The 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which took place on Aug. 26, paid tribute to post-war automotive design with this year’s special class: “American Dream Cars of the 1960s.” Car design in the US made revolutionary advances after World War Two. Space Age Cars clearly set the stage. Sleek shapes, highly influenced by jets and rockets replaced the big and bulky forms of the pre-war period. In some cases, a desire to revive European specialty marques prompted the designs. It was a period of optimism, high concepts, and big dreams.
1960 DiDia 150
Design by DiDia. Paint by George Barris. Driven by Bobby Darin.
The influence of space-age design was on full display with the 1960 DiDia 150—a gorgeous concept car with a jet-like profile, oversized fins rising high from the wheel wells, ruby-red hubcaps, and white-wall tires. Designed by Detroit clothing designer Andrew DiDia, the body evolved from hand-crafted soft aluminum. The excruciating detail work took seven years to complete. A 427 cubic-inch Ford high-performance engine powers the DiDia 150.
George Barris’s North Hollywood shop completed the DiDia’s finish. The paintwork consists of 30 coats of Swedish Pearl Essence, mixed with tiny crushed diamonds. The opulent car is more than 18 feet long. Its torsion bar operated “Skyview” roof sections, a double wraparound windshield, disappearing headlights, a Plexiglas rear window, and a side-opening trunk. Singer-songwriter Bobby Darin bought the car in 1961 and drove it to the 34th Academy Awards with his wife, actress Sandra Dee.
The Mantaray
Dean Jefferies Mantaray – The Quintessential Asymmetrical Space Age Car
Dean Jefferies’ Mantaray, a space age sports car inspired by flying fish, exemplified Pebble Beach’s special “American Dream” class. A designer, fabricator, and Hollywood stuntman, Jefferies played a key role in the SoCal hotrod team that produced the first Cobra in 1962 for Carol Shelby.
Jefferies’s car is a masterpiece of engineering and style. The chassis is a prewar Maserati Grand Prix car with a hand-built body of tubular steel. Over 86 pieces of painstakingly welded and formed sheet aluminum form the body. Jefferies created the car’s signature bubble top on a rig that blew hot air into molten Plexiglas until it bubbled to the desired size. A 289 Ford V-8 with four Weber carbs, given to Jeffries by Carol Shelby, powers the asymmetrical car. The car sits on 15-inch Halibrand magnesium wheels and Goodyear Blue Streak racing tires.
1965 Bugatti Type 101C
Virgil Exner’s Bugatti Type 101C – A Rocket That Didn’t Fly
Cross-Atlantic influences on American design were evident in other exquisite cars at Pebble Beach. Famed American auto designer Virgil Exner—considered the father of the tail fin—designed the 1965 Bugatti Type 101C. Notably, this stunning car rides on the last chassis produced by the original Bugatti company of Molsheim, France. Carrozzeria Ghia built the Bugatti Type 101C using Exner’s space age car design, largely to revive the prewar marque. It’s powered by a supercharged 200-horsepower straight 8. In 1965, the car took part in the Turin Auto Show, in an unsuccessful attempt to garner orders for the custom design.
The Reactor, built in 1965
Gene Winfield’s Reactor – Space Age Slingshot Car
Gene Winfield, the legendary car customizer, designed The Reactor—which was commissioned and built for the 15th annual Hartford Autorama in 1965. It features a fully independent self-leveling suspension from a 1956 Citroën DS. A flat six-turbocharged engine sourced from a Chevrolet Corvair provides propulsion. Initially called the “Autorama Special,” Winfield later repurchased the car, renaming it The Reactor.
The combination of the Citroën chassis and Corvair engine created the opportunity for the low hood. The self-leveling suspension allowed for the low ground clearance—as narrow as four inches. The hood, doors, roof, and headlights can be actuated by remote control. Ultimately, the Reactor became a popular Hollywood TV show car, later in life. A Space Age car icon, the Reactor appeared in episodes of Star Trek, Bewitched, Batman, and Mission: Impossible.
Other innovative 1960s American models on display the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance were: the XR-G futuristic hot rod by Tex Smith; the Farago CF 428 built for John DeLorean; the way-out 1967 Gyro-X Alex Tremulis Prototype that uses a gyroscope to keep the car upright; and the Alfa-inspired 1965 Pontiac Vivant Roadster by Herb Adams.
