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GM’s Heritage Collection: fuel cells, EVs, concept cars, and more

We spent a few hours in the company of some legendary cars this week.

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GM’s Heritage Collection: fuel cells, EVs, concept cars, and more
Jonathan M. Gitlin

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich.—A little way outside of Detroit is the General Motors (GM) Heritage Center, an unassuming warehouse in a neighborhood of unassuming warehouses. On display inside the Heritage Center are some of GM's 600 significant cars from its history. Concepts, first-off-the-line models, priceless racing cars, and more. Visits to the collection are by appointment only, but as we were in town this week, the company kindly invited us to come take a look at their history in the metal. What follows is a small sample of the automotive delights on show.

EVs and more

Given that this is Cars Technica, we thought it fitting to start with some of the electric vehicles (EVs) and fuel efficiency demonstrators:

  • Here lurk the alternate energy and fuel efficiency concepts.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • This year we've seen a big push towards hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but they've been around for nearly half a century. This is the Electrovan, from 1966. It weighs over 10,000lbs (4535kg).
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The fuel cell in the back of the Electrovan.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The regular Corvair was a rear-engined car that Ralph Nader made his name attacking, in the book Unsafe at any speed. This electric version—called the Electrovair II—presumably had better handling since there's a lot of weight over the front axle thanks to all those silver-zinc cells.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The rear of the Electrovair II is also full of batteries, as well as the 100hp (75kW) engine.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • A concept of an EV city car from 1969, the XP512E. It's powered by lead-acid batteries that give it a range of 52 miles at 25mph (83km at 40km/h).
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The XP512G, also from 1969. Ever-so slightly larger than the 'G, this one has a 0.3l engine.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • I don't think the XP512s would look out of place in an episode of the Banana Splits.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • This is the AUTOnomy, from 2002. It has a 'skateboard' chassis with an electric drivetrain, onto which different bodies could be fitted.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The Chevrolet Express Concept from 1987 is powered by a gas turbine engine. It also made a brief appearance in Back to the Future II.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • 1992's Ultralite Experimental. Built in a collaboration with Bert Rutan's Scaled Composites company, it has a drag coefficient of just 0.19 and weighs a mere 1400lbs (635kg).
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The 1990 Impact EV was the concept that led to the EV-1, GM's first electric car.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The pod-like vehicle in the foreground is the EN-V from 2010.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin

Corvettes, Corvettes, more Corvettes, oh and some Corvairs

Not only were we lucky enough to get a couple of hours inside the otherwise-deserted collection, we were also met by Harlan Charles, Corvette's product manager. Charles graciously spent an hour talking Corvette history and design with us. Of particular interest to Ars were all the mid-engined Corvette prototypes and concepts, as well as the legendary (and stunning) Mako Shark.

  • Corvettes, from the C1 through the C6.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • 2009's Corvette Stingray concept. Quite a lot of this car's design cues made it to the production C7 Corvette. According to Harlan Charles (Corvette's product manager), this concept was actually made quite a few years earlier.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The legendary Corvette Mako Shark concept from 1961, designed by Larry Shinoda. GM Design boss Bill Mitchell wanted the car painted to match an actual stuffed mako shark that hung on his wall. After repeated attempts to match the color in the paintshop fell short of his expectations, the team snuck into his office one night and repainted the fish to match the car. I am assured that is in fact a true story.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • Although the Mako Shark went on to strongly influence the design of the C3 Corvette Stingray, it's actually a fair bit larger.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • This was my personal favorite find in the collection, 1990's CERV III. Mid-engined, AWD, four-wheel steering, and a twin-turbo variant of the Lotus-designed LT5 V8 good for 650hp (484kW).
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The CERV III was actually considered seriously for production according to Harlan Charles. It would have sold for around $400,000 in the mid-1990s. Today's C7 Z06 has the same amount of power for about one sixth the price (corrected for inflation).
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • Another mid-engined Corvette, the 1973 Aerovette. Had the oil shock not occured, this may well have ended up a production car.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The Aerovette was originally built with a rotary engine, although this was later replaced with a transverse V8 because rotaries have terrible economy.
  • XP-895, a mid-engined Corvette prototype from 1972. This one featured an aluminum body, built by Reynolds.
  • 1961 brought us the Astro 1 concept. Built on a Corvair platform, it's incredibly low to the ground, and the entire cockpit bubble lifts up instead of doors. We'd have taken a closer look inside but the battery that lifts the roof was dead.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The Corvair Monza GT from 1962. Unlike the production Corvair, this car was mid-engined, not rear-engined. This was sadly only ever a concept.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The rear of the Monza GT is even prettier than the front.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The 1963 Corvair Super Spyder concept. Possibly my second-favorite car of the collection, ruined by the extremely realistic spider logos on it. *shudder*
    Jonathan M. Gitlin

Conceptually speaking...

There were plenty more concepts on display. The 2004 Chevrolet Nomad, the 1962 Corvair Monza GT, and the 1963 Astro 1 all fought hard for second-favorites in our affection.

  • A row of important GM concept cars. Click through to take a closer look at some of them.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The Buick Y-Job, possibly the first ever concept? Designed by legendary stylist Harley Earl, he used to drive to work on nice days. The art deco styling is a joy to behold in person.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • 1956's Firebird II looks like it stepped out of an episode of the Jetsons. It was powered by a gas turbine and was capable of autonomous driving, following a guide-wire embedded in the road.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • 1958 brought us the Firebird 3. That jet-age styling was in full effect, and this car wouldn't have looked out of place on the apron at an Air Defense Command airbase, ready to intercept Soviet bombers.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • A trio of Cadillac concepts. The mid-engined Cien from 2002, the Converj from 2009 (this is a thinly veiled ELR production car), and the immense Sixteen from 2003.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • In 2004, GM showed us the Saturn Sky, Pontiac Solstice, and Chevrolet Nomad concept cars. The first two went into production but this one didn't, something that still makes me sad.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • I mean, who wouldn't want a little RWD shooting brake? Unlike the Solstice and Sky, there's even room for stuff in the back.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin

An evolution of automotive processing

Since we're a tech publication, we'd be remiss if we didn't feature some of the silicon on display.

  • Meet Boss. In 2009, Boss won GM and Carnegie Mellon University $2 million by coming first in DARPA's autonomous driving challenge. And there's you thinking that Google invented the self-driving car...
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The array of sensors atop Boss' roof.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • GM's earliest automotive microprocessor. intel supplied the motherboard.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • This is the box that let engineers control that computer.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • The second-generation GM microprocessor.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • By 1978 things were a bit more advanced. This generation III device used Motorola 6800 chips.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • Finally, a production unit from 2011. My how things have changed.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin

There were some production cars too

Finally, a smattering of the other cars in the collection. There were also more engines than you could shake a stick at, but in the interests of space we've not included those. If people really want to see them, leave a comment!

  • OK, it wasn't all concept cars and prototypes. This is a row of SS muscle cars.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • Yet more muscle cars. According to my guide, these are usually visitors' most popular cars.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
  • A evolution of the Chevy Suburban.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin
Jonathan M. Gitlin Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC.

Channel Ars Technica

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