Ford Show Cars, 1965-1968

Text by David W. Temple
Photos from author's files

1965 Ford LTD Executive and Green Mist

The 1965 LTD Executive was a custom-built show car authorized by Ford, built by Gene Winfield, and shown at multiple venues across the country as part of the Caravan of Stars, an auto show produced by model car manufacturer AMT, customizer George Barris, and Ford Motor Company beginning in 1963. Ford executives believed this program would bring even more attention to the company’s cars. Others soon joined the effort – Bill Cushenberry, Gene Winfield, as well as Vince Gardener of Dearborn Steel Tubing.

The LTD Executive received a 1966-style grille, modified headlight bezels, recessed taillights, a stainless steel panel from the windshield header to the midpoint of the roof, and a padded vinyl covering from that point rearward. All emblems and name plaques were removed and a special medallion placed behind the front wheels. Upholstery was fabric and leather. The car was photographed with stock wheel covers for early publicity photos, but the wheels and wheel covers were later replaced with Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels. At some other point it was fitted with Rader aluminum wheels.

Another show car, dubbed the Green Mist, was also a part of the Caravan of Stars. Like the Executive it was built from a Galaxie 500/LTD, but in this case a two-door version. The Green Mist featured a custom-fabricated grille, NASCAR-type headlight panels, custom taillights, extruded aluminum rocker moldings, Rader Hot Wire wheels (fitted later), and a two-piece top. The rear component of the top was trimmed with fake landau irons; this section could be left in place. With the whole top removed a Thunderbird Sports Roadster style tonneau could be fitted behind the rear seat. As this car’s name suggests, it was painted in a custom-mixed emerald green.

1966 Magic Cruiser and Black Pearl

The 1966 Magic Cruiser could be transformed from a fastback to a station wagon and back via hydraulic and electric controls. One of the specifications given to George Barris who was hired by Ford to build the car was that the movable roof section rise within seven seconds. A series of aircraft hydraulic systems, screw jacks, and a switch on the dash made that possible. Lowering the tailgate allowed for easy entry to a rear-facing third seat, and like on Ford’s production station wagons, the second and third seats could be folded down for addition cargo storage.

In front, the two-door hardtop LTD-based Magic Cruiser had one-piece tempered glass headlights, shaved door handles, and a set of Western wire mag wheels. It was painted a custom-mixed “Gold Sunset” and the interior was two-toned with pleated vinyl and lamb’s wool carpeting. Under the hood was the new 428.

This show car was probably re-skinned to become the Magic Cruiser II the following year.

Another LTD two-door hardtop was converted into the Black Pearl. It was a mild custom wearing “Firefrost Black Metallic” paint and a black vinyl top. Door handles, deck lid keyhole, and block lettering on the hood were removed. Taillights were deeply recessed. Stock wire wheel covers and with custom triple-stripe white wall tires were fitted to the wheels. Pearl white seats with satin and leather bolsters covered the seats and a pearl white mouton carpet was applied to the floor.

1967 Magic Cruiser and Interceptor

One of the ways FoMoCo promoted its new 1967 full-sized cars was with a couple of show cars christened Magic Cruiser II and XL Interceptor. The Magic Cruiser II built by George Barris was, as Ford described it, a “super fastback” that could be turned into a station wagon when the fastback section of the roof and two special window-side panels were electrically raised. It was possibly built from the original Magic Cruiser shown during 1966.

The XL Interceptor had numerous modifications such as magnesium wheels, special tires, textured appliqués on the lower bodysides, floating design taillights, reflector slots in the quarters, a modified grille, and plastic lens covers over the headlights. A 428 resided under the hood of the light blue murano pearl show vehicle. The two unique cars were shown nationally at various events that year such as the Chicago Auto Show.

1968 Fiera

The 1968 XL-based Fiera featured several styling modifications. Among these were a lowered roofline which altered the angles of the front and rear windshields resulting in a very sleek looking car. The mostly stock-looking grille was deeply recessed and had auxiliary rectangular driving lights positioned on either side of the stock grille divider. Under the louvered hood was a 428. Vent windows, side moldings, front side marker lamps, and rear side reflectors were deleted. Racing-style outside mirrors replaced the stock units. The rear wheel openings were enlarged a bit and a pair of brake cooling vents was installed just ahead of the rear wheels. Wide-oval white wall tires were fitted to a set of custom wheels. A wide trunk molding extended to the taillights; the extensions replaced the stock back-up lamp assemblies.

Epilogue

All of the above cars were probably crushed after their auto show duties were at an end. However, in the past such cars have escaped the crush order. Perhaps one or two of these cars does still exist. 

Do any readers have additional information and/or photographs of these cars?

Oldsmobile F-88 Dream Cars

The 1954-57 F-88s

Text by David W. Temple

Photos from author's collection except as noted

 

The original 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 on display at the Waldorf Astoria

The General Motors Motorama was launched to bring attention to the products of the corporation which included not only its automobiles from Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet, and GMC, but also auto parts and non-automotive divisions. More notably, it featured experimental or dream cars to test public reaction to new ideas. These cars also exposed the public to advanced concepts so as to acclimate them to features that would be found on automobiles in the near future as well as what might be seen in the distant future.

In 1954, Oldsmobile was represented with two experimental prototypes both of which were sporty two-seaters dubbed the F-88 (XP-20, Shop Order 1939) and Cutlass. Incidentally, prior to its formal naming, the latter was known inside GM Styling as the long wheelbase F-88 because it shared some of the XP-20’s features, but sat atop a stretched Corvette frame giving it an eight-inch longer wheelbase. The subject of our story, however, is the F-88 series of experimental cars.

Upholstery and color samples for F-88 show car

The styling of the 1954 F-88 is credited to Art Ross who headed the Olds studio. (All the stylists of GM were under the leadership of the legendary Harley Earl who brought the concept of styling to the mass-produced automobile.) This two-seater experimental sports car could easily have gone from dream car to production car with assembly being done on the Corvette line. Unfortunately for Chevrolet, their Corvette was not selling well and a divisional competitor made no sense by the time the F-88 arrived on the show circuit. Ironically, Oldsmobile was better suited to offering the sports car at the time as they already had a powerful V-8; Chevrolet would not offer a V-8 (the 265) until the following model year.

