For Sale: 1938 Lasalle 4dr Touring Sedan - $22,300 - Waldoboro, ME - Not Mine

[58L-Y8]

For Sale: 1938 Lasalle 4dr Touring Sedan - $22,300 - Waldoboro, ME

1938 cadillac lasalle for sale by owner - Nobleboro, ME - craigslist
Seller's Description:

The Cadillac of Cadillacs. For the true car collector, I have a very rare 1938 Cadillac Lasalle Touring Sedan. Original flat head V8 with three speed manual transmission. Nice solid car with no rot. Was painted many years ago so scratches and chips are there from normal use. Still presents very well. Mostly new interior including carpet, headliner, seat covers and door panels. The car runs very nice and quiet. Perfect for parades and a great conversation piece. Can deliver. Price is fair and firm.
Contact: Text Scott (207) 3-eighty-6-two-8-3
Copy and paste in your email: 3e04893a736a36ac9d990402ce842ed2@sale.craigslist.org

I have no personal interest or stake in the eventual sale of this 1938 Lasalle 4dr Touring Sedan.

[neil morse]

"The Cadillac of Cadillacs!"  Only one problem with that statement -- it isn't a Cadillac.  But it looks like a nice car in good shape.

[wayne sheldon]

Yeah, "The Cadillac of Cadillacs" is a LaSalle? I don't think so! Some people seem to have a driven need to openly and widely display their ignorance.

 

Nice looking LaSalle however.

[58L-Y8]

When I read "The Cadillac of Cadillacs" I burst out loud laughing!  Quite the choice hyperbolic statement to promote a car clearly identified and titled as a LaSalle.  Well, LaSalle was Cadillac's Companion Car...maybe they should have called it Cadillac's "Sidekick" Car...

[suchan]

We should keep in mind that LaSalle regularly outsold Cadillac, and the Cadillac division understandably wasn't shy about advertising LaSalle as a product of theirs.

Agree that "Cadillac of Cadillacs" is a little much, though.

1938 was the year that LaSalle lost some of its distinctiveness and was made to look more like a "real" Cadillac.

The trend was reversed in 1939.

Looks like a nice driver, although the seat upholstery is suspect and the door panels are a little rough.

'38's aren't particularly rare nowadays, although production numbers were way down from the record 1937 year.

Considering the current trend for prewar sedans, maybe $15K?

[Leif in Calif]

1 hour ago, suchan said:

We should keep in mind that LaSalle regularly outsold Cadillac,

And then they killed it off...a cherished old GM custom. 

[cjmarzoli]

Like calling a Toyota Yaris "The Lexus of Lexuses"!  (or is it Lexi?)  Price may be firm, but is it fair?   I believe it is well above market value.

[58L-Y8]

58 minutes ago, Leif in Calif said:

And then they killed it off...a cherished old GM custom. 

By 1940 LaSalle had served its purpose for Cadillac.  It had enabled the division to test whether the upper medium-priced/entry-luxury segment would support smaller, lighter, owner-driven cars sharing commonality with lower-priced makes and in profitable volumes, all without sullying Cadillac prestige.  Once the concept was proven, establishing an actual Cadillac model in the 1936 Series 60 allowed Cadillac to insidiously develop a lucrative new clientele.  Then, pushing LaSalle down in price to the compete more directly with Packard 120 and other medium-priced contenders to generate volume near-term for their dealers.

With Harlow Curtice spearheading a revived, ascendent Buick, GM's stellar upper-medium-priced nameplate, LaSalle was effectively challenging Buick Century Series 60.  Whatever Harlow Curtice wanted; Alfred Sloan pretty much greenlighted. Curtice saw the opportunity to realign a Roadmaster series in the $1,350-$1,500 slot in the new Fisher Torpedo C-bodies becoming the 1940 Roadmaster Series 70.  Cadillac had seen their volumes increase with the Series 61 and 60 Special, LaSalle was becoming more superfluous as dealerships were dual franchised with Oldsmobile which would also get an upmarket Torpedo C-Body Model 90 for 1940.  The expense of developing and promoting a 'lesser' Cadillac under a separate nameplate made little continuing sense.   A simple name change from LaSalle to Series 61 for 1941 accomplished the task, allowed Cadillac to claim the volume luxury car crown from Packard and build on that momentum postwar. 
 

[wayne sheldon]

6 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

By 1940 LaSalle had served its purpose for Cadillac.  It

Very good and informative writeup! Thank you.

[pmhowe]

I had an example of this particular 1938 model when I was in college. I purchased it for $150.  My only major (to me) repair was to replace the voltage regulator, which failed the day I bought the car.

 

It was a fun car to drive. It was a delight to drive in summer. I found that the dual sidemounts made it awkward to work on the engine. In winter, even without snow tires, but with good bias ply tires, it handled well in snow. This was in central Massachusetts. The lights, that were pre-sealed beam, were quite good, with a high beam, a low beam, and a passing beam.

 

I miss that car. Super cool car salesman that I was I ended up selling the car for $175 and felt good about it. At that time, those model LaSalles were not particularly sought after as cars, although hotrodders coveted the transmissions for some reason. I took the money and bought a 1929 Pierce Arrow Club Berline sedan. It needed work, but I loved it.