Assigned with the vision of creating “an innovative car of tomorrow”…the design team at GM was led by the brilliant and notorious legend…Mr. Harley Earl.
It’s the late 1930s and the team has now manifested this imagery car…(known internally as the “Y-Job”) into existence in the form of a stunning elegant roadster. Earl drew inspiration from his favorite passion…the aircraft industry. This famous and finely sculpted 2-door roadster would soon exceed expectations in concept, composition and design.
Widely regarded as an experiment and considered a dream car…the Y-Job was created to evaluate the publics tastes and preferences. This iconic prototype car was warmly embraced by the public and the automotive world alike. The Y-Job roadster would impact and predict automobile design trends globally well into the 1950s and beyond. It is also widely regarded as the first-ever concept car.
Exquisitely displaying with seamless hand finished details, this one-off was quite a revelation to the car buying system back in 1938. With its wrap around bumpers…electric windows…flush door handles…power operated hidden head lamps, and an overall theme hinting towards aircraft…the fender design alludes to landing gear…and its rounded nose is a nod to the propeller shaft cover. The sophisticated sleek boat tail rear design completely hides the convertible top…and its overall streamlined image boasts many distinctive and innovative styling cues.
Eye catching with an aggressive stance, this two seat sports car rides on a standard Buick chassis. Chief designer Charlie Chayne had the frame stretched just two inches shy of twenty feet long…riding on coil springs. The finished car was 58 inches from the track…measuring less than 5’ at the windscreen…ranking it as one of the lowest cars ever built. Interestingly… its low slung wide body dictated that it didn’t need running boards…which were the standard of the time. Under the hood was a Buick 8-cylinder inline, 5.2 liter engine, mated to a stock 4-speed transmission capable of 141hp.
At the time…concept cars were not displayed at car shows, so Earl drove his Y-Job dream car as his personal mode of transportation for many years, and it received exceedingly high praise from every sector.
It never made it to production and is now located at the GM Headquarters and considered irreplaceable. This legendary design trend prototype…was inspired to evoke an emotional response from the viewer…while going on to inspire automotive design trends for decades.
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