Oldsmobile’s 324 Rocket V-8 with a single four-barrel carburetor was boosted to 250 horsepower for the F-88; the engine was mated to a Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. The engine’s compression ratio was pushed higher (to 10:1) than the stock 185hp 324 that came in an Olds Eighty-Eight or Ninety-Eight and a label on the fuel filler cap specified that 94-to-100-octane fuel be used. Writers for Motor Life magazine (April 1954) speculated that the top speed of the experimental car would be approximately 150mph. Regardless of the horsepower rating attributed to the F-88, it reportedly did not run during the time of the GM Motorama tour and only after the show circuit ended was its electrical system needed to make the car run connected. During the summer of 1955, this car was used in a Shriners Parade in downtown Lansing, Michigan. It was used in other parades as well. In fact, thanks to auto restorer Ed Lucas (FEL Enterprises) the fate of the original F-88 is now known. This car was damaged by an engine fire shortly before or just after a parade in 1956. He has seen photos of the car on fire.

The fiberglass body of the Motorama F-88 was painted metallic gold with dark green wheel wells; the green paint even extended to the floor pans. A minimal of chrome trim – at least by fifties standards – decorated the F-88. A simple chrome molding ran from the tail light pod to the dip in the beltline at the door then swept back and down before turning rearward and terminating at the rear wheel opening. The outline of the molding resembled the shape of a hockey stick. Large chrome “88” numerals cleverly disguised engine heat vents on the front fenders and an “around the world” emblem was affixed to the nose and deck lid for product identity. An oval-shaped honeycomb grille filled the opening of the combination bumper/grille surround and in back a thin molding bordered the recessed license plate mounting. The oval exhaust openings at the rear of the quarters also got a chrome-plated surround. Furthermore, seven chromed bumper guards were mounted to the body-colored bumper. Long conical tail lights were mounted to the upper quarter panel extensions; a similarly shaped tail light would later be used for the ’59 Cadillac. The wheel cover design for the 13-inch wheels resembled a turbine with a three-blade spinner or “flipper.” During the Motorama tour, the wheels were fitted with black sidewall tires though these were later changed to wide whites.

Spare tire compartment

The F-88’s convertible top folded into a well which was covered with a hinged lid just as on the Corvette. Its fuel filler was mounted just behind the top well and along the fore/aft center line of the car; the deck lid opening was cut around it. The trunk, as one would expect, was not spacious, but having the spare mounted under the trunk floor and accessed with a drop-down integral bumper guard did help maximize the usefulness of the volume provided. (The drop-down bumper section would show up on other GM dream cars before being adopted for production vehicles – the Chevrolet Cameo and GMC Suburban pickups.) Of course the show car likely never had to carry any luggage anyway. Even so, the trunk was as well finished as the rest of the vehicle.

A Corvette frame was used, though provisions certainly had to be made to adapt the “Rocket” V-8 in place of the Corvette’s “Blue Flame” six-cylinder. Wheelbase remained the same as the Vette’s at 102 inches while the overall length of the car measured 167.25 inches. Overall height with the top down was just 45 inches.

Amateur's photo of the Motorama F-88 interior

The interior of the F-88 was quite dissimilar to that of the Corvette. Though it featured bucket seats, they were of a different design than those in the Vette. A bulkhead behind the seats had openings formed around the seats’ backrests to provide recesses for their adjustment in the fore/aft direction. Between the seats and positioned on the bulkhead was a radio speaker grille. The seats and steering wheel were covered in pigskin. A set of competition-style instruments was arranged vertically in three round housings beginning at the top center of the F-88’s dash. Its upper instrumentation housing contained an odometer along with a 150mph speedometer and a 6,000rpm tachometer laid out concentrically; the center one was divided into the amp (above) and temperature gauges; the bottom housing did double duty, too, with the fuel gauge in the top half and the oil pressure gauge occupying the lower half. Fresh air vents sat atop the dash along the cowl edge and in the kick panels. The console which was finished in chrome and textured metallic gold carried a chronometer, shifter, radio and radio controls. Initially, the dash, upper door panels, instrumentation stack, and carpeting were a golden color. At some point, the dash color was changed to dark green then later the dark color was extended to the upper door panels, center instrument pods, forward console, and carpeting. The steering wheel was replaced with a production type as well.

Multiple XP-20 F-88s were built. Harley Earl drove one (Shop Order 2292) which underwent numerous modifications during 1955 and 1956. GM vice president (and the former head of the Olds division) Sherrod Skinner had another F-88 (Shop Order 2264).

Sherrod Skinner's F-88

Many more details of the F-88s are available in my new book, "Motorama: GM's Legendary Show & Concept Cars." http://www.amazon.com/Motorama-Legendary-Show-Concept-Cartech/dp/1613251599/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1

Harley Earl had his F-88 updated more than once.

One more Olds F-88 – a completely different car except for being a two-seater – was built specifically for Harley Earl, but that is another story.

1955 Chevrolet Biscayne

From Riches to Rags to Riches

Text by David W. Temple

Photos from author’s archives except as credited

 

There was a time when General Motors was the unquestioned leader of the automotive industry. Throughout the 1950s, GM dominated automobile sales in this country with a nearly 50 percent market share by the middle of the decade.

One of their successful marketing techniques during this era was the GM Motorama, a traveling extravaganza with venues in major cities across the country. Its goal was to bring attention to the company’s many and varied divisions (such as AC, Allison Engines, Frigidaire, etc.) to, of course, stimulate sales. Through free admission, Broadway-style stage shows, and – most memorably – experimental vehicles typically called, “dream cars” (“concept cars” in today’s vernacular), millions of people were attracted to the great spectacle held consecutively from 1953 to 1956 as well as previously in 1949 (as “Transportation Unlimited”) and 1950 (“Mid-Century Motorama”), as well as again in 1959, and 1961. The years from 1953 to 1956, however, are the most noteworthy thanks to dream cars and prototypes such as the GM LeSabre, Cadillac Le Mans, the Buick Wildcat series, the first Chevy Corvette, the turbine-powered GM Firebird I, II, and III, plus many more.

