GM Design Studio Drawings, Clay Models, & Prototypes

[Casey]

  On 10/19/2019 at 10:36 PM, DukeE said:

Sorry sir, loved the Kammback.

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No worries...and welcome back.

Speaking of Kammback design...: http://www.deansgarage.com/2018/how-the-vega-kammback-came-to-be/

[DukeE]

That's a great site, great story. BTW, Ed Cole designed the small block CHevy for GM. A car guy not a bean counter. Makes a difference.   https://www.corvettemuseum.org/learn/about-corvette/corvette-hall-of-fame/ed-cole/

GM particularly good at small cars back then, surprisingly. Opel Manta and 1900 that got imported were great cars, engine a little crude, but clean looking. 

Another favorite wagon was 1900.

Edited October 24, 2019 by DukeE
Cole sbc

[Casey]

[Casey]

[Snake45]

  On 11/17/2019 at 2:03 AM, Casey said:

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That looks like a Riviera eating an '80 Firebird whole. 

[DukeE]

Woof. Lost in translation. Background nice. "cept he's looking at the lump not the babe.

[Casey]

[espo]

  On 11/17/2019 at 5:30 AM, DukeE said:

Woof. Lost in translation. Background nice. "cept he's looking at the lump not the babe.

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This has to be one of the most absurd picture advertising in GM history. Imagine the young man is out for a drive in his beautiful new Oldsmobile stops and backs his car up to the edge of the swamp, the day is cool enough that he's wearing a turtle neck. Then a beautiful young damsel in a bikini comes out of the water and he's more interested in his new car.  Ya I always hated that when it happens. 

[espo]

  On 11/4/2019 at 2:42 PM, Casey said:

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This looks like an almost production ready '67 Impala. I may be wrong but the area from just above the center of the rear wheel and the rear bumper seems just a little stretched to my eye. It could be the way the photo is taken.  

[ChrisBcritter]

  On 11/17/2019 at 4:01 PM, espo said:

This has to be one of the most absurd picture advertising in GM history. Imagine the young man is out for a drive in his beautiful new Oldsmobile stops and backs his car up to the edge of the swamp, the day is cool enough that he's wearing a turtle neck. Then a beautiful young damsel in a bikini comes out of the water and he's more interested in his new car.  Ya I always hated that when it happens. 

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Ah, but note how she's interested in him  - which in the end is the whole point of the ad. 

[espo]

  On 11/17/2019 at 5:43 PM, ChrisBcritter said:

Ah, but note how she's interested in him  - which in the end is the whole point of the ad. 

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I question his lack of interest in her. I like real cars as much as anyone, but between the two I'm going with the bikini. At least this guy could do is offer the lady a towel or something other than the view of the back of his head. The advertising of that time always seemed to me like someone cutup a bunch of pictures and mixed them up like shuffling a deck of cards. Then they would line them up with the product they were promoting and non of it made any sense. This is just an example of what was being done at the time, and I'm just mocking they way it was done. Always good for a laugh if you think of the absurdity of the way the did it.        

[Slick Shifter]

  On 11/17/2019 at 4:08 PM, espo said:

This looks like an almost production ready '67 Impala.

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It has Caprice wheelcovers and a Caprice badge on the sail panel.

[espo]

  On 11/17/2019 at 5:56 PM, Slick Shifter said:

It has Caprice wheelcovers and a Caprice badge on the sail panel.

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I don't know about the wheel covers, they just look kind of Impala to me. I was unable to read the name badge, but looking at the length of the trim part it does look more like it would say Caprice rather than Impala. This is a design proposal and the reason I thought it might be an Impala was based on the roof line. Starting with the '66 year model Chevrolet had a different roof line than the Impala. That said Chevrolet offered the Impala as a Custom which gave an Impala a Caprice roof line. Maybe, just maybe, Chevrolet was considering doing the same on the Caprice model or just use one roof line for both models. That would have saved a lot of cost in my mind. This is the reason I enjoy this thread  is seeing what all the possibilities could have been.   

[Slick Shifter]

  On 11/17/2019 at 6:07 PM, espo said:

 That said Chevrolet offered the Impala as a Custom which gave an Impala a Caprice roof line. 

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Not until 1968.

[59 Buick]

Looking at what was manufactured and what could have been, I am glad that sense and restraint kicks in at times

Edited December 2, 2019 by 59 Buick

[DukeE]

Pretty cool they put a single 65 GTO headlight pod on a Chevy in what, '57? 

Some of those styling guys had some bad drugs. 3 fins on a Buick. LOL. 

[espo]

Sometimes I think the "stylists'  just thru stuff against the wall to see what would stick with management. The three fined Buick I don't think would have sold well and it really wouldn't have aged well. Just think of your self looking for a late model second hand car around 1962 or 1963. Would you have bought this monstrosity ? The '58 Chevy post two door has an interesting side molding and paint treatment. The center stacked headlights in what looks like a '59 Impala proposal would make you think this designer had gotten a sneak peak at a '58 Edsel and added headlights. A '59 or '60 Buick prototype with '59 Pontiac tail lights along the fins. The '58 Impala mockups looked like they were trying to use some '57 Bel Air styling and maybe even a little Corvette grill influence. The '58 Chevrolet model looks as if they were thinking of using the '57  Olds or Buick rear window styling. That rear bumper would have been very bulky and expense wise on a lower line model might not have made sense. The hub caps look like '55 Bel Air carry overs. The roof and basic body shape remind me of one of the Chevrolet futuristic show cars from the mid '50's called the Biscayne, before that name was used as a trim level in '58.   

