In 1957, my parents purchased a new '57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser station wagon. My mom later told me it cost $5K. Back then, that was a lot of money for a car. It was red/white and had the 312 Y block with a 4 barrel carburetor. It made several vacation trips to Virginia Beach and Daytona. Also, it pulled our boat to the lake multiple times. It had about 400K on the odometer when my dad traded it in '65. Dad did partial overhauls in '61 and '64 on it. There were 9 kids in our family, and my mom had a lead foot, so that car took a beating, but kept on going. Loved that car.
Sounds like fond memories. I think the $5k price was misremembered though.. Cadillac was 4600, Lincoln $3900 at that time. Still, I'm sure it was loved by all your family!
I had one myself, a two-door nomad-style sweeping pillar roof line. Just like yours, it was red/white two tone with the 312 Y block and 4 bbl. carb. and a push-button automatic transmission. Nice lines but it looked like it weighed 300 tons.
sometime over the years we all get a little confused, i lived through these years as a complete car nut and owned lots of the cars we see in magazines and videos, the turnpike cruiser was only offered in 2dr and 4dr models, no wagons, a few convertibles in 57 only. the only engine offered in 57 was actually a yblock but it was 368 cu in, built for the lincoln and mercury division, the rest were the MEL engines 383 ci and 430 ci, both offered in various hp ratings. the only trans offered was a 3 spd mercomatic, in 57 it was a push button on the steering wheel, my 58 was also on the wheel but i heard later versions were regular column shift. a very rare option was a super marauder 430 ci, with three 2 barrel carbs and a distinctive exhaust system, very modern looking and pretty hot looking
@@jimmieroan9881 Actually the 383 and 430 engines came out in 1958, the pushbutton trans controls were on the dash in a pod not in the steering wheel, you're thinking Edsel on that. The 383 with its 3.3 stroke and 4.3 bore was a much higher revving engine than the 430, and would outrun all but the Super Marauder. I raced a 383 Marauder for many years back in the day! They were almost bulletproof too!
The car is now completely restored. We need more guys like Tom Maruska, real world highly skilled, who not only do this type of work, but teach others how to do it. Tom should be giving classes. I hope Tom will eventually release some videos of how he did the work on this, which involves so many levels of skill. Engine shops are practically disappearing and finding a good body shop is a crap shoot. Get the gas powered car you want NOW, before the Biden mandates kick in in 2026. Say no to mandatory breathalyzers and kill switches, already mandated for 2026.
It would have been a great addition to this video to have added the 1969 American Motors AMX3. The difference with it to these was that it was intended to be produced, although only 6 were built. Mid-engined, running 170 mph at the Turin speedway, and absolutely GORGEOUS!!!
The Corvette was not a 454 v-8 it was a 4 rotor Wankel. GM’s decision to cancel their Wankel engine project was the reason the car wasn’t produced, not the transaxle.
Imagine restoring a One of One, No Parts were ever built for it. You'll have to make them all yourself and no one else will ever need them, so no way to recoup your investment unless you sell the car.
The Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser was built for sale to the public with simplified mechanics and materials as just the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser in 1957-58.
In my day, beginning at 17 in 1976 I started P/T with Chevy in the parts department then as a service writer and finally out west selling Chevy’s in 1982 while at college. I’ve built and restored ground up over two dozen HP Chevrolet’s thru Amity Chevrolet and Motion Performance in Baldwin LI! The Areo Coupe with conventional doors is the one that had the four rotor Wankel. Just like in the photos Chevy experimented with the 454 the LT1 and the Wankel in 1973/4. The small block had the better weight distribution but Toranado drive system was an unmitigated disaster and that was the whole Real Flaw…. I still have the motor trend magazine that featured the four rotor areo coupe.
In'91 when I went to work for Starbucks I needed a car to get me around my district. I ended up getting a first production year Dodge Neon the WORST POS ever invented. In its' first 6 months it went through 5 FIVE engine wiring harnesses. OR around No, I look at the new Dodge HORNET THA5 SHOULD SELL For around. 18K and it lists! in the Mid 53's. I will never buy another Dodge POS vehicle
The Chevrolet Corvette XP-882 (though not the mid-engine layout) went to production for 1984. The rear quarter and rear windows were made into a one-piece wrapped hatchback. The tail section was revised with the customary Corvette quad round taillights. The front was reworked with the basic profile of the 1980-82 Corvettes. This resulting shape identified the "C4" generation. Production actually started in 1983 in March. So there are 1983 Corvettes but only by date of manufacture and all examples built during 1983 were advertised as 1984 models.
