Published: October 18, 2018, 12:30 PM
Updated: October 24, 2018, 6:29 PM
'Dream Cars'
What we now call Concept Cars were known simply as ‘Dream Cars’ back in the day. During the ‘50s and ‘60s, General Motors built a broad array of such cars, many of which led directly to production versions, while others were pure flights of fancy. Here’s a look at some of our favourites.
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1951 Le Sabre
General Motors kicked off the 1950s with the introduction of the dramatically-styled Le Sabre. GM’s first post-war concept car, the successor to the 1938 Buick Y-Job, it made its public debut in February, 1951 at the Chicago auto show before moving on to appearances in Toronto, then Paris.
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Jet-inspired design
Designed under the direction of GM’s legendary styling chief, Harley Earl, seen here behind the wheel, the Le Sabre’s design was inspired by the lines of the F-86 Sabre jet fighter – a theme that would be reflected in multiple GM concept and production cars to follow.
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Firebird III
That aircraft influence reached its concept-car extreme in 1958 with GM’s futuristic, gas-turbine-powered Firebird III. Styling chief Harley Earl’s brief for the car he envisioned was, “what you would expect the astronauts to drive to the launch pad on their way to the moon.” The resulting concept satisfied the brief.
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Firebird Family
The Firebird III was the third in a succession of turbine-powered experimental cars to bear the name, the two earlier versions being essentially aircraft without wings. But definitely with tall tailfins! All are now part of the General Motors Heritage Center collection.
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1954 Firebird 1 Experimental
Firebird 1, the first of the trilogy, was virtually a jet aircraft on wheels, designed to evaluate both aerodynamic design features and the feasibility of using a gas turbine engine in an automobile. A real runner, it was tested on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Firebird II
The Firebird II essentially doubled the concept, covering the wheels and making it a two-seater and thus – ostensibly – more practical.
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1954 Corvette Corvair
While the Corvair name made its production-car debut on Chevrolet’s new 1960 small car, it first appeared on a fastback coupe variant of the original Corvette – one of three Corvette-based concepts designed for GM’s 1954 Motorama extravaganza.
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1954 Corvette Nomad (top of photo)
Another of those three, called the Corvette Nomad, led not to a Corvette hatchback but directly to the iconic design of the ’55-through-‘57 Chevrolet Nomad station wagons, and parallel Pontiac versions.
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1951 Buick XP300
An even earlier concept that previewed production cars to follow was the 1951 Buick XP300 – a contemporary of the LeSabre but not quite as radical in form.
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1954 Buick Wildcat II
The ’54 Buick Wildcat II concept featured a novel front-clip design with ‘flying-wing’ fenders that flared straight out from the body, exposing the entire front wheels and part of the front suspension. Fortunately, that concept never reached production.
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1956 Buick Centurion
Buick was a favourite brand for showcasing Harley Earl’s futuristic ideas, as also exemplified by the 1956 Centurion concept, with its rakish lines and glass-dome roof.
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1956 Pontiac Club de Mer
From the same era, designed for the 1956 Motorama, came the Pontiac Club de Mer – a two-seat sports roadster with a visually aerodynamic form. The original was destroyed but a replica appeared at the 2018 Canadian International Auto Show.
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1957 Corvette SS
Some hint of the Club de Mer’s lineage was also apparent in the 1957 Corvette SS – not just a concept car but a genuine racer, developed by the famed Zora Arkus Duntov. Before it had a chance to show its mettle on the track, GM and the other Detroit automakers pulled the plug on racing. But the SS still made a great showpiece.
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1959 Cadillac Cyclone
The Harley Earl era as head of GM Styling came to an end with his retirement in 1958, but one more concept car shared his obvious input – the rocket-inspired, high-finned 1959 Cadillac Cyclone.
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1959 Cadillac Cyclone
A later update to the Cyclone, seen here at the 2016 Canadian International Auto Show, trimmed the height of its enormous fins but retained its twin-rocket fuselage.
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1959 Corvette Stingray
Bill Mitchell succeeded Harley Earl as GM design chief and was quick to put his stamp on the company’s designs, beginning with the original Corvette Stingray race car (racing ban be damned!), credited to two young hotshots in his studio named Peter Brock and Larry Shinoda. Needless to say, that car led directly to the 1963-67 Corvette Sting Ray.
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1961 Mako Shark Concept
Before the first Sting Ray reached production, Mitchell’s team hit the show circuit with a “futurized” take on its design called the Mako Shark – both named and painted to emulate a trophy fish mounted on the wall of Mitchell’s office.
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1962 Corvair Monza GT
Among the first of GM’s mid-engined concepts was this Corvair Monza GT, seen here in the GM Heritage Center collection. It was powered by a variant of the production Corvair’s horizontally-opposed (boxer) six-cylinder engine.
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1963 Corvair Monza SS
The Monza SS was essentially a roadster version of the GT and the pair made their public debut to great acclaim at the 1963 New York Auto Show, Hopes that either one might preview production variants went unfulfilled but the styling influence of both cars was later manifested in various Chevrolet models, including the Corvette.
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Buick Silver Arrow
A key car in Mitchell’s design legacy was the subtly-sculpted ’63 Buick Riviera – the antithesis of the befinned behemoths that came before. Seen here is the concept version of that car, called the Silver Arrow, with a later successor behind it.
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1967 Astro I
A decade on from the Firebird era, automotive styling had taken a totally different direction, as illustrated by the smooth, fin-free contours of this 1967 Astro I concept car. As extreme in its own way as the Firebird II, it was an ultra-low experimental concept said to be a study in the evolving science of vehicle aerodynamics. Rather than a gas turbine, it was powered by a modified Corvair flat-six engine, mounted behind the passenger compartment.
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1968 Astro II
More practical in dimensions than the ultra-low Astro I shown earlier, Astro II was the first in the long lineage of mid-engined Corvette concepts to come - yet to lead to a production model. Like many of GM’s concepts of the era, its lines reflected those of the first-generation Chaparral race cars.
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1969 Manta Ray Concept
The Manta Ray was to the third-generation Corvette Stingray what the Mako Shark was to the predecessor model – an exaggerated interpretation of all the car's key styling features.
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1966 Electrovair and Electrovan
While we may think of electric vehicles as a modern development, GM has been experimenting with them for decades, as apparent in these two concepts, based on a 1966 Corvair and a Chevy Van.
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1969 512 Electric Experimental
This 1969 experimental urban EV concept used lightweight batteries to achieve a range of 58 miles (93 km) at 25 mph (40 km/h).
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1970 Pontiac Pegasus
This one stretches the timeline, but even though it’s identified as a 1970 concept, it’s a continuation of the Bill Mitchell's ‘60s styling themes, as manifested in the 1970½ Firebird and Camaro. What makes it particularly interesting is that it not only sports a Ferrari-like nose, it’s powered by a Ferrari V-12 engine – a personal project of Mitchell himself.
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