Dukes of Earl
August 1, 2008
"You will never know what the industrial products of the future will be like, but the secret is to keep trying to find out," said Harley Earl, GM’s design chief from 1927 to 1958. "I’d rather try crossing a river on a path of bobbing soap cakes than make predictions about the car of tomorrow. The footing would be far safer."
Rather than predict, Earl simply produced what became known as concept cars—automobiles with futuristic features such as bubble tops, nuclear-powered engines, Shiatsu seats, and in-dash cigarette dispensers. While these outlandish rides have become commonplace at auto shows, the very concept of a concept car belongs to General Motors. GM, in turn, owes a debt of gratitude to Earl—whose innovative designs will be displayed, as part of the GM centennial celebration, at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Earl led GM off the beaten path in 1938 when he created a one-off car called the Y-Job, a rakish black two-seat coupe built on a modified Buick chassis. Since GM’s rivals designated experimental vehicles with an "X," the Y-Job was named to convey an even more foward-thinking concept. It featured hidden headlamps, flush door handles, and a smooth rear deck that concealed a power-folding convertible top. By all accounts this was the first automobile designed for the sole purpose of trying out new ideas on the car-buying public.
Unfortunately, GM lacked an appropriately high-profile consumer forum in which to publicize such design studies. Auto shows at the time were strictly used to exhibit automakers’ new production models. Earl attempted to stir public opinion by using his avant-garde Y-Job as his personal mode of transportation, putting some 25,000 miles on its odometer over several years. After the 1951 Motorama, he used the Buick LeSabre as a daily driver, as well. Yet, as much as Earl might have enjoyed the attention he received cruising down Detroit’s Woodward Avenue in a crazy-looking Buick, he sought a better way to gauge popular sentiment.
GM president Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. had long amused business associates during the National Automobile Show week by hosting a sumptuous luncheon at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel. The special occasion included a sneak peek at a selection of concept cars and the opportunity to exchange opinions on the vehicles’ new features and futuristic design elements. Sensing an opportunity, Earl urged Sloan and GM to refashion and expand the event to share the company’s ideas with a much wider audience.
"Transportation Unlimited" opened in January 1949, filling the
Waldorf-
Astoria’s vast ballrooms to capacity. This weeklong pageant brought
together more than two-dozen production and concept cars, which represented GM’s
five brands. The event attracted some 600,000 wide-eyed visitors with its
World’s Fair ambience and free admission. The following year, the "Mid-Century
Motorama" again filled the Waldorf, and after enthralling New Yorkers,
eventually was relocated to Toronto.
Eight shows—with Broadway-style singers and dancers, a full orchestra, and, of course, the glamorous cars—took place between 1949 and 1961. After a two-year wartime hiatus, Motorama returned in 1953, and subsequent editions became rolling extravaganzas. Moving from city to city, the schedule included New York, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Earl pulled out all the stops in creating his Motorama concepts, goading GM’s designers and fabricators to produce an ever-more-dazzling parade of dream machines.
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