Cyclops Railcars

by Gary Smith Posted on December 13, 2011

Printed in Road & Track, November, 1985. Courtesy of Stan Mott.

Speed, power, cool artwork—what's not to like?

“I am not at liberty to say how fast the rail car was moving when it vaporized the station. But suffice it to say more rational bureaucrats approved the machine for production and service providing none would be driven past railway stations faster than 89 km/h (55 mph). Martini agreed, unless, of course, they were behind schedule. As a result, no Cyclops railcar has ever been run on schedule.”

Relive Cyclops Railcars in PDF format. Thanks very much, Stan.

Gallery of artwork from Cyclops Railcars

Posted in Cartoons, Stan Mott, Stan Mott | Tagged | 2 Comments

1999 GTO Concept

by Gary Smith Posted on December 6, 2011

GM’s First All-math Model

Photos Courtesy of Wayne Ellwood

gtosidepatio

The GTO Concept was created in the fall of 1998 in only three or four months. It was done when Brian Baker had the Advanced Design Group, during the time when Wayne Cherry wanted to explore designs 15 years into the future. Wayne Cherry also wanted all of the brands to have their own identity. They made brand character models for each brand and after that the designer could only use those ques that related to a certain brand.
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Posted in Car Design, GM Design Staff | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Burn On: 1973 Drag Racing Documentary

by Gary Smith Posted on November 26, 2011

This 1973 film called “Burn On” was filmed at the 1973 AHRA Grand American race at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire. This isn’t your typical racing movie; the creative photography includes a lot of long lens shots, slow motion, pitwork, and interviews. The highlights of the video include some truly epic racing footage and a rare Jungle Jim video interview. He talks about racing Funny Cars, fire, and danger. Shirley Muldowney is also interviewed.

Watch 16-minutes of old school New England Dragway racing complete with its plumber’s pipe guard rail. You’ll hear long time track announcer Jan Landers, see fans packed to the rafters, and watch some of the coolest race cars of the era beating on each other while surrounded by the lush New Hampshire forest.

Burn On: Drag Racing Documentary (1973) from Brink Media on Vimeo.

Posted in Racing, Videos | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Oldsmobile Aerotech Interior Design

by Gary Smith Posted on November 15, 2011

Photos and text courtesy of William Quan.

aerotechint04

Oldsmobile wanted to highlight the introduction of the Quad Four engine by showing it off as a highly modified engine mounted onto an Indy type racing chassis. The goal was to have the car break the world lap record around an Indy-style oval track and be driven by former Indy 500 winner, A.J. Foyt.

Our goal was to develop an eye-catching interior to complement the exterior development for an introduction at the Chicago Auto Show. So in the summer of 1984, our design team made a trip to the Michigan 500 track to research the car chassis and to understand the driving needs of the racers. Upon returning, I started developing the design themes. We wanted to convey a design that was not only reflected the essence of a race machine, but also incorporate some high tech electronics such as Head-Up Display, Flip-Up Digital Info Panels, Access Panels to the onboard computers, and video cameras. My design themes were inspired by the F-16 fighter aircraft cockpit as well as some of the fantastic robotic models coming from Japan.
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Posted in Car Design, Designers, GM Design Staff, William Quan | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments