1954 Buick Wildcat II concept
Similar to the Corvette, Buick's radical two-seater featured a 100-inch wheelbase and a fiberglass body. It sported cowl-mounted headlamps (with driving lights and turn indicators at grille level), as well as a scooped fender design that exposed the front suspension.
1954 Chevrolet Nomad concept
Earl created his Nomad dream car with the belief that buyers' obsession with speed and style would require cars to become ever lower and wider. Although the Nomad Motorama car was based on the Corvette, the production Nomad, which arrived in mid-1955, was based on Chevrolet's top-of-the-line Bel Air model.
Firebird I, Firebird II, and Firebird III concepts
The first of Earl's magnificently impractical gas-turbine-powered show cars, the single-seat Firebird I (far left), arrived in 1954. The four-seat Firebird II (center) arrived in '56, and the double-bubble Firebird III (right) in 1958. Here, Earl himself poses with the trio in the Arizona desert.
1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham
The last of the hand-built Cadillacs, the '57 Eldo Brougham boasted a gorgeous B-pillarless four-door body, a brushed stainless steel roof, forged aluminum wheels, a unique air suspension, and every imaginable comfort and convenience feature, including such niceties as power windows, air conditioning, and a perfume dispenser. It cost a whopping $13,074; production amounted to 400 cars.
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air
Bel Air styling reached its zenith with the '57 model, which featured twin "harpoon" hood ornaments and a 270-horsepower fuel-injected V-8 engine.
Harley Earl, designer, 1893-1969