ALL SCI-FI

[bulldogtrekker]

Developmental model for GMs Firebird III could fetch $30,000 at auction
GM's Firebird III concept car envisioned plenty of far-flung futuristic technologies, from turbine drivetrains to automotive autonomy, but the process used to design and build the concept car relied on tried-and-true methods, as we can see from the two-foot-long resin model that GM's design staff used in developing the concept car, which will come up for auction later this year.

Long before CAD, holograms, 3D printing, and other rapid prototyping technologies made their way into Detroit's design studios, the staff at General Motors needed a way to envision all the canards, fins, bubbletops, and other surface elements of the 1958 Firebird III, a car never intended for production, rather for showing off GM's technical capabilities in the jet-age and gewgaw-obsessed Fifties.

According to the auction description for the 24-inch-long, eight-inch-wide, and 6-1/4-inch-high model, GM design staff had it built in 1957 and lacquered in all black to study the highlights of the form and to facilitate surface development; it may also have been used during presentations to management. It accommodates canopies in four different shades: matte amber, transparent amber, opaque black and clear. A subsequent full-size model was later built, also in black, to finalize the cars shape before construction of the actual concept car....

- See more at: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/10/28/developmental-model-for-gms-firebird-iii-could-fetch-30000-at-auction/?refer=news#sthash.7klwoYFH.dpuf[img]



LINK:
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/10/28/developmental-model-for-gms-firebird-iii-could-fetch-30000-at-auction/?refer=news

[Krel]

The Firebird III always reminded me of the never seen Tarantula sports car in "The Dick Van Dyke Show". The car got a scratch that "ran from the front fin, all the way to the back wing"!

David.

[bulldogtrekker]

The 1964 Tarantula

In the episode Scratch My Car and Die!, Rob buys a new sports car called the Tarantula (according to Buddy, its nickname is the T-Bug). Since the episode aired in early 1964, we can assume the car is the '64 model.

Since the car is of course fictional, we never see it during the episode. But the characters make several comments regarding its appearance. It is low and sleek (so aerodynamic that its ash trays are teardrop-shaped); its trim is not chrome, but stainless steel; it has bucket seats, front fins and rear wings; and, in lieu of a trunk, it even has an auxiliary motor!.....



LINK:
http://dickvandykeshow.blogspot.com/2011/06/1964-tarantula.html

[Bud Brewster]

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I get the damnedest mental picture of that car . . .

I saw the Firebird III at the Seattle Worlds Fair when I was just 14 years old, and my parents had to drag me away from it.

If you count the two protrusions over the front fenders as fins, this car has the distinction of sporting 9 fins in all -- a world's record!





And because I've never liked that large wheel well, here's my own modified version.


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[orzel-w]

[Bud Brewster]

Ah, it probably didn't corner worth a damn anyway . . .
_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[mach7]

Here it is on display at the Seattle worlds fair.



I've missed seeing this car in person a few times in my life.

I'm sure Krel is correct, The Firebird 3 is the inspiration for the Tarantula from "The Dick Van Dyke Show"!
Once I saw his post it was a moment of clarity!

The timeline and description line up.