Heavenly Bodies

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Heavenly Honda Bodies

Automobile design as art is something that captured my interest for as long as I can remember. I remember when I was a youngster asking my uncle, who worked for FoMoCo as a regional representative, why the 1965 Plymouth looked so much like the 1965 Ford. After hearing my question, I saw him almost become upset as he replied that “Chrysler stole away one of the best designer who had ever worked at Ford. The Chrysler stylists had the cars styled up to be so ugly, they hired him from Ford to straighten out the mess”. I never forgot his response, or the intensity of it, and it was a question that has intrigued me for years as to who was the designer who “straightened out” the Chrysler design mess and who was responsible for making the mess.

It wasn’t until recently that I used the internet to answer my questions about the Ford and Chrysler designers. The famous Ford designer who moved to Chrysler was Elwood “the knife” Engle and the designer he replaced was named Virgil “asymmetrical X” Exner. It turned out that Virgil had a heart attack and was not able to advance his own designs forward. Designs by Harley “the rocket shark” Earl were usually predictable. It was Elwood Engle and John Samsen who would set the industry on a new design course.

The more I dug into the subject, the more I discovered these designers, like architects, and practically every other designer were all advancing and evolving each other’s designs forward. Much in the way that Frank Lloyd Wright’s house designs are still influencing modern designs. So whose designs did Frank Lloyd Wright study?

Our beloved Honda Ridgeline design team leader, David W. Marek, is also an instructor at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. After studying automobile designs for years like architectural art, I believe I can tell you whose designs Dave liked best as he forged his own design style. As far as I am concerned, Dave Marek moved Honda from a builder of stodgy econo-boxes, to become the styling leader that Honda has become today. There is a brief bio about Dave at the following link.

Dave Marek Bio

Recently I found a Web site that offers up some interesting information about the great automobile designers and the history of the art

How many concept cars from the 1950s are just now making it into production, and what company is using these designs to produce a fresh new retro look? Part of the answer is at the following link.

ChryslerConceptCars

So today I ordered a DVD documentary named “We Dreamed the Dream Cars!
Styling the Classic American Cars of the 1950's - 1970's” that contains three hours of viewing time at the following link.

"We Dreamed the Dream Cars!" DVD video of history of American car styling, 1950's-1970's, by designer John Samsen history of Thunderbirds, MOPAR muscle cars etc.

I hope I haven’t bored you with my ramblings on this subject. I do believe the ROC has some other “serious car buffs” who could might enjoy automotive history and how industry legends are still influencing the designs of today. I do have confidence that Honda’s David W. Marek will also become one of the great stylists of this century. It appears he is sharing his talents and influencing future designers as an instructor at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA.

I ordered the DVD set today. I have no idea if it will be worth the $27 I paid for it or if it will ever arrive. I just wanted to share this bit of automotive history because I know there are other ROC members here who love Honda and would like to see how history may have influenced some of the Heavenly Bodies we see at Honda dealerships today.

BTW - I look at the Ridgeline like it really is a work of art.

Ciao