These Bonkers Concepts Were Once GM’s ‘Dream Cars’ (2024)

Published on March 26, 2024

By Peter Nelson

Peter Nelson

Peter Nelson's Most Recent Stories

Petersen Automotive Museum

Between 1949 and 1961, General Motors helped define the idea of the auto show with its Motorama. The traveling exhibition filled venues across the U.S. with the manufacturer’s entire brand portfolio at the time, from kitchen appliances to its automobile lineup. And when it came to the latter, GM leaned heavily on what it referred to as “Dream Cars.” Now, a small assemblage of such machines from yesteryear comprises “GM’s Marvelous Motorama,” the latest exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Conceived by Harley Earl, head of GM’s Art & Color Department in the middle of the last century, the original Motorama showcased what potential customers might be able to expect in the future, but also served as a barometer to gauge the public’s interest in various stylistic features and amenities. Today, these early concepts provide a fascinating snapshot of the era’s creative and cultural trends as translated by some of the period’s leading automotive designers.

“They considered these cars to be their best work because they were working without limitations,” says Jonathan Eisen, the Petersen’s associate curator, commenting on the individuals who penned such automobiles. “They didn’t have to think about how much this is going to cost when it goes on sale, or whether it has to sit on the same platform as another car . . . the cars could be anything in their imagination.” According to Eisen, the Motorama also “really did change the way that the car companies marketed their models to Americans.”

Representing Motorama’s heyday from 1953 through 1955, these six concepts—each belonging to the Joe Bortz Collection—are on display at the Petersen through March 2026.

1953 Pontiac Parisienne
What’s immediately apparent about this chic, low-slung town car is that it was designed to be driven by a chauffeur with a female passenger in the spacious rear seat. The front passenger seat hydraulically moves forward when the passenger door is open, and GM marketed its rear vanity lights as having “the flattering glow of candlelight.”
The seats’ supple pink leather and dense shag carpeting evoke a sense of luxury as well. Based on the Pontiac Chieftain—though seven inches shorter—the Parisienne had a retro aesthetic even then, and was referred to by GM as “a nostalgic excursion into the future.”
1953 Buick Wildcat
Considered Buick’s first performance-oriented car, the Wildcat concept had some truly forward-thinking features. One of these is Buick’s Roto-Static front wheel hubs, where the center section remains stationary and acts as air ducts for brake cooling. While Formula 1 and other racing series often come to mind with this form of cooling, it’s surprising that Buick did it in the early ‘50s. Then there’s the massive, bullet-shaped chrome accents on the front grille that really help accentuate the Wildcat’s streamline figure.
“That side sweep line became a Buick design feature for a long time, as did the Dagmar bumpers—which GM originally called Buffer Bombs,” says Eisen about the car’s pronounced appointments, noting that the concave grille “definitely inspired future Buick designs.”
Perhaps the most visually appealing element is the Wildcat’s rear end; fins aside, the added bodywork accents around the tail pipes are a subtle but distinctive touch. This Buick also has Roadmaster badging, which sits just in front of the hood ornament and is presented in an ornate font similar to that found on the Porsche 356 of the day.
1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special
Between its bubble top and long, slender sports-car figure, the Bonneville Special is the aesthetic standout of the exhibition. Its aeronautical theme is apparent, especially since the designers outfitted its interior with actual instruments from an airplane salvage yard.
“Pontiac, at this time, had never made a sports car, it’d be if Buick introduced a sports car today,” says Eisen, who describes the Bonneville Special’s style as “very wild, very space-age, and jet-fighter inspired.”
One reason for the concept’s very long hood is the car’s 4.4-liter inline-eight engine—an odd cylinder layout by modern standards but a normal production unit back then, prevalent since the early 1930s. As for the Bonneville Special’s continued influence, it served as muse for the Pontiac Solstice of the mid-2000s.
1955 LaSalle II Roadster
The LaSalle brand ended in 1940, having occupied a spot just below Cadillac in GM’s luxury hierarchy. The idea behind the LaSalle II Roadster and Sedan concepts was to see if consumers were keen on bringing the nameplate back. “Harley Earl had a lot of sentimental attachment to LaSalle,” Eisen says, referring to Earl’s history with the brand before moving higher up the corporate ladder.
Designed by ex-Disney animator Carl Renner, the Roadster was quite small compared to its contemporaries and possesses motorsport inspiration in its styling—so much so, that Renner’s sketches included drivers wearing helmets. Between its flowing lines and diminutive proportions was one element that became iconic just a couple of years later; the scalloped side cove, which was grafted onto the Chevrolet Corvette’s refreshed bodywork in 1957.
1955 LaSalle II Sedan
Supplementing the LaSalle Roadster effort was the Sedan. Like its sibling, this four-door was quite small for the period, sporting an overall length of just 180 inches, and it was a foot shorter than its Chevy Bel Air contemporary. As with the Roadster, the LaSalle II Sedan features a fuel-injected, aluminum overhead-camshaft 2.5-liter V-6 that produces 150 hp.
Interestingly, GM ordered many of its Motorama Dream Cars to be destroyed, but this particular example was sequestered away in Michigan’s Warhoops junkyard for roughly 30 years and kept intact by owner Harry Warholak. Eventually, collector Joe Bortz caught word of its whereabouts and convinced the yard to transfer it to his stewardship. He retained the vehicle’s patina as a reminder of its escape from the crusher and its history in hiding.
1955 Chevrolet Biscayne
It’s hard not to think of the 1960s Chevrolet Corvair when looking at the 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne concept. Yet unlike the production Corvair, powered by a flat-six at the back, the Biscayne has a 4.3-liter V-8 positioned up front.
The Biscayne became a household production badge for many years, though it did not include some of the fascinating design elements that this concept presents, such as the bug-eyed headlights. As far as other notable styling features, the configuration of the windshield glass would appear a few years later on production cars. The interior is remarkably roomy for a vehicle with such small dimensions overall—a reminder of how much crash standards have changed since the 1950s.