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Joe Bortz rescued the 1955 LaSalle Roadster in the Warhoops Junkyard in 1988 along with other significant General Motors Dream Cars/Concept Cars that had been sent there to be destroyed in the late 1950’s. The 1955 LaSalle Roadster was one of General Motors star cars featured at the General Motors Motorama in 1955 that served to showcase the car designs of the future. Please check back for updates on the restoration of the 1955 LaSalle Roadster and its companion car, the 1955 LaSalle 4-door Sedan .
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A Star is Reborn: Restoring the 1955 LaSalle II Roadster by Terry V. Boyce, Collectible Automobile June 2013. Restoration Story Wins Collectible Automobile® Historians’ Award Click here. |
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Congratulations to Terry Boyce the author of a story that was presented in Collectible Automobile magazine 2014 in which he received the SAH Carl Benz award. This is a very prestigious award for any automobile writer. We are twice as happy that he received it for doing a story on 1955 LaSalle Roadster & Sedan, designed by Harley Earl for the 1955 Motorama. The attached link will take you to the article for your reading pleasure. Click here to read about award for the Terry Boyce article in the Society of Automotive Historian’s magazine, the SAH Journal, November/December 2014. |
Joe Bortz – LaSalle Discovery Award Recipient.
Click here.
Joe Bortz (right) explains to Wayne Cherry, former General Motors VP of Design, some of the difficulties in restoring Harley Earl’s 1955 GM Motorama LaSalle Roadster.
Thanks “Woodman” Christofer Lee for the great picture!
Robert Cumberford in the 1955 LaSalle Roadster
Be sure to hit the link to read Robert Cumberford’s award winning article on the LaSalle Roadster. Robert Cumberford on Dec. 10, 2013 received the Dean Batchelor Award from the Motor Press Guild in California for the best magazine article of the year. Click here.
JOE BORTZ
PEBBLE BEACH 2010
JOE BORTZ BEING INTERVIEWED IN FRONT OF
HARLEY EARL’S 1955 GM MOTORAMA LASALLE
ROADSTER IN ITS UNRESTORED CONDITION AT
PEBBLE BEACH IN 2008.
THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT PEBBLE BEACH
SHOWED A TOTALLY UNRESTORED CAR. THIS IS
NOT A SURVIVOR CAR BUT AN UNRESTORED CAR.
1955 LaSalle Roadster Restoration April 21, 2012. Click here.
1955 LaSalle Sedan General Motors Motorama Car. Click here.
Rides with Chuck – Video #1 Joe Bortz Interview on Rides With Chuck Click here.
Rides with Chuck – Video #2 LaSalle II Part 2 of the Bortz Electric Dream Car Project Click here.
Rides with Chuck – Video #3 It’s Alive!!!Click here.
Rides with Chuck – Video #4 LaSalle Roadster, Baby’s First Steps Click here.
Rides with Chuck – Video #5 LaSalle Roadster drives down the road! Click here.
LaSalle video at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2008 & factory photos. Click here.
“News on the 1955 LaSalle Roadster Restoration”
Dream On by Joe Kelly, Jr., Die Cast July 1, 2013. Click here.
One Man’s ‘Dream Car’ Passion, A 1955 Roadster show car is brought back to life. Accent by Chubb. Click here.
LaSalle II Redux by Angelo Van Bogart, Old Cars Weekly, March 21, 2013. Read about it here.
LaSalle II at Amelia Island, by Joe Bortz, The Self-Starter, May 2013. Click here.
Crazy Car Dream, Roamin Angels Car Club News, Sept 12, 2013 Click here to read it.
GM’s Road Not Taken by Robert Cumberford, Automobile March 2, 2013. Click here to read it.
A 1950s Electric Concept Car? by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant, Auto Restorer June 2011.Click here to read it.
Picture Perfect Rescue by Angelo Van Bogart, Old Cars Weekly May 19, 2011. Click here to read it.
1955 LaSalle Roadster by Joe Bortz, SAH Journal Jan-Feb 2011. Click here to read it.
The French Connection by Karl Ludvigsen, Corvette Magazine June 2011. Click here to read it.
GM’s 1955 LaSalle II Motorama Cars by Michael Lamm, Collectible Automobile February 2000. Click here.
“Joe Bortz Restoring of the 1955 LaSalle Roadster”, aftermarketcarparts.biz. Click here.
“Collector electrifies a 1955 LaSalle Roadster”, AutoWeek.com Oct. 29, 2010. Click here.
The 1955 LaSalle Roadster has come along way since this photo that was sent to us!
The 1955 LaSalle Roadster – this is what John Bucci started with when he glued the pieces together. Circa mid 1990’s.
Debbie Reynolds in the 1955 LaSalle Sedan
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 1955 LaSalle Roadster at Warhoops Junkyard 1988 |
 1955 LaSalle Roadster – Phase I of the restoration process – gluing the pieces together. |
 1955 LaSalle Roadster – shown at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2008. |
 1955 LaSalle Roadster – current condition October 2010. |
October 2010.
Recommended Reading: Corvette American Legend 1957 Fuel Injection/283 V-8, by Noland Adams.
Harry Warholak sent Joe Bortz this book and made reference to the fact that GM had planned to use the 1955 LaSalle styling ques for the proposed 1957 Corvette shown above in a full sized rendering, shaded to show detail, photographed on February 1, 1955.
Coming 2013!
The 1955 LaSalle 4-door Sedan Restoration!
This great old LaSalle Sedan is in the process of being restored to its original state. This is one of the cars that were dug out of the Warhoops Junkyard, Sterling Heights, MI in 1988.
Click here to read more about the 1955 LaSalle Sedan from Car Styling