LaGrande (bodywork manufacturer)

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LaGrande was a fictional American manufacturer of automobile bodies . The sports car manufacturer Duesenberg established and used the fictitious brand name LaGrande in the 1930s for a number of factory superstructures.

history

LaGrande and Duesenberg

Duesenberg SJ LaGrande Dual Cowl Phaeton
Duesenberg SJ LaGrande Dual Cowl Phaeton
Duesenberg J LaGrande Torpedo Phaeton (1930)

In the 1920s, Duesenberg only produced chassis and engines, as was common in the upper-class segment at that time. The bodies were supplied by independent manufacturers such as Derham , LeBaron , Murphy , Rollston and Waterhouse , who adapted their bodies to the individual wishes of the customers and produced more or less unique items.

When the sales of luxury vehicles decreased as a result of the global economic crisis , the Duesenberg management tried to increase the company's profit margin by offering factory bodies for the Model J in addition to the motorized chassis (so-called catalog customs ). For marketing reasons it was considered sensible to assign these factory bodies to a named, apparently external body construction company in order to convey exclusivity. LaGrande fulfilled this purpose from 1930.

LaGrande was a fictional company created by Duesenberg. A body shop with this name did not actually exist. Rather, Duesenberg had standard bodies designed by Gordon Buehrig manufactured in smaller, mostly independent plants; they were only listed as LaGrande bodies in the Duesenberg catalog. The choice of the name LaGrande - a term reminiscent of a French nobility predicate preceded by a certain article - was intended to convey a proximity to the well-known bodywork manufacturer LeBaron, which actually did not exist. However, Buehrig temporarily copied some of LeBaron's drafts for the LaGrande program, which led to LeBaron refusing to clad Duesenberg chassis.

The Duesenberg bodies ascribed to LaGrande were produced in smaller factories that were based near the Duesenberg main plant:

These three plants produced a total of 29 LaGrande bodies for Duesenberg, which were sold until 1936; Occasionally they were also connected to chassis from the SJ series . With the end of production at Duesenberg, the LaGrande program also ended there.

Cord

Duesenberg has been part of the Errett Lobban Cords group since 1926 . Other components of the corporate group were Auburn and the Cord brand , founded in 1929 , which was one of the first manufacturers to mass-produce vehicles with front-wheel drive . For the company's first model, the Cord L-29 , a range of factory-made bodies was also launched from 1930, which were marketed as LaGrande. Union City Body Co. manufactured a total of eight LaGrande bodies for the L-29, while Central Manufacturing Co. produced one or two LaGrande bodies.

literature

  • Richard M. Langworth: Automobiles of the 1930s. Beekman House, New York 1980. ISBN 0-517-309947 .
  • Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980. New York (Beekman House) 1984. ISBN 0-517-42462-2 .

Web links

Commons : LaGrande  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Image of a Cord L-29 LaGrande Boattail Speedster on the website www.bonhams.com (accessed December 28, 2015).