When the concept of a 2-seat sports car led to a competition between GM divisions, Buick built the Wildcat. It was really even cooler than the Chevrolet version which ended up being chosen. I uncovered the prototype one day under a tarp in the basement of the Alfred P. Sloan museum in Flint, Michigan in 1976. I often wonder what happened to it.
There was a collector in Chicago (I can't remember his name - Joe?) who tracked down and bought all or most of those Fifities GM Motorama dream cars, the Buick Wildcat, the Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, etc. It is nice to know at least someone is enjoying them and they are still extant.
Off topic but all those falcon gull doors reminds me of the great underrated late 80s "Starquests" the Starion/Conquest TSi - cool widebody, staggered wheels, intercooler, adjustable shocks all stock - they actually made a few gullwing versions of that car that look wicked. 👀
Another prototype never produced: the success of the 1964 mustang had ford trying to adapt the hardtop convertable idea of the fairlane 500 skyliner into the new 1965 mustang. They didnt have enough room for all the motors and mechanical parts to fit it in the trunk with the top iself to make it work/make it fold at a push of a button. I saw this prototype years ago at a car show at the corvette museum in bowling green ky. It had the folding hard top roof. But you had to fold it by hand.
X-100 Was a performance version of the Mercury Marauder in 1969 & 70. The restoration looks pretty complete based on the videos of it at Mecum and the guy being interviewed.
The original X-100 started out as the "195X Lincoln", as shown above, and is still a running car today, housed in the Ford Greenfield Village Museum in Dearborn. The 1969-70 Mercury X-100 was a unique roof body style, and was not designed to be a high-performance car, although options could make it appear as one.
Some of these cars were never meant to be produced, they were just meant to showcase certain innovations that would later be put in their regular line . New features, designed to attract buyers . These so-called concepts tested these innovations, to gear them to the buying publics pocket books, that at that time were very difficult to open.
In the mid 80s I bought a Mercury Cougar RX-7 TURBO. THE. ACCELERATION WHEN THE TUFBO KICKED IN LITERALLY DNPPED YOUR NECK. I ALSO owned a white T oyoita Celica GT AND A 84 BROWN CELIXCA GT TURBO. LOVED THOSE CARS
@jayfeder8217 Hello sir, I see you liked Toyotas ,very nice ,I owned a 1971 Corola coupe, 4 speed ,small compact and wien I wound it up I might get 60 mph., but my favorite car was a 1958 Pontiac Chieften, now here was a car . It had a 327 v8 with 2 ,four barrel carbs, that baby would move. I was glad gas cost only 27.9 cents a gallon, because that car got 5 miles per gallon, of course the gas tank held 25 gallons, this was in 1965 ,OH well I digress, nice chatting with you. Good luck and may GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS.
Without the video, there would be people on this channel claiming that the images were just AI. I get so angry when people claim that pictures of concept cars from this era are all fake.
When I was a kid my family had a 1959 Mercury Monterey 4-door sedan. I noticed that the 59 Mercury's had a lot of the same styling cues as the XM turnpike cruiser. Look at the tail lights and codes that run up the sides behind the tail lights.
1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Sedan. Never thought they existed until I came across a photo on the internet, apparently only 4 of them were made. And had the same base price as the Seville Coupe and Biarritz convertible- $7,286. Note: this was before I watched the video.
The Mercury turnpike cruiser like the Ford futura could have been converted over to a batmobile also I'm glad they chose the Ford futura I think I speak for everybody on that one. But that's not to say that the turnpike cruiser would not have made a excellent superhero / villain transporter. Which superhero or super villain would you have chosen for the turnpike cruiser?😊
You're GLAD George Barris destroyed the Futura for the batmobile? You are in a very tiny microscopic minority! If you like all that hyped-up, river-bottom trash, why are you reading about the truly great cars? By the way, it's a LINCOLN Futura, not a Ford Futura.
@@TheGreatZantello Why don't you buy an expensive famous painting, and then goober it up with felt pens and crayons. Maybe put bushy eyebrows and a mustache on the Mona Lisa. That would fit your style, since you have little respect for integrity.
Sorry, but you are mistaken. The X-100 (aka 195X Lincoln) fostered the 1956 Lincoln and 1961-1963 Thunderbirds. The '55 Thunderbird has no connection to the 1953 X-100.
I have a 1963 Buick Electra sports coupe finding parts for rare cars like mine is hard as hell..but worth it for whoever I’m holding the car for..the cars until the late 70’s were works of art and it’s ashame we lose so many of them to the crusher every year.
