Car companies go to extraordinary lengths to ensure their styling themes and future models remain top secret until they are released. Access to design studios is highly restricted. Even some top executives do not have “all access” rights.
On the other hand, those same car companies are compelled to publicly demonstrate their design prowess. It is a matter of corporate ego and competitive necessity. No company wants its brands labelled as style losers. A time-honoured way to brag about styling leadership is through concepts and show cars. “Look at us!! Look what we can do!! We are styling leaders” is the boastful message these “dream cars” send and they are paraded down the “automotive catwalk”.
And yet, despite their proliferation year after year, relatively few concept and show cars make an enduring impression on the public and are remembered. The fate of most is to be forgotten, discarded and destroyed.
I’ve searched the files of General Motors and found three secret and three forgotten Chevrolets, each with an interesting background story.
Small sports coupe: Beetle fighter
Work began on this small sporty 2+2 coupe, coded XP 873 and sometimes called a “mini” Camaro, in early 1967. It was one of at least five different proposals that GM was evaluating to compete against the VW Beetle and/or replace the Corvair.
Planned to be a pillarless two door hatch back, the XP 873 did not go beyond the clay model stage. In early 1968 the project pivoted away from the 2+2 idea towards the more utilitarian Chevrolet Vega, which appeared in late 1970.
Some elements of the XP 873’s styling found their way onto the 1970 Camaro/Firebird, as the photo shows.
Monte Carlo: No extra doors needed
It took Chevrolet a decade to devise a “personal car” competitor for Ford’s four-seater Thunderbird. When they did, the 1970 Monte Carlo was a smash hit. With sales of almost 146,000 in its first year, it outsold the T-Bird by a massive three to one.
Given those numbers it was only natural that a four-door hardtop model was considered. The problem was, planned new roll over regulations made pillarless hardtops and convertibles problematic. Plus, low sales of the 1967-71 T-Bird four-door provided a good indication that two extra hinged openings were not popular with “personal car” buyers. The idea was shelved.
When GM moved to its “Colonnade” styling theme for its mid-sized cars in 1973, the four-door Monte Carlo was resurrected. Again, it did not go anywhere. Chevrolet production plants were barely able to meet the surging demand for the 1.4 million Monte Carlo coupes sold between 1973 and 1977. No need for a low volume luxury four-door to add more complexity to the range. Also, Cadillac had now staked its claim to this premium market niche and were well advanced with the 1976 Seville.
1964 Toronado: Naming rights
It was GM designer Ira Gilford who devised the name “Toronado”. Comprising Toro (bull) and Nado (tornado) it was first used on a 1964 Chevrolet show car displayed at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair.
Based on a ’64 convertible, only black and white images of the Toronado exist. I’ve used AI to colour them to approximate the descriptions in media releases.
Over at Oldsmobile, they were searching for a name for their upcoming front wheel drive coupe. Chevrolet had no need for the name after the World’s Fair, and so it was given to Oldsmobile. The show car was later crushed.
1972 Chevelle: HQ Holden look alike
This is not a HQ Holden Monaro. But is sure looks like one.
These photos depict an early styling idea for an all-new 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle. It was rejected in favour of the Colonnade design theme, which was applied to all of GM’s mid-sized range, and released, after a year’s delay, in 1973.
The striking thing about the styling of this Chevelle proposal is the similarity to the 1971 HQ Holden.
The photos imply that Chevrolet was planning to use a version of the HQ’s shape well after the HQ styling had been approved in mid-1968. This is something for further investigation.
1965 Concour: Sneak Peak
Behold the 1965 Chevrolet Concour! And for those paying attention back then, the Concour provided a clear view of the styling of 1967-68 full size Chevrolet range.
The press release modestly described the Concour as:
“A sleek, aerodynamically-styled four-passenger convertible (and) one of the automotive stars of Chevrolet's exhibit at the 1965 New York World's Fair.”
The PR folk continued with more words of breathless wonder:
“The ideas car has a forward thrusting grille and teardrop rear deck. It has concealed dual headlights and convertible top. The exhausts are ducted through the rear quarter panels. Designed especially for the rallyist, the Concours has four bucket seats. The accelerator and brake are operated by foot pressure on large pads mounted flush with the floor. A group of 18 lights on the console warn the driver of everything from high disc brake temperature to unfastened seat belts.”
After its World’s Fair duties had concluded, and it had been shown at a few dealerships, the Concour was destroyed.
1965 Caribe: No show
This concept, coded XP 834, was a fully operational 1965 four-door Chevrolet Impala convertible. The project was instigated by GM’s design boss, Bill Mitchell, and Bunkie Knudsen, GM’s executive vice-president and former Chevrolet boss.
The XP 834 had a dual purpose. The first was as a show car for the 1965 Detroit auto show. This later changed to the 1966 Chicago show. The second was to gain GM Board approval for a four-door convertible.
We know all of this because of what was written on the XP 834’s Product Instigation (PI) cards. The PI cards were how GM kept track of work on its design projects.
The XP 834’s PI cards, shown below, are a rare insight into the continually delayed progress of the project and its ultimate cancellation.
At first, considerable engineering went into the Caribe’s folding top, with a complex mechanism that raised, lowered and hid the roof under a flush-fitting all metal cover, seen below. As the PI cards state, when interest in the convertible wavered, the roof’s all-metal cover was replaced by a simple and cheap fabric cover.
Despite an advertisement announcing the Caribe’s appearance 1966 Chicago auto show—“4 door dream convertible car you might be driving someday”—and official colour photos being taken, the Caribe was never been seen in public. As the PI cards note, its development was halted by Pete Estes, the president of the Chevrolet division. No reason is given, however, with Chevrolet focused on the Camaro’s upcoming release and the 1965-66 full sized Chevrolets creating all time sales records, Estes obviously saw no need for an ultra-low volume high priced four-door convertible.
Like so many show cars before it, the Caribe was eventually destroyed. Only its name survived, reused on another mostly forgotten show car, a ute/pick up version of the 1968 Camaro.
This is edition of Retroutos® continues an occasional series that celebrates secret concepts and forgotten show cars. Here are links to previous editions.
Chrysler’s mid-Sixties Charger concepts
Special thanks to John Kyros at GM Heritage Centre. Retroautos® is written and published by David Burrell with passion and with pride. Retroautos® stories and images are copyrighted. Reproducing them in any format is prohibited. Retroautos® is a registered trademark. Reproducing it in any format is prohibited.
