--- title: "The 1956 AMC Astra-Gnome Is the Closest You’ll Get to a Jetsons Car" description: "In the mid-50s, [American Motors Corporation]() hired industrial designer [Richard Arbib]() to design a futuristic concept car built on a 1955 [Nash Metropolitan]() chassis. The result was this wild “Time and Space Car” concept car called the Astra-Gnome, which was…" date: "2024-03-16" modified: "2024-03-16" authors: - name: "Kristin V. Shaw" job_title: "Contributor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kristin-shaw" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/the-1956-astra-gnome-is-the-closest-youll-get-to-a-jetsons-car" categories: - "News" --- # The 1956 AMC Astra-Gnome Is the Closest You’ll Get to a Jetsons Car ![white car with a bubble dome]() *\Petersen Automotive Museum\* In the mid-50s, [American Motors Corporation]() hired industrial designer [Richard Arbib]() to design a futuristic concept car built on a 1955 [Nash Metropolitan]() chassis. The result was this wild “Time and Space Car” concept car called the Astra-Gnome, which was built in a light-speed quick four months. The [*Jetsons*-like]() Astra-Gnome was intended to suggest what a time-traveling car would look like in the year 2000 and included a “celestial time-zone clock permitting actual flight-type navigation.” It was a hit, appearing on the cover of *Newsweek* on September 3, 1956 and starring at the New York International Auto Show that same year. ![white car with a bubble dome]() *Petersen Automotive Museum* Crafted in aluminum and chrome, the exterior of the Astra-Gnome has full fender skirts that give the car a boat or hovercraft appearance. The rear fins and taillights are distinctively 50s-styled (dang, I miss fins) and the [bubbletop]() canopy is pillar free, giving the driver and passenger a 360-degree view. A cartoonish gnome/astronaut logo adorns the hood. Inside the cockpit, the seats are covered satiny blue and space-ace gray upholstery. The steering wheel is coated in chromed blue with the same Astra-Gnome logo in the center, and the knobs and gearshifter are clear and transparent blue. Its giant celestial clock takes center stage at eye level. Arbib himself was quite an accomplished designer even before he came up with this quirky little masterpiece. He designed concepts for [General Motors](), [Ford](), and [Packard](); he also penned the gorgeous [Packard ]()Pan American, which was based on a modified Packard 250 convertible that *[Hemmings describes as]()* being “chopped, channeled and smoothed into a two-seat luxury roadster.” That Pan American was the launchpad for the elegant Packard Caribbean, which was the last gasp of a dying brand pulling out all the stops to survive. ![blue and grey car seats]() *Petersen Automotive Museum* ![silver and blue car gauges]() *Petersen Automotive Museum* ![blue steering wheel]() *Petersen Automotive Museum* But Arbib’s talents weren’t limited to cars. He was also the creator of the asymmetrical Hamilton electric watch, which is now a collector’s item for vintage watch aficionados. Arbib also designed the sleek Century Coronado hardtop speedboat. The [Petersen Automotive Museum]() will debut its “[Eyes on the Road: Art of the Automotive Landscape]()” exhibit on March 30, including this wonderfully bizarre space car. The Astra-Gnome will be displayed in the “vehicle concepts” section along with other delightful weirdos like the 1934 Dymaxion, 1955 Ghia Gilda and 1969 Chevrolet Astro III. ![silver Astra-Gnome logo]() *Petersen Automotive Museum* ![rear view of white car]() ![back end of a vintage car]() *Petersen Automotive Museum* ![back view of a white car with a bubble dome]() *Petersen Automotive Museum* *Got a story tip? Send it to tips@thedrive.com.* ## Author Kristin Shaw is the former Weekend Editor for The Drive and a current freelancer in both the automotive and aviation worlds. She’s a big fan of anything car-related and calls on her technology background on the corporate side to explain engineering and high-tech concepts. Now living in her sixth state (New Jersey, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, and now Texas), she is thrilled that working from home is now mainstream. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Instagram]() [Twitter]()