How much you want to bet that John DeLorean in that particular time frame purposely scrubbed the areo vette to make way for a new design car that he had come up that borrowed these particular chassis component design. Things that kind of Make You go hmmm.........😮
You people must think we're really stupid right? Not impressed with your picture of the small block Chevy in the XP882 Corvette. I thought it had a 454 and it not a small block Chevy!?
A robust enough metalica additive manufacturing could indeed bring this back to life. Sans the windows. That curved glass would not be an easy task. And EV's can kiss my S. They pollute far to much extracting the metreals out of the ground for the batteries taking in excess of 8 X the materials in copper and nickle compared to ICE then the charging. Its never green our grid is primarily coal and gas, if your lucky nuclear. ;) THEN you only have so many charges to that battery before its toast. Older EVs are boat anchors. LASTLY, no one has figured out to completely recycle the batteries. They are toxic at end of life having no way of being broken down as of yet. So tell me how is that green and or good? VS this thing which is still on the road. Id say that's green.
Isn't it strange that the XP882 looks oddly like the 1982,De Lorean and it was De Lorean project manager of the XP 882 who cancelled Duntov's dream of a mid-engine Corvette, I just find the circumstances of this a little more than coincidence 🤔🙀
Basically what i think is really significant about this report is where he made that statement about the future and excitement. How style does that. That right there is what improves our export ratios. Which is the core of economic might in a country. And this video is the epitomy of everything thats wrong with g m today. The kack of style. Cheesing wverything raising prices screwing customers for the wallet of the c eo.
i would like to see someone post pictures of the 1963 split window corvette 4 passenger prototype. i found and copied and saved the article years ago, the car was actually built because the big wheels in the office part of management wanted it, but the real artists knew it wouldn't never pass muster, just a few inches longer and a slight bubble in the top a little like the 2+2 jag xke coupe.
5:58 "( the Corvette XP-882's ) most eye catching feature was the massive 454 cubic inch V-8 engine mounted sideways" Not those DeLorean style gullwing doors?? 8:29 "John DeLorean, who was Chevrolet's general manager at the time made the final call to cancel the project" If this car had been able to be produced, we might have never seen the DMC-12! And Back to the Future would have been quite different!
The XP82 should’ve been marketed by Cadillac or one of the B.O.P divisions as an upmarket more expensive alternative to the Corvette. After all that was the whole point for those divisions.
For those that the the XP882 was "lost" or destroyed... um... destroying prototypes was common, losing it? Seriously. Hey, anyone seen that stunning Mid-engine Corvette? I know it was around here somewhere.
Some nice looking..auto...but too much ..way did not any one..start thinks smarter..cut down..rember 1965 mastane...just me..when we all could work on all our cars....with out china clips ..my thoughts with history
There is little doubt that a mid-engine design is pretty much essential if you want to be competitive at Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona 24 Hour, etc. Its value on the street is questionable and it makes people with more money than brains think they are as competent as Mario Andretti behind the wheel, thus endangering the populace. Corvettes were beautiful cars right on up until 1984 when the bland C-4 came out looking like a dozen other cars that frequented the roads in America. Datsun Z cars Mazda RX 7, and a host of lesser pretenders shared its overall look. The emasculation of Corvette in the late Seventies contributed to this general decline. But even the C-4 wasn't ugly. It just wasn't Corvette beautiful. The C-5, C-6, and C-7 designs put Corvette back to looking great and performing great, as well. My personal favorite Corvette, and one that I still lust after, is the 1970 which replaced the 1968 and 1969 shark gills with a very attractive egg-grate design. It still retained the small chrome bumpers and was a gorgeous half-priced knockoff of the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO. It was available with a monster V8 which caused Enzo Ferrari to suffer involuntary glandular retraction. Because his goal was to dominate world racing Enzo Ferrari began the switch to mid-engine designs despite the damage done to the physical appearance of the cars. Mid-engine race cars were better on road courses. There have been interesting developments in recent years. Ferrari came out with the beautiful front engine, rear drive 812 GTS which bears more than a little resemblance to the C-5 Corvette; and Corvette came out with the C-8, which bears more than a little resemblance to every damned Ferrari built in the Eighties and Nineties and is best described as a dream car if your dream was the result of a midnight pizza orgy, a bad acid trip and a total disregard for aesthetics. The ultimate inspiration for the physical appearance may well have been the pizza box which people kept stepping on all night in the aforementioned pizza bacchanal. Automotive design taste is certainly a personal matter. Mercury in the late Fifties was my dad's choice, while GM was selling a lot more cars, in spite of the fact that they were not as attractive (in my opinion) as the Ford offerings (the 1957 and 1958 Fords notwithstanding), or even Chrysler's beautiful, albeit awful cars. However my heart sinks every time I see a mid-engine Corvette. No more front engine, rear drive. No more long hood, short deck. No more great Corvette visual impact. Just a self-destruct device for poseurs. Finally an ugly Corvette.