The Biscayne at a GM Motorama along with other show cars

One of the myriad of fiberglass-bodied dream cars shown during the heyday of the GM Motorama was the 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne. At its inception, the Biscayne was simply dubbed XP-37 (XP presumably meaning experimental prototype), S.O. 2249 (S.O. meaning “shop order”). The project – as all such projects – proceeded under the leadership of Harley J. Earl. Earl, who was GM’s first vice president of design. Those who mastered the art of styling the automobile through Earl’s philosophy were the ones charged with the responsibility for advanced projects such as the dream cars of the GM Motorama. In the case of the Biscayne, Clare MacKichan (pronounced MacKeekan) who headed the Chevy Studio from 1953-61 was charged with the design. Each car created for the touring exhibition had its own theme and purpose. In the case of the XP-37 it was an “exploration in elegance” as expressed in GM-produced literature about the car. The metallic green four-passenger, pillarless four-door hardtop featured side coves and “suicide” doors; it was the only Chevrolet dream car of the GM Motorama to have these features. The side coves which wrapped around the back of the Biscayne would be seen on the following year’s Corvette though reversed from that of the Biscayne. Several other features such as the taillight panel design would eventually be found on the 1961-62 Corvette. A so-called “Stratospheric” wraparound windshield curved upward into the roof; its upper portion was tinted to reduce glare from the sun. Its basic shape was adopted for the 1959-60 GM cars. (This is what the GM Motorama dream cars were meant to do – reveal features to be seen in the immediate future or indicate what could be found on GM cars some years away. Designing them pushed GM’s stylists to think ahead or outside the box as the saying goes. These cars tested the public’s reaction to new ideas as well as familiarized them with advanced styling ideas.) In an era when chrome was used to establish status, the elegant Biscayne’s comparatively minimal chrome trim must have been surprising to many.

The custom-built air cleaner was recovered from the salvage yard, but the original engine was gone.

Underneath the Biscayne’s fiberglass hood, resided a 215 horsepower version of the new Chevrolet “Turbo-Fire” V-8, which in its stock form produced up to 180hp (with a four-barrel carb). The Biscayne’s modified Turbo-Fire engine had a high-lift camshaft, dual exhausts, and a four-barrel carburetor to boost its output; the 215hp rating suggested to the public there was more performance to be had in a Chevrolet in the near future. A two-speed Powerglide was mated to the high-performance engine. Despite all the hype about the Biscayne’s engine, the show car was a “pushmobile.”

Interior features included thin-shell front and rear bucket seats; the front ones swiveled outward. The rear seats were separated with a small console that served as a storage area and arm rest. Seats were trimmed with chrome and covered in green leather.

When the dream cars were no longer considered especially dreamy some higher-ups within the GM hierarchy ordered certain cars to be scrapped. The Biscayne was among the group ordered scrapped. It was transported to Warhoops Used Auto & Truck Parts in Sterling Heights, Michigan, along with at least three other Motorama cars. Two of the cars were cut apart; two were left in tact. The once carefully maintained and gleaming Biscayne was badly butchered.

In 1989, Joe’s son, Marc, read a contemporary magazine article about the cars of the GM Motorama which at its conclusion mentioned the persistent rumor that some of the cars lay within the confines of the Warhoops salvage yard. He mentioned this tantalizing claim to his father and suggested calling the salvage yard. Joe’s reply to the proposal was, “If those cars were ever there, they would be gone by now.” Marc, undeterred, made the call. He introduced himself and inquired about the Motorama cars. The man on the other end of the phone, Harry Warholak, Sr., recognized the name “Bortz” and asked if he was related to the guy who collected such cars. (At that time, Joe already owned the 1953 Buick Wildcat and other show cars.) When Marc confirmed that fact, Warholak invited Joe to call. Ultimately their phone conversations resulted in the elder Bortz purchasing the Biscayne as well as two other 1955 dream cars, the LaSalle II roadster and the LaSalle II sedan along with the 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car.

The Biscayne and LaSalle II roadster were cut into several pieces at Warhoops. (Gil Cunningham)

Unfortunately, the Biscayne was cut apart into so many pieces it appeared to be hopelessly beyond restoration. The mostly custom-fabricated frame and the engine were long lost. The body – cut into ten sections – and trim (much of it having been dug out of the ground) along with the other three dream cars were loaded for transport back to Joe’s warehouse near Chicago. Over a span of two decades, fate intervened in a series of fortuitous ways making possible the seemingly impossible task of restoring the Biscayne. As Mr. Bortz summarized the restoration, “The Biscayne was saved by accident and in increments.”

A couple of the major elements of good luck were the discovery of photographs of the Biscayne’s original chassis and Joe’s association with famed street rod builder, Kerry Hopperstead. Hopperstead was absolutely certain he could recreate the chassis for the show car from the GM photographs. Using the known dimension of the wheel size (15 inches as revealed by the wheel covers) for the Biscayne, the photos, and the construction details of the underside of the body, Hopperstead was able to deduce the dimensions and shape for the box-section frame. The frontal section, however, was a simple matter as it was a production 1955 Chevrolet type so a donor car was acquired for that. When the chassis was completed the Biscayne’s body was lowered onto it, but a new problem became very apparent – the body which had been reassembled some years earlier was “out of square” as evidenced by the positioning of the wheels relative to the wheel openings. The body had to be cut apart again!

The Biscayne under restoration at Martino's shop (Marty Martino)

Next, Bortz went to Mel Francis, to “square” the body and to fabricate a new roof panel. (The original panel was badly warped.) Even with the issues posed by the chassis and body solved, came a number of additional hurdles. One of those was the front windshield; the original was gone. Its compound curves made the task of fabricating another major challenge. Bortz estimates that 20 attempts failed before a successful effort was achieved. Other parts which had to be fabricated included one of the cast brass wheel covers, the right rear door skin, the rear bumperettes, and most of the interior. Two more experts were given the challenge of solving these and other issues.

Joe’s personal restorer for the past four decades has been the renowned Fran Roxas, considered to be one of the best if not the best restorers of American classic cars in the United States. Fran assisted Joe in being an overseer of the entire project as well as making many components for the car which were missing.

