the GM Motorama

From 1931 until after World War II, GM’s Alfred Sloan hosted the annual industrialists’ luncheons at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel. These invitation-only events were held in conjunction with big auto shows to promote new models and policies. Like the innovative cars beyond the velvet ropes, they were glimpses of things to come.

During the war, American automobile production was interrupted as plants built military equipment instead. When it ended, consumers were anxious for new cars, but material shortages often meant waiting even longer. Design and engineering had also been delayed, so when postwar models finally arrived, many were a lot like those made before the war.

Production had met demand by 1949, and GM celebrated by hosting the “Transportation Unlimited” Autorama in Boston and New York. This lavish display of new design and technology was seen by 591,971 people. 320,583 attended the 1950 edition, held in New York alone.

The show became known as “the Motorama” in 1953, and packed the the Waldorf Astoria with flashy show cars for the first time. The Corvette debuted, alongside other fiberglass-bodied cars like the Buick Wildcat, Cadillac Orleans, Olds Starfire, and Pontiac’s Le Mans and Parisienne. Attendance climbed to 1,405,143 in Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and Kansas City. The display of concept cars has been a worthwhile method of gauging public reaction to new ideas ever since, influencing the design of countless production vehicles.

In addition to the usual delights, the 1954 Motorama filled the Waldorf Astoria’s grand ballroom with a 27-piece orchestra and a chorus of twelve who together, performed six shows daily. Visitors were entertained by Broadway stars, fashion models, and widescreen movies. Among the vehicular highlights was the XP-21 Firebird, the first of three experimental gas turbine cars to be featured at Motorama shows. Six “Dream Cars” flirted with the crowds from raised, revolving platforms.

CBS aired a special preview of the 1955 show, hosted by Bob Hope. Millions of television viewers witnessed an 80-ton stage, where GM trotted out their best and brightest. Each car emerged from the backstage area, through a ten-foot cloud of flash powder. Enormous, robotic arms hoisted cars over a sparkling pool of water, and past wide-eyed crowds.

For 1956, “The Highway of Tomorrow” guided Motorama guests toward the Firebird II, and five new dream cars. The Chevrolet Impala and Pontiac Club de Mer made the scene, as did Oldsmobile’s Golden Rocket, the Buick Centurion and the Cadillac Brougham Town Car. Sixty-three exhibits and twenty-six vehicles consumed 26,000 square feet, occupying the entire ballroom and several adjoining rooms of the Waldorf Astoria.

At the 1959 Motorama, giant mechanical lifts called “grasshoppers” lifted cars up and toward spectators in Boston and New York. The Cadillac Cyclone and Firebird III were proudly displayed, but the show consisted mostly of extraordinary displays and ordinary production cars.

In 1961, the final Motorama was visited by 1,026,928 people in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. More than 140 special trucks were now required, and hundreds of people worked tirelessly to move it all from one place to another. The complicated process of installing the show often attracted almost as many gawky spectators as the show itself. To see the show arrive was like watching a circus roll into town.

Unlike the circus though, this show could not go on. Each Motorama attempted to outdo the previous one. This became increasingly difficult and expensive over the twelve-year run. The phenomenal GM Motoramas were spectacles, the likes of which may never be seen again. More than 10 million people attended these events. Surely, some of them are still driving GM vehicles.