GM Kicks Off 100th Anniversary with Display of Motorama Dream Cars

The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance served as the setting for General Motors to celebrate some of its more memorable

concept car designs and kick off its 100th anniversary celebration. The automaker transformed the famed fairways into a staggering display of over-the-top dream cars that first made their debut in the 1950s at special traveling auto shows that GM called Motoramas.

These cars, introduced during GM's glory days when the automaker commanded over 50-percent of the market, are bursting with optimism about the future.  While some can dismiss their sometimes bulbous lines, excess chrome, glaring color schemes, jet plane tail fins and Buck Rogers interiors as kitschy and overblown by today's standards, they spurred the imaginations of buyers, young boys and the designers who created these still compelling autos.

These vehicles were produced because of one man, the powerful head of GM Design in the 50s, “Harley Earl or Mr. Earl as he was called by everyone at GM,” according to

Ed Wellburn, current VP of Design for General Motors.  Wellburn remembers seeing the Dream Cars at the traveling Motoramas and being so excited that he “wrote GM and asked how to become a designer,” he said.  “They sent me back a nice note and I followed what they told me like a recipe,” he continued.“It was about dreaming and being allowed to imagine,” he added. “That's what good design is about today.”

Not everything that was “imagined” made it into production as promised, but it was a treat for those who actually remembered when these dream cars were the latest new things, rather than a nostalgic look back at the past and fun for those who weren't born in the 50s.

It's hard to resist cars with bubble tops and rocket fins, each in succession appearing

more and more like a space ship rather than a mere earth bound vehicle. These fantasy cars captured the imagination of those from 8 to 80. Pulses raced and passions stirred just looking at the pictures that appeared in magazines and newspapers.

While most were fantasy cars, some did make it into production, the Corvette being the most notable. Many also introduced names that would be worn by famous GM cars in later years, such as LeSabre, Parisienne, Biscayne, Wildcat, LeMans, Bonneville, Firebird, and Stingray.

Others, like the first dream car built by Harley Earl, the Y Job, were test beds for design features and technology that would soon became available.  The Y Job hit the show circuit in 1938 and its “longer, lower, wider” stance set the stage for all

GM cars to follow.  Earl got rid of running boards, incorporated the headlights into the fenders, placed the radiator under the hood and gave the car a modern streamlined look.  Earl used the Y Job as his daily driver until after the War when he had the design staff conjure up the LeSabre in 1953, just in time for the Motorama.

The first Motorama to feature the “Dream Cars” was launched at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City on January 17, 1953, attracting over 40,000 on the first day.  Its success encouraged the company to produce the January event five more times in the next 8 years.  When it pulled up stakes in New York, this nearly annual automotive circus toured the US bringing its message of a chrome laden, automotive rocket age to millions of Americans.

There

were about 54 concept cars in these extravagant displays of future design (the exact number is unknown). The last tour was in 1961. Many of the original cars from the 1950s were broken up and destroyed. Some were taken to a Detroit area junkyard to be crushed, while some were kept by GM and others given to museums. Several have found their way into the hands of private collectors.

A combination of all of these sources was employed to reassemble the largest exhibit of these cars to date, with 20 vehicles, including a rare example of a GM Futureliner, which was transported from the Auto and Truck Museum in Auburn, Indiana.

The twelve Futureliners, which predated the Dream Cars, were built as a way to bring GMs display from the 1933 Chicago Worlds Fair to the hinterlands.  These stunning futuristic coaches, along with 32 support vehicles, rolled out across America in the 1940s and 50s on a tour dubbed the “Parade of Progress”.

The goal was to spread the word about the advances of modern science and technology.   Well-scrubbed presenters (many of whom later became GM executives) were on hand to extol the wonders of jet engines, stereophonic sound, microwave ovens, television and superhighways.  World War II halted the Parade, but it was resumed in 1952. 

“Ironically, the Futureliners' fate was sealed by one of the technologies displayed – television,” explained John Wissink, who was part of the restoration team.  “People stopped coming out to see things like this when they could stay home and watch TV.”

Like

many of the concept cars that followed, the Futureliners were abandoned until Wissink and a group of 30 auto enthusiasts from Grand Rapids, Michigan decided to come to the rescue.   After seven years of hard work, over long nights and long weekends, these diehard volunteers restored Futureliner #10, one of only eight still known to exist.

Not every Dream Car on display had been restored.  Two of the concepts that had been rescued from junkyards by Chicago based collector, Joe Bortz, are still waiting for their time in the auto beauty shop. Bortz was encouraged to bring the unrestored cars to Pebble Beach and show them among other auto treasures.

The 1955 Chevy Biscayne XP-37 is simply a shell, missing headlights, windshield,

and interior; but the design was still there. Also rescued by Bortz was the 1955 La Salle II Roadster, in similar condition. Even as mere hulks, these designs are still show stoppers, and as one-off concepts they're irreplaceable.

Other highlights included the very first 1953 Corvette.  This car stunned the world when it arrived on the turntable at the very first Motorama.  Positive crowd and press reaction helped to convince the company that its decision to launch an American sports car was a good decision.

Unfortunately, when the Corvette hit the streets it was plagued with a heavy and underpowered six-cylinder engine, a three-speed transmission and lethargic handling.  It was no match for the faster, more agile sports cars from Ferrari,

Jaguar and MG.  These European imports not only had style they had power and great handling.  The Corvette was dismissed as a “boulevard cruiser.”  But the company stayed with it and eventually transformed the charmer into a real sports car.

Several of the Corvette's design features were carried over onto both the 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special, and also onto the car that's featured in both the official Concours program cover and the matching poster, the 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 Roadster. The F-88, at first glance, appears to be a Corvette with Olds styling cues, but in a striking gold color that simply demands one stop to look.

Other stunning Buick designs nearby included the 1951 XP300 built for GM's head of engineering Charlie Chayne at the same time Harley Earl was creating his

LeSabre.   The car's name derived from combining a contraction of experimental (XP) and the 300, which referred to its 300 hp supercharged V8 engine.  Both the LeSabre and the XP300 were low and sleek cars that typified the styling vision set by Earl.

While most of the Dream Cars on display had wild designs, one could envision actually driving one on the road.  But some threw practicality to the wind, or the jet stream.  The turbine powered 1954 Firebird XP-21, which seems to be a jet plane with four wheels, was clearly inspired by Earl's fascination with the jet age and rockets.  This car and its later siblings, the 1956 Firebird II and the 1958 Firebird III, were attention getters when first introduced and are crowd pleasers today.  It would be difficult to determine where to put the federally required crash bumpers on these designs.

Practicality

wasn't required.  The jet inspired cockpits, bubble tops and rocket engines featured on these cars never made it as optional equipment on production vehicles, but they're still fun for anyone who sees them today.  Except for author and auto enthusiast, Jamie Johnson, who said he felt robbed when he saw the future that was promised in the 50s. 

“Look at this field of rolling art versus what's being offered today, at any price, it's a betrayal,” he said.  “These cars are absolutely fantastic.”