Joe Bortz and the Dream Cars

Joe Bortz and the Dream Cars
Joe Bortz interview and the Motorama Dream Cars
Published by: All Car Central Publishing
Date published: 01/29/2015

Who is Joe Bortz?

Concept Cars, Show Cars, Designers fantasies. These are the dreams, cars are made from.

1939 Buick Y-Job

Buick Y-Job_1939

At the start of the second World War, car designs were just starting to evolve from the straight-sided, with four separate wheel fenders (wings) into the 'modern' look.

In the beginning cars were manufactured by the company, which named they carried, like Duesenberg. But if one had the pleasure of buying a car from the Duesenberg factory, all that you got was a frame, running gear, and an engine/drive train. And possible a wooden crate to sit on. But, no body. Designing the body and fitting it to the running chassis was left to a group of companies called coach builders. The new car buyer was then tasked with the requirement of creating a contract with a coach builder of his choice to complete his new vehicle.

One can find examples of these early works of art in museums and at car shows around the world. Their display plaques read something like 1929 Duesenberg J body by Bohman-Schwartz.

1930 Duesenberg Dual-Cowl Phaeton Le Grande

Duesenberg Dual-Cowl Phaeton Le Grande 1930

As cars became more of an everyday fixture around the country, car manufactures started putting their own bodies on their running chassis's and thereby delivering complete cars to the buyer. This move brought the car designer under the manufactures control. Now the manufacture could not only brag and promote the mechanical qualities of the car but the design and look of the car.

Back in the day of separate coach building companies, the designer had great freedom to display their skills upon each chassis with the new buyer/owner of the car simply guiding the designer. However once under control of the manufacture and ever more restricting vehicle government regulations, the designer's expressions were not always the most important and they also had to conform to many requirements beyond their control.

Harley Earl was GM's first head designer. Harley got his first car designing experience in his fathers California coachworks shop. In 1927 Harley was given the job of running GM's Styling Section as head designer. His first show car was the 1933 Cadillac Aero-Dynamic Coupe which was then followed by the Buick Y-Job in 1938-39.

World War II brought the car manufacture into the war making trucks, tanks and planes. Once the fighting was over they went back into the car business. Most of the first cars out the door were slightly updated versions from those on the drawing board just before all the shooting started.

General Motors came out of the war years strong and was soon the largest car maker with the most money to spend and a desire to show off their capabilities.

Futurliner 1954

In 1949 GM created the General Motors Motorama, an auto show of highly stylized automobiles, concept and prototype vehicles, or what was to be called, 'Dream Cars', to showoff GM's powers and bring buyers into the showroom.

An interesting part of the show were the Motorama Futurliner mobile showrooms.


1958 Firebird III

Firebird III 1958

The 1950's jet age inspired car designers and brought about a vision of 'futuristic' vehicles. These cars traveled through out the US as the Motorama Dream Cars.

Unlike designing production cars, Harley had no design limitations with the dream and concept cars. He was free to push the limits of his imagination which in the end, created ART. Many of the styling innovations developed in the Dream Cars became design features in the later production cars. One could say that in this case 'function followed art'.

In 1961 the Motorama was finished.



Corporate heads have the reputation for only looking at the bottom line and the next sentence supports this opinion.

Once the Dream Cars, the concept and prototype vehicles, had served their purpose, they were to be scraped. Sent off to the crusher.

But when many of the cars were out of the sight of the GM offices, cooler heads could not accept destroying these truly works-of-art. Secretly many were hidden away.

So ! ... Who is Joe Bortz ?

Joe Bortz is a car guy who grew up believing the stories that all the Motorama cars were crushed, but in the 1960's, he started hearing that some had survived, so Joe went looking. Joe started finding and buying these lost survivors and soon word got out that Joe was the go-to-guy when it came to the Dream Cars. Then the cars started coming to Joe.

Joe is now known as the originator of 'concept car collecting'.

I Spoke with Joe while he was at the 2015 Barrett-Jackson auction in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona this January. Three cars that were previously in the Bortz's Collection were being run through the Barrett-Jackson auction by the Ron Pratte Collection.

The 3 cars on the ramp were:
1. The 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special which sold at Barrett-Jackson in 2006 for $2.8 million.
2. The 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer 3/8 scale model that sold at Barrett-Jackson in 2007 for $82,500.00.
3. 1951 GM Motorama Futurliner that sold at Barrett-Jackson in 2006 for $4.3 million.

Joe sees these examples as the high point of American automotive design, especially the 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special. The 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer 3/8 scale model represents the full size car that was destroyed. Harley Earl slipped the model away and motorized it with a Pontiac 6 volt electric starter motor and made it into a pedal car for his grandson.

1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special

1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special

Joe pointed out that the 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special had all the extras it needed to make it stand out in its time. If setting beside the Corvette, which shared the same wheel base, it would be even more impressive. The Bonneville Special body was fiberglass, had a straight 8 engine with 4 carburetors, 4 speed Hydramatic transmission, and gull-wing doors. Two cars were made and Joe found both.

I suggested to Joe that he was the recognized 'Hero' of the concept cars. Joe agreed.

And that is the kind of spirit one needs to make a mark in the art world.

Lad

1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special's
Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of Joe Bortz

Lad


Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of Joe Bortz

Lad


Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of Joe Bortz

Lad


Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of Joe Bortz

Lad
Buick XP-301 Centurion 1956 Motorama Car

Buick XP-301 Centurion 1956
Motorama Car
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
Pebble Beach, California, 2008

Descriptive Poster For This Car - JPG file


Lad
click here Buick XP300 1951
 Motorama Car

Buick XP300 1951
Motorama Car
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
Pebble Beach, California, 2008

Descriptive Poster For This Car - JPG file


Lad
click here Buick Wildcat I 1953
 Motorama Car

Buick Wildcat I 1953
Motorama Car
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
Pebble Beach, California, 2008

Descriptive Poster For This Car - JPG file


Lad
Cadillac Cyclone XP-74 1959
<br />Motorama Car

Cadillac Cyclone XP-74 1959
Motorama Car
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
Pebble Beach, California, 2008

Lad
Firebird I 1954
<br />Motorama Car

Firebird I 1954
Motorama Car
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
Pebble Beach, California, 2008

Lad
Corvette Prototype 1953
 Motorama Car

Corvette Prototype 1953
Motorama Car
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
Pebble Beach, California, 2008

Descriptive Poster For This Car - JPG file


click here

BACK TO TOP