When scholars yet unborn come to ponder the annals of automotive history, 1893 will stand out as unique: the first car
insurance policy was put into effect, the first successful gas-fed vehicle in the U.S. was driven in Massachusetts and Harley J. Earl was born in California. This may not seem so remarkable at first glance, but whether we know it or not, when we praise 1950s American automotive design we are actually glorifying the fertile mind of Harley Earl.
Earl, who served as the Vice-President of Design at General Motors, conceived of so many design elements that are associated with that period, such as wrap-around windshields, tail-fins and two-tone paint styling. In the attached article, written when he was at the top of his game, Harley Earl tells his readers what is involved in automobile design: "Shakespeare has told us 'neither a borrower nor a lender be'. An automobile stylist must be both. He must borrow his ideas from the creatures and creations of nature which are all about him..."
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