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1950s GM Concept Cars at Tech Center |
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In support of the GM Research experimental turbine engine program, GM Styling developed an aerodynamic vehicle powered by a turbine engine. The idea of the GM experimental Firebird originated with Harley J. Earl, GM Vice President in charge of the styling staff, who also designed its fiberglass reinforced plastic body. The aircraft motif was evident in the car's ‘needle’ nose, delta wings swept back along the rear half of the body, a vertical tail fin and a plastic bubble over the driver's cockpit. On a completely streamlined vehicle like the 1954 GM Firebird I (left), a tail fin (or some flat vertical surface behind the car's center of gravity) was needed to give the body directional stability or to hold it on course when it was in motion. These vehicles were shot on location at the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. In the background is the Design Dome, which has a 188-foot diameter floor that can be set up as an auditorium for an audience of more than 1000, or used as an exhibition hall. The outer dome was 65 feet high with a span of 188 feet, and was based on pressure-vessel construction. The aluminum shell was 3/8 of an inch thick-thinner than what an eggshell was to an egg.
Official GM Photograph from the General Motors Media Archives.
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