The Ford X100 (name taken from the then-popular Shell motor oil?) reminds me of the car Homer Simpson designed. Perhaps the weirdest part is that stretched out '56 Dodge grill. It somehow reminds me of that Dodge and, at the same time, mid-fifty's Studebaker grills. The experimental Corvette was appealing but, like nearly all innovative sports car designs, the had to include those absurd gull wing doors. I always looked at those as ridiculous crap. "Sporty"? Futuristic? I have always considered them silly and nothing more. BTW: have you ever had a hood suddenly come down on your head because those stupid gas cylinders had gotten weak? Or perhaps you had such an experience with a rear hatch. Well, think of that and tell me how "exotic" those stupid gull wing doors are. That Mercury was proof that Ford was fully capable of designing a car even uglier than Edsel. WTF was going on with that front bumper??? All you youngsters out there who thought Pontiac Aztech and Chevy Avalanche were peak automotive ugliness, feast your eyes on that Mercury monstrosity and stand corrected.
Looks like a joke . car designing was mad at that time .. only to impress but no marketing strategies at all .. Everything had to be big bold and majestic , not exactly clever . This story seems to be told by Artificial Intelligence so not very appealing either
Say what you want about the xp8 882. I’m not that much into the wankel-engine it had but if they’C8 would look more like this - and not like an angry teenager designed it - I’d be tempted to buy the first corvette after I had a C3 for some years.
In 1957, my parents purchased a new '57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser station wagon. My mom later told me it cost $5K. Back then, that was a lot of money for a car. It was red/white and had the 312 Y block with a 4 barrel carburetor. It made several vacation trips to Virginia Beach and Daytona. Also, it pulled our boat to the lake multiple times. It had about 400K on the odometer when my dad traded it in '65. Dad did partial overhauls in '61 and '64 on it. There were 9 kids in our family, and my mom had a lead foot, so that car took a beating, but kept on going. Loved that car.
Sounds like fond memories. I think the $5k price was misremembered though.. Cadillac was 4600, Lincoln $3900 at that time. Still, I'm sure it was loved by all your family!
I had one myself, a two-door nomad-style sweeping pillar roof line. Just like yours, it was red/white two tone with the 312 Y block and 4 bbl. carb. and a push-button automatic transmission. Nice lines but it looked like it weighed 300 tons.
sometime over the years we all get a little confused, i lived through these years as a complete car nut and owned lots of the cars we see in magazines and videos, the turnpike cruiser was only offered in 2dr and 4dr models, no wagons, a few convertibles in 57 only. the only engine offered in 57 was actually a yblock but it was 368 cu in, built for the lincoln and mercury division, the rest were the MEL engines 383 ci and 430 ci, both offered in various hp ratings. the only trans offered was a 3 spd mercomatic, in 57 it was a push button on the steering wheel, my 58 was also on the wheel but i heard later versions were regular column shift. a very rare option was a super marauder 430 ci, with three 2 barrel carbs and a distinctive exhaust system, very modern looking and pretty hot looking
Gotta wonder if it is still burning down the highway today, I too remember these cars 👍🏻
@@jimmieroan9881 Actually the 383 and 430 engines came out in 1958, the pushbutton trans controls were on the dash in a pod not in the steering wheel, you're thinking Edsel on that. The 383 with its 3.3 stroke and 4.3 bore was a much higher revving engine than the 430, and would outrun all but the Super Marauder. I raced a 383 Marauder for many years back in the day! They were almost bulletproof too!
The car is now completely restored. We need more guys like Tom Maruska, real world highly skilled, who not only do this type of work, but teach others how to do it. Tom should be giving classes. I hope Tom will eventually release some videos of how he did the work on this, which involves so many levels of skill. Engine shops are practically disappearing and finding a good body shop is a crap shoot. Get the gas powered car you want NOW, before the Biden mandates kick in in 2026. Say no to mandatory breathalyzers and kill switches, already mandated for 2026.
The Thunderbirds of the early 60's were real jawdroppers.
Fact!!!!!