Marty Martino became another link in the long chain of events leading to the final steps of the Biscayne’s restoration. Joe approached him with the proposal to work on the Biscayne after seeing his impressive recreation of another GM Motorama car, the 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer. Marty’s tasks included detailing the car’s undercarriage and engine compartment, making its windows operable, and essentially recreating its interior. All of this was done within a 14 ½ month period often working 14-hour days.

Much of the interior had to be refabricated including the seats. (Marty Martino)

As originally built, the electric window switches were nonfunctional. The position of the windows could be changed only by removing the door panels, loosening some bolts, placing the windows up or down as desired, tightening the bolts again, and reinstalling the door panels. After some experimentation Marty was able to make the front windows functional via electric motors from an early-70s Cadillac, but the geometry of the rear doors made impractical doing the same for those windows.

New front and rear seats were constructed as was a rear console based almost completely upon factory photographs. A fragment of one seat frame was amongst the parts recovered from Warhoops and it was useful in recreating the external frame surrounding the seats. Amazingly, traces of the original upholstery material remained in the Biscayne. New leather of the same grain and color was obtained through Bill Hirsch Automotive Products.

Marty was also responsible for recreating from photographs the complete set of instruments just like the nonfunctional originals (including the 110mph speedometer). A structural brace behind the dash left no room for such things as a speedometer cable. However, a set of modern gauges was mounted inside the glove box to monitor oil pressure and coolant temperature.

Photo by Marty Martino

Painting the Biscayne was left to the accomplished staff of Page Customs. Using a spectrophotometer allowed for matching the custom-mixed color dubbed by someone within GM as “Atlantic Green,” though this time with RM Diamont urethane clear coat/base coat.

Finally in 2010, the completed Biscayne was ready to be shown and the venue for its first outing as such was The Concours d’Elegance of America at Meadowbrook attended by designers from the past including Chuck Jordan (now deceased) and Wayne Cherry, both former heads of GM Design. Also in attendance was the current leader of GM Design, Ed Welburn.

After a long, expensive, and meticulous effort spanning 22 years and a half-century after being butchered, the Biscayne in every detail is again the impressive show car it was in 1955.

Author’s note: For a much more detailed accounting of the Chevrolet Biscayne’s history including its recovery from Warhoops and restoration, read the author’s article about the car in the April 2011 issue of Collectible Automobile. To read about all of the dream cars of the GM Motorama purchase a copy of the author’s new book, “Motorama: GM's Legendary Show & Concept Cars,” here: http://www.amazon.com/Motorama-Legendary-Show-Concept-Cartech/dp/1613251599/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_d_2

1956 Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser

Forerunner to Failure

Text by David W. Temple

Photos from the collection of Jim Farrell except as noted

Tom McCahill of Mechanix Illustrated wrote that the 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser was a “Space Age design for earth travel.” No less could be said of the one-of-a-kind car upon which it was based, the 1956 XM Turnpike Cruiser. This show car represented the automotive embodiment of science fiction and foretold the styling direction for Mercury.

The XM Turnpike Cruiser began life in April 1954, as five concepts for a new four-passenger show car proposed by John Najjar, who was in charge of the Lincoln-Mercury Pre-production Studio. These five concepts were given the names Malibu, Monte Carlo, Mystair, Mandalay, and Montauk. Each proposal was drawn in full-scale renderings and shared almost identical dimensions of 212 inches long, 49-51 inches wide, and a 119-inch wheelbase. The most extreme of these five ideas was the Malibu.  It featured torpedo-like shapes mounted high atop the quarter panels that also formed C-pillar supports for a shelf-type roof, offset front, wider rear track, and an extravagant two-tone paint scheme. The Monte Carlo was a bit less extreme with sliding front doors and fluorescent lights running lengthwise on each side of the car. The Mystair perhaps represented the cleverest of the five proposals with its floating type roof with a tubular section that employed water evaporation for air conditioning and ventilation. A convertible body with either clear or chrome Mylar top material and aircraft-like features characterized the Mantouk.  (This proposal could be called the most impractical. Imagine driving under a clear convertible top with the inevitable heat build-up, or driving near a car with a glaring chrome top to blind drivers all over the road! At least the stylists of the day had imagination.) The proposal which impressed the members of the Lincoln-Mercury Studio the most, however, was the Mandalay and it formed the basis for what ultimately became the XM Turnpike Cruiser. The Mandalay carried some aircraft-inspired attributes; beyond tail fins and aircraft-like taillights it had chrome tubes housing small jet assist take-off (or JATO) units on each side for emergency power.

A brochure was produced explaining the special features of the show car. (Author's collection)

Elwood Engel, who was working under George Walker at the time, is credited with changing the name from Mandalay to XM Turnpike Cruiser. He and Najjar became the head of one of the two design teams that went to work on the project. The other team, headed by Gene Bordinat and Don DeLaRossa, went to work on the project as well. (As was generally the case at that time, two competing teams were assigned to a concept car project.)  Scale clay models in 3/8 size took shape after the team leaders selected what they viewed as the best ideas from each of their staffs. During the fall of 1954, Francis “Jack” Reith, (a member of the group who became collectively known as the “whiz kids” hired after the end of World War II by Henry Ford II) returned from an assignment in Europe and got involved in the XM Turnpike Cruiser program suggesting many changes that eventually ended up in the final product. Also, involved in the project was a young and talented designer working on his first major assignment – Larry Shinoda. Perhaps Shinoda’s most significant contribution to the design of the car was the concave side channel rear fenders terminating into canted V-shape tail lamps. When the two competing clay models were completed, the one handled by the Najjar/Engel team was selected to become the XM Turnpike Cruiser, but it was minus the fanciful JATO units of the original proposal. Jack Reith went one step further; he later suggested making it the basis for a production car instead of the Monterey XM-800, another experimental which had already been approved.

The interior of the XM show car had four leather-covered bucket-type seats.

Instrumentation was grouped in pods.

Near the end of 1954, the way was cleared to build the XM Turnpike Cruiser as a fully operable vehicle. Ghia in Turin, Italy, was selected to fabricate the car in metal at a cost of $80,000. A scale plaster model, numerous full-scale drawings, chassis, and drivetrain were sent to Ghia. During the construction of the XM, Ghia made several changes to the design and apparently they were done without seeking Ford’s approval. A couple of the alterations involved the shape of the windshield and deleting the vent windows. As a result, the suggestion was made that for future such projects, Ford personnel make more trips to the Ghia facility to make sure things were being done as intended.

