Features HAMB ERA PROTOTYPES

"Lemans" Caddy

In the early ’50s, General Motors was suddenly captivated by sports cars. All five GM car divisions created their own versions of the classic two-place sports roadster, and all were based on the same basic packaging: a shortened production car chassis sheathed in a sleek, lightweight fiberglass body. Of these five show cars, or “idea cars” as concept vehicles were sometimes known then Chevrolet Corvette, Pontiac Bonneville, Oldsmobile F-88, Buick Wildcat I, Cadillac Le Mans only the Corvette eventually became a production car. The Cadillac sports car fared just slightly better, with four examples produced.




Built on a standard 1953 Cadillac sedan chassis with its wheelbase shortened from 126 to 115 inches, the Le Mans was powered by a production Cadillac 331 CID V8 boosted from 220 hp to 250 hp and coupled to a Hydra-Matic four-speed automatic transmission. Sharing many of the familiar Cadillac styling cues of the time, including the tail lamps and P-38-style tailfins, the Le Mans was unmistakably a Cadillac, but only 51 inches tall at the windshield pillar. The design work was performed by the Cadillac styling studio under the direction of Ed Glowacke.




The thinking of Harley Earl, GM’s colorful styling czar, is plainly evident in this view of the Le Mans cockpit, from the wrap-around windshield (a new wrinkle in 1953) to the chrome instrument panel with a row of dials sweeping the full width of the dash. Note the roomy bench seat, the generous foot wells, the column-mounted shift lever, and the lack of a clutch pedal. Clearly, the emphasis was on comfort, not so much on sport. The Le Mans made its debut to the public at the GM Motorama show at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York in January 1953, which drew more than 45,000 spectators on opening day.





One Le Mans owner, shoe tycoon Harry Karl, sent his car to George Barris, Hollywood’s King of the Kustomizers, where it received a flamboyant makeover complete with gold-plated exterior trim. He gave the car to his wife, actress Marie McDonald, and years later (1985) it was reportedly destroyed in a fire. Another Le Mans has simply disappeared, somewhere in Oklahoma it would seem, which leaves two of the four original examples still in existence.





One of the Le Mans show cars was returned to Cadillac in around 1959 and updated with quad headlamps, later-style tailfins, and a 390 CID Eldorado Q-code V8 with dual four-barrel carbs and 345 hp. At this point the car was owned by James E. “Bud” Goodman, the general manager of the GM Fisher Body Division.

 

1961 Chrysler turboflite

Many creative minds grow more conservative over time. Not Virgil Exner, Chrysler’s chief of styling from 1953 to 1962. The final designs created under Exner’s direction at Chrysler were as original and daring as the first. Take for example the wild 1961 Turboflite dream car, one of his last major projects before he was pushed out at Chrysler and replaced by Elwood Engel, formerly of Ford.




Among the many far-out features of the Turboflite was a one-piece passenger canopy, which raised and lowered the roof, windscreen, and side glass as a single unit. However, standard side-opening doors were also provided to allow graceful entry and exit for four passengers. In rather different form, the full-width tail lamp assembly would eventually appear on the 1966 Dodge Charger production car.




Unlike a conventional piston engine, a gas turbine normally provides no engine braking, so the Chrysler styling studio thoughtfully provided a large air brake supported by the two sweeping tail fins. The flap stowed in a nominally horizontal angle at highway speed, then flipped into the vertical position under braking to provide additional deceleration.




As a studio glider, the Turboflite lacked a functional powertrain. A 110-volt power cord passed up through the floor pan to operate the various demonstration features, including the canopy and electroluminescent lighting. This version of the Chrysler third-generation C2A turbine engine is a wooden model, alas. However, a working C2A engine installed in a 1962 Dodge Dart successfully completed a well-publicized New York-to-Los Angeles road test. The limited-production Chrysler Turbine Ghia used an improved fourth-generation powerplant.




The cockpit sports aircraft-themed seats, pedals, and instrument panel, with a large tachometer dial to the right of the steering column and an turbine inlet temperature gauge at the top of the center stack.




This color rendering shows that the Turboflite stayed true to its original vision as it proceeded from the drawing board through the construction process.

 

The Strato-Star coupe was one of a pair of similar Pontiac show cars in the GM Motorama fleet in 1954-1955, the other being a four-door sedan called the Strato-Streak. Only 53 inches tall, the Strato-Star featured hinged cut-outs in the tops of the door openings for easier entry and exit. Air scoops above the headlamps funneled fresh air to the 235 hp V8, and though they’re barely visible in these photos, the Strato-Star wore full Silver Streak chrome hood bands.

 

Harley Earl hated George Barris because of what George did to the LeMans. That is what fueled the feud between the two of them and why GM never helped George when he needed vehicles for different shows. As told to me by George himself.

Denny

 

It was pretty ugly when he got done with it.

 

If I remember right Harley Earl just loaned the car to Barris. Barris then went behind Harley 's back and sold and "kustomized" it without permission from him.

