See four decades of engineering history and the latest in automotive design in a cleverly done Chevrolet film from 1949.

The selling angle in this 1949 Jam Handy film is a simple but effective one: In automotive technology, there’s no such thing as “the last word.”  Through the magic of movie time travel, a young couple tour the countryside in a 1913 Chevrolet touring, a 1925 Chevy Superior Sedan, and finally a snazzy 1948 Fleetmaster convertible. Each time, the new Chevy is declared “the last word” in automotive advances when in fact, there’s always something new and better just around the corner.

To learn what’s coming in future Chevrolet products, the couple then pays a visit to the  General Motors Research Building in Detroit. (Located just behind the General Motors Building on Milwaukee Avenue, it was the headquarters of GM engineering and styling before the Technical Center in Warren opened in 1956.) There, we are shown some fascinating bits of the engineering and design process. Then it’s off the Milford Proving Grounds for testing, followed by a look inside the styling studio that includes a sneak preview of the 1950 Bel Air hardtop. Of course, it’s a perfect opportunity for us to see GM’s product development just as it was in the 1940s. Video below.