1954 Alfa Romeo 2000 Sportiva (Bertone)

The 1950 Martin Stationette

1955 Tatra JK2500

The 1958 Ford Nucleon concept

The 1958 Ford La Galaxie concept

The 1958 Ford De Paolo concept

The 1958 Ford X-1000 concept

The 1958 Ford Mystique concept

The 1951 Buick XP-300

The 1956 Chrysler Ghia Dart

1954 Pontiac Strato-Streak concept

The 1958 Ford X2000

The 1959 Chevy Corvette Stingray

The Corvette Stingray was built in 1959 to explore the limits of handling and performance of the future Chevrolet Corvettes. This Experimental concept car was designed and built in 1959 by then vice president of General Motors Styling, William L. Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell designed this unique thin shelled, fibreglass body for the minimum racing weight possible. The vehicle has an advanced multi-tubular chassis with de Dion rear suspension and inboard rear brakes. Powered by a fuel injected, high performance Chevrolet V-8 engine, this vehicle was campaigned as an independent on the sports car club circuit in 1959 and 1960. After its racing days were complete, the vehicle was retired and is now part of the vintage concept car collection, owned and cared for by the General Motors Design Center.

The 1959 Cadillac Cyclone

The 1959 Cadillac Cyclone was designed to test new styling and engineering ideas.
The two-passenger automobile has a clear plastic cover that fits snugly against the panoramic windshield to give the driver true 360 degree vision. When not in use, the power-operated canopy folds backward beneath the surface of the trunk deck. It automatically lifts out of the way when either door is opened. At a touch of a button, the Cyclone's doors move outward from the car three inches. Moving smoothly on ball bearings, they can be slid back for easy entrance. Among its advanced engineering features is a radar device which scans the highway, and warns the driver electronically of objects in its path. Large, twin nose cones in the front of the car house the proximity-sensing units.

They electronically alert the driver with both an audible signal and a warning light if an object is in its path. The Cyclone is powered by a 325 HP engine that is positioned in the nose of the car. It features a low profile carburetor, cross flow aluminium radiator and twin fans. The muffler and exhaust are located in the front engine compartment with the exhaust outlets just ahead of the front wheels. Inside, the instruments are clustered like an aircraft dashboard before, and between, the two passengers. An intercommunication system allows passengers to converse with persons outside the automobile without raising the canopy.

The 1956 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket

Oldsmobile's 1956 Golden Rocket featured a seating system in which a roof panel was raised and the seat was elevated and rotated toward the entering occupant when the door was opened. Buttons on the steering wheel allowed the column to tilt downward, providing the driver with easier access.

The 1954 Cadillac El Camino concept

The Cadillac El Camino, first displayed in 1954 as part of GM's Motorama show, had a fibreglass body and a brushed stainless steel top which was a preview of Cadillac styling later that decade. The passenger compartment used a curved glass, aircraft-type bubble canopy.

The 1958 Pontiac Firebird III

The Firebird III was the first space age inspired car by General Motors. The Firebird III has an aerodynamic fiberglass body and is pearlescent silver-gold in color. It has a wide, tapered nose, twin plastic bubble canopies over the passengers and a high dorsal fin at the tail. The car's most significant single feature, its control system, features combined and improved versions of "no-hands" steering and the single-stick Unicontrol introduced separately by GM Research Laboratories.

The 1956 Pontiac Firebird II

The Firebird II represented a progress report on the feasibility of gas turbine powered vehicles. Unlike the original, single-seat Firebird I that developed exhaust temperatures of more than 1250 degrees F, the four-passenger Firebird II featured a regenerative gas turbine engine that operated nearly 1000 degrees cooler. Other innovations included the first use of wheel disc brakes, fully independent four-wheel suspension and the sophisticated electronic guidance system for use on the "electronic highway of the future."

The 1954 Pontiac Firebird I

The idea of the Firebird originated with Harley Earl who also designed its fibreglass, reinforced plastic body. The car's Whirlfire Turbo-Power engine and the chassis were developed under the direction of GM Vice President Charles McCuen, general manager of GM Research Laboratories Division. The aircraft motif is evident in the car's "needle" nose, delta wings swept back over the rear of the body, a vertical tail fin and a plastic bubble over the driver's cockpit. Mechanically, the gas turbine of the Firebird is the reverse of conventional automobiles. In the nose, ahead of the driver is a 35-gallon glass fibre-plastic fuel tank. Behind the driver is an integrated power "package" with an engine consisting of two mechanically independent parts - the gasifier section and the power section.

The 1956 Buick Centurion

The 1956 Buick Centurion was an aerodynamic four-seat coupe with a patented rear-mounted television camera,  A receiver on the instrument panel displayed images from the camera, thereby rendering the rear-view mirror obsolete. The camera was mounted in a tailcone inspired by a jet fighter, a recurring theme in concept cars of the '50s. Front seats automatically slid back when the doors were opened for easier entry and also moved forward to provide entry and exit to the back seats. A cantilevered steering wheel positioned the steering shaft down the center of the car, allowing more legroom for the driver.

Centurion is now owned by Sloan Museum.