Dreams and Nightmares–volume four

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Here’s MCG’s latest visit to the land of automotive what-if and never-was: volume four of Dreams and Nightmares. 

 

In this newest edition of Dreams and Nightmares, you’ll find these wonders:

+   Styling proposals from the late ’50s in which both Ford and Buick looked into the  future, and it was dorsal fins.

+   Oh, that old chestnut: a mid-engined Corvette prototype.

+   The 1962 Trav-Air X4, redefining the concept of cabin noise.

+   A 1956 Chrysler clay study that foreshadows the passenger minivan concept.

+   The 1959 Ghia Selene, a design that goes nowhere yet still seems vital and vibrant.

+   A well-known 1955 concept shown in the true natural habitat of the Detroit dream car—on the back of a flatbed truck.

+   A 1974 Mustang proposal that probably would have killed the ponycar forever.

And more. Do you have a favorite? A non-favorite? Please feel free to register your approval or non-approval in the reply section. Check out all the winners and losers in the slide show below.

 

9 thoughts on “Dreams and Nightmares–volume four”

  1. There may be something wrong with me, as I like many of these concepts. If they had sold that Pontiac Phantom as an Eldorado they would have had a big hit with it. I think you could sell that car today.

    The 1974 Mustang proposal looks a lot like the Australian 1978 Ford Falcon XC Cobra to me. http://www.lastinterceptor.com/sale/13/.
    Sure, they’re not identical; the fender skirts definitely have to go. But it’s a concept. In my opinion, that Falcon is the best looking Ford to come out of the musclecar era.

    The Trav-Air X-4 is a stupid idea and the Curtiss-Wright air car has the fans blowing in the wrong direction.

    • I always appreciate your insights. To my eye, the Mustang resembles the 1970 Torino as well.

  2. What is that model thinking (Cadillac Cyclone) – mine may not be a big, but they won’t kill you if I run into you …

    Some great cars here, but a lot of second-raters too.

    Thanks mac.

  3. Edsel’s Speedster. Hands down, the best example in that batch, and a real car, not a clay model or a push-mobile. Thanks Bill.

    • I love the setting of the photo — near the front gate at the Edsel Ford estate, site of the Eyes on Design car show coming up on Fathers’ Day in a few weeks. (PLUG!)

      So… question: Do you like the car better in its initial form as shown here, or as it was redesigned a few years later and as it exists today, with a rather different nose? Controversial issue.

  4. In the pic of the AMX prototype under construction at Vignale in Turin Italy my grandpa Chuck Mashigan is the man standing in front of the car with his camera in hand. He was Director of Advanced Styling at AMC and was responsible for the design of the AMX. AMC sent him to Turin to supervise the construction of the car personally.

    Also interesting to see some of his earlier work in the form of the Typhoon which became the Turbine car. That car was done while he was working in the Chrysler design studios. It was actually based off of a rendering he did while at his previous employer Ford, while working in the Thunderbird design studio.

    • Justin, thank you very much for the additional info on your grandfather. There’s always room for him at MCG.

    • Yes…and no. Pininfarina designed the ’59 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, but how much influence the italian company had on the GM Styling Studio or the rest of the GM lineup is hard to say. Neither Harley Earl nor Bill Mitchell were prone to admitting they followed anyone. Do you see influences? Would like to hear your thoughts.

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