1956 Chevrolet Impala Show Car

On July of 1955, the Chevrolet design studio staff create a dream car for the 1956 GM Motorama shows, called Corvette Impala. The Corvette grille and grille surround are incorporated, as well as other Corvette components. This hardtop five-passenger sports sedan shows the name "Corvette Impala" on the front emblem and rear license plate. On January 19 of 1956 the Motorama show opens in the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, running for nine days. The 1956 Corvette makes its debut and the Corvette Impala show car is displayed.



Chevrolet Impala Show Car, 1956

Source: shorey.net

1954 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Coupe

Corvette Hardtop Motorama Showcar, 1954

 

For the 1954 Motorama shows, General Motors Styling Section created not one but three distinct Corvette dream cars: the Corvair fastback coupe, the Nomad station wagon, and the convertible coupe. All three shared some recognizable Corvette features, such as the front grille and fascia treatment, but were given certain unique styling elements in order to set them apart. The Corvair and the convertible coupe maintained the same wheel base and overall length as the 1953 Corvette. The Nomad wagon had a longer wheelbase and was approximately two feet greater in overall length.

 

The Corvette Convertible Coupe was the closest in styling to the production model. It was painted in a muted yellow hue and it’s main distinctive was a fiberglass removable hardtop that gave the sports car new ”all-weather utility” as touted in the Motorama brochure. This feature would appear on production models as an aftermarket accessories beginning in 1955 and would officially become an option for the 1956 model year.

 

The 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Hardtop was a Convertible Coupe. It was one of the Corvette based Motorama dream cars shown in 1954 and was a version fitted with a removable hardtop. The 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Hardtop Advertising Brochure said the following: “The Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Coupe - The sports car gains new all weather utility in this new experimental model. The removable top of the same glass fiber plastic construction as the body itself may be left behind in the garage on warm and sunny days.”

 

The hardtop feature would not become available until 1956. It took General Motors and Chevrolet three years to figure out that the consumer wanted roll up windows, outside door handles and door locks.

 

Like the 1954 Chevy Corvette Corvair and 1954 Chevy Corvette Nomad only the Chevrolet Corvette Hardtop Motorama Experimental Show Cars were made. How many? No one really knows.

 

 

Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Coupe, 1954 - Rendering

 

 

Three Corvette-based show cars were among the attractions of the 1954 GM Motorama. From background to foreground are the Nomad, Corvair, and the prototype hardtop car. The latter featured a detachable hardtop and roll-up windows; both features would be adopted for the 1956 Corvette. The white Corvette is a production model.

 

Source:  shorey.net

1954 Chevrolet Corvair

Corvair fastback coupe

 

The Corvair dream car was an experimental two-passenger fastback. It was built with a fiberglass body and was touted as a “new aerodynamic design” for the closed sports car class. The streamlined roofline swept back into the jet exhaust-type rear opening. It was originally a ruby-red color for the New York City Motorama in January but had repainted in a lighter hue by the time of the Los Angeles show in March. Sluggish sales of the 1954 production model Corvette deterred GM management from moving forward with the fastback coupe. Hence, the Corvair was the only one of the trio of designs not to make it to production in some form. Of course, the nameplate would be recycled later for the infamous 1960 Corvair rear-engined compact car.

 

The 1954 Corvair’s fastback styling with chopped off tail was influenced by European designs. In Europe, designers were more conceirned about aerodynamics than American designers were. Note the hood vents and front fender "gills", wich were both scrapped on the production Corvette. Like its siblings, the Corvair used the same front design, though it also sported ribbed air intakes on the hood that routed fresh air to the interior and fender vents that allowed heat to escape the engine compartment. In typical Corvette fashion, the Corvair also had a wraparound windshield, with nearly vertical A-pillars like the Nomad, but without the wing windows. The roof was aircraft-inspired, sweeping back and tapering gracefully, eventually ending at the chrome-trimmed license plate housing, which resembled a jet-fighter exhaust port.

 

The roof was also interesting in a couple of other ways. First, it gave a glimpse of the quarter window and C-pillar treatment of the 1958 Chevrolet line, much like the Biscayne did a year later. Secondly, the addition of a fastback roof did not alter the Corvair’s interior layout. One would have expected that it would have had a finished-off cargo area, perhaps even equipped with fitted luggage, as was a common practice with sports cars at the time. Instead, the body appeared to have the roof grafted right on to a production Corvette, as there is no storage area behind the seats. The stock trunk area is used with a decklid contoured to the new roofline. The seats had the production fiberglass divider between them, just like a stock Corvette roadster. The area is even body-colored, which actually makes for a very attractive, albeit unusual interior layout for a closed coupe. The remainder of the interior is largely stock, with custom white seat covers and chromed interior C-pillar trim pieces.

 

Chevrolet Corvair, 1954 - Rendering

Unfortunately for this particular machine, it was the only one of the three that did not reach production in some form. With Corvette sales becoming sluggish during the 1954 model year, it was seen by product planners as too high a gamble. The time for a Corvette fastback eventually did come, though nearly a decade later and on a new-generation machine.

 

 

Corvette show cars: Convertible, Coupe, Nomad wagon, Corvair fastback coupe (1954)

 

Source:  shorey.net

1955 Chevrolet Biscayne

1955 Chevrolet Biscayne XP-37 (Designer - Chuck Jordan)

 

The Biscayne show car was built for the 1955 Motorama. It employed many Corvette design ideas, and is presented to management as a new direction for the Corvette. The body is a special shell of glass-fiber-reinforced plastic for light weight and impact resistance. The Stratospheric windshield sweeps over the driver’s head to form part of the roof. The new four door design requires no center pillars.

