Alternative fuel vehicles are nothing new. Check out the 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car

These days, there’s a lot of talk about alternative fuel vehicles. From hydrogen to electric, from flex fuel to bio-fuel, automakers are always in pursuit of the next big revolution.

This phenomenon isn’t new, however. Since the beginning of the automobile, engineers have tinkered with different types of propulsion. Production and concept cars have run on everything from alcohol to nuclear. And 50-years ago, Chrysler’s answer was the Turbine Car.

Las Vegas was the center of the automotive universe during the 2011 SEMA Show

The SEMA Show. What a circus.

For one week, every company, every person, every eye of everybody who is anybody in the automotive world is focused squarely on the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas. This event is like no other—bigger, crazier, more popular. The sheer size of the facility they hold it in boggles the mind, and it is so full that it spills outside.

The 2011 North American International Auto Show is the epicenter of the automotive world. Nearly 400 photos and coverage from Detroit

Do you ever look back on the old Motorama pictures and wish you could be there? The anticipation of the latest concept car, hidden under a flowing cover, just waiting to be unveiled to the world for the first time. The throngs of people and photographers, anxious to get their first glimpse of the future. The lavish productions, grandiose displays, and beautiful models, all meant to one-up the next carmaker.

That may seem like an event lost forever in the optimistic 1950s, but it still happens today if you know where to look. My office sent me on our annual trip to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last weekend for the exclusive media preview days. And even though you won’t find many tailfins ad nuclear-powered hover cars, you still get that high voltage kick that makes you feel like you’re in the center of the automotive world.

Early Ford concept vehicles featured George Jetson-like space-aged designs

Compared to archrival General Motors, Ford got a late start on their full-fledged styling studio efforts. But throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, Ford designed concept cars became more common and more relevant, eventually leading to some of the most important production vehicles in Ford’s history.

In the beginning, there was Henry Ford. A genius for the ages, Ford managed to build a reputation for simple, affordable, reliable vehicles. It was a formula that worked, and flashy styling, chrome doodads, and trendy paint schemes were never part of that equation. By any stretch of the imagination, the Model T, and later the Model A, were enormous successes.

Chrysler built some of the most beautiful concept cars in history, and some of them were even sold to the public. A history of early Chrysler concepts and their designers, including Raymond Loewry and Virgil Exner

Concept cars have always been a big part of the auto industry. Whether they foreshadow an upcoming model, highlight various ideas that might make it into production, or just feature over-the-top elements just because the automaker can, they have been wowing the public for more than 70 years.

One of the early pioneers of the concept car trend was the Chrysler Corporation. Chrysler was steeped in design history from the very beginning. From the lavish, Art Deco Chrysler Building in New York City that was commissioned by Walter P. Chrysler himself and opened in 1930, to the ultra-streamlined Chrysler and Desoto Airflow cars of 1934 – 1937, Chrysler was always looking for new ways to push the design envelope.