It would have been a great addition to this video to have added the 1969 American Motors AMX3. The difference with it to these was that it was intended to be produced, although only 6 were built. Mid-engined, running 170 mph at the Turin speedway, and absolutely GORGEOUS!!!
One of my alltime favorite cars. I owned a 1968 AMX, 1968 Javelin and 1970 Javelin. Love the AMC pony cars. 😊
The Mercury has been fully restored and has been sold to a museum in Florida. Fact checked.
The Corvette was not a 454 v-8 it was a 4 rotor Wankel. GM’s decision to cancel their Wankel engine project was the reason the car wasn’t produced, not the transaxle.
True you can see the rotary engine in the graphics.
Why don't you make a video then? Big mouth got all the answers. You boomers are boring the rest of us. Be gone.
Thanks for correcting the stupidity of the internet .
(10:13) four rotor facts. Thank me later.
How did they miss that or maybe a better question would be why did they leave that out thanks for catching it
My British 1951 Ford V8 Pilot had hydraulic jacks to be able to easily change wheels/tyres.....with the styling of a 1930’s American Ford sedan.
Imagine restoring a One of One, No Parts were ever built for it. You'll have to make them all yourself and no one else will ever need them, so no way to recoup your investment unless you sell the car.
Yah! You will need some mechanics from Cuba so they can hand build parts by measuring, cutting and hammering from scratch 😱
I found this video very good, thank you
There appears to be AT LEAST 3 variants of the xP 882 Corvette in this video...
The Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser was built for sale to the public with simplified mechanics and materials as just the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser in 1957-58.
In my day, beginning at 17 in 1976 I started P/T with Chevy in the parts department then as a service writer and finally out west selling Chevy’s in 1982 while at college. I’ve built and restored ground up over two dozen HP Chevrolet’s thru Amity Chevrolet and Motion Performance in Baldwin LI! The Areo Coupe with conventional doors is the one that had the four rotor Wankel. Just like in the photos Chevy experimented with the 454 the LT1 and the Wankel in 1973/4. The small block had the better weight distribution but Toranado drive system was an unmitigated disaster and that was the whole Real Flaw…. I still have the motor trend magazine that featured the four rotor areo coupe.
In'91 when I went to work for Starbucks I needed a car to get me around my district. I ended up getting a first production year Dodge Neon the WORST POS ever invented. In its' first 6 months it went through 5 FIVE engine wiring harnesses. OR around No, I look at the new Dodge HORNET THA5 SHOULD SELL For around. 18K and it lists! in the Mid 53's.
I will never buy another Dodge POS vehicle
Wow, these are real marvels indeed, impressive indeed-wicked love them. thanks for sharing.
X100 has the hood of the 1958 Fairlane and 1956 Lincoln front fender.
It's the hood ornament that was used on the 1958 Ford, not the entire hood.
The Chevrolet Corvette XP-882 (though not the mid-engine layout) went to production for 1984. The rear quarter and rear windows were made into a one-piece wrapped hatchback. The tail section was revised with the customary Corvette quad round taillights. The front was reworked with the basic profile of the 1980-82 Corvettes. This resulting shape identified the "C4" generation. Production actually started in 1983 in March. So there are 1983 Corvettes but only by date of manufacture and all examples built during 1983 were advertised as 1984 models.
When the concept of a 2-seat sports car led to a competition between GM divisions, Buick built the Wildcat. It was really even cooler than the Chevrolet version which ended up being chosen. I uncovered the prototype one day under a tarp in the basement of the Alfred P. Sloan museum in Flint, Michigan in 1976. I often wonder what happened to it.
There was a collector in Chicago (I can't remember his name - Joe?) who tracked down and bought all or most of those Fifities GM Motorama dream cars, the Buick Wildcat, the Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, etc. It is nice to know at least someone is enjoying them and they are still extant.
@@mikeakers3453 JOE BORTZ !
@@bextar6365 THAT'S IT!!
@@bextar6365 That's it!
Off topic but all those falcon gull doors reminds me of the great underrated late 80s "Starquests" the Starion/Conquest TSi - cool widebody, staggered wheels, intercooler, adjustable shocks all stock - they actually made a few gullwing versions of that car that look wicked. 👀
It was very interesting to see where the Delorian got it's timeless shape from. Thanks for sharing.
The Edsel looked a lot like that Mercury Turnpike Cruiser...AND, that mid-engine Corvette looks as good as anything today, if not better.
Another prototype never produced: the success of the 1964 mustang had ford trying to adapt the hardtop convertable idea of the fairlane 500 skyliner into the new 1965 mustang. They didnt have enough room for all the motors and mechanical parts to fit it in the trunk with the top iself to make it work/make it fold at a push of a button. I saw this prototype years ago at a car show at the corvette museum in bowling green ky. It had the folding hard top roof. But you had to fold it by hand.
