The Story of Two Pieces of Functional 50′s Concept Art Separated at Birth
by Ken McGavin, originally written for http://www.meanwhileinart.com/
It’s a bird, it’s a plane…or wait, is that right? Anyway, it’s Batman and Gilda. 1950’s America was a place of Dreams. The economy was booming, the suburbs were booming and most of all the babies were “booming” which all reflected the bountiful feeling surrounding the time. Anything was possible…the Civil Rights Movement was putting the first nails in the coffin of Jim Crow in the courts, the country was united against the communist threat and industry in general was moving in optimistically creative directions the nation had not seen before. It was a good time for the country, and a good time to be looking to the future.
Nothing was more at the heart of the creative forward looking dream mantra of 1950’s American culture than the automotive industry. Tailfin’s were all the rage, aerodynamics were combining with style to create the real life Jetson’s get around devices and concept “models of the future” were promotional tools of extreme resonance for the largest car manufacturers across the board.
1955 was a seminole year for automotive design and embodied the optimistic creative boom of the decade. Born in literally the same shop at the exact same time, a mere stones throw away from each other, two shining examples of the 1950’s optimistic adventurism in industry were (Chrysler) Ghia’s 1955 Streamline X Coupe and the Ford commissioned Lincoln “Futura”. Designated from the outset as essentially “hype” concept cars to build public excitement for their respective companies, both the “Futura” and “Streamline X” had pretty far out designs. Both were garnished with tailfins, both were very much like space ships on the road and both were very much prized works of art for the respective companies.
The Streamline X would be instantly christened “Gilda” by it’s artistic mastermind Giovanni Savonuchi after the movie character of the same name played by Rita Hayworth and would remain essentially unchanged from the form it took in 1955 through to today. It was completed as a serious artistic design study in real world aerodynamic functionality and creativity, a true work of conceptual brilliance, and the star of the show wherever it was shown that year. The Ford “Futura” also would receive it’s share of acclaim at the time, but unlike it’s contemporary sibling “Gilda” it would not remain as it was originally conceived…far from it. The “Futura” would undergo a substantial visual overhaul and morph into an American icon, the original “Batmobile” of 1960’s TV fame.
Two Dreams born in the same house, at the same time, which ended up taking very different life paths…differences which carry on to this very day. One a curiosity of pop culture, and retired icon of TV and the silver screen, and the other an existence largely spent in museums only recently truly coming back into the public sphere as a model of excellence in art, technical specifications and design acumen.
The Lincoln “Futura”, in it’s original form (top) morphed in 1966 into the iconic “Batmobile” of the pop culture phenomenon known as “Batman”. Though many iterations of the car would come about over time, only the first one came about as a result of a true makeover of an actual car. In fact, subsequent models, as is normally the case in Hollywood, were made quite cheaply from fiberglass.
FUN FACT!
What was Batman’s first movie, ever? Well, casual fans will point out Tim Burton’s 1990 “Batman” but more savvy fans will no doubt point out that Adam West starred in a Batman movie in 1966 that was theatrically released. In truth, they’re both wrong. The first time Batman was ever depicted in a movie that had any kind of release was “Batman, Dracula” in 1964, directed and produced by none other than Andy Warhol. Few people have seen it, and all prints are thought to be long gone, but what we do know is that the detective was played by longtime Warhol collaborator, Gregory Battcock, and it was completely unauthorized by DC Comics. Some surviving footage appeared in a later Warhol film “Jack Smith and the destruction of Atlantis”
Where are they now?
In 2013, the Batmobile sold at the Barrett Jackson auto auction for a whopping 4.6 million dollars! Meanwhile, the Streamline X Gilda currently resides in the private collection of Scott Grundfor in California. It will be headed to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia in 2014 for their upcoming automotive history exhibition.
you feel like being intoxicated,” our unknown poet wrote, “but
then she leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth.” In 2008 while the Gilda was being worked on at Scott Grundfor’s restoration garage in California, a poem written on the underneath the floor panel, was found, clearly never meant to have been seen! After some digging, it was found out who might have been the culprit of the prose. According to Tom Tjaarda, who worked at Ghia in 1958, he became good friends with Giuseppi Nocolotti from the design department at Ghia, who on numerous occasions would warn about the perils of relationships with woman, specifically saying on more than one occasion in his good but broken English “First they are at your side and next you have nothing”. In 1955 when the Gilda was made, Giuseppi Nicolotti was everywhere in the Ghia factory according to Tjaarda. He worked on the wooden bucks and also had a hand in the prototype making phase. Could this have been our poet?
