Puzzle #1349 - GM Cadet Microcar

[Otto Puzzell]

Know what it is?

Please, respond below and let us know the make and model of this car. 

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[Otto Puzzell]

Experts?

[hugo90]

Is this from General Motors?  I saw something about this recently, and that's what comes to mind.

[Otto Puzzell]

You are on the right track...

[Otto Puzzell]

Promoted

[grobmotorix]

Looks like a shrinked fun fair version of the Corvette Stingray C2

[Otto Puzzell]

Looks like a shrinked fun fair version of the Corvette Stingray C2

Interesting observation - and there is a connection.

[grobmotorix]

to fun fairs? 

[Allemano]

Electric?

[Otto Puzzell]

to fun fairs? 

No...

[Otto Puzzell]

Electric?

Had it gone into production it would have had a gasoline engine.

[Allemano]

So, it remained only a non-functional mock-up?

[Allemano]

Caption of the original pic:
1956 GM Styling Studio, (Peter) Brock in a full-size mock-up of his Cadet. "students car"

a second pic:

[Otto Puzzell]

Yes!

Says Pete Brock, who was 19 when he designed the car:

(Harley) Earle was so excited about the Cadet, he planned to showcase the car to all of GM' s upper level executives and dealers at Styling's annual internal VIP car show.  At the show's end, after attendees had survived hours of blinding chrome on the new 1958 GM line-up, the lights went low as other cars were cleared away, and then they came back up on this beautiful little jewel of a $1000 car, slowly spinning on a turntable... the Cadet.  The audience fell silent.  It was about a third the size of anything they'd seen all day. No one knew what to say... they sat in stunned silence!  The only chrome on it resided on slender door handles.  After a few moments, the president of GM, Harlow Curtice, stood and formally announced: "GM doesn't make small cars".  The lights went out and the car was never mentioned again.

Brock had conceived it as a low-cost commuter for students - a demographic of which he was a part. The project started with a casual conversation between Earl and Brock:

Styling's towering presence engaged the young designer in an informal conversation and asked what the young kid thought of GM's current direction.  No doubt thinking he'd hear enthusiastic praise, Earle was probably a bit surprised when Brock immediately shared that he thought GM was missing the mark.  "There are two areas we should address," responded Brock. "First the Europeans are making tremendous inroads on American sales. We don't have a single small car in our line up to counter that. Second, there's an immense, untapped market for a "student's car" that no one has even considered; GM's missing it out there. Young guys like me, going to school can't afford big cars.  We can't even park them on campus"; Peter relays with a chuckle at the thought of his telling Harley Earle he didn't understand the car market.

[Allemano]

history repeats itself...

[Carnut]

For 1 point identify this little car and when it was built?

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[Carnut]

Since this was actually a repost and the Rookies haven't identified it I'm merging it with the original puzzle.

[shamrock]

Mr Brock was/is very talanted