The American Look

Nice! Thanks.

 

Thanks for a great start to the week. Lots of my memories of the 50's come back.

Starting at Art Center in '59, and then at Ford in '63 we designers were all keen on improving the appearance and function of the future vehicles.

GM certainly had the best facility for their design studios, but that alone doesn't always translate into the best outcome. Designers, modelers, and engineers that shared a common vision and passion for the vehicle and, a bit of luck with approvals has produced most of the vehicles that endure over time.

 

I live for this stuff. Here's a link to downloadable versions:

http://www.archive.org/details/American1958

If you use the search engine on this site, there's all kinds of 40's-60's automotive films and ads.

 

I love this place. Thanks.

 

Interesting that several times the narrator used the word, "sculptured", which isn't really a word (although my spell check allows it!).

Also... not sure if this was a "real" sketch leading to the 59 Chevy, or "staged" for the film, but you can definitely see where something like this would lead to the design of the tail section of the 59.

I also find it interesting how much emphasis was placed on "beauty of form and beauty of function" rather than "ease of manufacture". I think there are still a lot of designers with talent out there, but the good stuff gets castrated by the corporate hand-wringers that want to compromise one small element of the design at a time until there is nothing special in the world. I'm only 35, but I can remember a time when it was actually EXCITING to bring home a new coffee pot... there was something special to it. Nowadays we just bring another one home and feel lucky if it lasts until Christmas.

 

Part 3 is the best (obviously, that's where the '59 Chubby gets involved!).

What is really cool about this was the look of the Design Center building at GM. The lobby looks exactly the same! I have had many meetings there (I work as an engineer at GM). It really is a neat place, and trust me, the doors to the individual design studios are locked unless you have proper acess (dammit!!). Being a suspension engineer doesn't give you permission to look at new body/interior designs!

Thanks for posting that Ryan - very cooooool!!!

 

I doubt you're missing much. I think the last compelling body and interior designs came out in the 1970s. Drivetrain and suspension is the coolest stuff on late models.

-Dave

 

I went to view these clips because of my interest in design. I was very surprised when the narration started -- It's my dad!! His name was Marvin Miller, and he was an actor and announcer for more than 50 years. This sort of trade film was part of his bread and butter.

There's no credit at the end for the voice-over, which surprised me. Then I realized that the film was made at the same time that he was the lead in the TV series, "The Millionaire", and perhaps the omission of his credit had something to do with that.

Thanks, Ryan -- you never know who you'll run into around here.

 

wow that was really cool, i wish all my shit looked like that...

 

Man, as a kid, I devoured all the car books in the library (didn't we all) and they were filled with styling stuff from the 50's....clay models, Motorama cars and the like. I always thought that would be the coolest to be a stylist/clay modeler for one of the big three back in the 50's. I still love seeing all that stuff and check Collectible Automobile at the newstand for each new issue since they often show some of the old styling excercises and development of specific autos. Love it!! Thanks for the link Ryan!

 

man that was cool! reminds of films i saw in grade school, but never got to see any about cars.

 

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Very cool, and in beautiful Technicolor to boot! I'm glad that film survived. It's sure an interesting slice of 1950s corporate high-end engineering culture.

 

Man that was cool!!!
I was expecting to see Ward & June Cleaver in the first part!
Looking at the design of the interiors of homes in the late 50's reminded me of growing up in my partents house as a kid.
You can see alot of the home design influence of this era in todays home interiors.
And part 3 was the best! I am by no means a lover GM products, but the 1959 Chevy had one of the nicest back ends of any car made ever.

 

Although there's just a hint of Cold War propaganda, that's some very cool stuff! The way they model a full-size car out of clay is just amazing!

I bet the designers aren't so well dressed these days! Also interesting were the numbers of women involved 'working' in the design area. Wonder if they were all actual employees or actors?