During the early part of 1955, Reith recommended that the XM show vehicle serve as the basis for a production Turnpike Cruiser, and to forget the XM-800 based Monterey, but he did not stop there; Reith also proposed making the Turnpike Cruiser a distinct car to compete with cars like Chrysler’s New Yorker, Buick’s Super, and Oldsmobile’s 98. He convinced higher-ups that this would be a good decision and was made General Manager of the newly separate Mercury Division. In January 1956, Reith negotiated with the Indianapolis 500 racing officials to have a ‘57 Turnpike Cruiser convertible pace that year’s race.

A modified 312 V-8 coupled to a Merc-O-Matic transmission powered the show car.

One month prior to this decision, Ghia delivered the 1956 XM Turnpike Cruiser to the Styling Center where it received a few minor alterations that included the addition of stainless steel inserts for the side channels (which were previously painted a darker color than the rest of the pearlescent persimmon colored car) and replacement of the black sidewall tires with whitewalls. The completed show car featured a number of gadgets and features sure to impress anyone who viewed it. The engine was a 312 with twin four-barrel carburetors; the transmission was a regular production Merc-O-Matic automatic. Exhaust exited through chrome plated brass ports in the quarter panels behind the rear wheels. The front end was highlighted with a concave grille, hooded headlights, and a pair of chrome jet engine like pods housing parking and turn signal lenses on each side below the split bumper. The roof featured “T” top, flip-up panels that opened via an electric piston/cylinder arrangement when a door was opened, but an override switch allowed opening the panels without opening a door. The three-piece rear windshield’s center section lowered electrically and was later employed on the production Turnpike Cruiser as well as other Mercurys and Lincolns that followed. The panels allowed for easier entrance and exit of the 52.4-inch high car. Interior styling was no less imaginative. Four leather-covered bucket seats awaited the driver; each set of front and rear seats had a raised armrest that contained ashtrays and cigar lighters. The instrumentation was arranged in pods and consisted of speedometer, tachometer, plus fuel, temperature, oil, and battery gauges. Power enhanced items included steering, brakes, and windows.

Concave side channels terminated in canted, V-shaped tail lights. (Author's collection)

The finished XM Turnpike Cruiser was publicly shown for the first time at the 1956 Cleveland Auto Show. Showing the new experimental car that Mercury literature of the day called, a “Preview of the Future”, was performed in a manner as extravagant as the car itself. A specially designed trailer with large plexiglass side panels was used to transport the vehicle; a standard Ford COE tractor pulled the trailer and its unique cargo. Both the tractor and the trailer were painted to match the show car. The right side of the trailer opened up and extended outward to allow the car to be turned 90 degrees. The platform that supported the car was equipped with steps and handles to allow show attendees to step up for a close-up view. The one-of-a-kind Mercury was shown at the Detroit, Chicago (http://www.vintageadoftheweek.com/1956-chicago-auto-show-mercury/), and New York Auto Shows plus various dealerships around the country.

A specially designed trailer with large plexiglass side panels was used to transport the vehicle; a standard Ford COE tractor pulled the trailer and its unique cargo. (Author's collection)

The production 1957 Turnpike Cruiser and Montclair models did not sell as well as Jack Reith predicted. Consequently, he was removed as head of the Mercury Division and offered the position as head of Ford of Canada; he instead elected to resign from the company on August 30, 1957. The Mercury Division was combined with Edsel and Lincoln afterwards and the Turnpike Cruiser was demoted to the Montclair series for 1958, while the Park Lane took the prestige position for Mercury.

The 1956 XM Turnpike Cruiser became a symbol of failure for those at Mercury and it sat outside in a parking lot behind the Lincoln-Mercury Division offices. At some point in 1958, Lincoln-Mercury Sales Manager, Joe Bain, came into the office of Benson Ford and said he was tired of seeing the car and it should be hauled away. Benson Ford must have agreed with his friend because the task was assigned and carried out. For a mere $300 the experimental car with an original price tag of $80,000, was sold to Jim White, the Vice President of Dearborn Tube and Steel, one of the contractors Ford used to build pre-production vehicles. (The trailer used to haul the XM was sold separately, but to who is unknown.) White stored the car more than a decade outdoors where it deteriorated and received its share of attention from vandals. After numerous attempts to buy the car, a body shop owner named Baker purchased the vehicle for $500; this was in 1971. By this point a number of parts were missing (such as the intake, twin carbs, and air cleaner) or were damaged (such as one of the plexiglass flip-up roof panels and hood). The upholstery was ruined as a result of the windows being left open. Baker sold the car for $3,000 in 1979, to a collector named Ray Sabos who owned a 1957 Turnpike Cruiser. Sabos stored the car until 1982, and then sold it for $10,000 to another collector who had intentions of restoring it.

For more photos of the XM Turnpike Cruiser see the website of the Mercury Club of Norway at, http://www.mercuryclub.no/

Authors note:  Many thanks to author Jim Farrell for supplying rare photographs and information for this article. Without his assistance this article would not have been possible. Jim has performed extensive research on the history of Ford’s show vehicles built between 1932 and 1961, and together with his wife, Cheryl, has written a book on the subject titled, Ford Design Department, Concept, and Show Cars, 1932-61. The XM Turnpike Cruiser is covered in greater detail in this book. The book can be purchased through his website, http://jandcfarrell.com/

1956 XM TURNPIKE CRUISER SPECIFICATIONS

Engine:  312 cu. in. ohv V-8

Carburetion:  Twin four-barrels

Bore & stroke:   3.80 x 3.44 in.

Horsepower:  Not available*

Torque:  Not available

Compression ratio: Not available

Transmission:  Merc-O-Matic

Number built:  1

* The 312 with twin four barrels offered by Ford in 1957, provided 270 HP.

