1954 Pontiac Strato-Streak Concept Design Reaches Production in 1973

1954 Pontiac Strato-Streak Concept Car As for this post's headline -- it's not the entire design, but similarity, especially for the aft end profile.  And a shape at odds with American design/packaging preferences in both 1954 and 1973.

Some background on the Pontiac Strato-Streak concept car is here, and Pontiac Grand Am production cars is here.

Although there are exceptions such as the 1947 Studebaker and 1951 Kaiser, American "bustle back" sedans entering production in the late 1940s and after have featured fairly large trunks for carrying luggage, golf clubs and such.  Trunks on the Strato-Streak and 1973-vintage Grand Ams were not small, but their potential capacity was reduced due to the curved shapes of their lids.

This was not a problem for a concept car, but an instance of odd product planning in the case of the Grand Am.  As it happened, 1973-1975 Grand Ams sold poorly -- only around 71,000 were built, about 14,000 of those were 4-door sedans.

Photos of the Strato-Streak are either via General Motors or are from unidentified contemporary sources.

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The 1954 General Motors Motorama concept  car.  The B-pillar was entirely lacking.  Doors were hinged on the A and C pillars and secured to the lower framing when closed.  That would probably be forbidden today, and was a sketchy idea even back in '54.  Window framing seems to be fixed, so this is not a "hardtop sedan."

1973 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan - General Motors photo
Compare the back fender curve here with that shown in the image above.

The Strato-Streak was moderately long, even by 1954 standards: wheelbase of 124 inches (3150 mm), with an estimated length of 206 inches (5232 mm).  The passenger compartment greenhouse features the new panoramic windshield with an echoing backlight window.

1973 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan - car-for-sale photo
The wheelbase is 116 inches (2946 mm), 8 inches (204 mm) shorter than the Strato-Streak.  Even so, its length of 212.6 inches (5400 mm) is longer due to greater overhang.  The Strato-Streak had a flow-through fenderline, whereas the Grand Am has subtle front and rear fenderline sculpting.  It's the after part of the fenderline / trunk profile that have the same distinctive character for both cars.

1973 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan - car-for-sale photo
Rear quarter view.  Compare to the similar perspective of the Strato-Streak below; the trunk curve is less extreme on the production car.

Tail lights are round, a Pontiac feature starting in 1948 and continuing into the late '50s.  The backlight window theme reached production on some 1957 Buicks and Oldsmobiles.

1973 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan - General Motors photo
Note that the trunk lid is slightly higher than the rear fenderline.  The Strato-Streak also had this detail.

Concept to Production: Cadillac Eldorado Brougham

The 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was an extremely expensive car ($13,074 in 1957 dollars, when a mid-range Oldsmobile sedan was listed at a little more than $3,000).  Total production was 704 units over its two-year run.

I recall that the Brougham was considered General Motors' answer to Ford's 1956-1957 Continental Mark II, a revival of the classic 1940-1948 Lincoln Continental.  Mark IIs were priced around $10,000 and production was 3,005.

The 1957 Brougham was preceded by a concept version that appeared in GM's 1955 Motorama traveling show.   The present post compares the two designs.

Images below alternate from the concept car to production Broughams.  Concept Brougham photos are from General Motors.

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The concept Brougham is reasonably clean-looking and very much of its time.  The reverse-slope C-pillar was found on some 1957-58 Cadillacs as well as some mid-50s GM concept cars, not to mention 1959-60 Mercurys.  The windshield has a very thin A-pillar, and its slope is unlike any GM production car's during the wraparound/panoramic era.

The top of the production Brougham in this likely-factory photo differs from the concept version.  The windshield A-pillar is vertical, like some other production cars.  Fender lines are similar apart from the tail fins.  The side trim theme is similar for both cars, though details differ.

Quad headlights did not become legal across the USA until the 1958 model year, though they were previewed here in 1955.  The production version lacks the hood ornament on this car.

Air intakes in front of the cowling are the main difference.  Note that both cars have "suicide" back seat doors.

Rear ends are less similar than fronts.  Compare the shape of the trunk lid, tail lights, and exhaust outlets with the production version below.

Similar tail fins appeared on non-Brougham '57 Cadillacs.  The concept car's are mercifully smaller.  Backlight windows seem to be the same.

Concept and production front ends are nearly identical.

Mecum Auction photo.  Headlight assemblies are more compact than the concept's.  The small disks (what are they?) below them are new.  Otherwise, the frontal designs are essentially the same aside from a few subtle shaping differences.

Concept to Production: Oldsmobile to Dodge ?!?

The 1992 Oldsmobile Anthem was a concept car that is little known today and was not very noteworthy in its time.  Supporting this contention, there are few Internet links dealing with it.

I came across an image of it while researching another Oldsmobile concept car and was struck by how closely its design theme reminded me of early 1990s Chrysler Corporation LH automobiles, especially the Dodge Intrepid that first appeared as a 1993 model.

Many concept cars are thinly disguised versions of soon-to-appear production models.  But the Anthem seems like a case where one company's concept car previewed another company's production job.

I don't think that's what happened intentionally.  But still ...

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1992 Oldsmobile Anthem side view.

1993 Dodge Intrepid side view.  The cars seem most similar when seen from the side.  The greenhouse fenestration is strikingly similar, minor details aside.  Even the front and rear designs are fairly close, though the Intrepid has more overhang.  Note the relationships of the backlights (rear windows) to the rear wheel openings.  Especially note how the rooftop interacts with the C-pillar on both cars.

Anthem front.

Intrepid front.  Concept car grilles often differ from production versions, so we see that here.  But the headlight housings are similar in spirit.

Rear view of the Anthem.

Rear 3/4 view of an Intrepid.  Again, differences can be expected here.  The quality of the Anthem image is poor in the area of the backlight, but the trunk/backlight design is not far from the Intrepid's.

Concept to Production: Alpha Alero to Oldsmobile Alero

Some concept cars are pure fantasies intended to keep styling staff juices flowing.  Back in the 1950s, they were appropriately called "dream cars."  In recent decades, many concept cars displayed on the auto show circuit are thinly disguised versions of cars due to be marketed in another year or two.  One reason for their existence is to condition the buying public to new design features.  Another might be to get the buying public's negative reactions to details that might be easily modified in the months before introduction of the production car.

Currently, both concept cars and production cars usually are, in my opinion, overly-decorated in terms of both body sculpting and angular, sometimes spikey shapes for grilles, headlight and tail light assemblies, and even window profiles.  With all that happening, sometimes it can be difficult to evaluate differences between the styling of a concept car and the production car it is intended to "predict."

Back in the late 1990s, General Motors' styling emphasized shape rather than ornamentation.  Because of this comparative (to present times) simplicity, I though it might be interesting to examine the Oldsmobile Alero, introduced for 1998 and how it differed from the 1997 Alero Alpha concept car that previewed it.

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A 1998 Oldsmobile Alero coupe.

Side view of the Alpha.  Although it differs from the Alero in every detail -- especially note the front overhang -- the two designs are clearly related in spirit.  Examples include the side window shapes, the trunk area's relationship to the curve of the top, the side parts of the tail lights, and the sense of the fender line (despite the Alpha's stubbier nose).

Alero front end treatment.

Here the Alpha is much closer to the production Alero.  Details of the hood cut, the headlight assembly outline, the shapes of the three openings below the bumper strike panel, the strike panel itself -- all differ, but not greatly.

This frontal theme was already in place for Oldsmobile in the form of its Aurora sedan introduced in the spring of 1994.

In turn, the Aurora's front design evolved from a 1989 concept  called the Tube Car.

Rear 3/4 view of a 2000 Alero.

The Alpha's rear design is close to that of the production car above the bumper -- note the shapes of the tail lights and license plate zone.  Sub-bumper styling differs considerably.  For what it's worth the Alpha's gas cap is on the left side, whereas the Alero's is one the right.