Concept designing is said to have begun with the famous automobile designer Harley Earl, who worked for General Motors for decades in the early to mid twentieth century. He was responsible for the Buick Y-Job which was shown in the 1930s. Its experimental features included power-operated hidden headlamps, wraparound bumpers, and flush door handles – all features which we take for granted today.

Another of Harley Earl’s designs as the 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special, which was shown at the 1954 Motorama. It was the first two-seater sports car, and had a fibreglass body. Only two cars were made, one of which sold for USD$2,800,000 in 2006.

In the fifties, Harley Earl also worked on the General Motors Firebird designs, which were shown at the 1953, 1956 and 1959 Motorama auto shows. These were gas turbine powered cars which were designed primarily to show that the technology could be used in an automobile, even if it was impractical.

Another historical concept car was the Ford Motors Lincoln Futura, designed in 1954. It was saved and stored by George Barris, a Californian car customizer, and later was used as the Batmobile in the 1960s Batman television series.

1958 saw another great leap in car design, with the experimental Ford Nucleon – a nuclear powered car. No operational model was ever manufactured, in part because the technology was not perfected.

Interestingly many of the earlier concept designs are now being revived by car manufacturers and used in mass-produced versions. The Porsche 989, for example, was the first four door car designed by Porsche. It is being revived as the 2009 Porsche Panamera, which relies on many of the 989’s design features.

 

Some of the earlier concept cars are on display in museums in North America and Europe, but many recent designs are still owned privately by the manufacturing companies responsible for their design.