Jan 22, 2019
Updated: Jul 2, 2021
Dream cars from the early 1950s were inspired by jet aircraft styling and rockets, like the futuristic Ford FX-Atmos.
Appearing at the 1954 Chicago Auto Show, the FX-Atmos featured tail fins, rocket exhaust taillights, needle-like radio antennae extending from the front and a glass dome roof.
The unusual cockpit had a center-mounted driver’s seat and 2-passenger rear seats. There was no steering wheel. The driver operated a pair of hand-grips while viewing a "Roadarscope" (radar screen) that providied highway information via the instrument panel.
Pin up model Bettie Page was featured with the Ford FX Atmos. She dated auto designer Richard Arbib in the early fifties. Arbib's secret romance with Betty Paige was confirmed by his son, Richard Arbib Jr., a novelist living in California.
Arbib's futuristic designs were light years ahead of their time.
He went on to create many other space age masterpieces that are showcased in a Retro Eye Candy Series post called "Space Age Masterpieces By Richard Arbib" found here.