The 1950s in America-Pompadour haircuts, rock and roll, and the resurgence of the American Automobile.

When the boys came back from war and kissed their sweethearts for the first time in months or years, it was a symbol of victorious love fueled by new beginnings. For the auto industry, it was same.

As most know, the war halted most production of new cars from the big 3 in America (Ford, GM, Chrysler) because they were actively involved in supporting the government, so when all was said and done in Germany, it was open season for designers and engineers to recapture the people's attention with new-age transportation.

GM, in particular, had a special method of displaying new concepts to gift the public with a fever dream of retro-futuristic automobiles. This is the Motorama Oldsmobile F-88.

Related: 10 Classic Cars From The 1950s We Wish We Could Easily Drive Today

via Pinterest

One of GM's coolest ideas, Motorama was an auto show exhibition primarily featuring their futuristic cars and concepts of the period. Most notably of the several concepts that made its way to the show was the Oldsmobile F-88.

Built in 1954, this car was a Corvette-based 2 door convertible and spotted some existing factory parts like the engine, transmission, and gauges, but that was it. Otherwise, the elegant road-going machine was a goddess of original talent by Harley Earl, Jack Humbert, and Art Ross, all of which worked as higher-ups in the GM/Olds design center.

Related: 10 Concepts That Could've Saved Oldsmobile (And 15 That Could Rescue Other GM Brands)

Three F-88s Were Built

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All the F-88 stories may have you believing that there were two or even three F-88s and that one had been burned to the ground.

In reality, there were three and each was built about two years after one another, each looking wildly different than each other.

All concept cars have wonderful backstories, the Porsche 928 sedan, the mid-engine Miatas, and the Lancia Stratos Zero are all wonderful examples of not only fascinating information, but of the pure creativity of the artists themselves.

And among all the cool facts surrounding the F-88s build, debut, and conception, it is the car's survival itself that mystifies us the most.

Related: 25 Sad Pictures Of This Forgotten$28 Million Car Collection

Reversing Fate

via Wheels

Obviously, the fact that it sold for $3.5 million should tell you that it still exists. The car was auctioned off in 2005 at Barrett-Jackson to a Seattle man named Gordon Apker and now, the world is being filled in on this gem.

Back in the Motorama days of the '50s, GM would, more often than not, destroy the beautiful concept cars that rolled off the stages. Once done entertaining the masses, they were crushed and left to rot. But not the F-88. GM was adamant about destroying these cars not because it would reveal their magic car-building secrets (which would be cooler) but because of safety.

When a car that hasn't been tested, driven, or certified, gets into the hands of a private party it could result in a crash and a nasty legal battle for the company. Luckily for the first F-88, it was given to the sponsorship division and they decided its fate would be life. The car was shipped off to a garage in Michigan and eventually was seen being driven.

Rumor has it that Oldsmobile Styling VP, Harley Earl, caught a bad case of seller's remorse, and had another twin built for himself, this time in a vibrant red.

Nowadays, the notion of tossing a piece of concept art or a survivor car away, would be deemed insane. But back then, the nostalgia for these types of things simply wasn't there. It was only until about 30 or 40 years ago that collectors found a soft spot for one-off cars and started paying big bucks for them.

The F-88 specifically though, is piece of history that captures not only the special design within its body panels, but what the artists of the 1950s thought the utopian future would look like. It is a capsule in which the hopeful artist pours his soul into and is eventually discovered 60 years in the future.

Source: HowStuffWorks.com

Next: 10 Cars That Make Us Wish Oldsmobile Was Still Around (And 10 That Make Us Glad They're Gone)