General Motors picks top 10 concepts of first 100 years

Posted Wed Aug 27 2008 11:03 AM by Nelson Ireson

Just a yesterday we brought you General Motors' top 10 production car picks from its first 100 years of operation, and now we have the top 10 concept choices from the company as well. Like the production car selections, the list is not so much an exhaustive enumeration of stand-out designs, but rather a sampling of designs the company thinks not only reflect its past, but illuminate its future.

Some of the choices on the list, like the 1950s Firebird series, clearly belong on just about any top-10 concept list just for their sheer outlandishness. The futuristic Bladerunner-esque design of the 2002 GM AUTOnomy also earns it an obvious spot on the list. Less obvious, though also the only vehicle to make both the production vehicle and the concept list, is the 1990 GM Impact concept, which would eventually become the EV1. Despite its poor sales and eventual cancellation and destruction, the EV1 did serve to foreshadow the road to the Volt plug-in hybrid.

Other technological and design showpieces, including the Sunraycer solar-powered concept, the Vauxhall SRV's extreme aerodynamic design and the 1938 Buick Y Job, which GM calls the first concept car in the world, round out the top 10.

General Motors Top 10 concepts of the past 100 years:

1. 2007 Chevrolet Volt

2. 2002 AUTOnomy

3. 1990 Impact

4. 1987 Sunraycer

5. 1970 Vauxhall SRV

6. 1965 Experimental Opel GT

7. 1961 Chevrolet XP-755 Mako Shark

8. 1954, 1956, and 1958 Firebird series

1951 LeSabre

10. 1938 Buick Y Job

Reader Comments

Wed Aug 27 2008 11:41 AM
Laz says

Those are some ugly cars! The Corvette is not to bad.
Wed Aug 27 2008 1:57 PM
InkMaster says

#3 is rather interesting. Never knew what the concept that resulted in the EV-1 looked like.
Thu Aug 28 2008 9:18 PM
Wizards Lore says

how convenient that the car that GM is pinning all its hopes on for future sales is the number 1 haha

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