This 1939 LaSalle that’s being auctioned at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale circus is unusual because it has received the custom treatment, as most LaSalles tend to be restored to stock. It’s set to go across the block at 5 pm MST on January 16, 2015.
When the LaSalle brand debuted for 1927, General Motors touted it as a style leader to fill a price gap between Buick and Cadillac. Sold by Cadillac dealers through 1940, the LaSalle likely helped Cadillac survive the Great Depression without compromising Caddy’s upper-crust brand equity; in comparison, Packard’s move to the middle class with the One-Twenty is thought to have hurt the brand, a contributing factor to the dissolution of the Packard brand in 1958.
If you remember the 2001 Buick Blackhawk show car (a Buick hot rod built off a 1948 body featuring a 1939 grille and a 1970 455 Stage 1 motor), then this 1939 LaSalle “C-Hawk” Custom Hardtop Roadster should look familiar − both were designed by Steve Pasteiner and were built by his company, Advanced Automotive Technologies. “Redesigned with proportions of a modern automobile” with “a hand-crafted all-steel [body] with custom tube frame and a retractable hardtop,” this LaSalle is powered by a supercharged 556-horse LSA and 6-speed automatic transmission from the late-model Cadillac CTS-V; a custom Borla exhaust routes the expended gasses to the atmosphere. It rolls on custom billet wheels that are supported by a C4 Corvette suspension. Cadillac never made a car with hidden headlights until 1967, but this LaSalle has ’em. Inside you’ll find Dakota digital instrumentation with some Art Deco flourishes on the dashboard, air conditioning, power windows, GPS, and a custom sound system.
Upon selling the LaSalle, owner and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson will be giving the proceeds to Birdies for the Brave, a national military outreach initiative supported by the PGA Tour that is dedicated to honoring and showing appreciation to the courageous men and women of the United States Armed Forces and their families.
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