The Guyton 1931 LaSalle roadster was delivered through the Rario Motor Company of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and equipped with a radiator stone guard and dual side-mounted spares. The car was restored in the early 1960s by Walter Seaburg, for Dwain Pansing of Dayton, Ohio. According to later owner Phillip Wichard, the car had been an extremely low-mileage original example and required no major mechanical work, and to this day it retains its original body wood, stamped with the body number in the door sills. Significantly, the restored car was a National First Prize winner in Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) competition in 1962 – an era when the AACA was still largely populated by “horseless carriages,” and some 1931 LaSalles would still have been “used cars!”

Mr. Wichard acquired the car in 1967 and on the basis of Mr. Seaburg’s excellent work, he would become one of his best clients. The LaSalle continued to be shown for nearly 30 years, drawing much attention, before it was sold at the dispersal of the Wichard collection in 1995. Obviously as impressed as its seller had been, the car was acquired by Fred F. Guyton, and has been on display in his museum since.

Like the 1929 Cadillac in the Guyton Collection – also an ex-Wichard, Seaburg restoration – the work on this car is remarkably well preserved; the paint still shines and has few notable flaws, while the leather interior has the obvious patina and surface-cracking of well-worn enjoyment rather than age. Accessories include a correct Cadillac trunk, metal side-mount covers, twin Trippe lights, a single Pilot Ray driving light, and dual running board spotlights.

This jazzy LaSalle’s show days are behind it, but it is still a beautiful automobile and would be a real stunner on the next CCCA CARavan or Cadillac-LaSalle Club event for a new owner – who can enjoy a “junior Cadillac” whose collector heritage is beyond reproach.