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Last Updated: Mar 26th, 2006 - 13:41:45 |
(NAPSI)-The idea of a concept car is no longer an unusual one for many auto-show visitors. These mainstays of the show circuit have become as common as electricity and video screens.
However, in 1938, the idea of creating an automobile to explore new worlds of design and technology seemed as fanciful as space flight for many-but not to designer Harley Earl.
Earl was GM's vice president of design and father of the Buick Y-Job, considered the world's first concept car.
Earl was born in 1893. His father was a coach-builder making wagons, carriages and racing sulkies. Harley Earl helped build Earl Automobile Works which offered whole custom-made bodies for cars and trucks purchased by Hollywood stars including Fatty Arbuckle, who was the first comedian to be hit with a pie, and cowboy Tom Mix.
In 1927, Alfred Sloan, the president of GM, was impressed enough to bring Earl to Detroit and put him in charge of the "Art and Colour Section." Essentially, Harley Earl was the auto industry's first design chief, and his Buick Y-Job was the first concept car.
Why the "Y-Job" name? In Earl's lexicon, every new project was a job. The letter "Y" went one step beyond the typical "X-for-experimental" designation and paid homage to the prototype fighter planes that were identified with the prefix "Y" by aircraft manufacturers.
Earl's team created a vision that inspired a new genre of automotive art: the Dream Car. With a 126-inch wheelbase and a body that extended more than 17 feet long, the two-seat convertible was an exuberant expanse of streamlined sheetmetal.
Sporty yet elegant, the Y-Job introduced innovative features such as concealed headlamps, electrically operated windows, flush door handles and a power-operated convertible top that was fully concealed when retracted.
It was the Y-Job's long, low profile, however, that left a lasting impression on many. The running boards and formal, upright shapes traditionally used in classic coaches were gone. In their place, the Y-Job had fenders that flowed seamlessly into the doors, integrated bumpers that complemented the bodywork and strong horizontal styling elements. It introduced themes that would reverberate throughout the automotive industry through the 1960s.
While contemporary road cars rode on 16-inch wheels, Earl specified special 13-inch diameter rims to give the Y-Job a lower stance. The small-diameter wheels were backed with airplane-inspired finned brake drums that were more than a match for the Y-Job's 320-cubic-inch/141-horsepower inline eight-cylinder engine.
"The Buick Y-Job exemplifies the elements of great design," said Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman, North American product development. "Its compelling and pure form provokes an emotional response. That is the kind of passion for the product that we strive to inspire throughout our portfolio. We have a new commitment to design innovation."
During Earl's 20-year tenure at the Design Center, GM became an acknowledged leader in automotive styling-producing memorable automobiles that still elicit deep emotional responses from some onlookers.
The company recently restored the Y-Job and displayed it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England. The 64-year-old automotive milestone was driven in a reenactment of the days when Earl drove the Y-Job through the streets of Detroit on sunny summer afternoons.
The Concept Behind Concept Cars-The "Y-Job" is widely considered the first "concept car" ever developed. It helped steer the American auto industry toward innovative style and designs.
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