The Space Age Hits the Road: Visionary Car Designs in America

1960 DiDia 150

Seen here in front of a nightclub on La Cienega, this science fiction-inspired car was hand-built for clothing designer Andrew DiDia. The car featured an aluminum body, lights that turned with the wheels, and thirty coats of paint mixed with glittering diamond dust. The modified Cadillac engine gave it a top speed of 140 miles per hour. “Mack the Knife” crooner Bobby Darin stunned onlookers by arriving in the car at the 1961 Academy Awards and later donated it to the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, where it is still on display.

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