Vintage 1948 Cadillac Showroom

Cadillac-Lasalle Club Museum & Research Center Joins the Gilmore Car Museum as a Vintage 1948 Cadillac Showroom

Announcing the official Ground Breaking Ceremony for the Cadillac and LaSalle Club Museum and Research Center at the Gilmore Car Museum! The CLCMR, founded in 1995 to preserve the legacy of America’s most successful luxury automobile, has announced an official Ground Breaking Ceremony, to take place at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan this Sunday, September 29th at 11am. In addition to Sunday’s ground breaking celebration, the Fourth Annual CLCMR Fall Festival will take place at the Gilmore Car Museum from 9am – 4pm. The Club Meet and Tour will include nearly 100 Cadillac and LaSalle vehicles parked on the grounds of the Gilmore’s Historic Campus, along with an official awards presentation in the afternoon. The Cadillac and LaSalle Museum began showcasing their collection inside an existing historic building on the Gilmore Campus, known as the Carriage House, in May of 2010. Since then, the Club has greatly enhanced awareness of the CLCMR, raising funds for an all-new structure – a 10,000 square foot 1948 Cadillac Dealership and Showroom. “After an exhaustive survey of potential museum partners across the Country, we are pleased to be joining the Gilmore Car Museum, America’s Signature Collection,” said Paul Ayres, President CLCMRC. “We are thrilled to be joining an ever-growing institution and one of the top automotive museums in the nation.” When completed in the Spring of 2014, the Cadillac and LaSalle Club Museum will house examples of automobiles, artifacts, memorabilia and ephemera, as well as educational exhibits covering the entire story of Cadillac and LaSalle, including eleven donated automobiles: a 1931 Cadillac Sedan, a 1937 LaSalle Convertible Sedan, a 1941 Cadillac 60 Special (the design triumph of GM stylist Bill Mitchell,) a 1948 Cadillac 60 Special (the first Cadillac with tail fins), and the 1957 Cadillac Brougham used in the film “Driving Miss Daisy” will be displayed. Michael Spezia, Executive Director of the Gilmore Car Museum, expressed, “With the addition of the Cadillac and LaSalle Museum to the Gilmore campus, we now become one of the more unique historic destinations, not just within the car collecting hobby, but with the general public as well.” The Gilmore Car Museum, located in Hickory Corners, near Kalamazoo, Michigan, is renowned for its collection of over 200 extraordinary vehicles as well as its 90-acre park-like campus made up of historic buildings. A small town train depot, 1930s gas station, 1941 diner, and a re-created Franklin auto dealership circa 1910 are just a few of the buildings currently on the ever-expanding grounds. The Gilmore Car Museum also serves as home to the Classic Car Club of America Museum, the Pierce- Arrow Museum, the Franklin Automobile Collection, the Model A Ford Museum, and the Tucker Historical Collection and Library. Soon to join the Gilmore Car Museum, in addition to the Cadillac and LaSalle Club Museum, is the Lincoln Motorcar Foundation Museum, also set to open to the public in Spring of 2014.  To learn more about the Gilmore Car Museum and the Cadillac & LaSalle Club, please visit www.GilmoreCarMuseum.org and www.CadillacLaSalleMuseum.org.