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DREAM CARS
1950 Buick Le Sabre Concept Car Photos
Futuristic Buick LeSabre dreamcar with aluminum body & supercharged 335-hp V-8 engine
Designed by Harley Earl of General Motors
MORE: http://www.khulsey.com/stockphotography/stk_buick-le-sabre-concept-car.html
GM design chief Harley Earl had the 1952 LeSabre built for his personal use and drove it daily.
MORE: http://www.lilesnet.com/memories/past/concepts.htm
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car prototype made to showcase a concept, new styling, technology and more. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced.
General Motors designer Harley Earl is generally credited with inventing the concept, or show, car, and did much to popularize it through its traveling Motorama shows of the 1950s.
Concept cars never go into production directly; in modern times all would have to undergo many changes before the design is finalized for the sake of practicality, safety and cost. A "production-intent" vehicle, as opposed to a concept vehicle, serves this purpose.[1]
MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_car
1957 Chrysler Dart showed that aerodynamic design could be traffic-stopping.
1950 Buick XP-300 Concept Car Photos
The futuristic XP-300 aluminum body, supercharged 335-hp V-8 engine, & 4-wheel disk brakes
Designed by Charlie Chayne of General Motors
MORE: http://www.khulsey.com/stockphotography/stk_buick-xp-300-concept-car.html
http://www.worldcarfans.com/2080730167/gm-motorama-dream-cars#6
1956 Buick Centurion
1954 Dodge Firearrow III Sports Coupe Concept Car
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1953 FORD X-100
http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=162481
In 1950s America, futuristic dream cars remained just that. These fantastic show cars were built to dazzle more than predict as concepts do now. Mercury boldly went where few dared to tread when it introduced dream car style for everyman with its 1954 Sun Valley. Ford's X-100 and XL-500 dream cars had shown roofs with clear panels, so advertising claims about driving your own dream car weren't far off the mark.
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1958 Ford X2000
MORE: http://www.autointhenews.com/take-a-look-at-the-past-concept-cars/
1953 Lincoln XL-500
The
Lincoln XL-500 dream car was first shown at the Chicago Auto Show. It was built
on a stock '53 Lincoln chassis with standard engine and transmission. One of the
cars distinctive features was the use of pushbuttons selectors for the automatic
transmission. They were mounted on the steering wheel hub; this feature became a
reality in the 1958 Edsel.
MORE: http://www.joesherlock.com/XL-500.html
LINCOLN FUTURA
MORE: http://reservatory.net/public_html/motor/futura.html
LINCOLN FUTURA MODEL
MORE: http://www.raretoysandobjects.com/index_files/Page12344.htm
1954 MERCURY DREAM CAR
MORE: http://www.sportscardigest.com/1950s-concept-cars-featured-arizona-sale-rm-auctions/
In the 1950s, concept cars—often referred to as Dream Machines—were built to test new ideas. For 1954, Ford Motor Company fielded two new entries in the show circuit: a sporty little two-seater called the Thunderbird and a full-size two-door hard top produced under the Mercury banner and called the XM-800. Ford’s head of design, George Walker, sent this project to the Mercury Pre-Production Design Studios, which was headed up by John Najjar.
Initial designs for the XM-800 used sweeping lines to present a streamlined profile, with lavish use of contoured chrome trim badges and a great deal of decorative gingerbread. That was until an up-and-coming designer by the name of Elwood Engel stepped in and lent his hand. He suggested a more subdued approach, softening the lines to provide a clean and elegant look.
MORE: http://www.sportscarmarket.com/Profiles/2010/April/American/
XM 800
1954 PLYMOUTH DREAM CAR
One of Chrysler Corporation's downfalls during the early 1950s was its lack of styling. The prewar Chrysler Airflow had been a triumph of engineering, but many considered it ugly, and it didn't sell. The economy and the car's relatively high price had just as much to do with buyers rejecting it, but Chrysler's reaction was to retreat into a shell from which it would not emerge for decades.
General Motors proved that styling could sell cars, but it wasn't until 1955 that Chrysler finally answered the challenge. By 1957, Chrysler had wrestled the styling crown away from GM.
MORE: http://www.allpar.com/history/plymouth/1946-1959/dream-cars.html
1958 GM Firebird III Concept Car
MORE: http://www.khulsey.com/stockphotography/stk_gm-firebird-III-concept-car.html
1956 PACKARD PREDICTOR
1958 FORD NUCLEON
1950 General Motors Futurliner Bus
MORE: http://www.khulsey.com/stockphotography/stk_general-motors-futurliner-bus-1950.html
BUICK DREAM CAR
The radical 1954 Buick Wildcat II and 1956 Buick Centurion, both veterans of GM's outrageous Motorama car show (a lavish, GM-only traveling car event that was produced yearly from 1949 to 1961), are featured in Automobile Magazine's upcoming August 2008 issue. However, they aren't the only gorgeous Buick prototypes to grace historic Motorama stages.
FUTURE SHOCK The 1955 Lincoln Futura, left, which became the Batmobile, and the 1961 Ford Gyron
THE banner heralding this year’s Detroit auto show reads: Celebrating 100 Years. Take that with a grain of modesty, because Detroit’s first public car show was actually in 1899, eight years before any dealer’s association existed to sponsor it.
No matter how you slice the birthday cake, the showstoppers have always been Detroit’s notion of what we might be driving in 10 or more years. Customs became dream cars that evolved into design studies that are now called concept cars, but the premise hasn’t changed; a ticket to the auto show buys you a glimpse into the future.
MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/automobiles/autoshow/07CONCEPT.html
“Engine in rear? Tricycle wheels? Polaroid Plastic top? Atomic power? Just as at home in the water or in the air as on the highway?” This car of the future was designed and illustrated by Detroit-based commercial artist Arthur Radebaugh for a 1952 ad for National Oil Seals.
MORE: http://io9.com/5019534/atomic-cars-of-the-1950s
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