WARNING:This blog contains copious amounts of adultGAY material. If that's offensive to you, please leave now. All pix have been gleaned from the internets so, if you see a picture of yourself that you don't wish to have posted here, please leave a comment on the post and I will remove it with my apologies. I REPEAT:If you see a picture of yourself that you don't wish to have posted here, please leave a comment on the post and I will remove it with my apologies.
The last illustration makes me think somebody over at General Motors saw this and used the front end for a 60s Buick Riviera and the rear end for a 60s Chevrolet Impala. Big blowups of the color illustrations would look great in a car enthusiast's garage. The car bodies could be recycled but would be difficult to fit in the curbside recycle bin :-P
NEVER had seen or knew those pictures of Kaiser "idea cars" ever existed. Thanks, Rick!
In the earlier 1950s, aluminum was a new material with much promise. Stamping it has unique challenges compared to sheet metal. Which might explain why aluminum was used more in cast parts than stamped parts? Why it took Ford until the 2000s to justify the cost of stamping sheet aluminum into pickup truck bed components and training repair facilities how to best repair it?
GM started using HSLA (high strength, low alloy) metal to replace heavier bumper reinforcements. The whole front frame section of the 1984 Corvette was of similar HSLA "metal" (which looked like anodized aluminum to me).
Ford was looking for more advertised towing/hauling capacity. GM was looking for weight decreases in their new, high-tech, downsized cars of 1977-87.
Looking back at the "shapes" presented in this collection of "Idea Cars", it is very obvious that designers of other Ford and GM brands liked them. Incorporating them into their own designs for many later 1950 cars, all the way to the popular vertical headlights of the 1965-1966 cars.
GM's popular "flat top" hardtop roof designs. the many things on the smaller sport coupe that looks like the 1953 Corvette items, plus the many similar GM "show cars" based on the early Corvette body, especially the Buick version. The rear end treatment that screams "1959 Chevrolet", but a more reserved version being on the 1958 Thunderbird. The reverse-slant vent windows that were on 1957-1959 Ford products and the vertical teardrop versions on the 1961-1962 GM products. MANY things "borrowed" from these pictures, which proves the great impact they had on the whole industry. Such a HUGE diversion from the "normal, rounded" cars Kaiser produced in the early 1950s.
Aluminum maker as coach builder, that fine art of auto design as seen in the work of Boneschi, Bertone, Sala, Touring, Castagna, Farina, Frua, Vignale and Zagato of Italy, and Chapron, Pourtout, Franay, Saoutchik, Figoni et Falaschi, Vanvooren, Autobineau, Letourner et Marchand and Hibbard et Darrin of France. Scalloped fender lines and wheel wells as found on Chrysler and Ford dream cars of the 1950’s designed by Ghia of Italy. (The Chrysler Norseman and Lincoln Futura as examples) The wide range of designs is reminiscent of a 1949 catalog published by Isotta-Fraschini of proposed Tipo 8C Monterosa’s that were never built. -Rj
As a resident of Hawaii, I have to comment on the names. Menehune were legendary 2-foot-tall dwarves, not a very flattering name for a compact car. Pele was the fierce volcano goddess who destroyed everything in her path. Waimea means "red water", a river or stream that was was muddy or discolored. I also have to comment on the shape of the Waimea. The description says it has a "front-located" engine, but there's no room for an engine in front of the driver. The only place where there might be room for an engine is in the very back of the car, but that's not the concept that the confused artist was going for.
The last illustration makes me think somebody over at General Motors saw this and used the front end for a 60s Buick Riviera and the rear end for a 60s Chevrolet Impala. Big blowups of the color illustrations would look great in a car enthusiast's garage. The car bodies could be recycled but would be difficult to fit in the curbside recycle bin :-P
ReplyDeleteMilleson - *chuckle*
DeleteNEVER had seen or knew those pictures of Kaiser "idea cars" ever existed. Thanks, Rick!
ReplyDeleteIn the earlier 1950s, aluminum was a new material with much promise. Stamping it has unique challenges compared to sheet metal. Which might explain why aluminum was used more in cast parts than stamped parts? Why it took Ford until the 2000s to justify the cost of stamping sheet aluminum into pickup truck bed components and training repair facilities how to best repair it?
GM started using HSLA (high strength, low alloy) metal to replace heavier bumper reinforcements. The whole front frame section of the 1984 Corvette was of similar HSLA "metal" (which looked like anodized aluminum to me).
Ford was looking for more advertised towing/hauling capacity. GM was looking for weight decreases in their new, high-tech, downsized cars of 1977-87.
Looking back at the "shapes" presented in this collection of "Idea Cars", it is very obvious that designers of other Ford and GM brands liked them. Incorporating them into their own designs for many later 1950 cars, all the way to the popular vertical headlights of the 1965-1966 cars.
ReplyDeleteGM's popular "flat top" hardtop roof designs. the many things on the smaller sport coupe that looks like the 1953 Corvette items, plus the many similar GM "show cars" based on the early Corvette body, especially the Buick version. The rear end treatment that screams "1959 Chevrolet", but a more reserved version being on the 1958 Thunderbird. The reverse-slant vent windows that were on 1957-1959 Ford products and the vertical teardrop versions on the 1961-1962 GM products. MANY things "borrowed" from these pictures, which proves the great impact they had on the whole industry. Such a HUGE diversion from the "normal, rounded" cars Kaiser produced in the early 1950s.
Aluminum maker as coach builder, that fine art of auto design as seen in the work of Boneschi, Bertone, Sala, Touring, Castagna, Farina, Frua, Vignale and Zagato of Italy, and Chapron, Pourtout, Franay, Saoutchik, Figoni et Falaschi, Vanvooren, Autobineau, Letourner et Marchand and Hibbard et Darrin of France.
ReplyDeleteScalloped fender lines and wheel wells as found on Chrysler and Ford dream cars of the 1950’s designed by Ghia of Italy. (The Chrysler Norseman and Lincoln Futura as examples)
The wide range of designs is reminiscent of a 1949 catalog published by Isotta-Fraschini of proposed Tipo 8C Monterosa’s that were never built.
-Rj
As a resident of Hawaii, I have to comment on the names. Menehune were legendary 2-foot-tall dwarves, not a very flattering name for a compact car. Pele was the fierce volcano goddess who destroyed everything in her path. Waimea means "red water", a river or stream that was was muddy or discolored. I also have to comment on the shape of the Waimea. The description says it has a "front-located" engine, but there's no room for an engine in front of the driver. The only place where there might be room for an engine is in the very back of the car, but that's not the concept that the confused artist was going for.
ReplyDeleteQuand l’industrie automobile américaine avait de l’imagination. Les idées de Harley Earl, Elwood Engel, Virgil Exner, Bill Mitchell, John Najjar, Brook Stevens, Dick Teague et Alex Tremulis sont nécessaires aujourd’hui.
ReplyDeleteMonsieur Dupuis 🇨🇦
Monsieur Dupuis - You know so many names!
Delete