Concept and experimental cars of the post-war era
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These days, most of the major car manufacturers produce a concept or experimental car on a regular basis and most are not only striking in appearance, but usually highly innovative.
Whatever the car looks like, demonstrating the new ideas not only helps to test the car's features in the market place, it is also a great way of getting excellent free publicity in the motoring media, which, in turn, should translate into greater sales in the showroom.
But this idea of producing dream-like cars only began in the very late pre-war era and was then developed much further after the war, and in particular, from the 1950s onwards. Since then, these "cars of the future" have been developed in virtually every size, shape and material imaginable and often look like creations straight from the pages of science fiction magazines.
In the immediate post-war era, as the leading manufacturers returned to car production, many of the innovations concentrated on new aerodynamic shapes to help conserve petrol for the cash-strapped motorist.
Space-age
But as time moved on and car buyers became more affluent, more futuristic cars were created. The trend was led in America where Ford and General Motors began producing a series of fantastic looking cars which would be the centrepiece of the main motor shows of the era and would get ample coverage in the newspapers and magazines.
GM’s first major effort was Firebird 1, which debuted in 1951. This was created by designer Harley Earl who was the designer of the first concept car, the Buick Y-Job, which was produced in 1938.
As this was the new space age era, many of these concept cars borrowed ideas from the technologically more advanced aviation industry and some looked like miniature jet planes cruising down the highway. Another common feature was an appealing bubble top canopy, which would give the driver, and sometimes the passenger as well, a fantastic panoramic view of the road around them.
Not to be outdone, Ford’s "space-age" cars proved just as popular. The 1954 FX Atmos also had a bubble top roof, while another innovation was that the driver controlled the car with two joy sticks, instead of a steering wheel.
But not only were the concept cars highly fanciful in appearance, many were also given wonderfully exotic names, such as: the Skyline X-50, Buick Centurion, GMC Futurliner and the Jetmobile, to name but a few.
Harley Earl
The last creation of legendary creative designer Harley Earl’s was the 1959 Cadillac Cyclone. Among this car's many innovations were a radar positioned inside a nose cone which served as a crash avoidance system and headlights which could be completely hidden above the car's grille.
While it was the Americans who pioneered the concept car idea, there were a number of European developments at the time. In Britain, Rover had built and demonstrated a highly innovative jet powered car as early as 1950, and while there had been initial intentions that something similar may go into production, the idea was eventually scrapped.
In Italy, the esteemed Bertoni design company produced a series of concept cars in the early 1950s named, BATs (Berlinetta Aerodynamica Tecnica). These were based on the Alfa Romeo 1900 floor pan and were all extremely sleek and stunningly beautiful.
Another popular European concept car of the era was the Ghia Gilda. This was also produced in Italy and was powered by an OSCA motor racing engine. It too was extremely sleek and low-slung and also proved a major hit at car shows in Europe and the US.
Although extremely few of the concept cars ever had a chance of going into production, some of their individual innovations would find themselves incorporated into future production models. For instance, onboard computers and dashboard navigation systems which were truly revolutionary in the 1950s, are now standard features in many modern cars, as too are some of the better safety concept ideas which were shown at the time.
Fortunately, many of the wonderful, show stopping cars which were produced in the post-war era can still be seen in the world’s leading car museums today. And as many still look years ahead of their time, they often arouse as much interest among contemporary car enthusiasts as they did when they were first shown to the world with maximum hullabaloo more than 50 years ago.
Multimedia stories from history
The first Batman car epitomised
the space age concept cars of the era
Many of the cars had exotic names. Above is Ford's 1954 FX (Future Experimental) Atmos.
Stunning designs and long tail fins were a common feature on many of the concept cars
Perspex canopies were a common
feature on the 1950s concept cars
1959 saw the third and final version of GM Firebird cars -the nearest thing yet to a ground based aircar
These days all the cars are housed
in GM's heritage centre in Michigan
An even more radically shaped
car was Ford's 1955 Latosca
By the mid 1950s, Ford had a growing collection
of experimental cars. Above is the Ford Mystere
The 1955 Lincoln Futura developed the double bubble concept for alround visibility for the driver and passenger
The project cost more than $250,000 although it was truly futuristic in both looks and ideas
The 1961 Ford Gyron was about as experimental as had been seen and aroused plenty of curiosity
A number of experimental gas turbine cars were
successfully demonstrated but were never mass produced
The 1952 Jetmobile was a clear example of how
car makers were keen to copy aeroplane designs
One of the most radical British developments was jet power which was successfully demonstrated on this 1950 Rover car
Innovation in post-war Japan were less futuristic
than elsewhere. Above is Nissan's Tama electric car
Chevrolet continued producing innovative concept cars
in the early 1960s. Above is the Mako Shark Corvette.
A similar development is
the Chevrolet Manta Ray from 1965
Ford's Aurora concept car was a
big hit at the 1964 New York World Fair
One of the car's many novel features was the panel of small front headlights instead of two large side headlights
The immediate post-war era saw the appearance of a number of novel car designs, although they weren't all futuristic.
The 3-wheeled Californian, from 1947, was one radical design which did lead to the production of a similar car
The 1950s saw the start of serious new design ideas
and one of the first cars was the 1951 Buick Le Sabre
While most of the era's innovations featured new
designs, some featured radical new forms of propulsion.
An early post-war experimental car was the Tasco. The name stood for The American Sports Car Company.
GM's 1954 Bonneville Special was a concept sports race
car which also came from the famous Harley Earl stable
General Motors began its series of futuristic looking cars with Firebird 1 which proved a huge hit at motorshows
Chrysler's 1955 Ghia Gilda was an unashamed
exercise in extreme styling and ambitious performance
The colourful 1955 Buick Centurion featured
a fibreglass body and aeroplane like interior
Amongst the many novel features on the Cadillac Cyclone were sliding doors and a self-closing perspex roof
By showing the concept cars in everyday situations it was believed this would make them more appealing to drivers
The Buick 1951 XP-300 was another concept car
designed to excite the imagination of new car buyers
The car was promoted to the public as
Buick's Experimental Laboratory on Wheels
While some concept cars involved more innovative designs, others demonstrated new ways a car could be driven
Another radical idea was
a revolving front passenger seat
Europe's answer to America's cars of the future were the BAT cars produced by Italian styling house, Bertone
Three cars were built onto an Alfa Romeo
1900 floorpan and each car was extremely stylish
Ford's idea of a nuclear powered car was so futuristic that only a scale model was produced
American car makers led the way in terms of
the quantity and variation of the cars produced
Film now showing
Concept cars of the 1960s
Duration: 3 min. 51 seconds
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