Jet-Age Dream Car: 1951 Buick LeSabre Concept Car

The LeSabre in all its glory. Photo (C) conceptcarz.com

In the early 1950s, Buick was known for its staid but solid family cars, but broke new ground with Harley Earl's all-new LeSabre Motorama show car in 1951. With a dual gasoline/methanol fuel system, extensive use of aluminum and magnesium, a 12-volt electrical system, rain-activated convertible top and compound-curved glass, not to mention its jet plane-like styling, it was like nothing ever seen before or since.

Earl used the car as a daily driver much like he did with the prewar Y-Job concept, and it was an icon and benchmark for General Motors' styling well into the 1950s. The car still exists and is in GM's permanent collection, and Hot Wheels cast an excellent small-scale replica in its collector-grade "Boulevard" range some years ago.

Tail end of LeSabre. Photo (c) conceptcarz.com

 The LeSabre also influenced German coachbuilder-turned-customizer Spohn of Ravensburg, and their "box of toys" included a LeSabre-style tail. Most of their customs were on American cars owned by GIs stationed in Germany, but other cars, including this priceless 1949 BMW-Veritas cabriolet weren't immune to the LeSabre tail treatment.

Seen above is the Hot Wheels diecast model with detail added by the author, from the author's collection.

Beautiful Goodbye: 1989 Isuzu 4200R Concept

(c) sportscarsofthe1980s.wordpress.com

In the late 1980s, Isuzu Motors was selling cars in decent numbers worldwide, but had mainly front-wheel-drive sedans and hatchbacks along with perhaps its best-known product, the Giugiaro-designed Piazza (badged as Impulse in North America), and worked closely with British sports car maker/engineering firm Lotus. It was also making some very nice concept cars in the COA series (to be written up another time), but in 1989, Isuzu broke the mold with the 4200R.

The Isuzu 4200R was styled by Lotus employees working with Isuzu Europe Chief Designer Shiro Nakamura, was a sleekly styled 4-passenger grand tourer with discreet rear doors and a Lotus-engineered 4.2-liter 32-valve DOHC V8 mounted midship, Lotus-engineered active suspension, an LCD screen in the dashboard, extensive use of plastics and aluminum in its construction, and appeared to be a production-ready design.

However, Isuzu's parent company, General Motors, disapproved of the 4200R's technology and its very real threats to Corvette sales and Cadillac engineering, and just a few years after the all-new third-generation Gemini, second-generation Piazza and Yanase Ltd. exclusive PA Nero luxury coupe/wagon duo debuted with styling clearly derived from the 4200R, Isuzu car production was stopped (citing "aging designs and decreasing sales"), and Isuzu made do with badge-engineered Hondas for the Japanese domestic market and several other Asian markets until 2002. 

The 4200R was broken up and destroyed shortly after Isuzu car production ended, but in 2010, Shiro Nakamura worked with game designer Kazunori Yamaguchi of Polyphony Digital to recreate the 4200R for the video game Gran Turismo 5. 

Isuzu 4200R as seen in Gran Turismo 5. Picture (c) gran-turismo.com

This pic and all following pics (c) Isuzu and carstyling.ru

Found on Craigslist: 1989 Volvo 780 Bertone

A lot of manufacturer tuner and show cars don't survive long past the show circuit. Many aren't street legal or don't have whatever is needed to register them, so they're scrapped as soon as the last photographs are taken and the convention hall lights go out for the final time. And then there are cars like this 1989 Volvo 780 Bertone, a customized coupe which was displayed in the Volvo booth at the 1990 Detroit International Auto Show. The body's in reasonably good shape and features a bodykit and BBS wheels. By modern show car standards it's very conservative, but it's also a Volvo and 1980s Volvos are by definition conservative. This one has 118,000 miles.

Photos courtesy seller - Craigslist

The seller is asking $4500. Is it a quick brick or too much bric-a-brac? Find it here or go here if the ad expires.