THE ATLAS OF TOMORROW ✦ WING 03 OF 06

Tomorrow’s Cars, Yesterday

Concept cars are honest lies. Nobody expected the Firebird III to reach a dealership. It existed to say: this is how fast tomorrow will feel. From tailfin rockets to titanium wedges, these machines are an era dreaming at full throttle.

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General Motors Firebird III concept car with multiple tail fins, 1958
GM Firebird III, 1958 ✦ Seven fins, gas turbine, zero compromise

IN THIS WING

Side view of the finned GM Firebird III experimental car

FEATURE 01

The Firebird III Was Peak General Motors Whizbang Design

Gas turbine power, joystick steering, and seven fins. GM built a fighter jet for the freeway and called it research.

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FEATURE 02

Wedged Wondercars of the 1960s and 70s

The Stratos Zero is 33 inches tall. You enter through the windshield. Italy spent a decade folding the future out of sheet metal.

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Lancia Stratos Zero wedge concept car in bronze, photographed head on
Ford Gyron two-wheeled gyroscopic concept car

FEATURE 03

Retro Futuristic Cars of Tomorrow

A collection of weird, rare, and wild concepts from the 1950s and 60s, including Ford’s two-wheeled, gyroscope-balanced Gyron.

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FEATURE 04

One of the Weirdest Cars of All Time, The Citroën Karin

A pyramid on wheels with a centered driver’s throne. The 1980 Karin remains gloriously unexplainable.

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Overhead view of the pyramid-shaped Citroen Karin concept car
1960 Ford Spaceliner concept car with dramatic tailfins

FEATURE 05

1960 Ford Spaceliner Was an Epic Tailfin Era Car

Over the top and stylish, the Spaceliner stretched the tailfin era to its logical, glorious extreme.

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FEATURE 06

Renaud Marion’s Vintage Hover Cars

Classic sedans photographed floating a meter off the pavement. The future we were promised, parked on your street.

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Photograph of a vintage car hovering above the street, by Renaud Marion

Keep Exploring the Atlas

Or wander the complete collection in the Archive.

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One transmission a month. Curated retro-futurist art, design, and the occasional flying car. From the makers of Moss & Fog.