a reported $250 million developing: Michael Beschloss, “Hubris, and Sputnik, Doomed the Edsel,” New York Times, June 6, 2015.
“The smart money both in”: Eugene Jaderquist, “Why the Edsel Will Succeed,” True’s Automobile Yearbook, 6 (1956), edsel.net/succeed.
when Ford owners moved up to a medium-priced: Ibid.
“Barring war or depression”: Ibid.
“lay all these people off”: Beschloss, “Hubris, and Sputnik, Doomed the Edsel.”
“How many of you guys”: Author interview with Smith.
“Mr. Earl on the hot seat”: Author interview with Glennie.
The New York Times later described Donner: “Bean Counter Donner Reshaped GM in the 1960s,” New York Times, September 14, 2008.
“saving fractions of pennies”: Youssef M. Ibrahim, “John F. Gordon, 77, Ex President of GM,” New York Times, January 7, 1978.
Designer Sparky Bohnstedt: Author interview with Porter.
On November 19, 1959: “Harry Anderson Victim in Tragedy,” Detroit Free Press, November 19, 1959.
“I want to tell you”: Armi, The Art of American Car Design, locations 3584–96 of 7042, Kindle.
On May 8, 1991: Alexandra Earl, interview with Hershey.
“ebullient expressions of devil-may-careness”: “A Legacy of Style,” Detroit Free Press, April 2, 1969.
Index
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AC Spark Plug, 120
Adam Open AG, 89
Adventures of a Bystander (Drucker), 166
African Americans, 93, 98–99, 119–20, 164–67, 195–96, 272–73
Agramonte, Jules, 103–4
Allison, 153
Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), 263
American Motors Corporation, 226–27, 231, 253, 257, 262, 269
Anderson, Elwood, 227
Anderson, Harry, 268
Andrade, Julio, 182–83
anti-Semitism, 98, 135
Arbuckle, Roscoe “Fatty”, 57
Architectural Digest, 3
Armi, C. Edson, 112–13, 147, 276
Armstrong, Louis, 260
Arndt, Jessie Ash, 245
Arnold, Benedict, 98
Arnold, Dagmar, 243
Art and Colour Section, 183, 203. See also Styling Section
alums of, 128, 250
created, 73–74, 77–78, 82–84
Depression and, 100–103
Fisher engineers vs., 84–87
middle managers and, 111–12
Pontiac and, 102–3
renamed Styling Section, 121–22
staff tensions at, 105–13
Art Center School of Design, 145, 203, 227
Ashton, Iris, 274
Atlantic, 231
Auburn Automotive Company, 128–29
Auburn Speedsters, 131–32
Automotive Council for War Production, 156
Automotive News, 108
autoworkers, 91–92, 97–100, 116, 165–67
strike of 1945, 175–77
Awalt, Francis, 95–96
B-24 bombers, 158, 167, 171
Baime, A. J., 167
Bak, Richard, 179
Baldwin, Andy, 59
Ballantine, Arthur, 95
banking crisis of 1931, 94–97
Barris, George, 209
Barstow, Edith, 210
Barstow, Richard, 210
Basie, Count, 164
Baum, Arthur W., 204
“Beep Beep” (song), 254
Bel Geddes, Norman, 143–44
Bennett, Harry, 98, 148, 168–69, 171
Bentley, 55, 83, 103
Benz, Karl, 18–19
Benz Motorwagen, 18
Berlin International Automobile and Motor Cycle Show, 136
Bernard, George, 31
Berra, Yogi, 108
Berry, Chuck, 224–25, 254
Beveridge, Philo J., 26
Biograph Film Company, 32, 36–37
Birth of a Nation, The (film), 34–35
Black Bottom, 164–67, 272
blitzkrieg, 138
body
envelope-style, 181
lowered, 126–29
shoe-box, 222
Bohnstedt, Duane “Sparky,” 228–29, 268
Bordinat, Eugene, 227
Boston Auto Show, 67
Brams, Stanley, 74, 159
Breech, Ernest R., 196–97, 203
Brewster & Company, 29
Britain, 150, 152–53