Interesting. GM's XP-887 would become the Vega, quite a difference from that XP-882 Corvette prototype
X-100 Was a performance version of the Mercury Marauder in 1969 & 70.
The restoration looks pretty complete based on the videos of it at Mecum and the guy being interviewed.
The original X-100 started out as the "195X Lincoln", as shown above, and is still a running car today, housed in the Ford Greenfield Village Museum in Dearborn. The 1969-70 Mercury X-100 was a unique roof body style, and was not designed to be a high-performance car, although options could make it appear as one.
I have a 63 Monterey breezeway, 63 chrysler imperial. 93 imperial. 87 Zimmer quicksilver aka Lincoln style fiero. All with less then 15k on odometer.
Some of these cars were never meant to be produced, they were just meant to showcase certain innovations that would later be put in their regular line . New features, designed to attract buyers . These so-called concepts tested these innovations, to gear them to the buying publics pocket books, that at that time were very difficult to open.
The drawing Na ijar was looking at in his first. Photo was of a fun T it re car called the Mustang, aka my. First car.
In the mid 80s I bought a Mercury Cougar RX-7 TURBO. THE. ACCELERATION WHEN THE TUFBO KICKED IN LITERALLY DNPPED YOUR NECK. I ALSO owned a white T oyoita Celica GT AND A 84 BROWN CELIXCA GT TURBO. LOVED THOSE CARS
@jayfeder8217 Hello sir, I see you liked Toyotas ,very nice ,I owned a 1971 Corola coupe, 4 speed ,small compact and wien I wound it up I might get 60 mph., but my favorite car was a 1958 Pontiac Chieften, now here was a car . It had a 327 v8 with 2 ,four barrel carbs, that baby would move. I was glad gas cost only 27.9 cents a gallon, because that car got 5 miles per gallon, of course the gas tank held 25 gallons, this was in 1965 ,OH well I digress, nice chatting with you. Good luck and may GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS.
Without the video, there would be people on this channel claiming that the images were just AI. I get so angry when people claim that pictures of concept cars from this era are all fake.
When I was a kid my family had a 1959 Mercury Monterey 4-door sedan. I noticed that the 59 Mercury's had a lot of the same styling cues as the XM turnpike cruiser. Look at the tail lights and codes that run up the sides behind the tail lights.
When the big three built competitive cars. Those were the good old days.
1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Sedan. Never thought they existed until I came across a photo on the internet, apparently only 4 of them were made. And had the same base price as the Seville Coupe and Biarritz convertible- $7,286. Note: this was before I watched the video.
The Mercury turnpike cruiser like the Ford futura could have been converted over to a batmobile also I'm glad they chose the Ford futura I think I speak for everybody on that one. But that's not to say that the turnpike cruiser would not have made a excellent superhero / villain transporter. Which superhero or super villain would you have chosen for the turnpike cruiser?😊
You're GLAD George Barris destroyed the Futura for the batmobile? You are in a very tiny microscopic minority! If you like all that hyped-up, river-bottom trash, why are you reading about the truly great cars?
By the way, it's a LINCOLN Futura, not a Ford Futura.
@@lancasterritzyescargotdine2602 you see that right there what I did you don't like inaccurate automotive information either .😁
@@TheGreatZantello Why don't you buy an expensive famous painting, and then goober it up with felt pens and crayons. Maybe put bushy eyebrows and a mustache on the Mona Lisa. That would fit your style, since you have little respect for integrity.
The X-100 (body shape wise) eventually went to production for 1955 as the Thunderbird.
Sorry, but you are mistaken. The X-100 (aka 195X Lincoln) fostered the 1956 Lincoln and 1961-1963 Thunderbirds. The '55 Thunderbird has no connection to the 1953 X-100.
The Corvette looks better than the Corvette today
I even like it better than the 68. I like tge Lamborghini style doors.
I have a 1963 Buick Electra sports coupe finding parts for rare cars like mine is hard as hell..but worth it for whoever I’m holding the car for..the cars until the late 70’s were works of art and it’s ashame we lose so many of them to the crusher every year.
Very interesting, but your photograph of "Jack Reith" actually shows Lord Reith, the first Director-General of the BBC.
How much you want to bet that John DeLorean in that particular time frame purposely scrubbed the areo vette to make way for a new design car that he had come up that borrowed these particular chassis component design. Things that kind of Make You go hmmm.........😮
This was great, people looking to the future, to come up with something that was exciting, now all we have is SUV with smart phone connection.
