Architecture & design / Auto industry
Harley Earl
1893–1969 · automotive designer, GM's first head of design
Hollywood coachbuilder whom GM brought to Detroit in 1927 to create the industry's first styling studio; he gave America the tailfin and the Corvette.
- Born
Hollywood, California- Died
West Palm Beach, Florida
aged 75- Birth name
- Harley Jarvis Earl
- Detroit years
- 1927–1958
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Earl built custom car bodies for Hollywood stars until Cadillac's Lawrence P. Fisher saw his clay-modeled designs and hired him to style the 1927 LaSalle. Its success persuaded Alfred Sloan to create GM's Art and Colour Section in Detroit that year, with Earl in charge; it was the first in-house design department in the American auto industry, and rivals soon copied it. Working first in the General Motors Building, Earl introduced full-size clay models, the annual styling change and the dream car, beginning with the 1938 Buick Y-Job. He started the project that became the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette and popularized tailfins, which peaked on the 1959 Cadillac. He led GM design until 1958, overseeing its move to Eero Saarinen's GM Technical Center in Warren in 1956. In 1999 the Detroit Free Press ranked him the third most significant Michigan artist of the 20th century.
Highlights
- Head of GM's Art and Colour Section (later Styling) from 1927 to 1958
- Designed the 1927 LaSalle
- Created the Buick Y-Job, often called the first concept car (1938)
- Launched the project that became the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette
- Automotive Hall of Fame, 1986
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1927–1956
Cadillac Place (former General Motors Building)
GM's headquarters, where the Art and Colour Section began before design moved to Warren.
Worked here · 1956–1958
General Motors Technical Center
Eero Saarinen's modernist campus, home of GM Design since 1956; Earl led the styling staff's move here.