Cars have shaped modern America like no other visual form, with the possible exception of the movies.

The two came of age in the 1930s and 40s, and were married to one another in the form of drive-in movie theatres in the 50s and 60s. Both cars and movies rank among the most significant new visual forms of the 20th century, and it would appear that they are primed to maintain their hold on Americans into the twenty-first century and beyond. A world without theatres, movies, highways and cars is just unthinkable. Minivans come equipped with DVD players, so that we can now take movies with us on our cross-country trips.

Movies are widely acknowledged as a legitimate art form. The Museum of Modern Art shows old films and sponsors festivals to cinema masterpieces. Critics pick apart films as one would expect an art historian to pick apart an exhibition of paintings, or a literary professor to pick apart a poet's latest offering. Colleges and universities offer programs in film-making right alongside sculpture and painting.

Today, historians and critics are beginning to view American car design as an art form with its own history, and its own merits.

J. Mays, Ford Vice-President of Design and creator of the Cougar S Concept, has become the most well-known American car designer since Harley Earle; he may be the most acclaimed auto designer ever. In 2002, officials of the Harvard graduate school selected Mays as only the fourth person to receive their Excellence in Design award. Others who have received this award were architectural and design superstar Philippe Starch, design and perfoming artist Robert Wilson and fashion designer Rei Kawakubo. The accolades from Harvard inspired an exhibition of Mays' work at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. That exhibit, believed to be the first such exclusive presentation of any car designers work by a major art museum was called "RetroFuturism: The Car Design of J. Mays." Mays' knowledge of architecture, industrial design and his ability to fit cars into a cultural context is what sets him apart from other designers. His talent includes an ability to weave cultural cues derived from brand heritage and contemporary pop culture.

Penny Sparke, dean of the faculty of design at Kingston University in London, in her text book "A Century of Automotive Style: 100 Years of American Car Design" credits Mays with four principal designs: Audi Avis Concept, Concept 1; MC4 Concept, Cougar S Concept; and the Ford 24/7Concept. The Audi Avis, which appeared at the Tokyo show in 1991, came as an absolute surprise, and the design of the spectacular concept made J. Mays an international design superstar. Working with Freeman Thomas in 1994, Mays designed Concept I which, because of the staggering response, took production form as the "New VW Beetle." When the Cougar S Concept was unveiled at the Geneva and Los Angeles auto shows in 1999, this show stopper was hailed as the ultimate expression of Ford's blending of Aerodynamic and New Edge design with its curvaceous wind cheating shape accentuated by crisp edges.

C. Edson Arni, professor of Art History at UCSB predicts that in the future "cars will be considered great works of art, and concept cars will be considered the true masterpieces." Take this as the truth, and it's easy to imagine people talking about their favorite cars in the same way that they talk about their favorite movies - even after seeing them again and again for years and years. Historians, critics and everyday people will be fascinated with concept cars in the same way that movie buffs are fascinated by seeing their favorite stars' screen tests. Concept cars offer a rare look into the future of automobiles, in the same way that an actor's screen test offers a glimpse of how the actor might develop and expand the role once the movie is fully produced.

The cars featured on this page represent a collection of automotive actors auditioning for a role in an epic film about the history of the car. Some of them will be cast in supporting roles — others are destined for stardom.