The Cadillac Le Mans was a concept car designed by

Harley Earl Harley Jarvis Earl (November 22, 1893 – April 10, 1969) was an American automotive designer and business executive. He was the initial designated head of design at General Motors, later becoming vice president, the first top executive ever ...

and developed by

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

. It was named for the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

race in France, in which Cadillac competed in 1950. Displayed at the 1953

General Motors Motorama The General Motors Motorama was an auto show staged by GM from 1949 to 1961. These automobile extravaganzas were designed to whet public appetite and boost automobile sales with displays of fancy concept cars and other special or halo models. M ...

in New York City, the design was a low-profile ( to the windshield frame), two-seat,

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

-bodied roadster. This concept showcased Cadillac's first wrap-around windshield. It was powered by a version of Cadillac's V8 engine, a power output not realized in production Cadillacs until 1955. The overall length of the Le Mans was . Though four

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

s were built, the model never went into production.

Fate of the vehicles

Of the four Cadillac Le Mans cars, the fate of three is known. One car, which was customized by George Barris, was acquired by Harry Karl, a wealthy shoe manufacturer who gave it to his wife, Marie "The Body" MacDonald. Another was sold to a Cadillac dealer in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

. The George Barris custom was destroyed in a fire in 1985, while another one is currently displayed in the Cadillac Historical Collection in

Warren, Michigan Warren is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2020 Census places the city's population at 139,387, making Warren the largest city in Macomb County, the third largest city in Michigan, and Metro Detroit's largest suburb. T ...

. The revised car with quad headlights is in possession of the GM Heritage Center. The fourth Cadillac Le Mans was displayed at the Oil Progress Exhibition at

Will Rogers Field Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

in 1953, along with two other show cars from the 1953 Motorama exhibition (the Wildcat I and the Starfire). After that, this car went on exhibit at Greenhouse-Moore Cadillac Chevrolet in Oklahoma City during the first week of November. The vehicle went missing on November 8, 1953 and has not been seen since that time. Numerous investigators and auto enthusiasts have tried to find the missing Le Mans, but so far their efforts have yielded no results.

References

External links

Conceptcars.it

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...