The story of Syd Mead’s futuristic Ford Gyron car
Syd Mead is a visual futurist and neofuturist concept artist famous for creating the visual design for the original Blade Runner movie.He once said that science fiction is “reality ahead of schedule.” And like many others who worked within the sci-fi paradigm, he was proven to be right.
We now live in a world where virtual reality is a fact, and previously unimaginable things like Pokemon running the streets via augmented reality exist. The list of things that science fiction has foretold is a long one.
Syd Mead not only had a knack for imagining what’s coming in the future—what types of fiction would become non-fiction—he also helped create it. However, for all his creativity in films like Blade Runner, but also the likes of Aliens and Tron, one of his concepts never stepped over the fantasy-into-reality threshold.
Syd Mead’s Ford Gyron debuted at the Detroit Motor Show in 1961 and is among one of many concept cars that Syd created (also see the Playboy Land Yacht). It was a wild design. It had two wheels, so it could be argued that it was more motorcycle than car, but its two passengers would sit side-by-side. When stationary, two legs would extend either side to hold it upright. When moving, the Gyron used a gyroscope to maintain balance. It’s swooping, futuristic, Jetsons-like lines were beautiful, but while Syd’s life’s work and creative influence is profound across cinema and art, his beautiful Gyron concept car never made it.
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