Cadillac LaSalle II

The Cadillac LaSalle II was a concept car that the Cadillac division of General Motors showed at the GM Motorama of 1955. The name recalls the LaSalle marque that Cadillac built from 1927 to 1940. There was a roadster and a four-door hardtop sedan, regarded as successors of the La Espada and Park Avenue concepts. The shape, especially of the roadster, was inspired by the new Chevrolet Corvette. Both cars had a grille of wide vertical chrome bars below the beltline, a broad contrasting crease running from the front wheel arch into the front doors, and panoramic windscreens between slim, rearward curved A-pillars. The rear doors of the sedan were hinged at the back. The V6 engine had an aluminium block, overhead camshafts and mechanical manifold fuel injection, and all wheels were independently suspended with the brake drums cast into aluminium wheels.