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davelacourse


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Concept Cars From the 1950's - How Many Do You Remember?
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Concept Cars From the 1950's

The 1950's were a golden age of automotive innovation and design, driven by space-age technologies. During that decade, many of the American automotive companies displayed futuristic-looking concept cars in extravagant car shows and announced their commitment to innovation. Most of these concept cars never went to production, but their designs inspired and influenced the designs of commercially produced cars. These 13 are some of the best examples of that age.
 
1.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
This concept car featured titanium skin, seven wings and tail fins, a double bubble canopy, air drag brakes which emerged from flat panels in the body, an automated guidance system to avoid accidents and steering controlled by a joystick.
 
2.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
The Centurion featured a red and white fiberglass body, airplane like interior design. a full clear "bubble top" roof and the first Backup camera in place of a Rear view mirror, although it was never shown to be functional, merely a concept.
Source:wikipedia.org 
3.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
The La Tosca was actually designed as an educational project, meant to show young engineers how difficult it is to design a car, even for experienced car designers. The project actually took 4 times longer than projected but eventually paved the way for the 1958 Lincoln.
 
4.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
The General Motors Le Sabre was a 1951 concept car. Possibly the most important show car of the 1950s, it introduced aircraft-inspired design elements such as the wrap-around windshield and tail fins, which became common on automotive designs during the second half of the decade.
Source:wikipedia.org 
5.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
The Diablo was born in a time of space exploration and fascination. It was designed with the feeling of an aeroplane that was meant for the road. The car was so well-designed, it was tested and show to have the lowest coefficient of drag ever seen on any car up to that time.
 
6.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
The Lincoln Futura was a concept car designed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company. It was built by Ghia entirely by hand in Turin, Italy, at a cost of $250,000 (2014 equivalent: $2,200,000) and displayed on the auto show circuit in 1955. In 1966 the car was modified by George Barris into the Batmobile, for the 1966 TV series Batman.
Source:wikipedia.org 
7.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
In the 1955 Chicago Extravaganza, Ford displayed their rear-engine concept car - the Mystere. Funnily, the shown model did not have an engine, but did display a host of new technologies that were uncommon in cars at the time, such as a control joystick between the front seats, allowing the car to be driven from either seat, a radiotelphone in a console between the two back seats, a pushbutton ignition switch, and even a television set behind the front seat.
 
8.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
  Designed by the legendary Harley Earl, the Cyclone was a test bed for futuristic styling and technology. It featured a radar operated crash avoidance system, with the radar sensors mounted in twin "nose-cones" on the front of the car. Of the Cyclone's stylistic features, the bubble top canopy was the most prominent. Silver coated for UV protection, the canopy automatically opened along with the sliding electrically operated doors. The canopy could also be stowed in the rear compartment, where it rested on a special air-bag base.
Source:wikipedia.org 
9.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
While the X-2000 was not revolutionary in anything other than design, it was still an outstanding example of the 1950's design trends. The car might have been the inspiration for the U.S.S. Enterprise - the spaceship from the Star Trek series. In 1999, a car enthusiast saw a picture of the car in a book and decided to build his own version. That car is now appearing in car shows around the world. 
 
10.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
Ford's first "dream car", it served as a precursor to ford's 60's designs and introduced new concept automotive technologies like a moisture-sensor that would automatically close the top roof hatch if it starts raining.
 
11.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
This hardtop coupe's design followed the lines of the planned 1957 cars. It had many unusual features, among them a roof section that opened either by opening a door or activating a switch, well ahead of later T-Tops. The car had seats that rotated out allowing the passenger easy access, a feature later used on some Chrysler products. The Predictor also had the opera windows, or portholes, found on concurrent Thunderbirds.
Source:wikipedia.org 
12.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
Designed to resemble its namesake, the Golden Rocket had a fiberglass body, and was one of the first cars to have a tilt-wheel. When either door was opened, the roof panel would automatically raise and the seat would come up 3 inches and swivel outward for easy access.
 
