Today’s newsletter is from Tony from South Africa and his 1937 Lasalle
It was about 7 years ago and I was dropping my friends son of at his friends place and while there I noticed a old shed full of junk. So I went and had a look and found this 1937 Cadillac buried under 20 years of built up junk.
I approched the owner and he did not want to sell it so for the next few years I hounded him to sell it to me, well misfortune due to to the death of his family in a road accident allowed him to sell it to me.
The story goes that way back in 1937 2 Cadillac”s were delivered to South Africa and this one is the only one left, the man I bought it from used to have a car dealership and he had owned it for over 30 years and had partly restored it and also changed its color from blue to black.
He drove the car to where I found it more than 20 years ago. The car was almost 100% complete, just a few little things missing, rear numberplate clear glass lens, 1 hub cap, and a piece of chrome on the rear taillight.
Two years ago I sent it to be restored and its nearly ready, I drove it for the first time in over 20 years. I have to find 4 hub caps for it as the ones I have are rusted out.
Tony- interesting story and a great find and good historical research. Look forward to seeing the car in its restored iteration.
hi Ken
thanks for your interest, i will post some more pics for everyone to see.
That is a nice ’37 LaSalle, I guess in Africa they don’t have snow, so they don’t have salt on the roads? hahaha Its a rare automobile alright, with side mounts too.
I haven’t drawn and painted a ’37 yet on a T-shirt, but theirs a chance that I will sometime after Christmas.If ur interested in having your ’37 done on a T-shirt, go and look at all the other Cadillac’s and LaSalle’s that I have displayed on the Cadillac Country Club’s automotive art forum, you may see a ’34 Cadillac Fleetwood that I did for a guy in London, Ontario.
I think you will have fun with your ’37, not too many Cadillac’s and LaSalle’s in Africa I guess.
Take care of the relic,
Dave Beveridge,
Daves Cadillac Art,
carslovei@hotmail.com
Hi Dave
yes i beleive this car is rare in south africa and i was very lucky to find it in such good condition and yes we do have snow here but no salt on the roads.
the car is nearly finnished just need to find some hub caps.
i will have a look at your paintings.
regards
Tony
i