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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

showcars

Concept Cars and Aerodynamics, 1917-1940

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Kelsch Coupé Aerodynamique on the chassis of a 2 liter Bugatti Type 30.

After the Armistice of 1918 that ended WWI, a number of men who had made a name designing or building aircraft switched their attention to creating automobiles. Some, such as Gabriel Voisin and the brothers Henri and Maurice Farman in France, did so because they needed other products for their factories and/or new challenges for their talents. After he was discharged from the Royal Navy, British inventor and designer Charles Dennistoun Burney sought new activities, following a brilliant wartime career. For the Germans it was pure necessity, as the Treaty of Versailles implied the closure of the German aviation industry and prohibited the Germans to develop airplanes or airships, even for civilian purposes.

Rumpler’s Teardrops
Edmund Rumpler, was an Austrian automotive engineer who was well-known in post-war Germany as the manufacturer of the successful ‘Taube’ (Pigeon), a German warplane based on an original design by Igo Etrich. Rumpler also had experience in automobile design and manufacturing, having worked for Nesselsdorf (later to become Tatra), Daimler and Adler.

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Making People Dream: Design Chiefs Discuss Concept Cars

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2009-Renault-DeZir

Top Design Chiefs Discuss Concept Cars

By Gijsbert-Paul Berk

Concept cars; one sees them today at every international Motor Show. Earlier this year there was even a special exhibition of both concept cars and concept motor bikes in Paris, as part of the 28th Festival International d’Automobile.

Over the years it has become a tradition that a number of leading car manufacturers and famous design studios show their vision for the future at major cars shows. Some of these concepts are far-fetched fantasies, with details – such as door constructions – that are impossible to realize in economical mass production, or use materials that are either too expensive or otherwise unsuitable. Others are more realistic reflections of how some models of the next generation will look.

During the 20th century, the construction and style of automobiles evolved quite dramatically. The dreamcars, or showcars certainly added interest and excitement to the various Exhibitions or Concourses d’Elegance. But in today’s world, is there a future for concept cars?

Today, however, the automobile is a fully mature consumer product. Creating concept cars is an expensive endeavor. And aside from the haute couture fashion houses, no other industry presents products which are not yet for sale. Cars are, after all, merely appliances. One wonders why the industry continues to spend huge amounts on concept cars that the visitors cannot buy. Why create demand for models that are not yet and indeed may never be in the showrooms?

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Graham Gauld: Special-Bodied Showcars

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By Graham Gauld

Show cars fall into two categories:
A. “Let’s put this apparently mad idea up and see if anyone takes any notice.”
B. “We will call this a show car but really show the way we are thinking for the future.”

I have always had an interest in coachbuilding and design. Perhaps it was due to the first books I ever bought about cars. They were the soft cover books produced by Fawcett Publications in the USA and I treasure them to this day. I particularly liked “Sports Car Album” by John Wheelock Freeman because, with photographer Alexandre Georges, he traveled round Europe and wrote stories about the manufacturers and coachbuilders of that time. I was serving two years National Service in the Royal Air Force at that time but little was I to know I would be visiting some of those exact same factories just a few years later. So don’t be surprised if, from time to time, I write about various special-bodied show cars that appeared only to disappear again.

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Premium Subscription Article: From Showcar to Turbine

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This interview with Gilda’s owner Scott Grundfor is the first in a series of Premium articles about Gilda, the car, the legend and the designer.

By Roberto Motta

Scott Grundfor, left, confers with another turbine enthusiast Jay Leno.

Scott Grundfor is the CEO of Scott Grundfor Company, a firm devoted to the conservation, restoration and sales of classic cars. Located in Arroyo Grande, California, Grundfor has garnered 34 Best in Show awards, primarily with Mercedes Benz automobiles. In the past five years, he acquired several Ghia showcars, among them the 1955 Ghia “Gilda” showcar which is our feature.

Roberto Motta has been involved researching turbine powered cars and was very interested in the installation and drivability of the Gilda turbine project. He conducted this interview with Scott Grundfor in 2010 for VeloceToday.

Tell us about how you found the car.
I was offered Gilda (Chassis 9969 Carrozzeria Ghia) in 2005 when the car left the Blackhawk Museum. I wanted it because of its important history in automobile design and because I think it is beautiful. Gilda was offered to me by a broker, Mike Fairbairn, from RM Classic in Chattam Canada, who knew I had an interest in these special show cars.

1955 Brochure with surprisingly similar greenhouse to the Alfa B.A.T.s

We understand you have an interesting collection.
Cars of interest to VeloceToday readers include a 1965 Citroen ID 19; 1973 Ford Ghia Mini Max Concept; 1979 Ford (Ghia) Probe I Concept; 1982 Ghia Brezza Concept; 1982 Ghia Barchetta Concept; 1984 Ghia Pockar Concept; 1985 Ghia Shuttler Concept; 1985 Ford (Ghia) Probe V Concept.

In what condition was the car when you purchased it and did it have the OSCA engine at that time? [Read more…] about Premium Subscription Article: From Showcar to Turbine

The Ford That Thought It Was a Cisitalia

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308-1.jpg
Photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt.

By Brandes Elitch

As recounted in a previous article, the organizers of the Pebble Beach concours, in an effort to dispel the image of the entrants as so called trailer queens, initiated a drive for the entrants around the Monterey Peninsula.
[Read more…] about The Ford That Thought It Was a Cisitalia

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