters and valves. New tires were mounted and more than a few hours have been spent detailing both the original interior and the once only Marblehead Gray painted exterior. Even the undercarriage has been cleaned and painted.
Next up for the LaSalle will be the 2025 AACA Show in Hershey and of course, Rockville, both in October. One of the pleasures of showing The LaSalle is talking to people who have never heard of LaSalle and where unaware that Cadillac had a secondary brand for fourteen years.
