The General Motors Firebird is a sequence of 3 idea vehicles designed by Harley Earl, and built by General Motors for the 1953, 1956 and 1959 Motorama car shows. They were much electrified by breakthroughs in fighter aircraft design at the time. Not one of the designs were reserved for production, but instead were to demonstrate the extremes in technology and design that General Motors was able to attain. The vehicles were latterly placed on show at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and still make regular vehicle show appearances.

History

General Motors had done research on feasibleness of gas turbine engines in vehicles as early as the 1930s.
It was not till the early 1950s that they began building an honest to goodness engine, with Emmett Conklin leading the project.

The Chevrolet Corvair Monza GT was a middle-engined experimental prototype based totally on the early model Chevrolet Corvair series. Basically a concept auto, the Monza GT was destined never to enter production.

Design and Development

Under direction by Bill Mitchell, the Chevrolet Corvair Monza GT coupe was designed by Larry Shinoda and Tony Lapine in 1962, borrowing from the Bertone designed Testudo idea automobile. Like the earlier design, the GT doors swung upward and were basically a front hinged canopy that extended into the B section; the rear engine cover also hinged at the rear. The engine used was the standard Corvair 145 cu.in. 102 hp ( 76 kW ), flat 6 with a "two carb-layout." in contrast to the production Corvair, the GT engine was mounted before the transaxle, turned around 180 degrees and mounted as a "true" mid-engine layout. The framework was on a 92 in ( 2,337 mm ) wheelbase, sixteen inches ( 406 mm ) shorter than production automobiles. The general dimensions were in a similar way reduced with a length of 165 in ( 4191 mm), and a height of only 42 inches ( 1,067 mm ), making a small but fantastically proportioned sportscar. Besides its streamlined and "swoopy" appearance, the Monza GT was full of other leading edge features including magnesium-alloy wheels, 4-wheel disc brakes and fixed seats with adjustable pedals, features that wouldn't find their way into production autos for a long time. Some of the styling features of the GT, significantly the rear end, were the foundation for the late model production Corvair, introduced for the 1965 model year.

The Alfa Romeo BAT is an Italian idea automobile. The vehicle came from a joint collusion project between Alfa Romeo and the Italian design house; Bertone that started in 1953. Of the successful project came 3 automobiles: the BAT five in 1953, the BAT seven in 1954, and lastly the BAT nine in 1955. Alfa Romeo approached Giuseppe "Nuccio" Bertone of the Bertone design house straight to commission 3 idea cars with in depth research on the effect of drag on a vehicle. The idea was to make automobiles with the lowest possible drag coefficient. The automobiles where named BAT for "Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica." all of the cars featured big rear bumpers and curved fins, really a singular design. They were built upon the Alfa Romeo 1900 frame. Every year between 1953 and 1955 at the Turin automobile show, Bertone and Alfa Romeo presented a BAT idea, the BAT five, seven and nine.

The Chevrolet Volt is a plugin hybrid electrical auto to be produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors and anticipated to be launched in Nov 2010 as a 2011 model. Its price is guessed to get close to $40,000, which would give a net price of roughly $32,500 after the $7,500 Fed.
Tax break. The automaker has kept the Volt on or ahead of schedule, notwithstanding GM's Chapter eleven reorganization. The Volt's propulsion system will be based mostly on GM's new Voltec (previously known as E-Flex) electrical vehicle platform, which differs noticeably from GM's earlier BAS Cross-breed and Two-Mode Hybrid systems. The 1st pre-production test automobile based on the full Volt design was built in June 2009 in Warren, Michigan and by October eighty Volts had been built and were being tested in assorted conditions. For at least the 1st forty miles, the Volt gets power from electricity stored in its on-board lithium-ion batteries which are charged by an electric power outlet. The Volt's sixteen kWh (8.0 kWh serviceable) lithium-ion battery pack can be totally charged by plugging the auto into a 120-240VAC home electric outlet using the provided SAE J1772 compliant charging rope. No external charging station will be necessary.