The very essence of what Harley Earl described in a fighter’s appearance as “long and low - alert - ready to pounce” was typified by the sleek supersonic Republic F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber.

The concept of GM car designers Harley Earl and Robert McLean to develop an automobile that “looked like a fighter on four wheels” was inspired by aircraft designer Edward H. Heinemann’s Douglas F4D Skyray, which made its first flight in January 1951. The planform of the resulting Firebird I echoed the Skyray’s modified delta wing.