Saturday Hornets Nest AACA show . . .
Read MoreBeginning in 1926, Cadillac began using a "Series" designation to identify its line of cars where the Series was named after the size of the engine that powered it. In other words, a 1926 Cadillac Series 314 was powered by a 314 CID V8 engine. Since Cadillac only made one engine in those days, all of its offerings were Series 314 cars available in a wide range of body configurations and trim levels. In 1928, Cadillac's line became the Series 341 to reflect an increase in engine size, (from 314 CID to 341 CID).
For 1940, Nash offered three models, (Lafayette, Ambassador Six, and Ambassador Eight), in a variety of body styles, one of which was a cabriolet. The top of the line Ambassador Eight cabriolet cost around $1,295, which was priced competitively with an upper level Oldsmobile convertible. A total of 93 were produced, making it extremely rare to begin with.
This particular car, however, is what is called a "Special" cabriolet. It was exactly that - a special limited edition "Halo" car. Standard Ambassador Eight cabriolets were pulled from the regular assembly line and transformed into luxurious complete factory customs, (à la a Packard Super Eight One Eighty by Darrin). And by "Limited," I mean that 20 were planned, only 11 were produced, and a mere 3 are known to exist today, of which, this car is one.
The photo above shows the car's stunning black paint. I love the way the background colors are reflected perfectly in the black mirror finish ! Of course, it should be noted that it's possible that this paint and bodywork cost more than some homes.In 2017, the AACA introduced the Zenith Award, something that is presented to the best restoration of the previous year. The AACA holds eight "Nationals" events each year across the country, (this show is the Southeastern Spring Nationals). Two vehicles are selected from each of those events as finalists for the Zenith Award. A winner and runner-up are recognized at the next Grand National meet. This Cadillac seen in the photos above and below was selected as a finalist for the inaugural award.
LaSalle began life in 1927 as part of GM's "Companion Makes" program. The program was created by GM president Alfred P. Sloan to fill what he perceived as price gaps within its model hierarchy. Four of the five GM divisions received a Companion brand that was sold and serviced at it's "Parent" make's dealership.
Entry level Chevrolet didn't need a Companion make. But Pontiac was established in 1926 to fill the gap between Chevrolet and the next rung up the ladder, Oakland. Next up was Oldsmobile, which was supplemented by Viking in 1929. Viking was unique in that it was priced higher than it's companion. Marquette was introduced in 1929 and fell in between Viking and Buick. And finally, LaSalle was introduced in 1927 to fill the gap in between Buick and Cadillac. While all of this looked good on paper, results were mixed.
Both Marquette and Viking just didn't work. Marquette arrived in June 1929, but was done by 1930. Viking lasted into the beginning of the 1931 model year before it was discontinued. The Great Depression didn't do either make any favors. But later analysis showed that the companions weren't drawing new customers into the showrooms, but were merely stealing sales away from their parents.
Pontiac worked too well. Companion Pontiac actually outsold its parent, Oakland where its lower price worked to its advantage in the Depression era. While Pontiac became quite successful, Oakland was discontinued in 1931.
LaSalle managed to hang on until 1940. After a roller coaster of sales numbers, the decision was made to discontinue LaSalle by shifting its models into the Cadillac lineup, (i.e. what was to be the 1941 LaSalle was introduced as Cadillac's entry level Series 61).
The car seen in the photos above, is from LaSalle's final year of production, 1940, and is one of 24,130 cars produced that year.Class 20A: Production vehicles excluding Ford, 1930 - 31.
Like the LaSalle in the previous set of photos, Erskine was introduced as a companion to its parent Studebaker for the 1927 model year. Erskine was conceived to be a compact car inspired by smaller European vehicles.
Then the Ford Model A happened in 1928. Priced at just over half of the Erskine's $995 MSRP, the Model A outsold the Erskine by more than 32 to 1.
The proposed solution to this dilemma was to make Erskine a larger car and pull it out of the Model A's market. Sales never really went anywhere, and Erskine was absorbed into Studebaker in 1930.
This Model 53W1 is from Erskine's final year of production, and is one of 22,371 cars produced in 1930.Class 20C: Production vehicles excluding Ford, 1934 - 35.
By the time 1930 rolled around, cars had become more powerful and were capable of reaching higher speeds than in the past. Chrysler engineers realized that higher speeds generated more wind noise that was being transmitted into the passenger compartment. In order to study this relationship, Chrysler built a wind tunnel in 1930 to experiment with the idea of "Streamlining." The significantly more aerodynamic shape that resulted from these experiments concealed a number of other engineering advancements in body rigidity, weight reduction, and weight distribution. The result was a car that was quieter, handled better, and offered better ride quality.
When the Airflow was introduced in 1934, it looked like nothing else on the road, both outwardly and under the skin. The idea of smoothly curved front end sheet metal with integrated headlamps and a curved windshield was revolutionary for the time. Unfortunately, buyers were put off by the styling and stayed away even in spite of all the praise the cars received. This 1934 DeSoto coupe is one of only 1,584 produced that year.