You have the chance of a lifetime to experience a fleet of classic GM concept cars at the Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance on Saturday August 16, 2008. Nearly all were featured in one of eight GM Motorama shows between 1949 and 1961, which showcased a stunning array of mouth-watering automobiles to feed America's post-war appetite for mobility.
The 1953 GM Motorama marked the first time that show cars were presented to the public, including the futuristic fiberglass Chevrolet Corvette. Amazingly, GM ordered the destruction of many of these pre-production vehicles after their exhibition. A company executive was required to witness them getting cut and crushed, although I suspect they were none to excited at the thought of demolishing these gems.
Several were eventually discovered in a Detroit junkyard by auto enthusiast Joe Bortz, who restored them to their former glory. The Bortz collection will be exhibited alongside nearly a dozen dream cars preserved by GM.
All that's needed to bring some of them up to date is a touch of carbon fiber trim, an iPod dock and an eco-friendly engine that runs on hominy grits.



The few times I used a Mister Microphone, I remember it being a bit flaky. Legally speaking these kinds of devices had to be really short range (can you imagine if your drunk uncle had the power to be on every radio in the neighborhood?), and finding the exact frequency on your FM receiver could be pretty fiddly.

Frank Sinatra endorsed it, and G series models appeared in films such as The Graduate with Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman and A Fine Madness with Sean Connery. Hugh Hefner bought a unit for the Playboy Mansion and jazz legend Oscar Peterson claimed that his music sounded as good on a Project G as it did live."
