V8 engines were a mainstay at Cadillac for decades, but the LaSalle junior brand briefly departed from tradition in 1934-36 with a straight-eight model.

As the Great Depression worked its worst, by 1933 even mighty General Motors was in serious trouble. With the U.S. economy spiraling downward, the Oakland, Viking, and Marquette brands were dropped, Chevrolet and Pontiac were combined in a single operation, and there was real consideration given to killing the flagship Cadillac division altogether. At the very least, Cadillac’s junior LaSalle brand would have to be shut down, the GM Executive Committee determined.

1934 LaSalle styling buck 

At this point we cue up one of the great stories of the Harley Earl era at GM, for LaSalle was a personal favorite of the powerful and persuasive styling boss. His staff had been working on a design for the 1934 LaSalle by Jules Agramonte with a dramatically narrow grille and Art Deco detailing. In a presentation of the Agramonte proposal to the GM brass, Earl said, “Gentlemen, if you decide to discontinue the LaSalle, this is the car you are not going to build.” When they saw the bold new car, the senior executives decided to give LaSalle one more chance.

1934 LaSalle 5-Passenger Sedan

But survival came at some cost, as under the attractive skin this new LaSalle, aka Series 50, would be as much an Oldsmobile as it was a Cadillac. The engine was not the familiar Cadillac V8 but a refined version of the Olds 240.8 cubic-inch straight eight with a fully counterweighted crankshaft and improved manifolding, rated at 95 hp. The wheelbase was shrunk from 136 to 119 inches as well, same as Olds. But on the positive side,  Oldsmobile’s wishbone-style independent front suspension and hydraulic brakes came with the deal. All this notwithstanding, Cadillac marketed the new LaSalle as “Cadillac-built through and through.”

1934 LaSalle Convertible Coupe with actors Tom Brown, Claire Trevor, and Edmund Lowe starring in the 20th Century Fox film, Black Sheep

GM’s component-sharing scheme produced a one-third reduction in manufacturing cost, and with it came a dramatic reduction in price. While the ’33 LaSalles were priced at $2245 to $2,645, the ’34s came in at $1,595 to $1,695. Sales more than doubled as a result to nearly 7,200 cars in 1934. The price was eventually reduced to as little as $1,195 for a two-passenger coupe in 1936, as sales continued to climb to 13,000 cars—LaSalle’s best year since 1929.

With the brand’s survival secured, LaSalle returned to V8 power in 1937 with a smaller, 322 cubic-inch version of the classic Cadillac V8 with 125 hp. Sales continued to improve, too, as pricing held the line. But unfortunately, the Packard One-Twenty and Lincoln-Zephyr were eating up the junior-luxury market, and meanwhile, GM executives could see that the popularly-priced LaSalle was cannibalizing sales of the far more lucrative senior Cadillac line. In 1940, the LaSalle was discontinued once and for all.