The 1951 GM Le Sabre.
March 11, 2015 11:21 AM Subscribe
“From the beginning, the Le Sabre was conceived as Harley Earl’s personal automobile, and Earl held a (generally accurate) belief that if he liked something, the American public would also like it.” Sleek, airplane inspired, and innovative, the 1951 GM Le Sabre is often held to be the most influential concept car of the 20th Century.
Gallery of Photographs of the Le Sabre.
Pictures of the Clay Model
Cars influenced by the Le Sabre (rebuilds and retrofits to other car models)
Previously on Metafilter: Harvey Earl and the F-88
Gallery of Photographs of the Le Sabre.
Pictures of the Clay Model
Cars influenced by the Le Sabre (rebuilds and retrofits to other car models)
Previously on Metafilter: Harvey Earl and the F-88
Anyone know why there is an "alcohol level" gauge on the dash? You can see it pretty well in this photo. [Insert joke about social acceptability of drunk driving here.]
posted by smammy at 11:37 AM on March 11, 2015
posted by smammy at 11:37 AM on March 11, 2015
we typically like our cars legible as "faces"
Back in those days it was possible that we might like our cars to look like jets.
posted by rhizome at 11:40 AM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Back in those days it was possible that we might like our cars to look like jets.
posted by rhizome at 11:40 AM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
"The 1951 LeSabre contained such technological features as a dual gasoline and alcohol fuel system and a moisture sensor which would raise the convertible top if it began raining when the owner was away from the car." From here.
posted by Agent_X_ at 11:41 AM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Agent_X_ at 11:41 AM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
The engine had 2 carbs, one for gasoline and one for methanol. The fins contained 2 fuel bladders, one for gasoline and one for methanol. The "Alcohol Level" gauge monitored the methanol.
posted by Floydd at 11:41 AM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Floydd at 11:41 AM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Man, that car looks way cooler than our 2000 Buick LeSabre. (Legacy car from grandparents.)
posted by kmz at 11:47 AM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by kmz at 11:47 AM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
364 cu in (6.0 L) 250 hp (190 kW) V8
Ohhhh yeah.
I drive by Buick City a lot. With the reduction in tax incentives for movies, there goes the pitch for the worlds largest zombie drive-in.
What a sweet ride that was. Thanks for posting this.
posted by clavdivs at 11:55 AM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ohhhh yeah.
I drive by Buick City a lot. With the reduction in tax incentives for movies, there goes the pitch for the worlds largest zombie drive-in.
What a sweet ride that was. Thanks for posting this.
posted by clavdivs at 11:55 AM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Back in those days it was possible that we might like our cars to look like jets.
No, I get what inspired the design, I just don't think it really works. And by and large the cars they show that were "inspired" by the design of the LeSabre's front end were not widely popular. I think people "read" planes and cars differently. The "jet age" thing for cars works well in terms of fins and phony "afterburners" and so forth, but it just doesn't work as a single, central protuberance in the middle of a largely undifferentiated front grille.
Who knows--had it been brought into production perhaps it would have been a wild success and changed everyone's idea of how a car "should" look. But I'm guessing that it would always have read as a little malformed from that perspective to most people.
posted by yoink at 12:06 PM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
No, I get what inspired the design, I just don't think it really works. And by and large the cars they show that were "inspired" by the design of the LeSabre's front end were not widely popular. I think people "read" planes and cars differently. The "jet age" thing for cars works well in terms of fins and phony "afterburners" and so forth, but it just doesn't work as a single, central protuberance in the middle of a largely undifferentiated front grille.
Who knows--had it been brought into production perhaps it would have been a wild success and changed everyone's idea of how a car "should" look. But I'm guessing that it would always have read as a little malformed from that perspective to most people.
posted by yoink at 12:06 PM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
LE NOSTRIL
posted by The Tensor at 12:18 PM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The Tensor at 12:18 PM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
See also his earlier car, the Buick Y-job (linked in the first article). I have to disagree with those who don't like his stylistic sensibilities, but to each his own. He sure didn't like visible headlamps, though. And no discussion involving cars inspired by jets is complete without mention of his Firebird.
posted by TedW at 12:31 PM on March 11, 2015
posted by TedW at 12:31 PM on March 11, 2015
The Hemmings article mentions the fins as something that followed the prototype, but they were already on cars with the 1948 Cadillac Series 61 coupe fastback.
posted by inthe80s at 12:51 PM on March 11, 2015
posted by inthe80s at 12:51 PM on March 11, 2015
I proudly drove a 1960 Buick LeSabre (with Dyna-Flow!) in college in the late 70s-early 80s. Even then it was groovy and most appreciated. And a POWER WAGON HOLY HELL! That thing would go 130 mph without raising an eyebrow.
posted by janey47 at 12:52 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by janey47 at 12:52 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
This was just the return of 12 V in mainstream cars: the original Dodge has a 12 V system.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 1:01 PM on March 11, 2015
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 1:01 PM on March 11, 2015
The "faces" thing didn't hinder sales of the long run of Corvettes beginning with this one. Then there's this Buick. A Dodge. A Pontiac. A Mercury.
