GM CO.
DESIGN
DYNAMICS
GM hopes its history will
be instructive. The company’s
first design chief, Hollywood
coachbuilder Harley Earl, added
colors beyond the then-standard
black and is credited with the idea
of the “concept car” — as in, a
sexy, wild-looking design (albeit
one that people may not actually
be able to drive). By the time
Earl retired in 1958, he had some
truly progressive designs to his
name, too, from the 1938 Buick
Y-Job, with its hidden headlamps
HUFFINGTON
06.24.12
and electric windows, to the
1956 Firebird II, which included
a guidance system that GM said
would soon be integrated with the
“highway of the future,” enabling
the car to drive itself.
This hasn’t quite come to pass.
Even if automakers push
through innovative new products,
it’s unclear if people will buy them.
The most popular cars today aren’t
known for their radical styling. The
Toyota Camry has been the bestselling car in the U.S. for every
year since 1997 except one.
Nor is it certain the automakers
will manufacture anything too
The 1956
GM Firebird
II — a car
that Harley
Earl dreamed
would be able
to drive itself.