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The photographs below feature historical content from two scrap books chronicling the very first adventures of LeSabre after this super car was first introduced to a world audience in 1951 by its master builder, Harley Earl. These oversized volumes weighing approximately twenty pounds a piece, along with other archival booty, are stored in custom made boxes locked up in a secure chamber within General Motors.

Where is the LeSabre automobile today? 

This one-of-a-kind motoramic masterpiece is currently on display at the General Motors Heritage Center located in Warren, Michigan. And, when LeSabre is not being publicly exhibited at a museum or some international auto show, often enough this innovative automobile is housed within the design headquarters of GM's Technical Center Styling building. 

Even after 50-years, most people's reactions remain the same: The futuristic LeSabre is like something from another galaxy.

Why is the LeSabre not only the most expensive automobile ever made, but also the most famous dream car of all-time? Find out below...for the tangible evidence behind these assertions are strictly based on numbers and finance and the actual enormous media coverage this dramatic "world car" accomplished.

Since this GM automobile (Le Sabre was known as XP-8, too) was also used to conduct a marketing research test on a grand scale, HJE's Styling Section gathered all the statistical information and data afterwards. An estimate was compiled to find out how many people "worldwide" might have seen, read or heard about Le Sabre over the course of the entire calendar year of 1951. Harley Earl had his reasons for introducing this car within the mid-century calendar year [Dec. 28, 1950 was when the press release was issued]. Here are some notable figures that were collected:

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The Associated Press story by David J. Wilkie reached an estimated 2,000 newspapers and was rewritten for approximately 400 radio stations along with various television communiqué. (TV was just becoming popular.)

 

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The United Press story by Norman Nicholson was relayed to 1,200 newspapers, on both the morning and evening cycles, and 1,000 radio stations received copy.

 

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Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) serviced 825 newspapers with a feature story and two mats, an estimated circulation of 25,000,000. 

 

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Central Press serviced a photo mat to more than 225 newspapers with an estimated circulation of 18,600,000. United Features Syndicated sent photo mats to 150 newspaper subscribers, covering an estimated circulation of 15,000,000. The story was also picked up and elaborated upon by a number of the leading automotive and industrial editors. Other feature services sent out the story by way of such columnists as Fred Othman and Bob Considine.

All the bullet-pointed data above was simply transcribed from the information taken from this historic record on LE SABRE, Vol. I...examples below:

The following text is from the "ENGINEERS' HOTROD" feature story, shown above: "Dream Car Built by G.M. to Test All the Gadgets in the Book. Can you imagine a car that has everything ever dreamed up by a hotrod-artist, an expert in aerodynamics, an imaginative stylist and a score or so of mechanical engineers?"

To see "Le Sabre Goes Abroad" click any image directly below