Description
Walkaround video: Click here In April 1921, a special committee chaired by Alfred P. Sloan, Vice-President of General Motors, studied the possibility of filling existing market gaps between the group's different divisions. There was thus a potential market between Chevrolet and Oakland, and another between Buick and Cadillac. The solution adopted to attract customers was for two of its divisions to manufacture a range derived from their products sold at lower prices. In 1926, Oakland created the "sister brand" Pontiac and in 1927, Cadillac launched LaSalle, a car designed by Harley J. Earl. Faced with the early successes of the new divisions, GM continued its policy in 1929, with Oldsmobile supported by Viking and Buick by Marquette. The Black Thursday of October 1929 put an end to this diversification; from 1930 onwards, the Viking brand disappeared, followed in 1931 by the Marquette and Oakland marques, the latter being abandoned in favour of the new Pontiac, which achieved far more promising results than its parent brand! Only LaSalle, the "baby Cadillac", continued on its way and survived until 1940, having first used Oldsmobile engines from 1934 to 1937, then, to regain prestige, it was fitted with a Cadillac engine, but nothing worked: the brand would be absorbed into Cadillac. Wheelbase: 335 cm Displacement: 8-cylinder inline 4964cc Manual gearbox with 3 speeds 75 bhp at 3000 rpm
