- Hi, I'm Scott Benjamin.
- And I'm Ben Bowlin.
- And today, we've got a very special edition
of Car Stuff for you.
- That's right, Scott. We are at the High Museum of Art
here in Atlanta, Georgia, and we're visiting
the Dream Car exhibit.
- That's right, we're going to highlight
a variety of dream cars ranging
from the 1930's all the way through modern day.
(jazz music)
- A lot of people might find it hard to believe, Scott,
but one guy built all three of the cars behind us.
- That's absolutely right.
It was legendary General Motors designer
Harley Earl, who designed all of these vehicles.
- Yeah and he didn't just build them for fun,
he built them for a car show called the Motorama.
- That's right, the Motorama was a show
that was around from about 1949 through 1961.
And, it was a showcase of all of General Motors'
concept cars, green cars, just like the ones behind us.
- You know I can't put it off any longer,
I can't wait. Let's take a closer look right now.
- Sounds good, let's do it.
(funky music)
- Ok, we're right here standing next to
the world famous 1959 Cadillac Cyclone XP-74.
- That's right and this car was introduced
at the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959,
just as Harley Earl was about to retire.
- This is, like, a car from the future
that hasn't happened yet,
it even has an intercom system inside
so that passengers can talk to people outside of the car.
- Nice feature, that seems a little Batman
or Buck Rogers to me but it also had a lot jet styling.
In fact, it had a bubble top canopy,
had huge tailfins.
It has jet styling throughout.
I mean, it looks like a jet from the beginning to end.
Even at the very back end,
it looks like the exhaust of a jet.
- It's everything but an actual jet.
(record scratching music)
- Right now, we're standing in front of the
1956 Buick Centurion XP-301.
And this vehicle, Ben, has a lot of interesting features.
But one thing it does not have
is a rearview mirror.
- That's right and it sounds weird to say
"Wait, this car doesn't have a rearview mirror?"
True story. This car actually has something better,
a rearview camera system.
- That's absolutely right.
And the thing is, this is decades ahead of its time.
We don't see those until,
you know, recent in modern vehicles.
And that's not the only modern feature
that this vehicle contains.
- Right, yeah it also has twin air scoops to allow air
from outside of the vehicle to enter
into the canopy so that the passengers can,
you know, breathe.
- In 1956, that was pretty innovative
and, you know, honestly that bubble top canopy,
that's got to be hot on summer days.
- Oh yeah, no kidding.
That's a Jetson's level future problem.
- Definitely.
(chimes)
(jazz music)
- Here we are, Scott,
it's the 1951 General Motors La Sabre XP-8.
- That's right. This is maybe my favorite car
of the entire exhibit, Ben.
This was Harley Earl's car and
exemplifies all his design principles.
It's long, low, and wide.
- Yes and it is stacked to the brim
with all kinds of features that are still, sort of,
luxury car features today.
We're talking about hidden headlights,
electrically heated seats.
- That's right, there's a rain sensor
that activates the power top, that you can't see now,
but it's there.
- Yeah and it's not wonder that this was Harley Earl's
perfect and most favorite car
because it was, in fact, his personal car as well.
- [Voiceover] That's exactly right.
And that's an unusual fact is that he drove
this to and from work everyday
after the car had completed its Motorama circuit.
So, it was definitely a favorite of his
right up to his retirement.
- And thank you, guys, so much for watching our episode...
- Hang on, hang on.
I've got one more car for you.
- Oh well, let's check it out.
- Do you want to go see it?
- Yeah, let's go.
(jazz music)
- Alright, Ben, I told you that we had one more thing
that I wanted to share with you, right?
Alright, this is it.
This is the 1953 Firebird 1 XP-21.
- Right. Also, designed by Harley Earl
and this vehicle takes his obsession
with jet stylings to the Nth degree.
Ladies and gentlemen,
this is an actual jet powered car.
- That's right, it's an actual gas turbine jet.
And it was the first car of its type ever built
and designed here in the United States.
- Yeah, it's got the needle nose, here.
- That's right.
It's got plastic bubble top canopy.
- Mmhmmm.
And we've got these side tailfins.
- That's right.
And there's the vertical tailfin, as well.
- Yeah, so this really does
feel like driving a jet on the highway.
And, I'm sure your question is the same one
that I have all the time
why aren't there more of these on the road?
- Ahhh because it was wildly impractical.
And one of the main reasons is because
it has a single seat.
- Yeah it also has terrible fuel economy,
it's a jet.
- And maybe the biggest reason of all, I think, is probably
because the exhaust temperature.
If you were to walk behind this when it's running,
the exhaust temperature is somewhere
in the neighborhood of about 1200 degrees Fahrenheit.
- And, taken as a whole, the Firebird series
represents a national obsession
with space exploration and aviation.
- That's right, not just a national obsession,
it was also Harley Earl's obsession
and we see that in many of his cars here.
- Now, Scott, don't get mad.
I have to try this,
can I drive this?
Ok, no.
Alright, so we're leaving.
Thank you, guys, so much for watching.
You can find us on Facebook,
you can find us on Twitter.
We also have our own website CarShowStuff.com
and we look forward to hearing from you soon.
(jazz music)