I checked out a small car show in Florida recently, and one of the few cars of any interest was a 1940 LaSalle. When I talked to the owner, he claimed that the car had additional interest beyond its intrinsic value: It was the car used in a famous scene in the 1972 movie "The Godfather." He even had a special plate on the front (visible in my photo) referencing both the movie and the specific scene (where "Paulie" the driver is shot, with the well-known line "Leave the gun, take the cannoli").
However, I did a little searching on the Internet, and found that someone had done some research on the car back in 2020 when it was for sale on Craigslist (with the same "Godfather" claim being made). And it turns out that the car used in the "Paulie" scene was actually a 1941 Packard 180 sedan. This is easily verifiable from various sources, and it's very clear from the movie itself (in both external and internal shots) that the car in question is not the LaSalle. In fact, according to the "Internet Movie Cars Database," the only LaSalle in the film is an ambulance!
The current owner is apparently not the person who was selling the car in 2020, so I don't know if he's a victim of the scam or if he's just continuing it.
