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LaSalle: Modern Styling, Power and Grace
When General Motors gave Harley Earl the freedom to create a vehicle that fit in between the Cadillac and Buick lines, his new design philosophy went straight to developing what is now known as Modern Styling. Rather than a downsized or junior Cadillac, the LaSalle, named for a French explorer, was going to be an agile and stylish companion marque. Harley made certain that the LaSalle brand would be a sportier luxury division, and accomplished that by designing a distinctive thin radiator shell, a smaller body size, and by fitting it with a bigger V-8. With a continued evolution of combining design and power with grace, a LaSalle (convertible) was again selected as the Indy Pace Car for 1937, repeating a LaSalle Indy pace car debut in 1934.
70 years later, exploring a vintage car parts and vehicle business in Niles Canyon, Johnny Konce discovered a '37 LaSalle Coupe that captured his attention, and brought it to his San Jose shop, Kool Cat Kustoms (www.koolcatkustoms.com). A Berlin customer was contacted, immediately liked and purchased the vehicle, with his instructions for the project: "Do whatever."
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23: Citric Acid
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