1952 Concept Cars
Chrysler D Elegance
During the 1930s, aviation was truly beginning to take off. Air races began to place an important emphasis on aerodynamics. To limit drag and increase efficiency, planes would need to have certain design elements that would be shaped in such a way as......
Chrysler Thomas Special Prototype
This 1952 Chrysler Ghia Thomas Special SWB prototype is believed to have been the show car presented to the public at the 1953 Pars Auto Show. It is the only show car that sat atop a shortened wheelbase. It is powered by a Chrysler 331 cubic-inch V8......
Cisitalia 808XF Concept
Italian-born Piero Dusio was an individual who had a soccer career and a successful business, and he was a race car driver. His days as a soccer player ended due to a knee injury. After the injury, he started a textile business, which evolved into sporting......
Frazer Nash 2.6-Liter Prototype
Originally built for Donald Healy, this prototype started off with a Healy engine, but was quickly changed to a Bristol engine for better performance. This car has a rich history and would be eligible for many historic and vintage events around the world.......
Packard Pacifica Concept
In 1952, Saga Magazine held a contest for concept car design. This Packard design won and was featured on the cover of the magazine. The car was never built. In 2001, California collector Carl Schneider commissioned the car to be built. It......
Packard Pan American
Since the mid-1930s, the Henney Motor Company had been the exclusive builder of Packards commercial cars. In 1952, Henneys president Charles Russell Feldman struck a deal with Packard president Hugh Ferry to build Packards newest show car, the Pan......
Packard Panther Macauley
The Packard Panther was built in-house as a personal car for Edward Macauley, Packards Director of Styling in 1951. Parts were used from production Packards and given a wheelbase that measured 122 inches. The car sits very low to the grown making it......
Verrill Wolfwagen
Tom Verrill, a University of Maine mechanical engineering graduate, worked in the aircraft industry before building road-going vehicles. The car he came up with was the Verrill Wolfwagen Roadster, which - as legend has it - was built to surpass the Bugatti......
1951 Concept Cars
Buick LeSabre Concept
Clearly showing aircraft influence in styling and engineering, the Buick LeSabre was constructed of aluminum and lightweight cast magnesium. Billed as a rolling engineering laboratory, the LeSabre had 12-volt electrics (most cars then were 6-volts),......
Packard 200 Henney
Although not considered a Packard show car, this unique vehicle is guaranteed to turn heads at any gathering of collector cars. The basis for this was a lowly 1951 200 business coupe, the lowest-priced vehicle Packard offered that year. The Henney......
Studebaker Manta Ray
Arguably inspired by the General Motors LeSabre Motorama car, the rakish 1951 Manta Ray roadster still turns heads. And it remains largely original its fiberglass body has not been restored. In 1953, Glenn Hire and Vernon Antoine debuted their space-age-inspired......