The Ghost of the Norseman

1956 Chrysler Norseman - A Specter from the Wreck of the Andrea Doria

 Text by David W. Temple

Photos from Chrysler Historical Collection, Marty Martino, and author's files

 

More than two-hundred feet beneath the Atlantic Ocean and deep within the darkened hull of the 697-foot long Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria lays the debris of what was once an experimental dream car. The ship sank several hours after being struck by the Stockholm on the night of July 25, 1956. As a result, the unique lines of the Ghia-built 1956 Chrysler Norseman were destined never to be seen by those who designed it, nor were the spectators of the coming auto shows going to have the opportunity to ooh and ahh at the stylish fastback. The few people who did were the craftsmen at Ghia in Turin, Italy and possibly the people who loaded the car aboard the ship as well as some of its crew, or maybe not. That would depend on whether the car was crated or placed on a pallet as was customary for Chrysler’s other Ghia-built show cars. No one is absolutely certain of the method employed. It was probably in cargo hold number two, but even that is an uncertainty.

Photographs of the car are rare. Evidently no color ones were ever taken resulting in conflicting information about its color scheme. Was it silver or green? We will probably never know. The few black & whites taken of the Norseman were done at Ghia shortly before the car was sent to the loading dock. The negatives for the interior photos seemed to have been lost and original prints are extremely scarce. This car was almost completely lost to history.

Not many photographs of the 1956 Chrysler Norseman seem to exist - none evidently in color. This front three-quarter view of the car highlights the hidden headlights, the bumper-grille combination, wraparound windshield, and the cantilever roof.

There are a few facts about this sunken show car that have survived over the last five-and-a-half decades, though. The origin of the Norseman was sometime during 1953 in a studio occupied by imaginative stylists such as Cliff Voss, William Brownlie, as well as others along with capable engineers and managers who were all under the legendary leadership of Virgil M. Exner. (Coincidentally, the Andrea Doria went into service that same year.) The car's name was derived from Exner's Norwegian heritage.

This is the wooden buck of the Norseman.

The team spent 50,000 man-hours and approximately $200,000 to design and build the Norseman. Ghia needed 15 months to construct the one-of-a-kind idea car.

Arguably, the most unusual feature of the Norseman to emerge from Chrysler’s design studio was its cantilever roof. The Norseman is nearly unique in this regard since no production car and very few show cars have had this feature. Perhaps the concept would have been adopted for production if the car had not been lost. The lack of A-pillars gave an unobstructed view through the wraparound windshield; the idea had much appeal with Exner. According to his son, Virgil Jr., “He liked to provide good visibility in his cars.”

There was more than good visibility involved in the design. Glassmaker, PPG, built the heat-treated structural windshield to make it more crash resistant. Furthermore, the roof was attached in tension to a ¼-inch rod located in place of where the A-pillar posts would normally be present. In theory, such a car in a rollover accident would be provided strong support; the retainers holding the roof and rods together were meant to shear thus releasing the roof from its tension state. Additionally, the roof had a couple of novelty features. One was a brushed aluminum insert and the other was a 12-square foot backlight that could be retracted forward into the roof via an electrical switch. This idea never went into production on any Chrysler product, but a somewhat similar idea – a backlight which retracted into the trunk – was used by Lincoln and Mercury. Fresh air intakes for the passenger compartment were located in the leading edge of the roof, too.

Clamshell-type, hidden headlights and a full-width concave grille in combination with a thin bumper located along the horizontal center line and capped at each end with pod-mounted parking lights dominated the front-end view. All of it was finished with a valance panel sweeping underneath the assembly. The front fenders, with their hidden headlights, resembled the nose of a shark.

The Norseman’s hood dipped sharply in front, leaving it beneath the frontal portion of the fender line. A light crease beginning at the top of the headlight doors gained prominence as it swept back to the rear of the car and actually formed a horizontal fin along the quarter panel. The fin on the driver’s side ended with the fuel-filler door. This set of fins – as did those atop the quarters – stopped several inches short of the rear of the car.

The wheel opening were quite dramatic as well; they were low-cut in both the front and rear and each were scalloped similarly to those of Buick’s limited-production 1954 Skylark.

Outside door handles were not employed. Instead, a push-button release not unlike those of the ‘40s Lincoln Continental was used.

The rear of the Norseman was no less sensational. Other than its retractable backlight, this show car also featured elliptical nacelles housing chrome-plated bumperettes each with small, round stacked taillights. (A somewhat similar arrangement appeared on the 1957 DeSoto line.) The fastback roof flowed back so far it formed the opening for the center bumper. In profile the Norseman looked something like a rocketship from a contemporary sci-fi movie.

The sporty and comfortable looking interior of the Norseman featured bucket-type seats in front and back, satin metal decor, as well as a pull-out writing desk. Instrumentation was suspended in pods beneath the dash.

The front seats swiveled forward to ease entry into the rear passenger compartment. Note the presence of individual consoles between the seats.

Inside the Norseman were even more spectacular features. Its seating consisted of four power-assisted bucket-type seats covered in metallic light green leather with either contrasting gray or gray-green inserts. Each pair of seats was separated by a console with a glove box. Also incorporated into these consoles was a retractor for the buckle component of the seat belts; the other half of the reel-type seat belts retracted into the side of the front seats and probably the quarter trim panels in back. Interior lamps also appear to have been installed within the individual consoles. An experimental form of lighting was luminescent paint applied to the back side of the Norseman's front seats. Instrumentation was suspended from the padded dash in pods and a small writing desk could be pulled out from underneath the passenger side glove box. Satin finish metal trim wrapped around from the door panels to the dash.

While the outside and inside of the Norseman were flashy, the engine compartment may have or may not have been equally so. No photographs of it seem to exist to know if it was dressed up with chromed components though this was typical practice for Ghia. Regardless, the show car was reportedly fitted with a 235hp 331 Hemi instead of the high-performance version that was standard issue for the Chrysler 300-B. However, the car may have been refitted with the 340hp letter car engine if it had arrived at Chrysler.

The Norseman’s chassis was a modified 1955 Chrysler type with a suspension of torsion bars in front and leaf springs in back. This is not often reported in other stories about this car, but Virgil Exner, Jr. believes this is true. His belief seems to be supported by a news article about the car published in the August 10, 1956 issue of the New York Times which quoted unnamed engineers as saying the Norseman had an “advanced suspension” but gave no other details about it. Torsion bars were employed for the 1957 Chryslers so the presence of the setup on the show car seems logical. Other modifications included a wheelbase stretched from 126 to 129 inches and a full underpan to reduce air resistance underneath the car.

