General Motors Motorama

[HarleyEarl]

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9080730.004/gm...at-pebble-beach

With today's high profile design study prototypes, better known as “concept cars,” capturing the headlines on the pages of WCF and countless of other automotive publications, few enthusiasts know the origins of these forward looking design exercises.

So here's your chance to experience it in the sheetmetal with an exclusive appearance at this year's Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance on Saturday, August 16. General Motors will be showcasing their historic Motorama collection vehicles together for the first time since 1960.

It was more than fifty years ago General Motors featured the traveling Motorama which displayed dramatic concept “Dream Cars” as interpretations of future automobile design. From 1949 through 1960, vehicles including the Cadillac Lemans and Firebird I traveled the United States as a statement of General Motors design leadership at the time.

“I was eight years old when my father took me to the Philadelphia Auto Show where I first saw the Cadillac Cyclone”. Says Ed Welburn, Vice President of GM Global Design. “That was the dream car that made me want to be a designer. Motorama served as creative impetus for a generation of designers, enthusiasts and everyday people”.

The iconic vehicles on display will include:

1939 Buick Y-Job

1951 LeSabre

1951 Buick XP 300

1953 Chevrolet Corvette “Dream Car”

1953 Cadillac LeMans

1953 GM Futureliner

1953 Pontiac Parisienne

1953 Buick Wildcat I

1954 Buick Wildcat II

1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special

1954 Firebird

1955 Cadillac LaSalle II Sedan

1955 Cadillac LaSalle II Roadster

1955 Chevrolet Biscayne

1956 Buick Centurion

1956 Firebird II

1956 Firebird II Titanium

1958 Firebird III

1959 Cadillac Cyclone

1959 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Special Racer

Please see press release below for detailed descriptions of these historic vehicles.

Source: GM

Edited August 1, 2008 by HarleyEarl

[!!!TED!!!]

Way cool!

I would love to be there!

[HarleyEarl]

Me too!!! Like automotive history coming to life. Seeing them all in the same place, concepts one only gets to see in photos.

[HarleyEarl]

I don't remember seeing the rear of this car.

Think about what a lot of '51 cars looked like. Then look at this!...the 1951 Buick XP 300 dreamcar....stunningly hot for the times. GM at it's best.

Edited August 1, 2008 by HarleyEarl

[balthazar]

That would be incredible. '53 LeMans is the highlight for me, tho I crave them all. I had a secret dream that GM would pull some long-missing concepts from out of dusty warehouses for the 100th, dropping jaws thruout the hobby. '55 EB Motorama car, the '56 Golden Rocket, '54 Cutlass are just a few that would be fantastic to see.

One thing that puzzles me here is I've seen references numerous times (and here it's sourced from GM) that the Futurliner is a '53, when all 12 were built circa '41 as far as I've seen. Unless identical copies were built thru the years & into the '50s.... If the case, an identical copy of a '41 should still be, in hgistorical context, called a '41, IMO.

Edited August 1, 2008 by balthazar

[HarleyEarl]

1956 Buick Centurion Motorama Dream Car:

Gorgeous!

[!!!TED!!!]

Seeing the Centurion in person would be a highlight for me!

[HarleyEarl]

The 1953 Cadillac LeMans Motorama Dream Car.

I'm again reminded why I'm such a GM fan.

Wow.

[!!!TED!!!]

1955 Chevrolet Biscayne will be there!?

Thats the one that has been restored by Joe Bortz!?

http://www.superchevy.com/technical/additi...n/photo_03.html

[balthazar]

Not that I don't dig it, man, because I do; but that above is what I refer to as the '59 LeMans, it was updated in '59 by GM Styling with quad headlights, a pancaked hood and '55-56-esque Eldorado 'shark' fins (plus the quarter scoops were added). I love the original with it's domed hood, dual headlights & the 'hump' fins.

And this is -IMHO- simply one of the most beautiful, stylistically-divine rear ends ever penned:

[XP715]

That would be incredible. '53 LeMans is the highlight for me, tho I crave them all. I had a secret dream that GM would pull some long-missing concepts from out of dusty warehouses for the 100th, dropping jaws thruout the hobby. '55 EB Motorama car, the '56 Golden Rocket, '54 Cutlass are just a few that would be fantastic to see.

One thing that puzzles me here is I've seen references numerous times (and here it's sourced from GM) that the Futurliner is a '53, when all 12 were built circa '41 as far as I've seen. Unless identical copies were built thru the years & into the '50s.... If the case, an identical copy of a '41 should still be, in hgistorical context, called a '41, IMO.

I thought the Futurliners were built in 1952-1953, in between they had a similar looking vehicle built in 1941, and before that (1936-1940ish) they used the Streamliners talked about here:

http://www.futurliner.com/stream.htm

Does anybody know if any of the Stremliners survive today?

Also: is it possible that the 1941 style buses were slightly re-styled to become the "1953" Futurliners we know today?

Edited August 1, 2008 by XP715

[balthazar]

{...reads more, as he should have earlier....}

OK- the first generation were built circa 1940. The 12 were minorly restyled (given steel roofs to keep from frying the drivers) and re-powertrained in '53.

I've never seen any indication any of the Streamliners have survived, XP- one would think if anywhere- there would be mention of that on that site.

[HarleyEarl]

[GMTruckGuy74]

1936-1939 Parade of Progress bus, called Streamliners (eight in total):

[GMTruckGuy74]

1940-1941 Parade of Progress bus, called Futurliners <first generation> (12 in total):

Streamliner vs. G1 Futurliner:

[balthazar]

Now you're confusing things (or maybe just me) GMTG.

As you posted w/ the "GM Folks" cover, the Futurliner was first built circa '41, and the site calls that the FuturLiner G1. The one that GM is calling a '53 is what the site refers to as a FL 'G2'.

The '36 is the StreamLiner.

What I now need to know is what is the bus HE posted?????

...Oh fine- you edited.... :/

Edited August 1, 2008 by balthazar

[GMTruckGuy74]

1953-1956 Parade of Progress bus, Generation 2, still called Futurliners (12 remained in total):

(*this is the one we're all familar with)

[GMTruckGuy74]

What I now need to know is what is the bus HE posted?????

According to the Futurliner site, here's what HE posted:

In between making the 1936 and 1941 "Parade of Progress" vehicles, GMC workers designed and built this streamlined "Previews of Progress" vehicle. It was billed as a 28-foot, ultra-streamlined truck. The vehicle transported the displays and an operating staff of six people. It was built on a GMC chassis and used a Buick engine. Below is an account from Vic Garske.

"The Previews of Progress was the stage show of the Parade of Progress, which was held inside the Aero-Dome tent. The show was designed to last 45 minutes with two "Paraders" making the presentations. It was also a stand-alone show, taken to schools, colleges, auditoriums, as well as to foreign countries. The stand-alone show was often referred to as the "little caravan" consisting of various devices for demonstration of scientific phenomena, developed by the General Motors Research Laboratories. At one point an "ultra-Streamlined" truck (below) was created to transport the displays. This truck was built on a GMC chassis, with a Buick engine."

[balthazar]

Thanks- I have been over there since I posted and found that same passage.

That site has really been expanded in the last year or so- great stuff.