296. Bulgemobiles

May 18, 2011

Q: There was auto drawings in one issue that showed the Buldgemobile and 2 people in the front seat about 20 feet apart. It may have been in the July 1973 issue Modern Times.

A: The artist you’re referring to, Bruce McCall, did the July 1973 cover, but the Buldgemobile piece you’re probably thinking of—“The ’58 Bulgemobiles!”—first appeared in the April 1972 (25th Anniversary) issue. It was also reprinted in National Lampoon Best of #1.

He did several other Bulgemobile pieces: “1934 Bulgemobile Brochure” from the May 1974 (50th Anniversary) issue, “The 1946 Bulgemobiles” from the April 1979 (April Fool) issue, and “The 1906 Bulge-Buggy” from the April 1975 (Car Sickness) issue. All of the Bulgemobile pieces were reprinted in “Zany Afternoons” (1982), a terrific collection of McCall’s work if you can find it. McCall also did a book in 2001 called “The Last Dream-O-Rama”, a supposed history of concept cars with the same kind of humor.

(That’s probably more info than you wanted. Sorry. I’m kind of a McCall nut.)

Comments

Didn't bulgemobile originally appear in mad magazine? It was said to have durajolt shock absorbers with no moving parts to wear out. And 200 lbs of foam in the seats. When you get into the bulgemobile, you'll say it's full of sit.

—Dalton Jones

February 2, 2012 11:03 pm

There might have been something similar in Mad, but as far as I know, Bruce McCall has never had any articles in Mad, and the Bulgemobiles pieces first appeared in NL.

—Mark

February 16, 2012 5:14 pm

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