Chrysler ME Four-Twelve (Chrysler ME412)

The ME Four-Twelve (Chrysler ME412) is a concept car produced by Chrysler in the year 2004. This model got it's name from  Mid-Engine with Four turbochargers on a Twelve-cylinder engine. Unfortunatelly this car never made into the production otherwise it would the be the concept car that would've been able to match those made by the Bugatti company.

The Chrysler ME Four-Twelve had it all. With most of the car's interior, body and chassis bult from carbon fiber it had light weight. When equped with 6.0 l V12 engine with power of  850 BHP (625.6 KW) at 5750 RPM it had speed - 248 mph maximum speed and 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds to be exact. And with it's desing it had the looks of supremacy. 

The car was first presented at the Datroit Auto Show in January 2004 and it made great imapact on the audiance. Especially because the company that was supose to make into the real deal, the Chrysler, was not know for making such a car. But the bosses told the media that if the reception is good they were going to "build this baby". So with serious budget and small team of capable people lead by Dan Knott ,  Chrysler's SRT special-vehicles chief, the company started working on fulfilment of the promise given in Detroit.

Still for the reasons mostly know to Chrysler team the car never made into the general production and it was never driven on the streets. 

Mako Shark II

Following tramendous success of their earlier desing Chevrolet Division of General Motors made the next model of Chevrolet Corvette and named it Mako Shark II. It was in the year 1965 that this model was first presented at Paris Auto Show as a show car.  Chevrolet created two of them and only one of them was fully functional. The one reserved for the gallery had some interesting, futuristic details, such as square section side pipes and a squared-off steering wheel.  While the one made to be driven on streets didn't have these features. It did have a retractable rear spoiler, and a square section bumper that could be extended for added protection. 

The 1965 Mako Shark II was powered by Mark IV V8 engine with displacment of 6997 cc / 427.0 in³ . The strength of this engine was 316.9 kw / 425.0 bhp at 6500 rpm . So just like the model before it Mako Shark II also had strength of 425 horse power but at 6500 rpm. 

After the public presentation Chevrolet received a large number of orders for this model for the production. Mako Shark was called beautiful, embellished, convoluted, aerodynamic, perfect, and many other things. Never the less it did made tremendous  success in the history of concept cars and set the foundations for the later Corvette models.

Chevrolet Corvette Mako Shark

The Marko Shark model was designed by Larry Shinoda and Bill Mitchell both working for the Chevrolet Division of General Motors at that time. The whole shark design of the model XP-755 Mako Shark Chevrolet Corvette was idea of Bill Mitchell. The story goes that he had a mako shark on the wall of his office and ordered team to paint the car in the distinctive blue-gray color of this shark. The team couldn't match that particular color so they had an idea. They took the fish from the office, painted the car in that color and returned it to office. The result was excellent because Bill Mitchell was satisfied the work they did.

Mako Shark (later know as Mako Shark I) was powered by normal V8 engine located in the front with displacement around 6997.28 cc.  It was equipped with a single four-barrel carburetor that produces upwards of 425 horsepower at 5800.00 RPM. Thanks to this engine Mako Shark was able to produce maximum speed of 120 mph (miles per hour) or 198.03 km/h (kilometers per hour).

Mako Shark was such a huge for the Chevrolet that it's elements were used in later  Chevrolet Corvette model Mako Shark II. 

The Mako Shark shown in and episode of the TV show "Route 66" which aired in October 1961. General Motors supplied most of the cars for that TV Show so Mako Shark found it's place in it with other Chevrolet Corvette models.

Corvair Monza GT

Under the guidance of Bill Mitchell, the Corvair Monza GT coupe was designed by Larry Shinoda and Tony Lapine in 1962. Like the earlier design, the GT doors swung upward and were actually a front hinged canopy that extended into the B section; the rear engine cover also hinged at the rear. The engine used was a standard Corvair 145 cu. in. 102 hp (76 kW), flat six with a "two carb-layout." Unlike the production Corvair, the GT engine was mounted ahead of the transaxle, turned around 180 degrees and mounted as a "true" mid-engine layout. The chassis was on a 92 in (2,337 mm) wheelbase, 16 inches (406 mm) shorter than production cars. The overall dimensions were similarly reduced with a length of 165 in (4,191.0 mm), and a height of only 42 inches (1,067 mm), creating a diminutive but well-proportioned sports car.
Besides it's appearance, the Monza GT was full of other innovative features including magnesium-alloy wheels, 4-wheel disc brakes, and fixed seats with adjustable pedals, features that would not find their way into production cars for years.
Some of the styling features of the GT, notably the rear end, were the inspiration for the late-model production Corvair, introduced for the 1965 model year.

Cadillac Cyclone

The Cadillac Cyclone is a concept car built in 1959 by the Cadillac Division of General Motors. The Cyclone was never mass-produced as a production model.
In the 1950s the United States was obsessed with jet plane design, which was applied to other non related products including cars. Between 1949 and 1961 General Motors launched their concept cars every year at the Motorama shows, which were highly anticipated throughout the country. Jet design had already inspired the designers of the three Firebird concepts launched between 1954 and 1950. With their gas turbine engines, they were literally road going jets. In 1959 Cadillac joined the 'jet age' with the Cyclone Concept.
Unlike the Firebirds, the Cyclone was powered by a conventional internal combustion engine, but being a tweaked version of the marque's V8 engine, it still offered stellar performance. From the nose cones to the tail lights the design was clearly inspired by the latest aeroplane design.

Le Sabre

The Le Sabre was the brainchild of General Motors Art Department head Harley Earl. The design was Earl's attempt to incorporate the look of modern jet fighter aircraft into automotive design. As jets replaced prop-driven aircraft in the late 1940s, they symbolized the very latest in design and engineering.

With a body made of aluminium, magnesium, and fiberglass, it was powered by a supercharged 215 cu in (3.5 L) V8 able to run on gasoline (petrol) or methanol , and had an unusually-placed rear-mounted Buick Dynaflow automatic transmission.This was later changed to a GM Hydramatic. In addition to its jet inspired design, the 1951 Le Sabre also featured numerous advanced features, including a 12-volt electrical system (most cars of the period were 6-volt), heated seats, electric headlights concealed behind the center oval "jet intake", front bumper dagmars (later made famous on 1957-9 Cadillacs), a water sensor to activate the power top, and electric lifting jacks integral to the chassis to aid tire changes. (This idea would be copied decades later by Formula One race teams.)

The Le Sabre was GM's first use of a rear-mounted transmission, which would reappear in the Pontiac Tempest. It was also the first use of the aluminum-block 215, which appeared in the Buick Special and Skylark, Olds Cutlass F-85 and Jetfire, Pontiac Tempest and LeMans, and ultimately in numerous British marques, including Land Rover, Triumph, MG, and Morgan.

It was also GM's first use of the Le Sabre name, which would be adopted by Buick for a new line in 1959.

The Buick Y-Job was the auto industry's first concept car, produced by Buick (a division of General Motors), in 1938. Designed by Harley J. Earl, the car had power-operated hidden headlamps, a "gunsight" hood ornament, wraparound bumpers, flush door handles, and prefigured styling cues used by Buick until the 1950s.

The car itself was actually driven for a number of years by Harley Earl, until he replaced it with a 1951 model car. Sometime after that, the car was restored at the Henry Ford Museum, until 1993 when it was returned to the GM Design Center.

The "Y" in the name has several explanations:

All experimental cars were called "X", so Earl simply went to the next letter in the alphabet

The "Y" designation was selected by Earl because it was used extensively in the aviation industry denoting the most advanced prototypes.