iPetersen Automotive MuseumMiracle Mile
Transatlantic Lines
Explores the design dialogue between American automakers and Italian coachbuilders, pairing American mechanical strength with European styling.
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In 1960 Gordon Kelly, a Wisconsin industrial designer, took a scale model of his dream car to Italy unannounced and talked Alfredo Vignale into building it. The hand-formed steel coupe on a Corvette chassis is here, and Car and Driver called it "the hit of the show" at the 1961 Paris Salon. In a town full of unsolicited pitches, this one got made.
The 3rd-floor show follows a two-way trade. Before the war, American luxury cars impressed Italy's coachbuilders; after 1945, with Detroit's styling barely changed from prewar, Chrysler and General Motors went to Italian studios for show cars. You walk among American chassis and engines in Italian bodies: Briggs Cunningham's C-3 puts a Chrysler Hemi V-8 under Vignale bodywork, and DeSoto's Adventurer II wears Giovanni Savonuzzi's smooth "Supersonic" lines.
Come for bodywork and the people who drew it. The museum says cars can change without notice. It's included with admission: $52 for adults, $25 for ages 4 to 11, both with the Vault, until 27 February 2028.
Look for
The 1961 Kelly Corvette by Vignale
A hand-formed steel grand tourer body, inspired by European racing coupes, over a Corvette chassis, built from one Wisconsin designer's sketches and scale model.
The 1953 Cunningham C-3 by Vignale
Look for the Vignale body on a modified racing chassis with a Chrysler Hemi V-8, one of the road cars built so Cunningham could race at Le Mans as a manufacturer.
The 1954 DeSoto Adventurer II by Ghia
Savonuzzi's Supersonic styling on a DeSoto chassis: smooth sides and low proportions meant to look in motion standing still, though reactions at its debut were mixed.
Good for
- Nerding Out
- Rainy Days
With kids
Tickets for ages 4 to 11 are $25 and include the Vault.
Also at Petersen Automotive Museum
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Image credits
8
- Transatlantic LinesCourtesy of Petersen Automotive Museum
- Screenwriting: Takes on LA NoirCourtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
- Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood IconCourtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
- Studio Ghiblis PONYOCourtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
- Petersen Automotive MuseumDavid Zaitz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Academy Museum of Motion PicturesDowntowngal / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)ArchEyes Magazine / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
- Craft ContemporaryPaul Esposito / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain