A show car, sometimes called a dream car, is a custom-made

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

created specifically for public display, rather than sale. They are shown at

auto show An auto show, also known as a motor show or car show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is attended by automotive industry representatives, dealers, auto journalists a ...

s and other exhibitions. Show cars can either come from car companies or from private individuals. Corporate show cars generally fall into one of three categories: * Cars intended to preview an upcoming new production model or redesigned model, either to assess or to whet the public appetite. Such preview show cars may be thinly disguised or slightly retrimmed versions of the eventual production model, painted in bold or unusual colors or fitted with unusual trim to attract attention. * Cars intended to assess the public reaction to a type of model, or a particular styling theme or feature. A prominent example was the 1938 Buick Y-Job, a custom-built

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

created by

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

styling chief

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 ...

for his own use; although it was never produced, it contained features such as hidden headlights that later became GM styling features. Such cars typically are not intended for production themselves, but may become the basis of a production model if demand is high enough. The

Dodge Viper The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge (by SRT for 2013 and 2014), a division of American car manufacturer FCA US LLC from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007 and from 2010 to 2012. Production of the two ...

is notable example of the latter. * Styling exercises built to reward successful designers, letting them blow off steam with a design more exciting than workaday, "cooking"

sedans A sedan or saloon (British English) is a passenger car in a three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo. The first recorded use of the word "sedan" in reference to an automobile body occurred in 19 ...

and

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

s. Such exercises also serve to draw attention to the manufacturer's more ordinary products. Privately owned show cars are cars extensively cared for by their owners primarily for the purpose of entering car shows and can be

production model Production vehicles or production cars are mass-produced identical models, offered for sale to the public, and able to be legally driven on public roads ( street legal). Legislation and other rules further define the production vehicle within part ...

s or custom-made.

History

The creation of show cars dates back to at least the 1920s, but reached its zenith in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the 1950s, when most major U.S. automakers began to exhibit wild, fanciful dream cars. The preeminent dream car maker was GM, which displayed its work at a series of traveling

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. Mo ...

shows, mounted at great expense and attracting much publicity. In the 1960s American show cars became substantially more mundane, slight variations on typical production models (with exceptions like Chevrolet's

Mako Shark ''Isurus'' is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks. Description The two living species are the common shortfin mako shark (''I. oxyrinchus'') and the rare longfin mako shark (''I. paucus''). They ...

prototype). The practice of building them fell on hard times during the 1970s, when automotive whimsy was a low priority compared to

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

, emissions control, and fuel economy. The practice was revived in the 1980s, and remains strong today both in the U.S. and abroad.

History

See also