1953 Buick Wildcat I Concept

The Buick Wildcat was a fiberglass-bodied concept car by for the 1953 Motorama Display. When Buick introduced the Wildcat II concept in 1954, the original Wildcat became known as 'Wildcat I.' Buick had pioneered the idea of a concept car in the late 1930s with the Y-Job, and by the early 1950s, concept cars were being used throughout the industry to gauge public interest in particular designs and to experiment with various design directions.

The Buick Wildcat and Chevy's fiberglass-bodied Corvette were on display at the 1953 Motorama, and both were low-slung, two-seat convertibles with modern styling and a raked-back wraparound windscreen. Innovative features on the Wildcat included the concave grill, 'buffer bombs' integrated with a massive wrap-around front bumper, and 'Roto Static front hub caps that remained stationary while the wheels spun. On one of the rear fenders above the skirts is a row of 15 vertical slats. In the back are large dual exhausts protruding through the fascia and integrated taillamps wrapping over the rear fender tops. Power was supplied by Buick's then-new 322 cubic-inch V8 engine backed by a Dyanflow automatic transmission. There were hydraulically operated windows and seats, and a hydraulically operated top that disappeared beneath a rear panel.

The front-end styling was later used on the 1954 Buick models.

by Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2020