History Concept Cars-what happened to them?

. From what I’ve read in the past, I think it was built based on renderings of a Cadillac concept car that GM designed but never built, not sure though. Maybe a custom based on a concept car design is more appropriate.

 

Thought this was appropriate to this thread:
https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/news/gm-motorama-makes-its-way-to-the-petersen-automotive-museum

 

1960 Plymouth XNR

 

1951 Buick XP 300 GM Le Sabre

 

1953 Dodge ‘Zeder’ Storm Z-250 Concept with body by Bertone
One-off
The Storm Z-250 was developed by Chrysler engineer Fred Zeder to evaluate the feasibility of producing a vehicle that would capture a portion of the growing American sports car market.
Built on a rigid tube frame chassis (built mostly by Chrysler engineer, John Butterfield, in his basement), it was intended to be a dual-purpose sports/racing car because Zeder Jr. envisioned a car with swappable bodies.
In 1952, while on Christmas vacation in Europe, Zeder visited Fiat's Chief Engineer in Turin.
Dante Giacosa recommended a visit to Bertone.
Though they were busy designing and building the Alfa Romeo BAT series, they agreed to build the body for Zeder's new car and promised three months to finish the car.
It took nine months to finish.
Unique to the Storm Z-250 was that the comfortable ‘touring’ body could be removed by unscrewing four bolts and replaced with an ultralight 150-pound fiberglass body for ‘racing’.
The mechanical components of the car included a Dodge hemi V8 truck engine with 260hp and 330ft-lbs of torque.
Other parts came from Plymouth and Dodge vehicles, including brakes, radiator, clutch, fuel tank, rear axle, and the steering system.
The transmission was a new unit developed by the Spicer Division of Dana Corporation.
The Storm did not reach the assembly line because high production costs would have made it too expensive to sell in profitable quantities.
The Z-250 would have competed with the Ford Thunderbird, Chevrolet Corvette, and the Kaiser-Darrin.
Zeder drove the Z-250 for 16 years.
He loaned it to the Northwood University where it remained until 1992.
Unfortunately, water leaked into the cylinders so the engine was removed and replaced with a 1965 Dodge V8 with two four-barrel carburetors.
After the work was completed, Zeder continued to drive the car in his home in California.

 

Not real, a fake, a photoshop, or AI. The scourge of the internet.
Don't believe me?

 

It's a shame. it looks great and would have been an awesome car!
Edit: Maybe we shouldn't tell Ebay about that
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313587387492

 

@65pacecar

Hello,

A sporty Buick? That may be an oxymoron of some stature. But, as interesting as it looked, the Buick was similar to a Corvette of the time and small. Sporty could be a stretch. The “schnozz” looks odd and if the lights were in their normal place or at least with individual pods under the belt line, perhaps it had a chance.

Jnaki

Would our dad, the long time Buick aficionado, like to have owned one? Nah! He turned down a 56 Buick Skylark convertible with wire wheels for the whole family. So, perhaps the convertible would have been our mom’s car, but our dad had something against a convertible model. Perhaps, it was the time Gentlemen wore Dobbs Fedora hats and an open roadster/convertible would blow it off…???

Even his two sons would have had a difficult time driving that sporty car around our Bixby Knolls cruising grounds. Room for two and not much more.


But, it was fun to draw and think of changes to make it not so "oddball" in stature. YRMV

 

Cool. Guessing that's AI art?

 

I wouldn't give 2 cents for it....

 

zeltango on IG. Some very interesting designs/ideas, but none are real: https://www.instagram.com/explore/search/keyword/?q=zeltango

 

Is that the one built by Marty Martino?

 

Yes. I believe it’s the replica of the original concept he built. GM destroyed the original show car.

 

A lot of the concept cars did not have a VIN number, the auto maker could slap a plate on them and driven but the vehicle couldn’t be sold to the public and put on the road. This was not the case if the car was built from a production car then modified.

 

1958 Sir Vival concept car, premise was a safety automobile to reduce deaths in accidents!


https://www.makesthatdidntmakeit.com/sir-vival-1

 

1953 Concept ... or a custom?

 

Nash Rambler Palm Beach concept 8.Sold for $528,000 at 2011 Gooding & Company.
After Hudson merged with Nash, American Motors approached Batista Farina at Pinin Farina to design a Rambler-based 2-seater coupe called the Palm Beach. This one-off concept car exemplifies the idea that might have directed American Motors to greater success in 1956. Alas, the advanced, one-of-a-kind Italian dream car was unfortunately never considered for production.

 

looks like a barris job--just take a stock stude and add stuff.....

 

These don't look like "concept cars" they appear to be AI generated crap

 

I don't think car manufacturers had a cut-and-dried policy to dispose of all concept cars. It probably depended on who was in charge of the "thumbs up-thumbs down" at any given point. Perhaps a nervous company honcho or a cautious company lawyer, for example. Maybe there are ridiculous liability issues for those who build them, no repair manual or parts department, no safety equipment, no title, no possibility of insurance. It's got to be a fairly gray area than it is a black and white one.
I'd like to think that "car guys" at the car companies saved the ones that they could.

 

I got my drivers license in 1970, I was sixteen, I already had a few years of indoctrination via hot rod type magazines so I kind of knew the type of car I wanted.
My mom on the other hand had different thoughts; she had a lady friend with an old car that her late husband drove and she wanted to get rid of it and if I recall correctly she planned on giving it to me.
She had not told my mom what it was but said it was kind of "special", well, the car was a (guessing) mid fifties Rambler and it was BUTT UGLY, I told her I would take the school bus before being seen in the thing.
The one thing I do remember was that it had Pininfarina emblems on it and didn't discover the significance of that name until many years later.
I don't know the Ramblers' value today but I'm still glad I bought a 61 Impala.

 

54 Dodge Granada? Appears it's still around.

 

Please chill with the AI folks