1media/Misc_02.jpgmedia/Misc_04.jpg2020-06-30T10:52:54-07:001960 DiDia 1505plain2020-08-22T17:39:34-07:00Seen 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.
1media/Misc_04.jpg2020-06-30T10:49:01-07:001947 Davis Divan3plain2020-08-27T16:03:29-07:00Van Nuys-based manufacturer Gary Davis sits in a threewheeled “Divan Sedan,” an unusual budget car made of lightweight aluminum. It had one wide seat that could accommodate four people. After financial difficulties and Gary Davis’ fraud indictment, the Davis Motor Car Company shut down in 1948. Although it only built about fifteen of these micro-cars, nearly all of them are still in existence. The absence of external styling on the Divan presaged the emphasis on aerodynamics by later automakers.