Impracticality, Thy Name Is Harley Earl

On this day in 1954, General Motors introduced their gas turbine concept called the XP-21 Firebird, later referred to as the Firebird I, at GM's Motorama in conjunction with the New York Auto Show. The design team was headed by Harley Earl, who took inspiration from the innovations in fighter aircraft design at the time. Engineer Emmett Conklin led the development of the Whirlfire Turbo Power gas turbine coupled to a two-speed gearbox. For a time he was the only person qualified to drive the car. GM's feasibility study was simply showcasing their technological dominance of the era and never intended the impractical design or their subsequent gas turbine concept cars for production.