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The General Motors Le Sabre was a 1951 concept car. Possibly the most important show car of the 1950s, it introduced aircraft-inspired design elements such as the wrap-around windshield and tail fins, which became common on automotive designs during the second half of the decade.
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, and Earl had hoped to carry this concept into automobile design.
The project was a follow-up to Earl's famous 1938 Y-job. Like all his projects, it was built to be roadworthy, and became Earl's personal automobile for two years after finishing its tour of the auto show circuit. 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 (like Indy roadsters of the period did), 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, Oldsmobile Cutlass/F-85 and Jetfire, Pontiac Tempest and LeMans, and ultimately in numerous British marques, including Rover, Triumph, MG, and Morgan.
A 215 cubic-inch V8 ventilated by 90-degree, opposed valves in hemispherical chambers represented the best of racing technology. However, the valves are operated by an elaborate arrangement of pushrods from a single camshaft suspended under the intake manifold; new technology, old technology, and clever-solution technology meeting on a common ground. Induction is accomplished by a Detroit Diesel Supercharger of the Roots variety, with a pair of three-blade impellers augmenting fuel and air compression.
When Le Sabre was new, a pair of Bendix Eclipse side-draft Carburetors carefully metered two different fuels. At low or constant speeds one Carburetor drew premium gasoline from an aluminium fuel tank lined with a rubber safety bladder. When the accelerator was pressed over half its stroke a progressive linkage opened the second Carburetor, which drew from another 20-gallon-bladder tank filled with methyl alcohol (methanol). Presently, the Supercharger has to make do with the gasoline system alone.
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