Wild and fantastic mid-century dream cars will be the subject of Cartopia, my talk during Palm Springs Modernism Week on February 20th.
The Mid-Century period saw America's Big Three carmakers indulge in all-out competition to produce the most dazzling, way-out concept cars. The pubic was the winner as car shows were rocked by a non-stop parade of finned, bubble-topped wonders with jet engines and auto guidance sytems. The 1950s to mid-1960s were an absolute peak for automotive dreamers, a baroque period that will likely never come again.
Legendary GM design cheif Harley Earl kicked things off with his radical, jet plane influenced 1951 LeSabre. Ford's George Walker soon followed suit with the fully functional personal luxury car of the future, the X-100. Chrysler's Virgil Exner, meanwhile, began a stunning series of tastefully styled dreams with the 1951 K-310, an Italian-built coupe.
Hundreds of images will be projected, illuminating the differing approaches as GM, Ford and Chrysler explored the future of the American automobile. Examples of ads, movie and TV appearances, and toys will demonstrate how these cars impacted culture. Orphan makes like Studebaker and Packard will have their contributions noted, as will custom show car builders like Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and George Barris.
I was excited when Modernism Week producers became aware of my upcoming book on concept cars and contacted me about presenting this material in a live format. Compiling this material for a new medium has proven to be fascinating work. Catch this one of a kind show if you're around Palm Springs on the 20th.
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