AP PHOTO (MODEL T); GM CO. (CORVETTE)
DESIGN
DYNAMICS
generations aren’t as excited
about getting their own vehicles.
Welburn said he knows that in
order to keep GM’s cars vibrant,
the department needs an influx
of younger designers coming in
to make sure its car designers
connect with tomorrow’s buyers.
So when he got back from meeting
that young boy at the restaurant,
he took the boy’s napkin to one
of his most creative designers
and asked him to turn it into an
official car sketch. He then sent
it back to the boy, whose parents
told him he fell in love with it and
hung it on his bedroom wall.
If you can relate your brand
to people at an early age, it’s a
tremendous thing, Welburn said.
The industry also needs to
look at new ways of connecting
with younger drivers, Dean
said. Maybe that means making
motorized Chevy bikes that
would assist riders up hills, but
mostly act like a bike. Or come
up with entirely new cars, radical
designs that seat just two people
but can get you to work and are
cheap to own and operate.
HUFFINGTON
06.24.12
TEN CARS THAT
STOOD OUT
FORD MODEL T (1908)
Rarely lauded for its style, this
innovative, practical car sparked a
worldwide fascination with automobiles.
VOLKSWAGEN’S BEETLE AND
MICROBUS (1938)
Compact and spare alternatives to
the colossal cars of the 1950s cars,
these autos became bedrocks of the
counterculture in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
FORD F-SERIES (1948)
A staple in the Southern states, these
burly, full-sized pickups have become
synonymous with country music and
manual labor.
CHEVROLET CORVETTE (1953)
Chevrolet’s powerful, durable sports
car won the hearts of young drivers
and eventually became a symbol of
the American lifestyle.