Art & Inspiration Friday Art Show

pikmcdonald2@gmail.com

 

“J.W. Earl’s custom-built automobile and truck bodies were well-known for their sculpted appearance.

His son, Harley J. Earl (1893-1969), worked in the shop after school and wound up attending Stanford University to study engineering. 6’3” tall Harley was an outstanding athlete who excelled at pole vault, broad jump and shot-put as a member of Stanford’s track & field squad. Much to his father’s chagrin, Harley excelled on another type of track as well.”

“A favorite story of Earl’s friends is the time when Harley’s dad was calmly reading the newspaper with morning coffee. His shiny new Mercer was resting calmly in the driveway, giving no hint of what had happened to it the day before. Turning to the sports page, the senior Earl glanced at an item concerning a week-end stock car race. "Harley Earl, son of the owner of Earl Carriage Works, won the 100-mile race for stock cars here yesterday with a special new Mercer recently purchased by his father". Earl also had a penchant for “test-driving” newly-bodied cars through downtown Los Angeles to test the crowd’s reaction to his father’s latest handiwork.”

“In 1918 Harley dropped out of school and was put in charge of dealing with his dad’s fast-growing custom-body clientele. Earl had a special talent for both schmoozing with and designing exotic bodies for Hollywood’s elite and became friends with many of them.”


Hello,

I could not get enough of a little history of the Buick design parameters. Who the heck is Harley Earl?

Unless you are one of those folks that reads all about Detroit car manufacturers, their origins, their designers and everything about the assembly line, no one knows what could have been if they were given the go ahead back then.

I did read a book about clay modeling and that led to shaping car bodies, etc. We played with clay, but our blobs were not cars. So it was a fun read and nothing but little cookies and things that looked like cars were sitting on the kitchen table. But, at the time, we were little kids with no idea what we wanted to do. It was still fly jets, fight fires after riding in those loud fire engines, and perhaps, be a sports star.

So, in wondering if our dad read those stories about car designers or not, how did he get stuck on Buick sedans from 1941 onward to 1984? They must have done something to his senses to always buy a Buick sedan for himself and transport our family all over the place. So Cal and beyond in California + Baja, Mexico.

Jnaki

The Buick sporty model could have given him some idea about the quality thought in the Buick models we saw in the showrooms of our neighborhood car dealer.

The fancy design of the original concept Buick LeSabre was way out there at the time.

Body panels were made of magnesium, and a jet-like intake contained two headlights. Housed in the rear fenders were the tanks for the gasoline and alcohol fuel. The LeSabre name came from the Sabre jet fighters and was used on Buick models from 1959-2005.

We had an F86 Sabre Jet model on our bookshelf if that meant anything… As noted from an article on men’s choices back then:

“The style of a jet fighter was always a way to a man’s tastes. Everyone liked jet fighter planes and anything that looked like one had an edge over other designs…”

“Harley Earl drove the Le Sabre, a highly futuristic car he himself had designed; the cost to the company of building this prototype was estimated at roughly $7 million. It is possible that no one exerted as much influence on American style and taste in the fifties as he.”

So, the 1951 General Motors LeSabre Concept car was widely considered to be Earl’s greatest work, the LeSabre concept is, a masterpiece that represented Earl’s audacious vision of the future.
a custom version
LeSabre was GM’s centerpiece of the show circuit. Once retired from those duties, it became Earl’s personal vehicle.
or one for my dad, whose never ending support for Buicks to the end… including his favorite Blue color. YRMV

 

Thanks { JNAKI } I'll add a few photos of my model to your post. What a great concept car.

 

Not much 'new' for the New Year but Happy New Year!

 

There used to be a Hotel in the Poconos, that had those 8 foot tall clear Champagne glasses. They were used as a hot tub. It gave a whole new meaning to { Bottoms Up } lol Happy New Year to you guys too!

 

LOL!

 

Happy New Year guys & gals.

From Junkyard News

T-shirt artwork


Cartoon from Street Rodder Mag.

 

Happy New Year everyone!!!!
these are kinda oldies, last year i did this nice root beer brown truck and the year prior i got to do my 2nd Hudson Hornet. Not a lot of my vehicle work these days falls into the HAMB world, but these do

 

Its still around! hahaha

 

Happy New Year! Cousin Joe tribute.

 

2023 is in the taillights now!

 

Had a student who sold radios. Order in the afternoon, delivery next morning. He could slim-jim a car faster than you could use the key.

 

Little Christmas gift for my dad of his '50 Ford. Whipped it up in CAD and 3d printed. I think sitting it on my paint palette makes it art...

 

a new one I just started on...

 

A 40 coupe from an old sketch pad.

 

Thanks all!

 

Nothing finished, lots of 1shot pieces started and in progress this week

 

It’s okay @McPhail. We all realize that you can’t rush perfection. Especially when it’s art.

 

Beautiful work!
Thanks all for the great art work ….again
Dan

 

Slip-stitch, that is really cool! Any plans for more projects?