And now for another installment of “What in the Sam Hill happened here”? Today’s subject (or target) is a 1938 LaSalle “convertible coupe” and it reminds me of the old “Those Were the Days” song as sung by Archie and Edith Bunker (All in the Family) with the lyric, “Gee our old LaSalle ran great“. I think it has been a while since that was the case with this car and the seller admits that it needs a complete restoration. Considered to be rare, this Cadillac by-product is resting in Scottsville, Kentucky where is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $2,025 with fifteen bids tendered so far.
LaSalle’s life span was relatively short having been produced by GM’s Cadillac division, a sort of understudy, between 1927 and 1940. Besides this convertible coupe, LaSalle offered a four-door convertible sedan, a five-passenger coupe (two-door sedan), and a two-seater steel roof coupe. LaSalle’s total production barely reached 14K units in ’38 with the convertible coupe only managing 819 copies – I’d call that rare. The problem is that this baby’s missing a lot of parts and although the seller states, “We have the front seat and rear rumble seat, bumpers, brackets, and several other parts to go with car“, I imagine there’s still a whole lot of stuff missing. The seller says it best, “Car is rough“.
One interesting facet of this LaSalle is its 125 HP, 322 CI, flathead V8 engine. It’s a Cadillac unit but our subject car’s engine appears to be missing a lot of necessary parts and probably hasn’t run in at least a generation – if not longer. It would be good to know if this V8 will turn over by hand but mums the word on that front. A three-on-the-tree manual transmission is responsible for the rear wheel hook-up.
I’d like to tell you a bit about the interior but it’s so dilapidated and loaded with detritus it’s hard to make heads or tails out of it. There’s a steering wheel and a speedo with gauges but that’s about it. It appears that the folding top frame is still attached but its condition is unknown.
The listing doesn’t elaborate but this LaSalle looks like the result of an attempted redo from years past, one where the redoer just gave up and let it sit for an indeterminate amount of time. It’s a shame really as this is a special marque and a reminder of a time when GM’s Alfred Sloan developed his classic market segmentation that supported and continued to develop GM into the auto colossus that it once was. Though we can’t, and shouldn’t, live in the past, it’s nice to be reminded of it from time to time. I have some doubts, however, that this LaSalle convertible coupe will ever return to its one-time state of grandeur. Anyone up for a major project?
“Option #3, Monty”
VERY cool body style! Gotta be RICH to restore. Maybe paint it flat black and rat rod it (cheaper alternative) …LS it?
Definitely a hot rod. Is that a Ford flathead v8? Personally I don’t know the difference. I do have a friend who had one in their 1950 Ford pickup truck that was a 400 horsepower motor and it was really nice. I think I’d have to leave the Flathead in it. Turn it into an old hot rod. I think it would be cool and cost-effective.
Yes but only a 12 bolts on the head noth the 24 bolts which every one wants
Cadillac cast into the head in the engine picture
392 ol skool HEMI n a 5 speed
That would be even Better than the ford flathead.KUDO’S St. Michael. Great idea
500 Caddy and a T-400 tranny mated
to a ’70s or ’80s Buick wagon rear. Most of these were 12-bolt types, but
a posi is what you want under a beast
like this. A Fat Man front clip with
power rack and pinion steering would
be just the ticket up front along with
a really good set of discs up front to
bring everything to a screeching halt
if needed. Any good fabrication shop
could whip up a good set of chrome
and stainless parts for the dashboard
provided that you have some detailed
photos of an original car to go by. The same can be said for the top bows and rumble seat hardware too.
Hardest things to find would be a set
of headlight buckets and all the stuff
that goes with them. Being and old
school hot rodder, that’s the way I’d do it if I had the time and money to
do it. All I can do now is to teach
some young people how to to do it–
provided they’ll get their hands dirty
on something like this.
Kenneth Carney, Thats almost exactly how I’d build this La Salle, but I’d go with an EFI for that 500″ Caddy & add a built Overdrive Automatic and a 9″ ford rear and add every convenience item along with a 10′ deep Black paint job & a Black leather interior by Gabe along with a Black Haartz convertible top ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I can dream !
These a definitely cool old cars. I was fortunate to get a 39 Series 61 coupe convertible Cadillac out of my friends barn for Christmas, it drove to where it was parked. Can’t wait to get it back on the road.
Does it have spares on each fender had one 60 yrs ago.do you have any pictures.
Drop a CTS V in it, that would be sweet!
Or a CVT!
Sounds like the way to go to me. Get it running, driving on the road. Than what ever money left in the budget add what you want.
I remember from some hot rod guys in the 60’s that the LaSalle transmission was the way to go, but never really got any real info on why it was better than others.
Gear ratio. Could run up speed before shifting.
Sounds like the way to go to me. Get it running, driving on the road. Than what ever money left in the budget add what you want.
Strength.
Whatever you do to it, better bring loads of $$$$$!!!
Beautiful.
Built in an Era when cars were rolling art, not rolling toasters.
I say go full on Duesenburg with a Dodge 3500 v10 , take off anything original and get some big pipe action! Nice
Don’t butcher the ol gal…never be worth the money you’d have in it but what a magnificent automobile it’d be
Beautiful lines……with enough money you could build a beautiful piece of rolling art…….with enough money.
Too bad as a society we’ve lost the automobile aesthetics of past generations.
Anything done will be a labor of love. If enough parts are there or available, maybe finding a parts car, I’d restore it. If not, I would try for a semi restomod. Put in a built Cadillac flathead, keep the 3 on the tree (or automatic if you choose to) . Convert to 12 volts, disc brakes all around, and suspension upgrades. Try to make it look as original as possible, with a nice paint job and adapting similar period parts to replace those not available. Then have fun driving it. I think a rat rod would be the worst choice since the car seems to be in pretty decent shape.
As rare as those cars are it would be worth restoring. Looks like a long time job unless you want to pay for the work but all inall you would have a very rare car. Parts may not be a scarce as you think. The Cadillac shared a lot of things including some trim items but it will take time to locate what’s needed. I see a really good start to building a nice convertible worth a bunch of bucks.
I’ve seen several LaSalles at Hershey- probably could find a parts car.
Seller has awful pictures for a rare car.
Such a rare car like this should be restored. Especially a convertible. I don’t see the logic with all the high performance talk. In stock condition this car easily cruises at 70-80, has great brakes and steering, there’s no reason to modify, unless you have to have A/C. Who needs A/C in a convertible?
Restore to original anything else would be commiting a sin!
Not really. It will be cool anyway it is built.