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Cadillac Voyage Concept

Cadillac Voyage Concept

Forgotten Concepts, Forgotten Concepts

This is an installment in a series of posts looking back on show cars that we feel deserved a little more attention than they got. If you have a suggestion for a Forgotten Concept topic, please shoot us a line or leave a comment below.

Cadillac Voyage Concept

First Seen: 1988 General Motors Teamwork & Technology Show

Description: Full-size sedan

Sales Pitch: “Rolling technology laboratory.”

More Forgotten Concepts

Cadillac Voyage Concept

Cadillac Voyage Concept

Details:

First seen in 1988 at the General Motors Teamwork & Technology Show held at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City, the Cadillac Voyage Concept served as showcase for several burgeoning technologies, including adaptive all-wheel drive, high-tech V8 engines, and voice-recognition phone operation.

The large sedan stretched 212.6 inches long overall–roughly 8 inches less than the contemporaneous Cadillac Brougham. Designed by a team led by GM VP of Design Chuck Jordan, the Voyage boasted a claimed drag coefficient of just .28 Cd–well below that of a 1988 Chevrolet Corvette.

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The Voyage’s power came from a fuel-injected 4.5-liter overhead-cam V8, good for a reported 275 horsepower. A 4-speed automatic transmission and adaptive AWD rounded out the powertrain.

Inside, the Voyage made use of a pair of dash-mounted monitors, one of which supported the car’s navigation system. Mounted to the dash was a hands-free mobile-phone, designed to be operated entirely by voice prompt. The Voyage Concept was followed in 1989 by a coupe variant dubbed Solitaire. The Solitaire Concept followed the same overall design theme as the Voyage, but featured unique styling elements and a Lotus-supplied 6.6-liter V12 engine rated at 430 horsepower.

Forgotten Concept: Oldsmobile Profile

Cadillac Voyage Concept

Cadillac Voyage Concept

CG Says:

Why not? In retrospect it’s easy to suggest that by this time Cadillac ought to have been thinking about SUVs, but in the late Eighties there was still plenty of interest in big, powerful, luxurious sedans.

The Voyage’s 4.5-liter V8 was predictive of the production Northstar 4.6-liter V8, which arrived under the hoods of select Cadillacs only a few years later. As for that drag coefficient, Cadillac claimed the Voyage could reach 200 mph, but that seems unlikely. A roadable version of this vehicle would probably have weighed nearly 5000 pounds, and with only 275 horsepower under the hood… well, 140 mph feels more realistic.

Big question: Why would customers want to see a hands-free phone? I guess a concept car needs visual elements that demonstrate specific features, but shouldn’t a voice-controlled phone be largely hidden from sight?

Forgotten Concept: Lincoln Sentinel

Cadillac Voyage Concept

Cadillac Voyage Concept

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Cadillac Voyage Concept Gallery

Forgotten Concept: Mercedes-Benz Auto 2000

Written by: Tom Appel on January 14, 2021.

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Town Sedan

1929 Cadillac Series 341B

by Leigh Dorrington

Note: The following story was excerpted from the April 2012 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine

Cadillac was due for a “quiet” year in 1929, considering the previous season had seen the arrival of all-new Series 341 cars. They came with attractive styling by Harley Earl, fresh off his success with the 1927 LaSalle; a new 90-bhp 341-cubic-inch version of Caddy’s established L-head V-8 engine; and a chassis with wheelbase stretched to 140 inches, a switch to torque-tube drive, and the adoption of 32-inch-diameter tires.

More from Collectible Automobile Magazine

Those core features were indeed carried into 1929, but Cadillac was still able to make some noise in the automotive field—ironically by quieting things down. The marque introduced the “Synchro-Mesh” transmission, which made it easier to shift into second or third gear without a gratingly audible clash of metal. Other improvements for ’29 included internal-expanding brakes at all four wheels (external-contracting bands had been used previously at the rear), double-acting Delco shock absorbers, safety glass, and an adjustable front seat on most models. Fender-top parking lights replaced cowl lamps.

1929 Cadillac Series 341B

1929 Cadillac Series 341B

The 1929 Series 341B came in 11 “standard” models with Fisher bodies, plus another dozen “Fleetwood Custom” styles. Among the former was the “Town Sedan” featured here, a close-coupled five-passenger four-door model with a shortened body that made room at the back for a large detachable trunk.

Written by: Guest Author on December 1, 2020.

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1964 Ford Galaxie 500

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

Note: The following story was excerpted from the June 2011 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine

By John Biel

When Gary Spracklin answered the classified ad in a hobby publication, he thought he was buying a whistle-clean daily driver. What he wound up with was an unlikely “trailer queen,” a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 four-door sedan that gets the royal treatment because he decided he wants to keep the odometer reading below 1000.

More from Collectible Automobile Magazine

That’s right: Spracklin’s 47-year-old Wimbledon White-over-Rangoon Red Galaxie has just 920 miles on it and he’d like to keep it that way. With a few minor exceptions, it’s an homage to originality and preservation.

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

Faced with a loss of storage space, the Galaxie’s previous owners in New York State put the car up for sale in 1997. A fan and collector of full-sized ’64 Fords (a convertible was his first car at age 16), Spracklin thought the demure four-door sedan would make ideal transportation for someone with his interests. But once he got the Galaxie home to Omaha, Nebraska, he realized that his anticipated “driver” was really a virtual time capsule of how Fords were made in 1964.

At the time Spracklin purchased the car, it had a mere 905 miles on the odometer. Only the original battery and fanbelt had been replaced by earlier owners. Almost immediately he opted to maintain the car as a showpiece of originality. The 15 miles the Galaxie has accumulated since Spracklin obtained it were mostly added in increments necessary to move it around his shop or show fields. In his care, only the engine pulleys and a leaking heater core have been replaced—and Spracklin still has the original pulleys. Though they’re showing signs of age, the bias-ply tires are the same ones that have been on the car since it left the factory.

Photo Feature: 1958 Ford Del Rio Ranch Wagon

1964 Galaxie

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

Full-sized 1964 Fords were at the end of a four-year styling cycle. However, that didn’t prevent two- and four-door sedans from receiving a new roof design that had a bit more of a forward slope than the Thunderbird-inspired unit of recent years.

Wheelbase stayed pat at 119 inches. Leaf springs supported the rear of big Fords for the last time.

With five body styles, the Galaxie 500 series offered the broadest availability of models and was the volume leader among “standard” Fords. The Galaxie 500 Town Sedan—company nomenclature for a four-door sedan—accounted for 198,805 orders, making it second only to the Galaxie 500 two-door hardtop for the affections of Ford customers that year.

Photo Feature: 1966 Ford Thunderbird

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

Gary Spracklin’s age-defying car comes pretty close to depicting a Galaxie 500 four-door sedan in its $2667 base state. Blackwall tires, hubcaps, and a three-speed column-shift manual transmission were all standard-equipment items.

The handful of extra-cost options found on Spracklin’s Galaxie starts with its 289-cid V-8 engine. With a two-barrel carburetor and 9.0:1 compression, it develops 195 horsepower at 4400 rpm. As a replacement for the standard 223-cube inline six, it added $109 to the sticker price and was just the first of several available V8s that ran all the way to a 425-horse 427-cube job. Other add-ons to the featured car include its two-tone paint, AM radio, and seat belts.

Photo Feature: 1960 Plymouth Fury Hardtop Coupe

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan Gallery

1964 Ford Galaxie 500

Written by: John Biel on September 7, 2020.