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GM's Motorama: The Glamorous Show Cars of a Cultural Phenomenon
David Temple
- List Price: $40.00
- Our Price: $29.20
- You save: $10.80 (27 %)
- Used Price: $22.21
- Publisher: Motorbooks
- Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
- Avg. Customer Rating: 5 Stars
Product Details
Product Description:
In the postwar exuberance of America, General Motors launched their Motorama, an all-out extravaganza that turned the marketing of new cars and designs into a cultural event of national proportions. GM’s Motorama brings this short-lived but unforgettable tradition back to life with words and period photographs that revisit the posh venues, such as the Waldorf Astoria in 1953, where celebrities in Broadway-style shows and phalanxes of glamorous models introduced the public to “Dream Cars” destined to become legends—the GM LeSabre, Cadillac Le Mans, and the Chevrolet Corvette prototype. This book recreates the drama of the eight shows staged between 1949 and 1961, focusing on the cars designed under the leadership of the founder and head of GM Design, Harley Earl. The cars that emerged from the mind of Earl are today among the most desired of the twentieth century. Previously unknown facts about the fate of the Dream Cars—some of which seemingly disappeared—and a glimpse of GM’s recent crop of concept cars are offered in the book’s final two chapters.
- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Motorbooks
- ISBN: 0760328269
- Dimensions: 10.16 x 10.08 x 0.87 inches
- Weight: 2.51 pounds
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Customer Reviews
- GOOD GM BOOK, GREAT CONCEPT CARS BOOK
- Avg. Customer Rating: 5 Stars
- Cool Book, Beautiful pictures. Lots Of Cars I have not seen before, Some I have. Worth The Price.
- GM's Motorama
- Avg. Customer Rating: 5 Stars
- Great book, well done. It answered some questions i had.
Great job. Transaction was great.
Larry Sherrill - Hardcover GMC book
- Avg. Customer Rating: 5 Stars
- Very nice book loads of pix and info. Bought as gift. Guys who are into old GMC iron will be ingrossed for hours!
- Motorama moves me....
- Avg. Customer Rating: 4 Stars
- This book is an important, stylish look at a halcyon time in U.S. automotive history, when dreams became real and art and style were as significant as horsepower and torque. If you're an afficianado of the big cruisers Detroit cranked out in the late fifties and early sixties, this book shows you the wildest styles possible from the designers and how they were translated into what you drove into your driveway. It's a well put together compilation, and the book itself is heavy and durable. Any car collector or petroliana devotee will love it!
- An enthusiastically recommended addition
- Avg. Customer Rating: 5 Stars
- The General Motors company hit upon showcasing their new cars every year in a presentation that included automobiles from each of their various divisions (Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet, GMC), as well as experimental or 'Dream' cars created to test public reaction to new ideas in automotive engineering and design. "GM's Motorama: The Glamorous Show Cars Of A Cultural Phenomenon" by David W. Temple (a freelance automotive photojournalist specializing in vintage cars) is a profusely illustrated history of these events and those 'Dream Cars' of the 1950s. Featuring both color and black/white historical photographs, the text is informed and informative. The result is a masterpiece of automotive history and an enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library American Automobile History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.