 

The engines is an experimental high compression Chevrolet V8 of 215 HP with dual exhaust, four barrel carburetor and high lift cam.

 

 

Chevrolet Biscayne, 1955 - Photo: Marty Martino

 

Source:  autoweteran.gower.pl

1954 Chevrolet Nomad

Nomad station wagon

 

The Nomad combined the sleek styling of a sports car with the versatility of station wagon. Built with a “glass fiber reinforced plastic” body, the Nomad was two-door with space for six passengers. It was built on modified 115-inch Chevrolet wagon chassis to give it the extra space necessary for this seating capacity. The Nomad also had an electrically operated rear window that automatically retracted into the tailgate when unlocked or could be remotely controlled by a button on the instrument panel. The Nomad was most lauded of the three Corvette dream cars for 1954. A larger version of this concept appeared for the 1955 model year and the nameplate would appear on concepts in the late 1990's and 2000's.

 

First exhibited at General Motors 1954 Motorama, the Chevrolet Nomad was on display during the 1955 Chicago Auto Show. Though styled like an early Corvette, the concept was actually mounted on Chevy’s larger 115-inch wheelbase station wagon chassis. Stylish roof featured frameless doors, slanted B-pillar and side window treatment found on the 1955-56-57 Nomad production models. Under the hood of the prototype was the 150 horsepower, 235.5 cubic inch six-cylinder engine, equipped with triple carburetors. Chevrolet has exhibited modern interpretations of its original Nomad wagon at the 1999 and 2004 Chicago show.

 

 

Corvette show cars: Convertible, Coupe, Nomad wagon, Corvair fastback coupe (1954)

 

 

Corvette show cars: Corvair fastback coupe, Convertible, Nomad wagon, Coupe (1954)

 

Source:  shorey.net

1964 Chevrolet Chevy II Super Nova

Chevrolet Chevy II Super Nova, 1964 - Show car is thought by some to look like a baby riviera, possibly a hint at what Chevrolet has up its sleeve to counteract Mustang boom.

Chevy II Super Nova 'Shark' Show Car

On the auto show circuit for 1964, this crisp-looking concept represented Chevrolet’s take on the future of sporty compact transportation, “Shark” style.




The Chevrolet Super Nova concept, nicknamed Shark, reportedly rode on the same 110-inch wheelbase as the same-year production Chevy II.

If you’ve never seen or heard of this car, there’s good reason: Ford’s fabulously popular Mustang hit showrooms at virtually the same time the Shark began making the auto show rounds. The poor Shark literally drowned in all the buzz surrounding the new Ford.




It wasn’t a fair fight, really. One sporty compact car was named for a horse; the other—a fish.

A New shape for the Chevy II

THE IDEA CAR has become a tradition with American automakers as a place to try out advanced and different styling concepts, component designs, and control refinements. Should such a dream puff excite public interest in the current vehicle which serves as its basis, so much the better. Chevrolet has unveiled its latest, built around the sturdy Chevy II, which it calls the Super Nova. Its fiberglass body, finished in "fire frost" silver, has a sloping 7.5-in extension of the hood and a bobbed tail on the same 110-in. wheelbase. The casual observer might see a hint of Riviera from the side. Normal door handles, both inside and out, have been eliminated from the car by putting an electric solenoid switch flush with the chrome window molding on each door. The windshield has a 60" rake and curved side glass extends to the pillar, eliminating vent windows. Minimum trim consisting of a rocker panel strip and different wheel covers and tires are used. Beneath the drooping snoot is a finely tooled grill, deeply recessed into a crisp well of bright metal. A pair of rectangular headlights, mounted vertically, flank the grill opening and are integrated into the surrounding casting, which serves in place of a bumper. Three large dials, fitted in individual pods hanging under the dash lip, are the only instruments before the driver. In addition to the 160-mph speedometer and 8000-rpm recording tachometer, there is a novel "Elometer" (elapsed time meter, in seconds). All other instruments and radio are lined up down the central panel from dash to console, with all window lift and other control switches aligned along the latter. Dual turn signal levers are installed behind the custom steering wheel, but are designed to turn with the wheel so as to always remain hidden behind the wheel spokes. The all-black interior is trimmed in a combination of leather, vinyl and polyurethane. At the rear, the stylists have come up with an awkward combination of styling clichés. The recessed rear window is an attempted adaptation from Porsche and Ferrari racing cars, the four rear lights are buried under the deck lip in separate holes and exhaust pipe tips form sides of the license plate cover. In all, it's an interesting version of a fastback snowplow.

Source: Car Life, July 1964

Do classic cars have to have seat belts?

Answer:

 

The Highway Safety Act and the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act were passed in 1966. they authorized the federal government to regulate vehicle and highway standards and created the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). These measures led to many improvements in auto design, including the mandatory installation of seat belts in American cars..

Prior to 1966 seatbelts were not required in a vehicle, they were offered as a factory extra even as far back as the early 1900's..As current law stands you are only required to have the safety equipment on your vehicle that came standard from the factory when the vehicle was made..
So if your classic car did not come factory equiped with seat belts you don't have to have them..

 

Source: Internet