Latest news with #Motorama
Yahoo
06-08-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This Buick Concept Looks like a 1950s Dream Car, Showing Buick Can Still Design a Stunning Car
The Buick Electra Orbit is a concept car from GM's advanced design studio in China, and takes inspiration from GM's Motorama dream cars from the 1950s. The Electra Orbit has a streamlined shape, smooth surfacing, and active aerodynamics. Inside, there's a full-width display, ornately decorated fabrics, and crystal trim. The United States was riding high in the 1950s. A booming postwar economy saw the automobile become firmly entrenched in American culture as personal car ownership skyrocketed, especially as the initial veins of the national Interstate Highway System began to stretch across the country. Capitalizing on this automotive fervor, General Motors created a series of daring dream cars for its Motorama exhibits to excite the public about the future of personal transportation. The Buick Electra Orbit looks like it would fit right in with those Motorama concepts, except for the fact that this sleek sedan was designed in 2025 by GM's advanced design studio in Shanghai, China. GM's China division readily admits its space-age inspiration, stating that the concept is "a design exploration that marries the romance of the 1950s with futuristic technology and pure-electric architecture." While the Electra Orbit seems to exist only virtually in these artistic renders, it serves as a beacon for what Buicks could look like in the next few decades. GM says the concept is around 19 feet long and roughly 6.5 feet wide, giving it dramatic proportions befitting a flagship sedan. The front end dips down low, while the bodywork wears a streamlined silhouette. The headlights consist of six hockey-stick-shaped LEDs, sitting on either side of an illuminated Buick logo that is displayed on a central spine running up the hood of the car. The fastback roofline gradually slopes downward, ducking under a winglike protrusion that houses the simple taillights. The Electra Orbit rides on massive 24-inch wheels with an old-school dish design, filling the bulging wheel arches. The concept also features active aerodynamics, as shown off in an Instagram video from GM Design. Two discreet panels on the hood duck down to send cool air to the front brakes, while the rear wing element lifts up and splits into two pieces. The front splitter, side skirts, and rear bumper also descend down and forward to form a more efficient aerodynamic profile at speed. Scissor doors swing upward to reveal a spacious cabin, the extra room afforded by the electric powertrain. A digital display sweeps across the length of the dashboard, and the wheel and instrument panel reconfigure depending on whether the owner is actively driving or leaving it up to the autonomous driving system. A holographic projection atop the dashboard, which looks like a planet with orbiting moons, represents the "intelligent AI assistant." The only physical control is a crystal ball that sits embedded in the center console and apparently "offers intuitive physical command of vehicle functions." The cabin is decked out with a mix of fabrics, with a grayish color juxtaposed with a red clay-inspired hue. This is complemented by an ornate brocade pattern and crystal trim accents. The center spine continues inside with an illuminated edge, dipping down from the dashboard and under the center console before reappearing atop the center console and rising between the rear seats in a C shape to meet the concept's roof. The Electra Orbit is obviously a flight of fancy and doesn't preview any production-ready Buicks coming in the near future. Instead, it appears that GM is letting its designers exercise their skills and imagination as they toy with what the automobile could become over the rest of this century. This is just the latest in a line of 2025 concepts from GM's advanced design studios, following the U.K. Corvette and California Corvette concepts, and it's got us dreaming of a world where the Electra Orbit rubs shoulders with those dramatic future Vettes. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The 1956 General Motors Firebird II Had An Engine That Reached 35,000 RPM
If you're in the market for a high-revving engine, certain exotics like the Porsche 918 Spyder, Ferrari LaFerrari, and roaring Lexus LFA all have redlines of at least 9,000 rpm. To that, General Motors says, "Hold my beer." Back in 1956, the automaker unveiled its borderline-science fiction Firebird II concept car at its Motorama show in New York City. Under the metaphorical hood was a gas turbine — pretty much a jet engine — that operated at an unfathomable 35,000 rpm. The honor of the first gas-turbine-powered passenger car ever goes to General Motors' 1954 XP-21 Firebird 1. However, the Firebird II improved greatly on its predecessor, which was hot, noisy, and only had one seat (for the driver). The Firebird II was much more practical, with seating for four and considerable insulation from the sound and the fury of its unique propulsion system, dubbed the "Whirlfire GT-304." The GT-304 idled at an already-bonkers 15,000 rpm and reached its full power potential at that screaming 35,000 rpm. As impressive as that sounds, the Firebird II only made about 200 horsepower. But GM said that the turbine engine could run on just about any highly flammable liquid, including gasoline or kerosene. Read more: This Is Every Car Brand Killed By GM The Firebird II wasn't just a one-trick pony, either. It featured a myriad of other technological advancements besides its road-going jet engine. First and foremost, the body was made from titanium. Said to be lightweight, strong, and corrosion-resistant, the titanium coachwork was left in its bare-metal state, then brushed to a lustrous satin finish. Building car bodies from titanium may not have caught on with automakers, but the Firebird II had several other prescient features that are now commonplace. That includes an electronically actuated gear shifter, four-wheel independent suspension, and individual climate controls for driver and passenger. Even more indicative of the 21st century, the Firebird II was intended to have two display screens in lieu of a conventional dashboard, a rearview camera, and a self-driving feature for highway cruising. It's worth mentioning that none of those high-tech features actually worked on the show car. At best, they were underdeveloped concepts or for display purposes only. General Motors wasn't alone in experimenting with turbine-powered vehicles. Throughout the following decades, Chrysler and Ford also developed futuristic looking turbine cars befitting the Space Age, and Toyota built a gas turbine sports car in the '70s. Ultimately, the turbine engine was deemed unsuitable for passenger cars for several reasons, such as poor fuel economy and high cost. As for the Pontiac Firebird nameplate, well, you probably know that story already. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Free Drink-In: ‘train wreck' double-feature
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Shreveport's oldest bar, Bears, presents their 'drink-in' double-feature that spotlights two 'eyebrow raising cinematic train wrecks.' 'Pull up a bar stool, grab an adult beverage, and watch with wild wonder some of the most baffling and entertaining b-movies ever made,' says host Benjamin Shaffer Tynan, also known as 'IThinkMyNameIsBen.' On Monday, March 24, Bears presents: The 2000 Canadian comedy-drama thriller Ryan's Babe, about a young man who embarks on a road trip hoping to solve his life's problems, and The 1991 American black comedy road movie 'Motorama' about 'a boy who runs away from his abusive parents, steals a Mustang and pursues a promotional card game sold at gas stations.' 'I picked these two for their common road trip themes. They also are completely insane stories that have almost no cohesion,' Tynan says, 'I picked movies that make you go, 'Wait, what?' The double-feature is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. and there is no cover charge. If you are feeling peckish, Bears recently announced a new appetizer, 'Blistered Shishito Peppers Served with Umami Aioli' for $8.99. The bar is located at 1401 Fairfield Ave, Shreveport. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