You people must think we're really stupid right? Not impressed with your picture of the small block Chevy in the XP882 Corvette. I thought it had a 454 and it not a small block Chevy!?
Love all 3 cars but i think my favorite was the 3d one i love looking at old cars
The Corvette concept, I built as a model kit & it was called the 1985 or 95 Corvette, I forget which since it was over 40 years ago. 🤔
This video could've been at least a quarter as long if the narration & footage wasn't repeated so often!
A. 3D printer and electric drive Could bring these back to life … !
A robust enough metalica additive manufacturing could indeed bring this back to life. Sans the windows. That curved glass would not be an easy task. And EV's can kiss my S. They pollute far to much extracting the metreals out of the ground for the batteries taking in excess of 8 X the materials in copper and nickle compared to ICE then the charging. Its never green our grid is primarily coal and gas, if your lucky nuclear. ;) THEN you only have so many charges to that battery before its toast. Older EVs are boat anchors. LASTLY, no one has figured out to completely recycle the batteries. They are toxic at end of life having no way of being broken down as of yet. So tell me how is that green and or good? VS this thing which is still on the road. Id say that's green.
Isn't it strange that the XP882 looks oddly like the 1982,De Lorean and it was De Lorean project manager of the XP 882 who cancelled Duntov's dream of a mid-engine Corvette, I just find the circumstances of this a little more than coincidence 🤔🙀
XP-882. Several of those graphics are obviously of a different prototype.
Really cool where the pipes are on that mercury
Basically what i think is really significant about this report is where he made that statement about the future and excitement. How style does that. That right there is what improves our export ratios. Which is the core of economic might in a country. And this video is the epitomy of everything thats wrong with g m today. The kack of style. Cheesing wverything raising prices screwing customers for the wallet of the c eo.
i would like to see someone post pictures of the 1963 split window corvette 4 passenger prototype. i found and copied and saved the article years ago, the car was actually built because the big wheels in the office part of management wanted it, but the real artists knew it wouldn't never pass muster, just a few inches longer and a slight bubble in the top a little like the 2+2 jag xke coupe.
5:58 "( the Corvette XP-882's ) most eye catching feature was the massive 454 cubic inch V-8 engine mounted sideways"
Not those DeLorean style gullwing doors??
8:29 "John DeLorean, who was Chevrolet's general manager at the time made the final call to cancel the project"
If this car had been able to be produced, we might have never seen the DMC-12!
And Back to the Future would have been quite different!
The front fender of the X100 also looks like a 1955-57 Thunderbird.
Ive seen that Mercury twice this year.... 2 different places in Florida for 2 different events. (auction and concours car show)
A version of the X100's hood ornament is found on the hood of the 1958 Ford Galaxie 500.
The Ford X100....the gargoyle of concept cars.
Remember..when we drove for safely..now speed....I did like how well the paint. Should better..brung bacj a lack 4.oand 6 again.
The XP82 should’ve been marketed by Cadillac or one of the B.O.P divisions as an upmarket more expensive alternative to the Corvette. After all that was the whole point for those divisions.
For those that the the XP882 was "lost" or destroyed... um... destroying prototypes was common, losing it? Seriously. Hey, anyone seen that stunning Mid-engine Corvette? I know it was around here somewhere.
Duntov was NOT the father of the Corvette. It existed before he went to work for GM.
That ford x100 you can see Lincoln from late 50’s and thunderbird from the early 60’s
Video goes on, and On, AND ON! About the corvette, its half the video!
I personally think the X100 was a better looking car than the Thunderbird it inspired. i never did like those particular Birds.
Some nice looking..auto...but too much ..way did not any one..start thinks smarter..cut down..rember 1965 mastane...just me..when we all could work on all our cars....with out china clips ..my thoughts with history
We now have production model Vettes that are mid engine...bout time
.The Mid-Engine Corvete had a small block in it..
Is that Letterman?
I would like to see them today those car designers today with their designs to day weore a head of their Time
There is little doubt that a mid-engine design is pretty much essential if you want to be competitive at Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona 24 Hour, etc. Its value on the street is questionable and it makes people with more money than brains think they are as competent as Mario Andretti behind the wheel, thus endangering the populace.
Corvettes were beautiful cars right on up until 1984 when the bland C-4 came out looking like a dozen other cars that frequented the roads in America. Datsun Z cars Mazda RX 7, and a host of lesser pretenders shared its overall look. The emasculation of Corvette in the late Seventies contributed to this general decline. But even the C-4 wasn't ugly. It just wasn't Corvette beautiful. The C-5, C-6, and C-7 designs put Corvette back to looking great and performing great, as well.