The LeSabre is ugly, but it's not because of a lack of human-analog features. It's because it's a bulbous, heavy-looking thing with lots of superfluous prominences and cavities..
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:04 PM on March 11, 2015
The LeSabre is ugly, but it's not because of a lack of human-analog features. It's because it's a bulbous, heavy-looking thing with lots of superfluous prominences and cavities..
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:04 PM on March 11, 2015
My favorite car was the early '80s Le Sabre I drove in high school. Terrible two-tone paint job, but it had a 307 V8 in it. I had a Thespian society sticker on the windshield, and the placard for the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, which I lifted from the model UN, stuck behind it on the dash. The combination of car, sticker, and placard got me waved through a checkpoint at one point.
It didn't look anywhere near as cool as the '51 model though.
posted by ob1quixote at 1:08 PM on March 11, 2015
It didn't look anywhere near as cool as the '51 model though.
posted by ob1quixote at 1:08 PM on March 11, 2015
Such a beauty. I have no love for the designs almost all the reasonably affordable, non-concept model, everyday use car designs of the last 30 years. Even the re-imagined Doge Challenger, while a respectable attempt, feels over-stuffed and bulbous like a steroid-filled bodybuilder, and makes the old '71 Challenger and Chargers seem like a lean, tight, prize-fighter in comparison.
When will be able to just order from a selection of stock electric engine/chassis sets from dealerships, and then be able to choose 3-D printed versions of classic car bodies that are made of lightweight material that can meet the required safety standards? Start with ones that might be easier to make in a modular fashion, like old 40's Packards, or mid 50's Chevy's, or even 60's - 70's Buicks, for example*.
It's a pipe dream, I know. Almost everyone else in the world for decades seems perfectly fine with the current designs, and even excited enough to argue about, what seem to me to be almost identical soulless, lozenge-shaped rounded boxes.
* Apologies for the bitter tone. I'm just about to put down my beloved 1979 Buick Riviera - S-type, 350V8, FWD, Autoleveling Suspension, 5 Cigar Lighters - one for every passenger, a trunk large enough to make even the busiest mob hit man do his job in just one trip, and a ride as smooth and cool as Billy Dee Williams cruising down the Sunset Strip, riding atop a giant panther the size of a minivan. Almost 20 years now I've had it, and have to take it to the junkyar -- no, let's just say it's "going away to live on a farm." It was stored a while back when it had some issues, and now it has sat too long, and I will always regret that. I just look around at the cars of today and sigh.
posted by chambers at 1:27 PM on March 11, 2015 [10 favorites]
When will be able to just order from a selection of stock electric engine/chassis sets from dealerships, and then be able to choose 3-D printed versions of classic car bodies that are made of lightweight material that can meet the required safety standards? Start with ones that might be easier to make in a modular fashion, like old 40's Packards, or mid 50's Chevy's, or even 60's - 70's Buicks, for example*.
It's a pipe dream, I know. Almost everyone else in the world for decades seems perfectly fine with the current designs, and even excited enough to argue about, what seem to me to be almost identical soulless, lozenge-shaped rounded boxes.
* Apologies for the bitter tone. I'm just about to put down my beloved 1979 Buick Riviera - S-type, 350V8, FWD, Autoleveling Suspension, 5 Cigar Lighters - one for every passenger, a trunk large enough to make even the busiest mob hit man do his job in just one trip, and a ride as smooth and cool as Billy Dee Williams cruising down the Sunset Strip, riding atop a giant panther the size of a minivan. Almost 20 years now I've had it, and have to take it to the junkyar -- no, let's just say it's "going away to live on a farm." It was stored a while back when it had some issues, and now it has sat too long, and I will always regret that. I just look around at the cars of today and sigh.
posted by chambers at 1:27 PM on March 11, 2015 [10 favorites]
Kirth Gerson: Not sure your photos are counter-examples to the face theory: the "eyes" are only hidden in those photos (retractable headlights). With the lights on, the faces reappear!
It may be ugly as hell to us now (and it is to me), but I'd think that the weird schnozz and tail cavity were direct references to the in-line air intake and exhaust of contemporary fighter aircraft, including the F-86 Sabre. We're supposed to imagine the jet engine running along the car's length.
TedW: That Y-Job is one gorgeous hunk of car.
posted by mondo dentro at 1:29 PM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
It may be ugly as hell to us now (and it is to me), but I'd think that the weird schnozz and tail cavity were direct references to the in-line air intake and exhaust of contemporary fighter aircraft, including the F-86 Sabre. We're supposed to imagine the jet engine running along the car's length.
