Ella: 1929 LaSalle Landau

Ella: 1929 Cadillac LaSalle. Wedding car
Enjoy your journey in style in Ella, our 1929 Cadillac LaSalle

Ella’s classy interior

Ella is a 1929 Cadillac – LaSalle 5-passenger Convertible Landau Cabriolet. The unique feature of Ella is the fact that the rear quarter of her roof folds down, hence the Landau title. This body style was only offered in 1929 and 740 of these vehicles were produced, at a list price of $2,725.

To the best of our knowledge, Ella is one of four surviving vehicles: of the others, one is in a private collection in the Netherlands, one is in private hands in Michigan in the US and the final Landau is in our collection awaiting restoration.

Ella’s history is reasonably well known. She was originally delivered to a dealer in Reno, Nevada on the 12th March 1929. Her original colour scheme was Kremlin Blue on the upper panels, Buddha Blue on the lower panels and bonnet and Kremlin Blue on the mudguards. Her original upholstery was taupe (grey-brown) with a blue pinstripe and additional extras were a rear trunk and a cover for the fold-down portion of the roof. Unfortunately, her original owner is lost to time.

In the late 1930s or early 1940s Ella was acquired by Fred Bovey of Virginia City, Montana as part of his extensive collection of cars. The collection totalled 70 vehicles at its peak. Ella had a total of 40,000 miles on her odometer when she entered the collection. From the early 1950s until her sale in 1987 she was stored in Great Falls, Montana.

Between 1987 and 2003, Ella had two owners in the Spokane, Washington area, one of whom was going to turn her into a street rod until he realised her rarity. In 2003, Larry Wiser of Spokane, Washington purchased the car and set about undertaking a full restoration.

Larry fully disassembled the car and sent it to a restorer in Post Falls, Idaho, who restored some rotted timber in the frame, painted the car and reupholstered her. Larry himself learned how to re-lace the wire-spoked Buffalo wheels when he couldn’t find anyone in his area who could complete it for him.

The restoration was completed in late 2005.

 

The 1929 Cadillac – LaSalle 5-passenger Convertible Landau Cabriolet had a number of special features. Notable, of course, is the fold-down rear quarter, which allowed the rear seat passengers to have “open air travel”. The front of the windscreen rolls up approximately 5 cm for ventilation and there are special wind wings on the front windows to deflect the rush of the wind if the windows are wound down. There is a cigar lighter in the passenger compartment on a reel so that all passengers could light their cigarettes or cigars. There are two vanities in the rear of the car – the lady’s vanity, on the right side of the vehicle, contained a mirror, notepad and pencil, while the gentleman’s vanity, on the left side of the vehicle, contained matches and an ashtray. The front of the car is also equipped with a set of Trippe Master driving lights, which had high and low beam and had an adjustment bubble to ensure they were level.

Finally, she has a radiator ornament which represents Sieur Rene Robert Cavelier De La Salle, the French explorer for which the LaSalle marque was named. The ornament shows LaSalle standing beside a campfire, with an axe and a broken paddle at his feet. This ornament was a licensed aftermarket accessory available for these vehicles from 1928 until 1932.

We think you will agree that Ella is a fine addition to our fleet and we hope you like her as much as we do. She is a rare, beautiful vehicle and one who can make your wedding day extra special. If you think that Ella or any one of our other beautiful vintage Cadillac – LaSalles would be the perfect complement to your wedding day, please contact us for details.

Ella: 1929 Cadillac LaSalle. Available for tours, weddings and events in the Blue Mountains Australia.

Ella is a fine addition to our fleet – we hope you like her as much as we do!

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