Concept cars from the 1950’s and 1960’s were vigorously inspired by the jet age airplane design. Here they went for the big fins, tons of glaring chrome, flashy two-tone painting and sensational interior.
Concept cars usually tell a bit about how car designers view the future. In 1962 the Ford designers were wrong. With the Seattle-ite XXI they went completely out of control and one can easily ask: what on Earth were they contemplating? When the car was exhibited on Ford’s stand in 1963 on the World Expo it was meant to be a sign of the most exquisite technology produced by the US. It was the first 6-wheeled car – a decade later the 6-wheeled concept was still alive when Tyrrell’s fabled P34 won a F1 Grand Prix.
A screendisplay mounted on the dashboard was to show the efficiency of the motor, road- and weather conditions, the location of the vehicle in proportion to an automatically moving map and estimated time of arrival to the destination chosen.
If you have a small boy living inside of you it’s not difficult to like, even just a tiny bit, the Seattle-ite XXI but it’s hard to admit it…. Almost as liking the Bay City Rollers….
The Future car from a future that never came…
