RIDE OF THE WEEK: A rare ride

by Michael Golubiewski
Production Editor

One of the final lines to the theme song from the classic television series “All in the Family” is “Gee, our old LaSalle ran great.”

Most people today may not even know what a LaSalle is. From 1927-1940, the LaSalle was a line of cars created by General Motors to fill the gap between the luxury Cadillac brand and the medium-priced Buick. With a sticker price of about $1,500, LaSalles had a reputation for being practical, reliable, affordable and functional.

Unfortunately, the cars were introduced at the start of the Great Depression. With the economic downturn, LaSalle never built up the following or customer loyalty needed to stay in business. After a run of a little more than a decade, GM finally pulled the plug on the LaSalle in 1940 as the company was gearing up for World War II. This week’s ride comes from that last year of LaSalle’s existence, a 1940 LaSalle Series 52 owned by Larry McDermott of Olyphant.

“I like having a unique car,” he says. “There aren’t too many LaSalles left around. Usually at car shows I have the only one, especially in this area.”

The 1940 LaSalle is powered by a 322 cubic inch, eight-cylinder engine that’s connected to a column shift three-speed manual transmission. It sits on a 123-inch wheelbase and is capable of producing a horsepower of around 135. McDermott says the Series 52 LaSalles were given the nickname “torpedo” because of its body style.

The Series 52 features a 45-degree sloped windshield, curved rear windows with no beltline and has a rounder and smoother body and truck than previous LaSalle models. There were nearly 25,000 LaSalles produced for 1940, with a sticker price of $1,540-$1,895. The most distinguishing exterior feature of the car is the long, narrow rounded grille with the words “LaSalle” across it in script. There are also six grooves on each side of the grille. The hubcaps feature an “LS” in a red circle in the center.

McDermott keeps the car riding on white sidewall tires.

“I have tried to keep it looking like it would have in 1940,” he says. “I take it out to car shows so that people can experience a little history. I have also been trying to research who may have owned the car before I bought it, and so far I’ve tracked it to Vermont, Illinois and Michigan.”

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