My personal favorite Corvette, and one that I still lust after, is the 1970 which replaced the 1968 and 1969 shark gills with a very attractive egg-grate design. It still retained the small chrome bumpers and was a gorgeous half-priced knockoff of the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO. It was available with a monster V8 which caused Enzo Ferrari to suffer involuntary glandular retraction. Because his goal was to dominate world racing Enzo Ferrari began the switch to mid-engine designs despite the damage done to the physical appearance of the cars. Mid-engine race cars were better on road courses.
There have been interesting developments in recent years. Ferrari came out with the beautiful front engine, rear drive 812 GTS which bears more than a little resemblance to the C-5 Corvette; and Corvette came out with the C-8, which bears more than a little resemblance to every damned Ferrari built in the Eighties and Nineties and is best described as a dream car if your dream was the result of a midnight pizza orgy, a bad acid trip and a total disregard for aesthetics. The ultimate inspiration for the physical appearance may well have been the pizza box which people kept stepping on all night in the aforementioned pizza bacchanal.
Automotive design taste is certainly a personal matter. Mercury in the late Fifties was my dad's choice, while GM was selling a lot more cars, in spite of the fact that they were not as attractive (in my opinion) as the Ford offerings (the 1957 and 1958 Fords notwithstanding), or even Chrysler's beautiful, albeit awful cars. However my heart sinks every time I see a mid-engine Corvette. No more front engine, rear drive. No more long hood, short deck. No more great Corvette visual impact. Just a self-destruct device for poseurs. Finally an ugly Corvette.
I always assume those Ford gt40’s I see are fibre glass replicas. Same with Shelby cobras.
Totally agree. C8 Corvettes are not good looking and their proportions are awkward. C5, C6, and C7 Vettes are much better looking.
This Merc has been rebuilt and sold at auction >>>>
"and shown all around the world", shown across the USA and some places in Europe, you mean?
Is it me or do those tail lights look a lot like the tail lights on the production. "59 Mercury model's.
Those doors are not Corvette are way ahead of its time they're not even making them now
Funny years later the corvette is now a mid engined car today
Wow, that Ford x-100 thingy (or whatever it was) was pretty ugly, especially that chubby-looking back part of the roof.
Keep politics OUT OF AUTOMOTIVE VIDS!! Stop the multi-millionaire political hacks bumming for money!!!!!
What are you talking about?
Mr Redundant
X 100 front is sooooo ugly. Did the engineer from the Edsel program help with the design?
Good lord the front bumpers on the the ford and mercury are horrible
5:46 damn thats pretty
Instead a mass-producing these gorgeous prototypes Detroit went ho hum designs
The Ford X100 (name taken from the then-popular Shell motor oil?) reminds me of the car Homer Simpson designed. Perhaps the weirdest part is that stretched out '56 Dodge grill. It somehow reminds me of that Dodge and, at the same time, mid-fifty's Studebaker grills.
The experimental Corvette was appealing but, like nearly all innovative sports car designs, the had to include those absurd gull wing doors. I always looked at those as ridiculous crap. "Sporty"? Futuristic? I have always considered them silly and nothing more.
BTW: have you ever had a hood suddenly come down on your head because those stupid gas cylinders had gotten weak? Or perhaps you had such an experience with a rear hatch. Well, think of that and tell me how "exotic" those stupid gull wing doors are.
That Mercury was proof that Ford was fully capable of designing a car even uglier than Edsel. WTF was going on with that front bumper??? All you youngsters out there who thought Pontiac Aztech and Chevy Avalanche were peak automotive ugliness, feast your eyes on that Mercury monstrosity and stand corrected.
Looks like an Edsel
I understand that they were concept cars but it also showed how ugly early American cars were.
Looks like a joke . car designing was mad at that time .. only to impress but no marketing strategies at all .. Everything had to be big bold and majestic , not exactly clever . This story seems to be told by Artificial Intelligence so not very appealing either
RUclips, STOP RUNNING ADS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES ON ENGLISH VIDEOS> STOP
Cars should never have been invented
What 🤣🤣 horrible cars nothing like Chevys and Ford foris to sostis o sistis
Say what you want about the xp8 882. I’m not that much into the wankel-engine it had but if they’C8 would look more like this - and not like an angry teenager designed it - I’d be tempted to buy the first corvette after I had a C3 for some years.