In the late 1920s, companion cars were all the rage at General Motors.  Buick had Marquette, Oldsmobile offered Viking, Oakland featured Pontiac and Cadillac, the stylish LaSalle. By 1932, both Marquette and Viking had been dropped; Oakland, too, was usurped by its understudy Pontiac. Inside GM, there was talk of dropping LaSalle which bothered Harley Earl tremendously. LaSalle was after all, his baby. The struggling early Thirties economy made it a tough go for automobiles, especially upstarts like LaSalle. 

Harley Earl’s solution was to present the LaSalle as an all-new car for 1934. Styled by Julio Andrade under the tutelage of Earl, the new styling was nothing short of sensational. The LaSalle was priced $1,000 less than the least expensive Cadillac in order to compete for buyers in the upper-medium price range. Styling was streamlined featuring unique bi-plane bumpers that were used only for 1934. Bendix hydraulic brakes were Cadillac’s first use of the new technology and were exclusive to LaSalles for 1934. A new 240-c.i.d. 9-h.p. L-head straight-eight shared much of its componentry with Oldsmobile. The fact that all LaSalles were legitimately assembled by the craftsman at GM’s Fleetwood body works certainly added to the cachet. The division sold 7,218 cars for the year, more than doubling that of the previous year. 

• YEAR & MAKE - 1934 LaSalle
• SERIES - 50
• MODEL/BODY/STYLE NUMBER - 6335
• BODY TYPE - 2-Door 2/4 Passenger Convertible Coupe 
• BODY BY - Fleetwood
• # CYLS. - l-Head In-Line 8 Cylinder
• TRANSMISSION TYPE & NUMBER - 3-Speed Synchromesh Single Plate Dry Disc Clutch
• WEIGHT -  3,780 lbs
• ESTIMATED PRODUCTION - 600
• HP - 95
• C.I.D. - 240.3
• WHEELBASE - 119″
• PRICE NEW - $1,695