1959 Roadster Deville

[Snarfy]

I like this the best of all the one offs GM made.

[Larry Schramm]

Definitely in the spirit of the late 50's production Corvettes

Edited July 9 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[Gunsmoke]

Only because most of them were just as awful as this one. IMHO, virtually all of GM's "styling exercises" (including the famous Buick Y job) were aimed at creating hype rather than something that could actually be marketed. And they were not alone, Chrysler followed the same pattern, and to a lesser extent Ford as well. It was an "American Thang"!

[Ed Luddy]

C1 Corvette with the Cadillac XLR treatment!

[alsancle]

Modern Homage?

[wayne sheldon]

12 minutes ago, Gunsmoke said:

Only because most of them were just as awful as this one. IMHO, virtually all of GM's "styling exercises" (including the famous Buick Y job) were aimed at creating hype rather than something that could actually be marketed. And they were not alone, Chrysler followed the same pattern, and to a lesser extent Ford as well. It was an "American Thang"!

 

I never did get to see it, and have many times wondered about it. But about forty years ago, a long time friend (still a good friend) had a real, early '50s GM one-off show car. I could have gone and seen it any time I wanted to, but that sort of car was never my "thang". Sadly, it was one of five collector cars destroyed when the neighbor business burned down the building they were stored in. The other cars destroyed were all much earlier including a couple very nice brass era cars and a late Mercer touring car. Mutual friends that had seen it later told me the GM show car was a nice and impressive automobile.

 

However, I do agree, that most of the era GM show cars that I have seen photos of were not something I would really like. Great for shouting out to the world "I am here" for GM advertising. But not something I would really want to drive around.

[TTR]

Clearly AI or CGI generated (or poorly photoshopped) image from a Barbie movie or something ?

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10 by TTR (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna]

Is this truly a General Motors creation?

To me, it looks like one of those kits installed

on a Chevrolet Corvette.

[Walt G]

Regarding the GM styling experiments. They are much easier on the eye if you see them in person. I had the opportunity to do that when Bill Mitchell retired from GM and GM brought all his styling cars in to the NY Auto show including the Y job. The Y job is a great machine - you need to see it in person. Bill Mitchell was there at that show in NY on Press Day as was I and I had a good chance to talk to him about styling and art  before most of the other people in the Press Corps knew he had arrived. After a few minutes chatting he looked at me and said " you have a back ground in art  don't you" then went on to say that "you see stuff that journalists do not notice" . A very interesting conversation to say the least . Yes, I like the Y job.

[Gunsmoke]

I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder Walt. As an art person, perhaps you have a thought on their next "beauty", the 1951 Buick LeSabre concept. Like its predecessor, most of the shapes, bells and whistles never made it past the concept stage thank goodness. It's not like there were no good designs already being produced in that era, witness a '38 Bugatti, a '36 Bentley, and stateside, the fabulous '37 era Cords. With all of Gm's wealth, I was always surprised they did not employ some seriously good car designers. Perhaps their fat cat executives were too busy counting their money. 

[Larry Schramm]

Harley Earl employed by GM was considered the father of automotive design.  The concept cars were and still are design exercises to see what the public likes best to be incorporated in current production models, at least that is the way it used to be.  With today's GM, I am not so sure.

[Ed Luddy]

23 hours ago, alsancle said:

Modern Homage?

I think so. AI generated image.

[wayne sheldon]

I had wondered when I first saw the photo whether it was ever a real car or not. The backgrounds in the "picture" are very similar to a bunch of computer generated images that ran around the internet about two years ago.

 

Art for the sake of art is fine, up to a point. And I can't get enough of what I would consider "great art". But way too much of what passes for "art" these days is closer to the kid's crayon drawings we posted on the refrigerator than it is to fine art.

 

I just don't "get" the whole "virtual" thing. Designing something from your heart and drawing by hand a rendition of it is one thing. But manipulating an endless stream of ones and zeros to create something that never has or never will exist?

 

The cross between an early 1950s Corvette and a late 1950s Cadillac is an interesting concept. But after looking at dozens of computer generated fantasy photographs it just becomes another bubble gum wrapper.

[Walt G]

Gunsmoke

 I am not here to discuss design of all the GM concept cars, styling experiments. I did say I do like the Y job = it has clean flowing lines and a "color" that does not distract from the shape/form.  I viewed the other cars in person and did not comment on that era because it is not my focus. Discussing form and art of sheet metal with Bill Mitchell did not go into what i liked or what he designed at the time which from the perspective now is 70 years or so ago.  You show current photos of cars that were pre war made in limited number. Kind of hard to compare then and now. ........ Car styling even 5 years apart is hard to compare.

[Frank DuVal]

I'll take the 51 LeSabre over the Bugatti any day!❗To each his own....😉

 

I have seen the Biscayne (the show car, not the cheap ones I drove in my younger years 🤣) the LaSalle II and my friend's recreation of the Pontiac Club de Mer (if you google Club de Mer, the images are mostly of his re-creation, as Pontiac destroyed the original in the early 60s or so), the Corvair Super Monza, the Corvair Astro I, and the Corvair Super Spyder. I like them all!!

 

These show cars were not meant to be a production car, just Harley Earl's and later Bill Mitchell's crews throwing out ideas. If you can't dream it, it will never be built. Wasn't that the theme of a movie?❓😉

 

[Rivguy]

I also like the Y  Job. For many years you never got to see the boat tail, only front views, It reminds me a bit of mid 60's Rivieras in that it was a styling sensation. I had a ;66 Riv, a '71 Boat tail, and now have a '97, another style sensation.

[Walt G]

Seeing the cars in person is a whole different experience. You get a better sense of proportion - compared to your height, it goes beyond just the flash of chrome or color. Also in person you can balance the reflections of the assorted light sources that will affect the overall view of the object.  Hard to explain in comments without an object to give more meaning to understanding. It's like the stories I pen, text/copy/words are great BUT if you add a period image it brings it all together. Most of those here have never seen the real cars in person. It was an amazing opportunity to do that decades ago and talk to the man who put pencil to paper to create them in what was the spirit of ideas at the time. It is like trying to describe attending the AACA Eastern Fall meet and the cars on display there - photos help but the "real deal" is what really works for me anyway. I am sure that there are people reading this and shaking their heads in in disagreement .

[TAKerry]

I agree completely with Walts comments on seeing the cars in person. Case in point is the fabulous Olds at the AACA HQ. Pictures do it no justice. One does not realize how big this auto is until standing beside it! I think the wheels are almost as tall as I am. There was a fellow in our town that bought a Ford GT. Another car unless standing beside it, no idea how low and small it really is. 

[Chris Bamford]

On 7/9/2024 at 6:03 PM, TTR said:

Clearly AI or CGI generated (or poorly photoshopped) image from a Barbie movie or something ?

 

Yes. AI-generated methinks. The background was familiar and got me looking at travel photos — the setting is probably San Marcos Square in Venice, a place rightfully famous for birds and other things. Note also the tile patterns and building arches.

 

Looking more carefully now at the original posted image, what appears to be a 'digital creator' logo is floating high above the windshield.

 

Edited July 11 by Chris Bamford (see edit history)