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Old 06-27-2014, 06:40 AM   #1
roccaas
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Default "Dream Cars" at High Museum, Atlanta, Edsel's Model 40 Special Speedster

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I'll post some more pics soon, but in case you can't make the ATL before the exhibition closes, here are the details and a stunning pic. The rest of the exhibition is also amazing, especially the Voisin.

". . . [We] dream of cars that will float and fly, or run on energy from a laser beam, or travel close to the ground without wheels. Such research may border on the fantastic, but so did the idea of a carriage going about the country without a horse."

—The Ford Book of Styling, 1963

Edsel's Speedster is in a stunning green, a cross between "Bullit's" Highland Green and the IVY Green you see on some 1st generation Mustangs. The Gas filler cap is a work of art.

Squat down at the front of the car? Any of us could work on THAT front end. You can even see the brake shoe adjusting nut.



Edsel Ford Model 40 Special Speedster, 1934
Edsel Ford (American, 1893-1943), designer
Eugene T. "Bob" Gregorie (American, 1908-2002), designer
Ford Aircraft Division, American, 1924-1936, fabricator
Courtesy of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan

In 1934 Edsel Ford, president of Ford Motor Company and son of Henry Ford, desired a sleek "Continental" car based on European styles he had seen during his travels abroad. He asked Ford Motor Company’s styling chief Eugene "Bob" Gregorie to help design what he envisioned. Gregorie sketched a few alternatives and built a model, which he tested in a small wind tunnel. The bodywork followed the best aircraft practice, being light and very strong. Custom touches included a shapely alligator-style hood with louvered side panels, the angle of which subtly matches that of the radiator grille; low-mounted headlights molded into the fenders; an enclosed radiator with a concealed cap; a starter button on the instrument panel; no running boards; and long, low proportions. These features would not appear on any Ford Motor Company cars for many years, as both Ford and Gregorie considered them too radical for production. Edsel Ford drove it as his personal Continental speedster, representing the new, sleek, streamlined look of the 1930s.
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