I couldn’t leave this pair of magnificent late-thirties Holden-bodied cars, that were at the 2017 Motorclassica show, without sharing them. While they may not be as glamourous as the roadsters featured last time, they are still pretty interesting. Let’s start with the junior-Cadillac 1939 LaSalle Series 50.
This is an interesting car, one of just 43 built by GM-Holden at their Pagewood plant in Adelaide, South Australia that year, and 302 from 1936-40. It fits neatly into the evolution of cars, which by the late 1930’s had gained integrated trunks to replace strapping a metal box on a rack at the rear of the car. The car is on a relatively compact 120″ wheelbase, and has a hand-me-down Cadillac 322 ci V8.
The interior is impressively plush, and the minimalist instrument strip behind the steering wheel (and column gear change of course!) is worthy of note too. I wonder why they made it so small; I would have thought that in cars of this era the water temperature and oil pressure would still be items to monitor.
This 1939 Oldsmobile 6 Sports Roadster is also a hens-teeth rarity; apparently this model was not offered in the US for 1939 and just 10 were built by Holden alongside 1,041 60 series sedans (with the same body as the LaSalle featured above) and 91 coupes. These had the 215 ci or 3.5 litre 6-cylinder engine, while there were also 23 8-cylinder powered Roadsters built.
The interior is broadly similar to the LaSalle, particularly the windscreen surround is quite distinctive and the steering wheel and gear shift look the same too. Interestingly from 1935-40 there were 1,413 Oldsmobile trucks sold here that were a standard Chevrolet/GMC with Olds power. This won’t have been to satisfy different dealership streams; there was only one!
You can see the round steps provided to access the dickie seat (aka rumble seat), which always strikes me as being fairly precarious. Did the rumble seat roadster return to the US after WW2? I can’t think of any apart from British examples such as the Triumph 2000 roadster.
This is just a taste of the variety of cars built by GM-Holden before World War 2; afterwards of course things were much different even before the debut of the Holden 48-215.
Further Reading
Car Show Classic: 2017 Motorclassica – A Hall Of Holden History
Car Show Classic: Commodore Generations At Motorclassica 2017
Car Show Classics: Vintage GM Roadsters At Motorclassica
An interesting pair of cars. Oldsmobile really seemed to be the least attractive of the GM lineup in the years right before and after the war.
I am not thinking of any postwar factory rumble seat cars in the US. There were some aftermarket conversions done for cars like the 2 seat Thunderbird in the 50s. There were also 4 conversions built on Studebakers in 1961, 2 Hawks and 2 Larks. They were done by an outside company at the instigation of a dealer.
Thanks JP, I have never heard of those before – it is surprising that they were made for 4-seater cars too, and the seat must be pretty tight in the trunk of a Thunderbird.
Caddy dashboards were minimalist and plain from the mid 30s to the mid 50s. They looked cheaper than other GM products, and MUCH less impressive than Packard or Chrysler dashboards in the same years. Seems like a poor move, but it didn’t hurt sales.
The body on the LaSalle is another example of foreign divisions getting better stuff than domestic divisions. In the US, only the Caddy 60 Special had a true three-box body in ’39.
From what I can tell, the Fisher body for this car was identical (but always with cloth upholstery in closed cars).
The next generation of A-body was a different story; whether or not it was a completely new Fisher body, Holden held over a lot more prior-generation parts and the shape of the side window openings is an obvious tell.
Yes Holden carried over this basic bodyshell to the postwar cars up to about 1950, including the rear-hinged rear doors that were a last for GM.
Beautiful cars. I love that erra of design.
Lovely cars, John. The LaSalle instruments look very like those of an original RHD Aust delivered 39 Sixty Special I have had the pleasure of riding in.
While the Series 50 may have been built in Adelaide, Pagewood remains in Sydney. The web tells us the Holden plant operated from 1952 to 1980. I was at school with the sons of people put out of work and remember the event.
I’d like to own one of these late prewar cars one day just for the shapes, but they seem scarce. A 41 Sixty Special would be just dandy!
Thanks Jim – it should be Woodville in Adelaide. A case of more haste, less speed being needed.
As per later era cars (1950s-60s) I imagine that they based all the variants off a single RHD dashboard.
At the Oldsmobile Centennial celebration in 1997, someone from Canada brought a RHD 1941 sedan. It was apparently the only Olds built by Holden that year. If I remember correctly, it was built for a rural doctor, whose territory was large enough and important enough, that he was allowed a new car even during the war.
I’m seeing 292 sedans and 6 coupes for the year at Woodville (the stats are at http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au) – so perhaps it was the only one not given to the military. There is a lot of material on wartime production available online via the South Australian state library – more than I have had time to read. Everything from belts and ammunition pouches to landing ships.
It definitely could have been the only civilian one. Over 50 years and two conrinents, easy enough for a story to get garbled.
Willys also had Holden built bodies in OZ way back the same body as fitted to Australian Vauxhall sedans.
Interesting to see the Holden variation of the GM B-body styling on the LaSalle, looks not quite right to American eyes. Wonder if Misterl had to approve it?