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JIM FRENAK
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JEFFREY G. RUSSELL
MIKE VALENTE
GM MEDIA ARCHIVE
THE NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY COLLECTION

Feature

Oldsmobile Cutlass Show Car, 1954

GM’s Motorama exhibition usually traveled around the East Coast and California. This Olds concept was headed to a rare showing in Detroit.

Chrysler Imperial Crown, 1962

The rectangular badge on the upper rear fender of the car in the foreground tells us this is a 1963 Imperial Crown rather than an Imperial LeBaron, or—yes, really—Crown Imperial. It’s snazzy, but it’s tough to choose over the contemporary suicide-door Lincoln Continental. This picture was taken in November 1962 at the 1963 show.

Jeep Wagoneer, 1965

Consider this photographic evidence that when Jeep talks about DNA, it means it. Note the absence of the seven-slat grille, however.

The white NSU is a Sport Prinz coupe, with an air-cooled two-cylinder engine. On the BMW stand is a 2000CS and a sign advertising its $4985 price. The Cadillac range started at about $5000 that year./p table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"trtd valign="top" div /p /td /tr/tablepstrongFord Mustang Mach 1 Show Car, 1966/strong/p table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"x">

Chevrolet Stand, 1976

It was America’s Bicentennial, and Chevy’s 1976 display attracted a heck of a crowd. U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

Dodge Viper Concept, 1989

What were the Viper’s chances for production? “Right now, fifty-fifty, ” Chrysler president Bob Lutz told us. “Congregation, let us pray, ” our April 1989 coverage stated in reply. The car gods and Lutz—believed by some to be one and the same—heard our prayers.

Porsche 911 Cabriolet, 1994

“The company will cut prices and offer up the somewhat peculiar notion of a value-priced Porsche. The 1995 911 cabriolet, at $72, 563, is $6589 less than the 1994 model, ” we said in our March 1994 issue. Price of a 2011 911 cabriolet? $89, 750.

Chrysler Atlantic Concept, 1995

“Chrysler’s ode to Bugatti, ” we said of the Atlantic concept in the April 1995 issue. It’s a shame that Chrysler, a company with a reputation for actually producing wild stuff, didn’t take a chance with the Atlantic. It still looks great today.