Astra-Gnome
Astra-Gnome | ||
---|---|---|
Curb weight | under 2,000 lb (907 kg) |
The Astra-Gnome is a concept car by industrial designer Richard Arbib using a 1955 Nash Metropolitan chassis. Described as a "Time and Space Car",[3] it features themes influenced by the space travel forms that were popular during the 1950s.[4] The vehicle represented Arbib's vision of what an automobile would look like in the year 2000.[5]
Design
American Motors Corporation commissioned Richard Arbib, a leading industrial designer of the 1950s, to develop a futuristic concept car.[1] Built in four months, the Astra-Gnome represented the work of product stylists to create "new and exciting shapes, textures and colors in a functional car."[2] Arbib had the wheels and tires hidden behind full fender skirts to achieve "a floating special quality" and to suggest a spacecraft or hovercraft.[1] The objective was to build excitement "about the cool stuff the 21st century was going to hold."[6]
The vehicle was featured on the 3 September 1956 cover of Newsweek magazine and was a highlight at the 1956 New York International Auto Show.[7] About 1,000 questionnaire cards were distributed to viewers at the auto show, with results indicating an 80% favorable response to the prototype.[4] Numerous photos were made of the car with Arbib, most often accompanied by attractive female models who explained to the media that the concept was never intended for production.[8]
Despite a 25% increase in size over the original Metropolitan body, the total weight remains under 2,000 lb (907 kg).
Among its many features is a
The concept car "disappeared into oblivion" to be recovered from New York City in 1980.[7] The car is restored and can be seen in a California museum.[11]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c "Presenting the Atra-Gnome". Mac's Motor City Garage. 8 October 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Hacker, Geoff (4 October 2011). "Richard Arbib's 1956 "Astra-Gnome: Time and Space Car" – The Future is Now". undiscoveredclassics.com. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ISBN 9780786485703.
- ^ a b c d "Car of tomorrow?". Modern Metals. 12: 48–49. 1956. Retrieved 3 June 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ Hess, Jeffrey P. (March–April 2000). "An Interview with Richard Arbib". HR Watches. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ Blackstock, Elizabeth (16 June 2018). "The Astra-Gnome Concept Is The Car Of A Utopian 21st Century". Jalopnik. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ a b Woodyard, Chris (27 June 2012). "Mystery Car 144: Explore the galaxy in the Astra Gnome". USAToday. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ISBN 9781882266166. Retrieved 3 June 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Astra-Gnome: $?". Popular Science. Vol. 169, no. 1. July 1956. p. 112. Retrieved 3 June 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Astra-Gnome time and space car". The Retro Zone. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ "Museum". The Metropolitan Pit Stop. Retrieved 3 June 2022.