Wild And Wacky Cars Of The 2020 Chicago Auto Show

Feb. 08, 2020 8:25 AM ET by Jared Rosenholtz / 2 Comments

There's nothing cooler than an old-school concept car.

While perusing the new models on show at the 2020 Chicago Motor Show we stumbled upon a small stand put together by Klairmont Kollections, a Chicago-based company that boasts over 300 rare and exotic vehicles in its 100,000 square foot facility.

Klairmont Kollections is a not-for-profit organization that helps to engage the next-generation with workshops, field trips, and partnerships. To show a taste of what the collection has to offer, the group brought out some old-school, eye-catching concepts that made us stop and stare.

Studebaker Ice Princess

The most outrageous car of the bunch (pictured above and below) is the six-wheeled Studebaker Ice Princess XF58. This one-of-one creation reportedly uses an 8.2-liter Cadillac V8 producing somewhere in the realm of 400 horsepower. It also comes dripping in unique details including gold seats, side pipe exhaust, '50s-style taillights, dual canopy, and a skull shifter.

Golden Sahara II

The Golden Sahara II started life as a 1953 Lincoln Capri, which was completely wrecked back in the 1950s. The task of reviving it and transforming it into a radical concept car fell to George Barris, the man who later went on to design the original Batmobile in the 1960s. The car was built at an Ohio tool shop in 1956 for $75,000, which equates to nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in today's money.

It was highly advanced for its time, with features like airplane-inspired drive controls, remote engine start, and even a remote to accelerate and brake the car like Hyundai's new Smart park feature. The car originally rode on custom translucent tires by Goodyear and now uses similar tires with built-in lights. Drivers of the Golden Sahara II could watch television on a black and white screen, make a cocktail using the built-in refrigerator, or lounge in the rear sofa seat. It was truly a '50s vision of the future.

Corvette Nomad

What would you get if you took a Chevrolet Corvette and mated it with the more practical Nomad? A Corvette Nomad, of course. General Motors introduced the original Corvette Nomad at the New York Motorama show in 1954, demonstrating what a more practical Vette might look like. The original car is said to have been destroyed but many replicas, like this example, have been built over the years.

Rolls-Royce Silver Spur

Rolls-Royce vehicles are pretty impressive all on their own, but a Florida-based luxury company called Diamond Club wanted to make its 1983 Silver Spur, a predecessor to the modern Rolls-Royce Phantom, even more flashy. That's why Diamond Club equipped the car with over one million Swarovski Crystals in a two-tone blue and platinum finish. Applying all of the crystals reportedly took an entire year, as each on had to be put on by hand, one at a time.