TedW: That Y-Job is one gorgeous hunk of car.
posted by mondo dentro at 1:29 PM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
chambers,
You've got my complete (and honest) sympathy.
posted by sardonyx at 1:31 PM on March 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
You've got my complete (and honest) sympathy.
posted by sardonyx at 1:31 PM on March 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
I, for one, enjoy the "glowing anus" feature of that faceless car.
posted by Floydd at 1:39 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Floydd at 1:39 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
My vote for most influential concept car would probably go to the 1964 Pontiac Banshee, created by John DeLorean to be a Mustang Killer. The car it would have killed would have been the Corvette, so GM quickly axed the project. However, it influenced Pontiac and Corvette design for many years - and also the Opel GT. Only two were created: a coupe and a convertible. http://goo.gl/jFPekV.
posted by spock at 1:43 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by spock at 1:43 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
The Banshee looks like a bad copy of a Jaguar E-Type to me.
I applaud the Le Sabre for having what looks like a large clitoris on the front, taking thing's a step further than the Ford Edsel's famous decorative vagina.
posted by w0mbat at 2:03 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
I applaud the Le Sabre for having what looks like a large clitoris on the front, taking thing's a step further than the Ford Edsel's famous decorative vagina.
posted by w0mbat at 2:03 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
The thing that amazes me most about this car isn't so much the styling, but that everything under the skin such as the engine, transmission, and suspension were all built exclusively for this car, and built well enough that it was able to be used as Harley Earl's everyday transport for two years. That says something about the level of engineering and resources that GM had available back in the early 1950s.
posted by zombiedance at 2:05 PM on March 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by zombiedance at 2:05 PM on March 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
That says something about the level of engineering and resources that GM had available back in the early 1950s.
Not to mention craftsmanship. Try doing something like that now with a Walmartized work force.
posted by mondo dentro at 2:11 PM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Not to mention craftsmanship. Try doing something like that now with a Walmartized work force.
posted by mondo dentro at 2:11 PM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
TedW: See also his earlier car, the Buick Y-job (linked in the first article).Oh my god - that is EXACTLY the car the Wolf drives in the Tex Avery cartoon when he tries to pick up Red Hot Riding Hood (the hot babe in the red dress). Only pic I could find.
posted by IAmBroom at 2:16 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Even the re-imagined Doge Challenger …
Wow. Such car. So muscle.
posted by nathan_teske at 2:23 PM on March 11, 2015 [10 favorites]
Wow. Such car. So muscle.
posted by nathan_teske at 2:23 PM on March 11, 2015 [10 favorites]
yoink: "I dunno. I think it's gorgeous from the sides and back, but that cyclopean front (which just looks comically crosseyed when the headlights are turned on) seems to be making a fundamental error: we typically like our cars legible as "faces" with the headlights as "eyes" either side of a grill as either "mouth" or "nose." I'm not sure that design would have really sold all that well if it had gone into production."
Couldn't agree more. Whatever era, the front of that car is not good looking. The other views are terrific.
posted by 724A at 2:26 PM on March 11, 2015
Couldn't agree more. Whatever era, the front of that car is not good looking. The other views are terrific.
posted by 724A at 2:26 PM on March 11, 2015
Doge Challenger
wow such car
very drive
many fast
I'm sorry, I've been on the Internet too long. I'll see myself out. much regret wow
posted by Fleebnork at 3:20 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
wow such car
very drive
many fast
I'm sorry, I've been on the Internet too long. I'll see myself out. much regret wow
posted by Fleebnork at 3:20 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
364 cu in (6.0 L) 250 hp (190 kW) V8
That gives a hint of how much engine technology has moved on. The only six liter engines these days that I can think of are used in heavy duty pickups or in sports cars; even the pickups (which are designed for torque over horsepower) are going to make 360 or so horsepower, and in sports cars get more like 450 hp. In both cases they probably get several times the fuel economy of the old car, too.
That said, it's a pretty car and I can see how it was influential later.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:33 PM on March 11, 2015
That gives a hint of how much engine technology has moved on. The only six liter engines these days that I can think of are used in heavy duty pickups or in sports cars; even the pickups (which are designed for torque over horsepower) are going to make 360 or so horsepower, and in sports cars get more like 450 hp. In both cases they probably get several times the fuel economy of the old car, too.
That said, it's a pretty car and I can see how it was influential later.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:33 PM on March 11, 2015
The current Dodge Challenger is basically a cut-down version of the Charger/300, like the current Camaro is a cut-down Holden.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 7:05 PM on March 11, 2015
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 7:05 PM on March 11, 2015
The times they have been changing:
I don't want no damned jet pickle
I just want to fly my hover-cycle
posted by mule98J at 11:46 AM on March 12, 2015
I don't want no damned jet pickle
I just want to fly my hover-cycle
posted by mule98J at 11:46 AM on March 12, 2015
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posted by yoink at 11:32 AM on March 11, 2015 [1 favorite]