Car designers are a lot like musicians. Some are lame, some are one-hit wonders and some are truly gifted. The best of them evolve over time, their work reflecting the times even as it breaks new ground. And like great music, great cars stir the soul.
Musicians often are rewarded with fame and fortune, but even the best car designers tend to be relatively anonymous, known only by their peers and hard-core car nuts. Just about everyone can recognize a 1965 Ford Mustang, but how many people know David Ash and John Oros designed it?
Autopia is giving credit where credit is due and saluting five great designers who elevated their craft and whose work has stood, or will stand, the test of time. It’s a short list, but that’s the point. We want you to tell us who else should be on it.
Photo: BMW
Giorgetto Giugiaro’s accessible-but-elegant Italian designs range from the plebeian first-generation slab-sided VW Rabbit to the iconic but still affordable Fiat 850 Spider. They’re sleek enough to look good but practical enough for mass consumption, kind of like Quincy Jones’ radio-friendly funk. From Thriller toThe Dude, it’s obvious when Q worked on a record, just as Giugiaro’s timeless works are instantly recognizable no matter the badge on the hood. Giugiaro’s ItalDesign is so good, even the lowly Daewoo Leganza still manages to catch our attention. But our favorite is the BMW M1 (pictured). Thirty years old and it still looks hot.
Giorgetto Giugiaro’s accessible-but-elegant Italian designs range from the plebeian first-generation slab-sided VW Rabbit to the iconic but still affordable Fiat 850 Spider. They’re sleek enough to look good but practical enough for mass consumption, kind of like Quincy Jones’ radio-friendly funk. From Thriller toThe Dude, it’s obvious when Q worked on a record, just as Giugiaro’s timeless works are instantly recognizable no matter the badge on the hood. Giugiaro’s ItalDesign is so good, even the lowly Daewoo Leganza still manages to catch our attention. But our favorite is the BMW M1 (pictured). Thirty years old and it still looks hot.
Photo: General Motors
Harley Earl is the Sinatra of car design. Ground-breaking and distinctively American, Earl didn’t just create the clay mold, the tail fin, and the idea of a concept car during his career at General Motors. He pretty much pioneered the entire career field of automotive design. Like the contrast between Sinatra’s smooth Columbia years and swing-a-lingin’ Capitol era, Earl’s designs ranged from the sleek
Art Deco Buick Y-Job (pictured) to space-age tail fins and the first Corvette. Earl left General Motors in 1958, and we wish his influence at GM had extended beyond those ridiculous Buick “fedora” ads. If it had, perhaps we would have been spared the Pontiac Aztek.
Art Deco Buick Y-Job (pictured) to space-age tail fins and the first Corvette. Earl left General Motors in 1958, and we wish his influence at GM had extended beyond those ridiculous Buick “fedora” ads. If it had, perhaps we would have been spared the Pontiac Aztek.
Photo: BMW
No list would be complete without Chris
Bangle, chief of design for BMW. Like Eminem, he burst onto the scene in the ’90s and brought controversy with him. People love him or hate him — he’s appeared at TED and been the subject of anonline petition for BMW to fire him. He’s credited with bringing new attention to automotive design, and it seems everyone’s copied the "Bangle butt" that’s all but become his trademark. The silliness of the X6 of is redeemed by the sexiness of the M3, the Z4 Coupe and even that weird shape-shifting car made out of cloth.
Bangle, chief of design for BMW. Like Eminem, he burst onto the scene in the ’90s and brought controversy with him. People love him or hate him — he’s appeared at TED and been the subject of anonline petition for BMW to fire him. He’s credited with bringing new attention to automotive design, and it seems everyone’s copied the "Bangle butt" that’s all but become his trademark. The silliness of the X6 of is redeemed by the sexiness of the M3, the Z4 Coupe and even that weird shape-shifting car made out of cloth.
Photo: JoJo Cence/Flicker
The Carozzeria Pininfarina badge on a fender signifies design that is sensual, intelligent and sophisticated, kind of like the cerebral art rock of Steely Dan. From the gorgeous Alfa Romeo 8C to theVolvo C70 and a slew of Ferraris, Pininfarina’s designs endure. Yes, the company’s produced some Top 40 hits that don’t stand up well (the Ferrari Testarossa comes to mind), but it’s had more hits than Motown. Picking a favorite Pininfarina design is like picking a favorite Beatles song, but ours is the Dino 246 (pictured).
Photo: Audi
Walter de’Silva would have earned a place on the list solely because of his tour-de-force performance on the Audi R8, much like
Kanye West could’ve retired after The College Dropout. But like West, de’Silva outdid himself with several follow-ups, most recently the S5, a car he unabashedly calls “the most beautiful car I have ever designed.” It is, and Audi’s design language just might be the most gorgeous to carry NHTSA certification in 2008.
Kanye West could’ve retired after The College Dropout. But like West, de’Silva outdid himself with several follow-ups, most recently the S5, a car he unabashedly calls “the most beautiful car I have ever designed.” It is, and Audi’s design language just might be the most gorgeous to carry NHTSA certification in 2008.
We agree it’s a short list that omits some pretty big names. Ticked off that Shiro Nakamura didn’t make the list? Are you the one guy in the world who thinks the Pontiac Aztek is hot? Utterly convinced that the Jaguar XKE is the sexiest thing to ever burn gas? Use the Reddit widget below to tell us what you think and post pics of your own suggestions.
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