If the Norseman had arrived safely, Chrysler undoubtedly would have thoroughly tested the car at its engineering proving grounds near Chelsea, Michigan before showing it to the public to gauge their reactions to the radical design. Brief consideration was given to having Ghia build a second Norseman, but the time needed to do this would have meant the car would not be available for evaluation until late 1957 or early 1958. Assuming the car was insured for its full cost, the money certainly would have been available for the project. However, the natural fast pace of the auto industry at that time would have rendered a second Norseman as obsolete by the time it was ready to be tested and shown. Hence, the idea was rejected.

After 55 years under water, the Andrea Doria has deteriorated greatly. Its upper decks have collapsed over the years. Even if the Norseman had been so tightly secured as to stay in place even as the ship pitched over on its side and sank, it could not possibly have survived the years of exposure to the salt water of the Atlantic. Some reports claim the body was of aluminum. Virgil Exner, Jr. believes it was built of steel. Either way, the body would have corroded long ago. Chances are the car was crumpled as the ship flipped on its starboard side and struck the ocean floor. However, there are a few reports of divers spotting an unusual car within the ship. This, though, is rebutted by professional wreck diver and New Jersey resident, John Moyer, who has made over 100 dives to the Doria to recover artifacts from it. He has even taken some time to try to locate whatever remains of the Norseman, but never did. Unfortunately, there was little time to search. A diver is limited to 20-25 minutes to explore inside the dark and silt-filled hull of the ship. Complicating the matter of searching for the show car’s remnants is the tremendous amount of silt which can be stirred by the ocean currents at any given moment, rusted shards of metal which can tear a pressure suit, and the question as to where to look. The Andrea Doria’s manifest shows nine cars were placed in the ship’s garage, but whether or not that included the Norseman is not known. That means the garage as well as cargo hold two had to be searched. With the conditions within the ship Moyer could easily have swam past the debris of the show car and never known it. Even though the body of the car was not expected to have survived, parts such as the drivetrain and frame would be recognizable if they could be seen. Smaller cosmetic parts such as the unique wheel covers of the show car probably survived, too, as they are believed to have been chrome-plated brass.

The sweeping roofline of the Norseman is readily apparent in this view. Its backlight retracted upward into the cantilever roof.

The fate of the Norseman is final. Its loss at the time was of great concern to Exner, Jr. His father was in the hospital recovering from a heart attack at the time the Andrea Doria and its unique cargo sank so there was some apprehension in telling him of the event. When finally told the news, the elder Exner said, “That’s really neat.” According Exner, Jr., his father "was a romanticist. He was disappointed by the loss of the car, but thought it was great that it would become a part of automotive folklore.” Indeed, the Norseman has become just that.

Marty Martino, who is known for his recreation of another lost show car - the 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer - is slowly recreating the Chrysler Norseman.  Additional photos can be seen here: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Marty_Martino%27s_1956_Chrysler_Norseman (Photo by Marty Martino)

The car still draws much attention from automotive hobbyists. In fact, as this is being written, a second Norseman is being built albeit slowly. No, Chrysler and Ghia are not involved this time. Marty Martino who is well known for his recreation of another show car, the 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer, and his part in the restoration of the 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne displayed by GM at that year’s Motorama, has long been crafting a replica of the Norseman in fiberglass. It will take much more time to complete the car as Marty is currently involved in another special “hush, hush” project. Many look forward to the day he completes the second Norseman. One request of Marty… please do not send it across the Atlantic for any reason!

More on the sinking of the Andrea Doria can be found here: http://www.andreadoria.org/

1954 DeSoto Adventurer II - Granturismo Show Car

The 1954 DeSoto Adventurer II show car was built for Chrysler by Ghia in Turin (Spanish for Torino), Italy. It was one of many show cars Chrysler Corp. had built during the 1950s but one of only a few not designed by the company’s chief stylist Virgil Exner.

Photography and Text by David W. Temple

When World War II ended, automobile makers were not quite ready to offer new designs. Chrysler Corporation was no exception in that regard; their first all new designs appeared in the latter part of 1949. In the case of the public, new styling made little difference during the first few years after the war as they were hungry for new cars to replace their well worn ones. Eventually, though, styling made a major difference to the consumer. In the specific case of Chrysler, however, company president K.T. Keller was not styling minded. Chrysler had a reputation for good engineering, but styling was not always their strong point. The new ‘49s and those that followed through 1954, had the “three box look” – as in one box piled on top of two others. The Chrysler products were not nearly as flashy as those coming from Ford and General Motors. Actually, this did not need to happen. Chrysler designers created some styling proposals that somewhat resembled Lincolns and did away with bolt-on rear fenders. The look was modern, but for whatever reason the proposed styling was not chosen for the production cars.

A DeSoto logo similar to those used on production 1953 and 1954 models appears on the hood of the Adventurer II. The logo signifies the namesake of the car, Hernando De Soto the 16^th century Spanish explorer of the Americas.

          General Motors, on the other hand, had people in charge who knew the value of styling as a selling tool. Harley Earl and his people inside GM Styling were leading the way in that regard and as a result GM was getting the vast majority of customers. Change was needed at Chrysler because engineering alone was not selling their cars in great enough quantity. Keller left the presidency of Chrysler Corp. in late 1950 and was replaced by Lester “Tex” Colbert. Colbert had a different vision for what the company’s cars should become and he already had what he needed to implement his vision. Virgil Exner had been with Chrysler for about a year when “Tex” became president. Exner first worked under the legendary Harley Earl at GM and then for Raymond Lowey at Studebaker. When Exner stepped into his job, the styling of the new cars was locked in place for a while, but there was work to be done in the advanced studio. Exner went to work on show cars like the Chrysler K-310, Chrysler C-200, Chrysler Special, Dodge Firearrow, DeSoto Adventurer I, etc. He had learned that Ghia in Turin, Italy could build show cars for modest sums of money and arranged for through Ghia’s design chief, Luigi Segre, to have show cars built there. This arrangement had another advantage – Exner was drawn to Italian design, so no better situation could have resulted. Under Exner’s guidance, Chrysler’s cars got the styling needed to attract buyers while the exotic show cars served as design exercises and as a means of generating publicity.

