We are now finishing the restoration and electrification/hybriding of the GM Motorama Dream/Concept car, the 1955 LaSalle Roadster.

1955 LaSalle – Joe Bortz Interview on Rides With Chuck describes the process of electrifying the car.
http://www.youtube.com/user/RideswithChuck

In 2008 the 1955 LaSalle Roadster & the 1955 Biscayne were the first cars to be shown at Pebble Beach in unrestored condition.  This video of the LaSalle shows how I found it in the Warhoops Junkyard and how we had to reassemble all of the components that came with the car and its chassis and fabricate the entire nose piece, hood and doors which were missing on the cars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWhjxCkw-34

1955 Biscayne Restoration Process
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pae3qVRPdPw

Both of the 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne and the 1955 LaSalle Roadster were discovered in the archaeological dig at the Warhoop’s Junkyard in Detroit in 1988. Feel free to use any of the videos and we would be happy to provide more pictures and information. If you have any questions you can call Joe at 847-668-2004. Joe is always looking for more concepts/dream cars.  You can include his phone number 847-668-2004 cell, BortzCars@gmail.com in anything you publish.


As you know just about all the American Dream Cars/Concept Cars were about design and not about mechanical innovation.  In my opinion this was mainly due to the fact that the American’s felt that they had won WWII and the attitude after the war was “If you got it flaunt it” and this made the design of the automobile paramount for its sales.   The other interesting aspect of two LaSalles, besides being fantastic sculptures is that they were both equipped with V-6 aluminum block, double overhead cam fuel injected engines with independent rear suspension and a flexible drive shaft.  These engineering components were never seen in any other GM concept cars or production cars for decades.  However, the Europeans brought in each of these innovations in the early 60’s and all the way to the early 70’s as their great ideas and inventions.  This is the reason that I consider these two cars besides being great sculptures for the Motorama the most important historic 20th century cars in the United States.  If the ideas from these cars were put into production in the later 50’s and early 60’s the entire course of American automotive history would have changed and the European car never would have been so successful.  We undoubtedly would not have seen the predicaments that GM ended up with in the 80’s and 90’s and thereafter.

The other aspect of these two cars is that the engine internals were never completed and were not set up to be completed so that the two cars are “push mobiles”.  Having a lot of experience with concept cars I feel that it never looks right if a concept car has to be pushed up on a stage to accept an award and with that in mind and in view of the fact that the general public is enamored hybrids and electric cars I have decided to ‘Tinker with History’.

I have found three retired inventors on the south side of Chicago, Pioneer Conversions that have been turning Prius’ into plug-ins and totally electrifying Porsches.  I have contracted with them to set up an electric hybrid motor in the trunk of the 1955 LaSalle Roadster so that it can be mobile on the road and at car shows.  We would be happy to provide additional pictures that show the car at the start of this project when they had laid out the plan for the motor.  The gentleman that is going to record the project has put the first video up on his YouTube sight “rides with chuck” and I thought that it would be an excellent start for you to give your readers the beginning basis of the second phase of the restoration which is the electrification of the LaSalle roadster.

Once the electrification is done the car will go to a restorer who will do a complete restoration of the body and interior.  Most of the underpinnings of the car are chrome plated similar to what you might see at a Rod & Custom car show.