[Richard Bartrop]

  On 12/2/2019 at 7:10 PM, espo said:

Sometimes I think the "stylists'  just thru stuff against the wall to see what would stick with management. The three fined Buick I don't think would have sold well and it really wouldn't have aged well. Just think of your self looking for a late model second hand car around 1962 or 1963. Would you have bought this monstrosity ? The '58 Chevy post two door has an interesting side molding and paint treatment. The center stacked headlights in what looks like a '59 Impala proposal would make you think this designer had gotten a sneak peak at a '58 Edsel and added headlights. A '59 or '60 Buick prototype with '59 Pontiac tail lights along the fins. The '58 Impala mockups looked like they were trying to use some '57 Bel Air styling and maybe even a little Corvette grill influence. The '58 Chevrolet model looks as if they were thinking of using the '57  Olds or Buick rear window styling. That rear bumper would have been very bulky and expense wise on a lower line model might not have made sense. The hub caps look like '55 Bel Air carry overs. The roof and basic body shape remind me of one of the Chevrolet futuristic show cars from the mid '50's called the Biscayne, before that name was used as a trim level in '58.   

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Hard to say.  You have to admit that some of the cars that did make it out the door were pretty wild, and seeing how quickly Detroit dailed it back after '59 suggests they weren't that well received as it was.

Virgil Exner tried to sell his bosses on a central tail fin a couple of years later, and that didn't go well either.

[Casey]

 

  On 12/2/2019 at 1:57 AM, 59 Buick said:

 

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Interesting how similar the above bumpers look like modern bumpers in this image, with a sharp, horizontal separation between the main body structure and bumper itself.

Good call on passing on the three-piece window for Chevrolet, too.

[DukeE]

That's an incredibly clean design save for the window. I dislike 58's-61's personally, but that car is great looking. 

[espo]

  On 12/3/2019 at 1:56 AM, Casey said:

 

Interesting how similar the above bumpers look like modern bumpers in this image, with a sharp, horizontal separation between the main body structure and bumper itself.

Good call on passing on the three-piece window for Chevrolet, too.

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The rear bumpers on this design are stylish but the mass of the bumper between the rear wheel well opening and the more traditional bumper ending near the rear tail light would add a great deal of weight.  This looks like a '58 Chevrolet design and the '58's did have styling in this same area with much the same appearance but done in normal sheet metal. The raised upper ridge of the bumper was matched by a ridge in the lower quarter panel and the Impala models added some chrome hash marks to accent it further. The three piece rear window treatment seemed to work on the Olds and Buick models in '57, but that was gone on their '58's. Between the obstructed rear vision, expense of the feature, and buyer resistance I think all played a part on the design going away. While it's only my opinion, I thought the design added to the Olds and Buick design at the time. I think another reason for it going away was that GM was moving toward an airier design starting with the '60 models. Looking at the roof designs they used at that time they greatly increased window area in all designs so the three piece design wouldn't work and would look very dated as well.  

[espo]

  On 12/2/2019 at 8:36 PM, Richard Bartrop said:

Hard to say.  You have to admit that some of the cars that did make it out the door were pretty wild, and seeing how quickly Detroit dailed it back after '59 suggests they weren't that well received as it was.

Virgil Exner tried to sell his bosses on a central tail fin a couple of years later, and that didn't go well either.

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I remember the fins of the '59 GM cars, and they were considered the leading edge of design, or "what are they thinking" depending on who you asked. You're correct about the '60 models dialing it back. With the overlapping of designs under development makes me wonder what all was going on in the design studio. Think about what they offered for sale in '58 and then the '59 & '60 models followed by the slimmer '61's and then the '62's started to fill out a little from there. Not just Gm, but also most of the other models offered by other manufactures of the time. The styling of all cars seemed to move very fast starting in the mid 50's into the early 70's. This may have helped sell a lot of cars since your new car today looked very dated before you could even pay it off on the then more common 36 month loan.  

[MrObsessive]

  On 12/2/2019 at 8:36 PM, Richard Bartrop said:

Virgil Exner tried to sell his bosses on a central tail fin a couple of years later, and that didn't go well either.

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Yeah, there was a tiny fin right smack in the center of the deck lid of the '61 Fury..................

But what was originally proposed was much more in your face. Saner heads told him no and this was pretty much a one year deal.

  On 12/3/2019 at 3:28 PM, espo said:

I remember the fins of the '59 GM cars, and they were considered the leading edge of design, or "what are they thinking" depending on who you asked. You're correct about the '60 models dialing it back. With the overlapping of designs under development makes me wonder what all was going on in the design studio. Think about what they offered for sale in '58 and then the '59 & '60 models followed by the slimmer '61's and then the '62's started to fill out a little from there. Not just Gm, but also most of the other models offered by other manufactures of the time. The styling of all cars seemed to move very fast starting in the mid 50's into the early 70's. This may have helped sell a lot of cars since your new car today looked very dated before you could even pay it off on the then more common 36 month loan.  

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Yup! Ask any owner of a '57, '58, or '59 Chevy how quickly their cars "aged" in those days! Ford did the same for '58, '59, and '60. Literally three completely different body styles in three model years.

They're sorta doing the same thing again these days, especially among the Asian and Korean car makers now. What are their styling cycles............three or four years now?? ?

[MrObsessive]

Hard to believe here in 2019, they're working on what will be the '22-'23 stuff as we speak. '20's are out now, '21's are pretty much set in stone, and what would be ready for the '22-'23 model years are on the computer screens and in the styling rooms at the moment. Time sure does fly!

[Richard Bartrop]

  On 12/3/2019 at 3:28 PM, espo said:

 This may have helped sell a lot of cars since your new car today looked very dated before you could even pay it off on the then more common 36 month loan.  

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Oh, that was exactly the point.  The annual model change was a key component of what Alfred P. Sloan termed "Planned obsolescence."  That it drove out of business any competitor who couldn't keep up probably didn't hurt either.