DeSoto’s “Red Ram” 170hp engine coupled to a two-speed Powerflite automatic transmission was chosen to power the Adventurer II show car.

The black and red interior was made just for two.

Colbert had something else important aimed at making the cars of the company more exciting – the Hemi V8. The engine which had been under development since 1935 was ready for production for model year 1951 and appeared in Chryslers and Imperials first. Chrysler’s “Fire Power” displaced 331 cubic inches while Dodge, DeSoto, and Plymouth got smaller, less powerful versions during the following model years. DeSoto’s Hemi displaced 276.1 cubic inches and provided 160 hp for 1953 and 170hp for 1954. The design of the new hemi-head offered more power from a given displacement without the need for increased octane fuels. The key to this was in the hemispherical combustion chamber shape (hence the name). The arrangement reduced the chance for pre-ignition, allowed higher volumetric efficiency, and resulted in a cooler running engine.

A DeSoto “Red Ram” 170 horsepower V8, two-speed Powerflite, and a 125.5-inch wheelbase S-19 Series chassis served as a platform for the two-passenger car featured here dubbed the 1954 Adventurer II. Somewhat ironically, this car did not have much in common with the preceding, four-passenger, Exner-designed Adventurer I nor did Virgil Exner have much to do with its styling. This car’s design was largely the responsibility of a creative stylist and engineer at Ghia named Giovanni Savonuzzi. Savonuzzi had designed a sleek aluminum coupe body for engineer Virgilio Conrero’s tube-frame, Alfa Romeo-powered racecar for the 1953 Mille Miglia. It was followed shortly afterwards by a similar body for the Fiat 8V chassis which incidentally went into production with a run of 50 cars. During the early part of 1954, Segre met with Exner and showed to him photos of the Alfa-Conrero. According to an article in the Fall 1990 issue of “Exotic Cars Quarterly,” Exner judged it to be a “beautiful design.” His occasional Italian translator and racecar builder, Paul Farrago, actually bought a Ghia-bodied Fiat 8V which gave Virgil Exner a chance to examine the actual car. Later, Segre suggested the basic design known as the “Supersonic Look” be adapted to a follow-up to the Adventurer I. Exner agreed and saw that the funds were made available for the project. By the way, the “Supersonic Look” was applied to a few other cars as well such as at least a couple of Jaguar XK-140s and a 1956 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk. II.

A burnished aluminum plate surrounds the instrument dials. The odometer shows less than 15,000 actual miles.

Two-piece luggage is fitted in the space behind the seats.

Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels were selected for the Adventurer II. The wheels were optional on production Chrysler-built cars.

The DeSoto Adventurer II was introduced to the American press on June 16, 1954 during ceremonies for the new Chrysler proving grounds near Chelsea, Michigan. It was first exhibited at the Turin Auto Show soon thereafter. In its August 1954 issue, “Motor Trend” ridiculed the styling of the Adventurer II by suggesting the car’s “slab sides and illusion of excessive width” violated Exner’s philosophy of “emphasis on the mechanical beauty and function of an automobile.” According to the aforementioned article in “Exotic Cars Quarterly,” Virgil Exner, Jr. said his father approved of the car and “realized that Savonuzzi was not only a great engineer but had a terrific styling eye.” Beauty, as the adage declares, is in the eye of the beholder.

The backlight of the Adventurer II is retractable.

The spare tire and wheel assembly takes up most of the trunk space. The backlight retracts into the cover just above and ahead of the spare.

After the Turin Auto Show in the summer of ’54, the history of the Adventurer II is a bit unclear. The car’s first documented private owner was a U.S. civilian named Art Spanjian who worked for Nouasseur Air Force Base in Morocco. As stated by an article in a 1959 issue of “Automobile Topics,” Spanjian affirmed that the Chrysler dealer in Casablanca purchased the show car at an auction following the auto show in Brussels. The dealer believed it could be sold to Morocco’s King Mohammed V. Reportedly the king drove the car for a week and then decided to not purchase it. The dealer then displayed the Adventurer II in the showroom while hoping someone would be willing to pay the $25,000 asking price. This is where Art Spanjian entered the scene. He saw the car in the showroom and tried to negotiate a better price but the dealer did not accept a lesser offer until three years later. Spanjian by that time had been appointed chief of Maintenance Planning in Dayton, Ohio. Before going to his new assignment, he made a final offer for the unique automobile and this time his price was accepted though the exact amount was not disclosed; Spanjian revealed to “Automobile Topics” that the price was “more than $2,500 and less than $10,000.”

The design of the rear of the car is similar to that of the front. It is bumperless and the paired exhaust outlets exit through a pod mounted directly beneath the taillights.

By around 1960, the Adventurer II was once again in a showroom – this time at a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership in Dayton. It was sold on December 26, 1960 to Fort Lauderdale resident, Armand Archer, Sr., during a Christmas visit to see his family. Archer drove the car back home to Florida but soon realized the drawbacks of owning such a car – mainly the irreparable damage that could potentially occur. The Adventurer II was locked away in a garage for more than a quarter century. Archer’s son, Armand, Jr., revived the car in 1986. It still had its original Dayton General tires and had logged less than 15,000 miles. In 1988, the Adventurer II was purchased by collector Ken Behring who had it restored in time for the 1989 Pebble Beach Concours, though another version of the story is that an anonymous West Coast collector bought the car, had it restored, and then donated it to the Behring Auto Museum. Today the Adventurer II is part of the collection of San Diego resident Chuck Swimmer. This one-of-a-kind show car which was supposedly unfit for a king has found a number of admirers over the years and remains an ageless and striking design more than 50 years after it was built.

Specifications

1954 DeSoto Adventurer II

Engine:  276.1cid V8

Horsepower:  170@4,400rpm

Torque:  255@2,000rpm

Compression:  7.5:1

Bore and Stroke:  3.625 x 3.344 inches

Carburetion:  Carter 2-bbl.

Exhaust:  dual

Transmission:  Powerflite two-speed automatic

Number Built:  1

Wheelbase:  125.5 inches

Length:  214.2 inches

Height:  55.5 inches

Width:  77.9 inches