This article is about the Concept car. For the General Motors car manufactured by the
Buick
brand, see
Buick LeSabre
.
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/General_Motors_Le_Sabre_Concept_on_the_awards_stage_at_Cobble_Beach_Concours_d%27Elegance_in_Owen_Sound%2C_Ontario%2C_Canada.jpg/220px-General_Motors_Le_Sabre_Concept_on_the_awards_stage_at_Cobble_Beach_Concours_d%27Elegance_in_Owen_Sound%2C_Ontario%2C_Canada.jpg)
General Motors Le Sabre
The
General Motors Le Sabre
is a 1951
concept car
. Possibly the most important
show car
of the 1950s,
[1]
it introduced aircraft-inspired design elements such as the wrap-around windshield and tail fins, which became common on automotive designs during the second half of the decade.
The Le Sabre is owned by the GM Heritage Center, and still occasionally appears at car shows.
This was GM's first use of the Le Sabre name,
[2]
which would be later adopted by Buick for a
new production model
in 1959.
History
[
edit
]
Front 3/4 view
The Le Sabre was the brainchild of
General Motors
Art Department head
Harley Earl
.
[2]
The design was Earl's attempt to incorporate the look of modern jet fighter aircraft into automotive design.
[
citation needed
]
As
jets
replaced
prop-driven
aircraft in the late 1940s, they symbolized the very latest in design and engineering, and Earl had hoped to carry this concept into automobile design.
The project was a follow-up to Earl's famous 1938
Buick Y-Job
. Like all his projects, it was built to be roadworthy, and became Earl's personal automobile for two years after finishing its tour of the auto show circuit.
[
citation needed
]
Design and features
[
edit
]
With a body made of
aluminium
,
magnesium
, and
fiberglass
,
[
citation needed
]
it was powered by a
supercharged
aluminum
V8
able to run on
gasoline
(petrol) or
methanol
(like
Indy roadsters
of the period did), and was GM's first use of a
rear-mounted transmission
.
In addition to its jet-inspired design, the 1951 Le Sabre featured numerous other advanced features, including a
12-volt electrical system
(all American cars of 1951 were 6-volt), heated seats, electric headlights concealed behind the center oval "jet intake", front bumper
Dagmars
[2]
(made famous on 1951-8 Cadillacs), a water sensor to activate the power top,
[2]
and electric lifting
jacks
integral to the
chassis
[2]
to aid tire changes. (This idea would be copied decades later by
Formula One
race teams.)
The rear-mounted
automatic transmission
was originally a Buick
Dynaflow
, but this was later changed to a GM
Hydramatic
.
[2]
This early-development aluminum V8 was unique to the Le Sabre and the
Buick XP300
concept cars. The concept 215ci V8 used a
hemispherical combustion chamber
design, similar to early Chrysler V8s of the 1950s era. It was a
"Square"
engine, with matching 3.3"
bore
and
stroke
dimensions. Although they shared a common displacement of 215 cu in (3.5 L), this concept engine is not the same as the production
"Oversquare"
aluminum
Buick 215
introduced in the
GM Y-body
compact cars in 1961. They have virtually no interchangeability in parts or design.
Rear
Reproductions
[
edit
]
In 1999 the
Franklin Mint
introduced a 1:24 scale
die-cast reproduction
on the 1951 Le Sabre. It became one of their best-selling
automobile miniatures
.
[
citation needed
]
A smaller scale Le Sabre also exists as a
Hot Wheels
model. Glencoe Models made a simple 1:72 scale plastic kit, which had the wrong shape at the rear. Berkley Models made a 1:24 scale kit with a body of curved
balsa
wood.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Williams, Nick (2019-04-30).
"DriveHistory Profiles: 1951 GM Le Sabre"
.
Historic Vehicle Association (HVA)
. Retrieved
2020-04-22
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Flory, J. "Kelly", Jr.
American Cars 1946-1959
(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Coy, 2008), p.1021.
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