1953—When American Show Cars Became a Reality

In the early 1950s, Americans looked forward to attending auto shows for the unveiling of the manufacture’s latest offerings. Adding to the excitement was the increasing number of concept cars that debuted at these events, presenting a possible glimpse into the future of the automobile that they may someday be able to own. Many of the designs were wild and exotic, never intended to make it into production, other show cars merely consisted fancy interiors and a few paint and trim differences. Some features of these concept cars would eventually appear in standard production cars, but not as a whole package that contained not only special trim, but possessed unique body features as well. To showcase all other GM’s fabulous new models and show cars, they toured the country with the Motorama car show. In major cities across the nation, people packed into these shows to see the best The General had to offer for the present as well as the future.

Chevrolet would gain the most attention with the debut of the Corvette at the 1953 Motorama at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City in January (Corvettes would not start coming off of the line until June of that same year). The Corvette was new and exciting, capturing the imagination of the public and the spotlight of the media. But the Corvette was not the only special car GM had on display that year.