As they still do, General Motors cars cruised the streets in the shadow of Detroit’s Harper Hospital in 1952. Above them was the room of Henry Opitek, a cardiac patient who would come to owe his life to the engineers who built those cars — and who helped foster a partnership between the automotive and medical industries that continues today.

The combined efforts of Harper doctors and G.M. engineers would produce a miraculous machine — a mechanical device that would temporarily replace Mr. Opitek’s heart.

The operation was performed by a team led by Dr. Forest D. Dodrill, who had approached G.M. about a partnership after reasoning that pumping blood would be much like pumping fuel. Not only did it save a life, but it paved the way for the heart procedures carried out today. And as the car world descends on Detroit this week to catch a glimpse of the future at the North American International Auto Show, visitors could spare a moment for a look at history inside Harper Hospital, where one of the mechanical hearts remains on display.