One of my favorite things about my hometown of Atlanta is the arts scene, specifically the High Museum of Art. They’ve always got an interesting exhibit going on, like works from the Louvre and the Terracotta Soldiers, and local folk art works from my favorite artist, Howard Finster.
This year’s big exhibit was Dream Cars: Innovative Design, Visionary Ideas, an introspective into cars as works of art. Instead of galleries full of paintings on the walls, the room had been adjusted to fit the cars with displays on the walls with information about them. It brought together chrome and class, attracting both art lovers and fans of all things motorized. It was the perfect outing for Labor Day, so I brought along my dad.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much it all made sense. So much artistry goes into the design of cars, especially the luxurious brands featured. I took pictures of every car, but I wanted to share some of my favorites from the day.
The first car you see upon entering was a stunner, the sleek Norman Timbs 1947 Special, which the mechanical engineer dreamed up and created for his own personal use, pictured at the top. It cost him $10,000 to build.
The 1948 Tasco, designed by Gordon M. Buehrig, has fiberglass fenders that wrap entirely around the wheels. The T-top roof design later inspired the design of the Corvette. It never reached production, so the model displayed in the museum was very rare.
The 1936 Stout Scarab is inspired by its namesake beetle, which is emblazoned on the front of the vehicle. Made by the Stout Motor Car Company, it has the stylings of a small bus but is more like a van, with room for seven passengers.
The Chrysler Thunderbolt was called the “car of the future” at a 1940 auto show for its rotating headlights. It’s devoid of any flourishes and ornamentation visible on many of the European made cars featured in the exhibit. Eight were planned, five were built and only four survive.
Chrysler/Ghia’s Streamline X is just that, streamlined, resembling a vehicle straight out of The Jetsons. The engine is in the back of the two passenger car built in 1954.
Harley J. Earl of General Motors was the designer behind the Buick Centurion and brainstormed some of the country’s most well-known cars. It was ahead of its time, with a rear view camera with a view screen on the dashboard and a bubble top for panoramic views.
Perhaps my favorite car of the day was the 2001 BMW GINA Light Visionary Series, which is made up of a special fabric stretched over a frame. The exhibit had a piece of the fabric you could feel for yourself, which was stretchy and durable. The polyurethane coated Lycra could completely transform the way cars are made, but they are mostly still in the design stages.
While the exhibit is now over, it made me want to visit the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit and the Sloan Museum in Flint, which lent many of the vehicles to the museum. Be sure to check out the High if you’re ever in Atlanta to see what else they have on display.
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