History Concept Cars-what happened to them?

56 Packard Predictor

 

56 Pontiac Club De Mer

 

57 Chrysler Diablo

 

One of Harley Earl's Firebirds - this is the 'more sensible one'.

 

Since I was a kid the 51 LeSabre was one of my all time Harley Earl inspired Concepts.
That was me in the mid 90's inside the car while helping set up for a parents weekend car show at my sons College.

 

How could we forget Virgil Exner?

 

62 Ford Cougar Concept

 

62 Ford Seattle

Some of the cars I've posted have shown up at Pebble Beach, I hope some of the others are sitting in someone's collection but I guess a few ended up the way of the Dodo Bird - shame, even for the few ugly ducklings amongst them.
Cheers.

 

should be "la tossa"...



I know, I know, gotta look at them in the context of the times, concept cars are supposed to be over the top, but man, a lot of them were fugly...

 

Ain't gonna argue with ya there FG - a coupla swings and misses among 'em.
Enough true beauties to balance them though - JMO

 

I believe a lot of the Chrysler corp stuff there had input from Ghia, and manages to avoid some of the ridiculous excess of the others. The Olds Delta 88 isn't bad either. It has some conflicting elements, but manages to carry it off regardless.

 

1940 Chrysler Newport. Kind of a cool "retro" theme, very unusual for 1940

 

another mid fifties Chrysler/Ghia collaboration, and probably the best of the bunch, the Desoto adventurer 1. REALLY nice looking car, shame about the sidepipes...







this car really coulda been a contender...

 

I saw one of those up close at my friend's shop a few yrs ago. R.I.P. Mike Fennel

 

This has been my long term favorite of the Chrysler/Ghia collaboration too! Would be willing to do a lot to make this mine were the opportunity ever to present itself.

Ray

 

LOL that one looks almost like a '58 road master and a Corvette had a baby. I think I like it.

 

More info on how the Bugatti was re-created ....

 

The 1956 Chrysler Norseman went down with the sinking of the Andrea Doria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Norseman#/media/File:1956_chrysler_norseman_concept.jpg

 

The original Lincoln Continental was a Lincoln Zephyr modified for Edsel Ford. He drove it to FL, people liked it so much he had them make a production model.

 

Is this in the new x-men sequel?

 

The design was evolved from the Firebirds, but the one in your photo is actually the Cadillac Cyclone. And it does exist.

 

Don't think I knew about the Ford styling connection with this Chrysler, but there is a lot of '56 & '57 Lincoln going on with this car.

 

Absolutely love this car at the Peterson museum: The '54 Plymouth Explorer was built by Carrozzeria Ghia of Turin, Italy.

 

A friend found these articles showing how some of these concepts were spared from winding up in the scrap yard.

Check out this story, which appeared in the May 2013 issue of Car & Driver:

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/their-ghosts-still-haunt-the-place-how-four-gm-motorama-show-cars-were-saved-from-the-scrap-heap-feature

See also:
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/a-concept-cars-long-road-back-into-the-limelight/?_r=0

and:
http://robbreport.com/Automobiles/Wheels-Dream-On

 

This one is kind of a sheep in wolf's clothing, though. Sexy body, sporty interior with bucket seats and Nardi steering wheel....... and a Plymouth flathead six.

 

This one is in the museum in Gateway Colorado.Cool car in a catfish sort of way.. Edit: Was in the Gateway museum. As of two weeks ago the entire collection was dispersed, and sold at auction .

 

The '53 Cadillac LeMans was a factory concept, built in fiberglass. The photo shows it after Barris got a hold of it and "restyled" it for shoe magnate Harry Karl.

 

That's the one that sold at Barrett-Jackson a few years ago for stupid money -- $3 million, I think?

 

Did Virgil Exner work for GM at some time? The back 1/2 of the '56 Buick Centurion sure looks like his work.

Roger

 

Yes, I think you are right.Steve Hendricks of the History Channel owned both.