Seeing how beautiful the Flajole Forerunner prototype was?

You may have heard or known about the Nash Metropolitan. The car was a unique two-door American classic car that is one of the works of designer William J. Flajole. And also know that the car was produced in the period 1953 to 1961 by Nash Motors which was later merged and changed to American Motor Company in 1954. Here's the car that was modified to an automotive work called Nashole.

1955 Flajole Forerunner prototype is built based on Nash Metropolitan by William J. Flajole. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2VGhmGI)

After his success with Nash Metropolitan, the automotive designer Bill Flajole then began to design his private-owned car, which then built the Flajole Forerunner prototype in 1955. From its appearance, it can be seen that the design of the Flajole Forerunner is heavily influenced by the Jaguar XK120, but it has a high fender design plus its fastback body shape decreasing at the rear and is equipped with a retractable cabin roof.

Interior view of the 1955 Flajole Forerunner prototype. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2TATMsf)

Besides having a dramatic long hood profile, the Flajole Forerunner car also has a Plexiglass glass roof that can be opened automatically. In addition, the rear also has a sharp downhill design with a hole that functions as the place where its spare tire stored right above the rear bumper.

The steering wheel and dashboard view of the 1955 Flajole Forerunner prototype. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2VGhmGI)

The beauty of the Flajole Forerunner car more shines when the entire exterior is covered with a bright beige paint mixed contrasting with dark purple and combined with pearl white in the niches around the front and rear wheels.

Left side view of 1955 Flajole Forerunner prototype. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2VGhmGI)

The appearance of the Flajole Forerunner also marks the first appearance of the design of the body niche around the wheel, before Chevrolet then applied it to the Corvette model in 1956. In addition to the innovative small niche design and automatic retractable roof panel, the Flajole Forerunner also features commercial airplane-style seats that have head restraints on the top.

The 1955 Flajole Forerunner prototype is used dual overhead camshaft six-cylinder engine coupled with the four-speed transmission system. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2TATMsf)

Besides being able to add comfort while driving, this head restraint is also an innovation that is fairly advanced at the time, because it has not been thought of by other automotive designers for the safety factor held by car seats in minimizing injury in the car accident.

Left-rear side view of 1955 Flajole Forerunner prototype. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2VGhmGI)

Once completed, Bill Flajole then used this Forerunner car as a means of personal transportation until the early 1970s and attracted many people's attention wherever he was. Then he donated the Flajole Forerunner to the Blackhawk Automotive Museum and then sold it to Sidney Craig through an auction in 1998.

Eleven years later, Bonhams auctioned off the Flajole Forerunner prototype at their 'Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia' event at Quail Lodge Resort in 2009, the car is valued at the US $188,500. Then in 2012, the car was auctioned once again and this time auctioned by Barrett-Jackson and is worth the US $200,000 or around Rp.2.6 billion. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | BONHAMS | BARRET-JACKSON | SILODROME]

Note: This blog  can be accessed via your smart phone