Today we have a color photograph of the GM concept car we looked at back in August. The three-wheeled car was on display at the 1964 New York World's Fair and had a shopping cart which was detached directly from the rear of the car.
The color version of this photo is featured in the excellent book Exit to Tomorrow: World's Fair Architecture, Design, Fashion 1933-2005.
See also:
GM's Three-Wheeled Runabout (1966)
Automobiles of the Future (1966)
GM Car of the Future (1962)
Sports Car of Tomorrow (1966)
Transportation Exhibits at the New York World's Fair (1964)
To The Fair! (1965)
Amateur Photos of NY World's Fair (1965)
Thanks for the pic. I wouldn't mind having one of these cars now. They look pretty cool. I don't think I want to haul the shopping cart around, though.
ReplyDeleteIt looks very nice. At least the designers were trying and thinking.
ReplyDeleteThe usual result from combining functions is that each device reduces the utility of the other. And so neither works well. Classic examples are boat-cars and car-airplanes; never working well as a car or a boat or an airplane.
In this case we see a compromised shopping cart design which also reduces the utility of the car when it is in place. And the driver, presumably a housewife in those days, isn't going to like attaching and detaching and cleaning the cart.
When you removed the cart, what filled the hole in your car?
ReplyDeleteI don't think GM ever published a photo of the car's rear, so this question may remain unanswered...
It looks more like the cart is a custom-designed removable trunk liner. It probably goes completely inside the car. Note that the bottom of the cart is higher than the bottom of the car. The wheels would have folded up, sort of like a medical gurney in an ambulance.
ReplyDelete