Buick Y job Concept car

The Buick Y-Job is the first concept vehicle in history . Developed by the manufacturer Buick in 1938  to show new technology and car design features. It was intended to show what futuristic cars GM and Buick could design, but it was also conceived of as classy personal transportation for Earl to use.

It was designed by Harley Earl . Harley Earl came to Hollywood. His father, JW Earl, had been working as a coachbuilder since 1889 and initially devoted himself to horse-drawn carriages, but founded the Earl Automobile Works in 1908 and from then on manufactured special bodies and components for cars. In 1938, the Styling Division, under Earl's supervision, designed and built the Buick Y-Job, the first style study in the history of the automobile. Although one-offs with special bodies had been produced before, the Y-Job was the first car from a mass manufacturer that served the sole purpose of attracting the attention of the media and the masses.The Y-Job was presented to the public and driven daily by Earl thereafter. The Y-job was started in 1938, using a current chassis and Buick 320-cubic inch straight 8. A convertible with bench front seat.

Its low overall height of 58-inches was helped by its small 13-inch wheels. The car had pneumatically operated pop-up hidden headlamps , a radiator's figurine reminiscent of a rifle, special door handles, and styling details that Buick used until the 1950s. It was the first vehicle with power windows. Smoothed in fenders with ribbed trim, no running boards, a boat tail-like trunk. The top folded into a compartment ahead of the trunk. 

There are several explanations for the name "Y": All test vehicles were called "X", so Earl simply used the next letter in the alphabet. The name "Y" was chosen by Earl because it was widely used in the aviation industry, where it referred to the most advanced prototypes. The Y-Job was shown to the public after. its completion, but not like the concept cars of today. Its main purpose was the personal transportation of Earl.  He reportedly drove it regularly from 1940 until well past the second world war.