Automotive curves hit Phoenix Art Museum

PHOENIX ' The auction tents around Phoenix have come down and thousands of cars have found new owners, but you don't have to wait until next January to see great cars in Arizona.

On April 1, the Phoenix Art Museum will gather some of the world's curviest and swoopiest automobiles for its exhibit, Curves of Steel: Streamlined Automobile Design. The exhibit will celebrate the creations of the world's finest designers and coachbuilders, who have combined extreme beauty of line and the science of streamlining and aerodynamics in road-worthy machines.

More than 20 cars will be featured, including such marques as Chrysler, Bugatti, Lincoln-Zephyr, Auburn, Delage and Delahaye. Together, these cars will form what is believed to be the first study of automotive streamlining and aerodynamics in an art museum.

The exhibit will run through June 3; to learn more, go to www.PhxArt.org, or call 602-307-2090. Admission is $14 for adults and $6 for children.

Photo: Phoenix Art Museum collection, Curves of Steel: Streamlined Automobile Design. Michael Furman photo.