LaSalle

LaSalle was a companion brand of luxury automobiles that General Motors built through its Cadillac division from 1927 until 1940. Alfred P. Sloan conceived it as one of four new marques, alongside Marquette, Viking and Pontiac, meant to close price gaps in the General Motors line. It sat just below Cadillac, shorter and cheaper than its parent, and was titled as a LaSalle rather than as a Cadillac. Harley Earl, who later took charge of all General Motors styling, designed the first car, which used a Cadillac V8 engine. The name echoed Cadillac's own habit of honoring a French explorer, here René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.