13.
These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shame
The Pontiac Club de Mer was a purpose-built, concept car that was unveiled at the General Motors Motorama in 1956 to celebrate GM's commitment to futuristic design. The brainchild of GM engineer-designer, Harley Earl, the "de Mer" was a two door sport Roadster that incorporated innovative breakthrough styling like a sleek, low-profile body encasing a large power plant.


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beaucarlo


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the 1953 Ford X100 is neat....you can see 1956 Mercury headlamps....1962 Mercury Tail-lights
...1958 Ford hood chrome....55-56 crown vick roof....great post

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Greaser


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Thought it looked familiar..........

These Incredible Concept Cars Were Never Produced - What a Shamebatmobile-30112012-jpg_120219.jpg

 

In 1955, the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company designed and built a futuristic concept car called the Lincoln Futura. It was built entirely by hand in Turin, Italy at a cost of $250,000, and like many concept cars, was never put in to production. In the mid 1960's, George Barris of Barris Kustom City acquired the car for $1 directly from Ford.

Fast forward to August 1965, the Batman TV show producers approached George to have him build a new Batmobile for their upcoming show. The only catch was the car had to be ready for action in a mere three weeks. Seeing the bat-like qualities his Futura already had, George knew it was the perfect answer to the quandary 20th Century Fox had created.

In October of 1965, the Batmobile was completed and delivered to Fox where it made its television debut on January 12, 1966.

The car was such a huge success that George Barris and the producers of Batman decided to build copies of the Batmobile in late 1966. Barris and his crew pulled a mold from the #1 Batmobile and created 3 fiberglass copies. These replicas were displayed at car shows and dragstrips and also made appearances where countless fans could see them.

Over 50 years later the 1966 TV Batmobile is still one of the most iconic and popular cars in the world.



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eeluddy


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As a kid I read all the Popular Mechanix, Popular Hot Rodding, Mechanic's Illustrated as well as any other car mag's I could get my mitts on. So all of these bring back a memory for me, some I forgot about, some I still remeber.

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Jimmyvonviggle


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Some of those concepts are dam ugly. The 51 Lesabre was Harley Earl's everyday car.

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beaucarlo


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here's probably the rarest concept car....Chrysler Norseman...its located on the wreck of the Andrea Doria

a cruise-ship that sank in 1956...check out the lack of an A pillar on the roof.



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bob lewis
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This is the one that I got burnt into my brain.

chevrolet-corvette-nomad-concept-1306404443-824.jpg

 



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427carl


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beaucarlo wrote:

here's probably the rarest concept car....Chrysler Norseman...its located on the wreck of the Andrea Doria

a cruise-ship that sank in 1956...check out the lack of an A pillar on the roof.

 1956_chrysler_norseman_concept.jpg



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Gasonmiles


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Truly some crazy ideas. My votes are for the La Tosca, Mystere, Predictor and Norseman.

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jmont64


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Here's a few more I saw at the garage tour this summer in California. I'll try get the name plates by the right cars.

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P1020875 (1280x960).jpg

P1020872 (1280x960).jpg

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P1020870 (1280x960).jpg

 



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One more, an Italian Caddy.

P1020868 (1280x960).jpgP1020867 (1280x960).jpg

 



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Pontiacanada


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1953 Pontiac Parisienne Concept Car:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLWrvOO-yaM

 

 53_Pontiac-Parisienne_DV-10-MB_002.jpg



-- Edited by Pontiacanada on Wednesday 10th of February 2016 09:48:07 AM

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davelacourse


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Pontiacanada wrote:

1953 Pontiac Parisienne Concept Car


Cool! Some 55-56 styling cues - curved windshield, hood ornament - Caddy-like rear quarters, and ... bucket seats!

Dave



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56Pontiac  1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod

  1964 Acadian Beaumont SD convert, 283 - factory 195 hp, Powerglide, 3.08 10-bolt - Cruiser

  2012 US-built crew cab truck - Daily Driver and Boat Trailering
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