Denny

 

In 1950, Willys-Overland and Alcoa partnered teamed up to create a four-passenger prototype coupe based on the automaker’s boxy station wagon.




Willys-Overland found reasonable success in the years following World War II with an assortment of Jeep-based consumer vehicles. But all the while, the Toledo-based automaker continued to search for ways to reenter the mainstream passenger car market. The familiar 1948-1950 Willys Jeepster, designed by Brooks Stevens, and the stillborn 1947 Willys 6-70 program (read the Mac’s Motor City Garage story here) were two such efforts. Here’s another one that never quite saw the light of day: The Willys Alcoa Jeep project of 1950.




Also known as Project 6100, the Willys coupe was a joint effort between Willys-Overland and Alcoa, formally known as the Aluminum Company of America, and it was designed in part to explore applications for aluminum auto bodies and components. And as we can easily discern, the coupe was closely based on the production Willys Jeep station wagon and its 104-inch wheelbase chassis.

But in place of the boxy wagon shell, there was a rather oddly styled coupe body—formed in aluminum, naturally—with Jeepster-ish fenders and a panoramic rear window glass that mimics the 1947-1952 Studebaker. Another novel departure from the production models is the wraparound rear bumper, not found on any other Willys product we can recall. Seating for four in the close-coupled cabin was accomplished with a pair of side-facing jump seats in the rear, and a large deck lid opens to a generously sized cargo area.

 

1953 Ford X-100

A fully operational working prototype built on a Lincoln production chassis, the 1953 Ford X-100 dream car, designed by Joe Oros, was originally badged as the Lincoln Continental 195X when it debuted in 1952. Advanced features included heated seats, integral hydraulic jacks, and experimental Firestone radial tires.

 

1954 Oldsmobile Cutlass Concept




1957 Oldsmobile F-88 Mark II



1965 Ford XP Bordinat Cobra concept



1955 Oldsmobile Delta 88



1957 Oldsmobile F-88 Mark II



1959 Oldsmobile F-88 III

 

this Tucker prototype was posted on the first page
found these clean drawings
this is a really slick concept

 

1951 Buick XP-300



1953 Firearrow Convertable





1954 Firearrow by Ghia


1954 pair

 

1953 Cadillac Series Coupe by Ghia



1955 Chrysler FALCON



again



one more



1956 Olds Golden Rocket designed by Harley Earl

 

1961 Dodge Flitewing



1962 Ford Cougar




1962 Olds Starfire Bubble Top for pres Kennedy



1963 Ford Cobra II

 

1965 GMX Stiletto



GMX Stiletto at 1964 worlds fair





GMX Stiletto dash




Dodge Z 250



The 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne began life as a super star to showcase the new Chevy 265 cubic inch V-8 engine and was featured at the 1955 Motorama

 

Those chrome inlets on the front of the fenders look like 55 Chevy taillight housings turned upside down

 

It's a PR photo of what I believe is a pre-production 1965 Chevelle Malibu SS. The gills on the rear quarter did not make it into production.



1961 Chevy prototype



1964 Chevrolet XP-813

 

these are amazing, 1989 i rented a shop to a metal shaper''HARRY KENNEDY""that had worked for GM sence middle 50's building these prototype cars. the one i had seen in 1957 at the sepring races was the 1957 SS CORVETT [google it] they built 2 of them out of magnesium. i told harry that i liked the sports cars of the 50's, HARRY said, lets build one, i told him that i had drawn a pix of my dream car in 1959 and would like to build it. OH MY GOSH!! i never realized what it took to build a complete car from a pix, it's been 27 years and i finally finished it. AMAZING will do a story and build on it when i learn how to, still in the 50's

 

1963 Riviera

 

1957 Chrysler Diablo



1956 Buick Centurion II



1954 Ford La Tosca



1951 Buick LeSabre



1959 GM Firebird III

 

Prototype 1963 Buick Wildcat

 

If you're a fan of the 1955 Lincoln Futura, check out episodes 7&8 of "Car Masters" and the Gotham Garage in Temecula, SoCal on Netflix. This series is well worthwhile. Lucas

 

1962 XP-727 Cadillac Concept

 

Those wheels on the GMX remind me of late 70s thunderbird wheels.

 

1965 Dodge Charger Prototype.

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...rado-gm-factory-custom-off-craigslist.735537/

 

There was another Le Man built by Cadillac in 1961, it isn't a prototype necessarily but a custom built off of a production line Eldorado Biarritz. It was built for Bill Mitchell, head of design at GM after Harley Earl. It was also shown at the 1962 Chicago Auto Show. I found it on Craigslist in 2012.

Here is a lengthy thread on some of the work I did to it before showing it Amelia Island Concours in 2013.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...rado-gm-factory-custom-off-craigslist.735537/

 

Maybe it's just me, but this looks more like an artist's rendition than an actual prototype. Plus I don't think I've ever seen any photos of this vehicle before.
.

 

No it's a REAL car they took to shows to judge response.