It's the year 2015. If you're a child of the 80s and have had your expectations set by a certain blockbuster film, you've got just…{"id":7602,"date":"2015-09-16T13:12:49","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T20:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/?p=7602"},"modified":"2015-09-16T13:12:49","modified_gmt":"2015-09-16T20:12:49","slug":"back-to-the-future-classic-concept-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/16\/back-to-the-future-classic-concept-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Back To The Future: Classic Concept Cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s the year 2015. If you’re a child of the 80s and have had your expectations set by a certain blockbuster film, you’ve got just one question for the\u00a0motor industry: where are all the flying cars?<\/span><\/p>\n

Though we don’t have flying cars just yet, that doesn’t mean we haven’t had car designers who have looked to the future and seen great things. The world of concept cars is full of ingenious designs, in both function and appearance. From progressive to revolutionary to straight up science-fiction, concept cars are a study in creativity and innovation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, there are very few concept cars that ever made it as a full-production automobiles, but that doesn’t make concept cars any less awesome.\u00a0For a brief look into futures past, here are some\u00a0classic concept cars\u00a0you should know about:<\/span><\/p>\n

1937 – Airomobile<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At first glance, the Airomobile\u00a0resembles an orange submarine more than a car. Its streamlined design ends in a fish-like tail, and the Airomobile drives on only three wheels. The car was created by Paul Lewis, owner of Lewis American Airways, who wanted to create a sedan that was practical and affordable. The Airomobile got a positive reception from the public, but unfortunately, not enough financially backing to mass-produce it. Only one Airomobile Sedan was ever created. It now has a home at the<\/span> National Automobile Museum<\/a><\/strong>. That sucker’s got over 45,000 miles on it, though… as a promotional effort, it was once driven across America to raise funds for production.<\/span><\/p>\n

1938 – The Buick Y-Job<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Buick Y-Job, considered by many to be\u00a0the first true\u00a0concept car, was designed\u00a0by Harley J. Earl, a director for General Motors.\u00a0The Y-Job was hailed by the media as “the car of the future,” and\u00a0today those words ring still true.\u00a0The Y-Job sported a concealed convertible top, recessed tail-lights, hidden headlights, wrap-around bumpers, and the world’s first power windows. With its sleek design and tapered fenders, the Buick Y-Job offered a glimpse into what the future of cars could – and eventually would – become.<\/span><\/p>\n

1951 –\u00a0The General Motors LeSabre<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Harley J. Earl’s studio\u00a0took center stage again when designing the\u00a0’51 LeSabre. Aviation was often Earl’s inspiration, and that influence can be seen not only in the LeSabre’s rocket-like fender design, but also in its duel-fuel system and the inclusion of an altimeter.\u00a0Dubbed by some as an “experimental laboratory on wheels,” this\u00a0car\u00a0went on to be re-modeled as a production vehicle, which, though not as thrilling as the 1951 concept, was still a pretty sweet car.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The

The 1951 LeSabre<\/p><\/div>\n

1955 – The Ford Mystere<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This little gem is a perfect example of the ’50s futuristic vision. A clear roof canopy and twin jet exhaust ports give this car a nice rocket feel. It would not have looked out of place on the Jetsons. Not only did the Mystere have its own radio-telephone in the front console, it also had the then modern features of a television and a push-button ignition switch. Sadly, the Mystere is one of those concept cars that only had a moment in the spotlight before fading into obscurity.<\/span><\/p>\n

1958 – General Motors Firebird III<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Firebird III was perhaps Harley\u00a0Earl’s last dream car, and with it he really let his imagination run wild. The\u00a0‘third bird’\u00a0has the look of a rocket, and the technology to match. The large doors opened with an ultrasonic key, and the cruise control and headlights were automatic… all radical advances for 1958. With its nine-fin design and twin-bubble top, the Firebird III is the quintessential futuristic concept car. Earl said of his inspiration for the car, \u201cI envisioned an entirely different type of car, which a person may drive to the launching site of a rocket to the moon.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"General

General Motors displays their Firebird concept at the World’s Fair.<\/p><\/div>\n

Cars may not be able to take us to the skies\u00a0just yet, but these concept cars at least allow our imaginations to soar.\u00a0<\/span>To see every kind of classic car, from the weird to the wild to the wonderful,<\/span> visit us at the next Pomona Swap Meet & Classic Car Show<\/a><\/strong>!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo Credit:\u00a0<\/span>1937 Airomobile<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0by<\/span>\u00a0J Brew<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(<\/span>CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a><\/strong>).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Photo Credit:<\/span> 1951 Buick LeSabre Concept<\/a><\/strong> by<\/span> bluto2000<\/a><\/strong> (<\/span>CC BY-NC 2.0<\/a><\/strong>).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: General Motors exhibit at World’s Fair, 1962<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0by Seattle Municipal Archives<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/strong>).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":7707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[3451,534,3445,3444,3447,3432,3449,3448,3450,3446,3434,3433,3442,3437,3439,3441,3440,3436,3443,3452,660,3453,3438,3435],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/3157753659_8ac833d26e_o.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nnZN-1YC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7602"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7602"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7713,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7602\/revisions\/7713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}