Gallery Art

   As I was walking intently around the early Ford A next to his car, Nikon at the ready, the owner of the 1984 Corvette asked me, "What are you looking for?"
   I responded with a smile, "I don't know."
   "I think you do." He said, amused.
   I did actually.
   "Cars are an incredible expression of the many disciplines of industrial design. From chassis and drivetrain, to body design and interiors. To the graphics on the bodies. They express the design trends, or set the trends, of the times during which they are created."
   At the Marinette show, I was looking for the design trends expressed to come from the GM design studios under the direction of Harley Earl, in the pre 1958 cars and Bill Mitchell's Mid Century designs after.
   Elements like the very modern design of the 1959 Impala's dash board, and the new large green house roof, as it arches into the much lower side body panels. Or the jet age ornament of the 1956 Pontiac Chieftain, with the very future statement Northrop Flying Wing on the hood with the edge of the wing bands running up the hood representing its contrails in the sky. Another period expression is the Art Deco architectural elements of the 1938 Oldsmobile front end. Another complex period design is the 1960 Buick LeSabre. This car has so many highly detailed elements of it streamline design. From the fender sculpting to the side panels, and that incredible rear window. Right down to the almost impossible to replicate in a restoration, the model logo stamped into the vinyl of the lower front door panels.
   As to mid-Century graphic design, there are the entire side panels of the Chevy Apache Cameo pickup and the Impala, with the long horizontal panel with the logo placed strategically at one end. And the incredible car design of the Cameo, as Chevy introduces to the market a recreational personal project vehicle, rather than the small commercial services truck of GMC tradition.
   These are the design elements I have been looking to capture this summer. So take a look at what was seen at Ed's Marinette Classics Show.
   I have graphically programmed the gallery here so you can shuttle forward by clicking the arrow. Other controls will take you further around the site. The M at the upper right will take you to the Monterey Concours Gallery images from Pebble Beach, Concorso Italiano and the Monterey Historic races over the years. The Bauhaus rectangles will take you to other areas of the site.
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