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CADILLAC-LASALLE “STANDARD OF THE WORLD”
JOINS GILMORE CAR
MUSEUM
February, 2010
CADILLAC-LASALLE
CLUB MUSEUM & RESEARCH CENTER WILL BUILD IN HICKORY CORNERS
Hickory Corners, Michigan
The Cadillac-LaSalle Club Museum and Research Center , founded in
1995 to preserve the legacy of America ’s most successful luxury
automobile, has announced plans to locate its museum at the Gilmore
Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan this spring.
Opening on May 1,
2010, the Cadillac-LaSalle Club Museum will utilize an existing
historic building on the Gilmore campus while funding and facility
designs are finalized for an all-new, 10,000-square-foot exhibit
building.
A competition between
retired automotive stylists will determine the look of the new
structure—possibly as a vintage car dealership or other historic
recreation.
The new
Cadillac-LaSalle Club Museum will provide the 7,000 member
organization a permanent home for its collection of automobiles,
display engines, and artifacts that span the history of Cadillac and
its companion car, LaSalle.
Cadillac
introduced its first model at the New York Auto Show in 1903 and
built the LaSalle from 1927 through 1940.
Eleven donated
automobiles, including a 1931 Cadillac Sedan, a 1937 LaSalle
Convertible Sedan, a 1941 Cadillac 60 Special (the design triumph of
GM stylist Bill Mitchell), a 1948 Cadillac 60 Special (the first
Cadillac with tail fins), and the 1957 Cadillac Brougham used in the
film "Driving Miss Daisy" will be displayed.
When completed, the
Cadillac-LaSalle Club Museum will house examples of automobiles,
artifacts, memorabilia and ephemera, as well as educational exhibits
covering the entire story of Cadillac and LaSalle.
“After an exhaustive
survey of potential museum partners across the Country, we are
pleased to be joining the Gilmore Car Museum ,” said Paul Ayres,
President CLCMRC. “The Gilmore is rapidly becoming the nation’s
premier auto museum,” he said.
Michael Spezia,
Executive Director of the Gilmore Car Museum , expressed, “With the
addition of the Cadillac-LaSalle Museum to the Gilmore campus we now
become one of the more unique historic destinations, not just within
the car collecting hobby but with the general public as well.”
The Gilmore Car
Museum , located in Hickory Corners, near Kalamazoo , Michigan , is
renowned for its collection of over 200 extraordinary vehicles as
well as its 90-acre park-like campus made up of historic buildings.
A small town train depot, 1930s gas station, 1941 diner, and a
re-created Franklin auto dealership circa 1918 are just a few of the
buildings currently on the ever-expanding grounds. It also serves
as the home to the Classic Car Club of America Museum, the
Pierce-Arrow Museum , The Franklin Automobile Collection, and the
Tucker Historical Collection and Library. Soon to be joining the
Gilmore are the Lincoln Motorcar Foundation and the Model A Ford
Foundation.
Cadillac
began in 1902 when The Henry Ford Company was liquidated after
investors became unhappy that no production automobiles had been
manufactured. Ford was ousted and Henry Leland was hired on as a
consultant. Leland suggested they build the company’s car utilizing
his engine design, and the Cadillac Automobile Company was born.
Cadillac introduced its first model at the New York Auto Show in
1903, and the response was so great that by mid-week company
salesmen declared they were “sold-out.”
Henry Leland
had worked as a precision machinist for Colt firearms in Connecticut
before moving to Detroit and starting his own machine shop. His
precision and demand for accuracy led Cadillac to become one of the
most prestigious American
autos and is referred
to as “The Standard of the World.”
LaSalle was introduced
in 1927 to fill the price gap between Buick and Cadillac, and was
produced through 1940. The marque is credited with moving General
Motors’ styling away from engineering and creating its own
department: the “Art and Colour Design Studio” headed by Harley
Earl.
To learn more about the Gilmore Car Museum and the Cadillac &
LaSalle Club, please visit
the following websites:
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