GM Motorama concepts resurrected for Pebble Beach Concours

GM's Motorama of 1955 was a traveling showcase of what the General then thought were the "Cars of the Future." Fantastic concepts were created for the cross-country show, but when the spotlights shut off at the last venue, GM ordered all the vehicles to be destroyed for safety and legal reasons. This year at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, two of these cars that should have been lost forever will be shown -- both resurrected from scraps found at the junkyard where GM dumped them years ago.

The two cars -- a LaSalle Roadster and a Biscayne -- were supposed to be thoroughly destroyed under GM supervision. Instead, both were left in mangled, but restorable, condition. The Biscayne's chassis was crushed, but the original body panels were saved by the junkyard's owner. The LaSalle Roadster escaped the crusher, but was instead cut into many pieces. Amazingly, after more than 50 years, the remaining pieces were found by Chicago collector Joe Bortz and are currently being painstakingly restored into complete automobiles.

In addition to Boritz' cars, General Motors will also be bringing a number of past concepts, while other private collectors will be bringing GM concepts they own as well. The 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance will mark the first time that the Biscayne has been seen in public since the last Motorama show in 1955, and the vehicle was widely regarded to have drawn the largest crowds during the Motorama circuit. While the Biscayne is not yet fully restored, it will offer show goers the chance to see the vehicle in the midst of its reconstruction.

Though neither the Biscayne nor LaSalle Roadster entered production, many features of the two cars were seen in later GM vehicles. Most notably, the Biscayne lends many of its styling features to the Corvair, while plenty of 1956-57 Corvette features were gleaned from the LaSalle Roadster.
GM LaSalle concept

This year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is August 17, and we'll be there to bring you all the highlights as part of our Monterey Car Week coverage from Monterey, California.
via wot.motortrend