British House of Commons, 141
British Royal Air Force, 152
Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, 64
Buehrig, Gordon, 103, 107, 128, 131–32
Bugatti, 83
Buick, 47, 62, 77, 106, 113, 120–21, 123, 146, 196, 228, 239, 244, 248–49, 260, 262
1929 restyling, 85–87
1936 models, 120–21
1958 models, 261
Depression and, 120
GM takeover of, 45–46, 85
Plymouth vs., 253
“pregnant” of 1929, 85–87, 112, 146, 181, 193
WW II and, 160–61
Buick, David Dunbar, 23, 85
Buick Century, 121
Buick Le Sabre (XP-8), 5, 184–86, 198–204, 207–8, 211, 230, 247
Buick Marquette, 77, 87–88
Buick Roadmaster, 239
Buick Roadster, 121, 248
Buick Special, 248
Buick Wildcat, 211
Bulge, Battle of the, 161
Cadillac, 23, 42, 45–48, 50, 54, 61, 79, 83, 106, 118–19, 121, 123, 126–27, 146–47, 172, 175–76, 228, 247, 254, 262
1927–28 models, 65–67
1946–47 models, 177–80
1948 model, 7, 180–83, 193–94
1950s models, 194–97
1959 model, 251–52, 269–71
1962 model, 271
blacks and, 118–20, 164–67
body lowered, 125–29
fins and, 7, 177–83, 193–94, 251–52, 258, 266–67, 269–71
GM takeover of, 45–46
Harley creates new bodies for, 54–56, 60, 67, 82
women designers and, 242
Cadillac, Antoine de la Mothe, 23
Cadillac Coupe de Ville, 195, 224–25
Cadillac Debutant, 206–7
Cadillac El Dorado, 211
Cadillac Fleetwood, 101–2
Cadillac La Salle
1927 model, 61–68, 70, 74, 77, 82, 89
1934 model, 103–4
Cadillac Le Mans, 211–12, 215
Cadillac phaeton, 182
“Cadillac Phenomenon, The” (article), 194
Cadillac Saxony, 245
Cadillac Sixty, 129–31
Cadillac V-6 Aerodynamic, 101–2
Cahuenga Valley Lemon Exchange, 26
Calder, Alexander, 2
Camouflage and War Service Section, 159–60
Camouflage Manual for General Motors (pamphlet), 160
Canadian Essex Scottish Infantry Regiment, 163
Canadian National Exhibition, 202
Capra, Frank, 204
Car and Driver, 269
Car Craft, 209
Carpenter, Art, 201
CBS News, 1
Chalmers, 30, 41
Chamberlain, Neville, 141
Chandler, Harry, 52
Chandler, Norman, 52
Chandler town car, 51–52
Chaney, Lon, 34
Chapin, Roy, 95
Chayne, Charlie, 131
Chevrolet, 47, 50, 76–77, 80, 88, 92, 100, 112, 114, 118, 123–24, 127, 146, 174, 180, 197, 220–27, 239, 253, 256, 260
1927 model, 81
1928 model, 77
1955 model, 222–26, 229–30, 232
Ford vs., 82, 197, 221
GM takeover of, 45
Chevr
olet, Louis, 23
Chevrolet Bel Air
1954 anniversary gold, 223–24
1955, 224, 226, 247–48
Chevrolet Cadet, 174–75, 177–78
Chevrolet Corvair, 264, 269–72
Chevrolet Corvette (EX-122), 201–2, 208–23, 239, 243, 256, 267
Fancy Free, 245
Chicago Auto Show, 253
Chicago Times-Herald, 19
Chicago Tribune, 98–99
Chicago World’s Fair (1933), 101, 102, 128, 159
Chihuahua, battle of (1916), 41–42
Christian Science Monitor, 245
chrome, 130, 221, 229–30, 248–50
Chrysler, 91, 94, 101, 107, 118, 124, 144, 157, 179, 196, 226–27, 231, 250, 254, 262
Forward Look, 250, 253, 262, 266
Chrysler, Walter, 46, 86, 94, 156, 162
Churchill, Winston, 141, 152–53
Clooney, Rosemary, 260
Cole, Ed, 180, 208, 222–23, 239, 256
Commerce Department, 96
Comstock, William A., 96
Cone, Fairfax, 261
consumer financing, 48–49, 76
Cooper, Gary, 238
Cord
810, 128–29
Mix’s convertible, 56–57
Coyne, M. E., 175
Cranbrook School, 114, 187
Cray, Ed, 158, 178
Cronkite, Walter, 1, 3
Crosby, Bing, 260
Crusoe, Lewis, 214, 219
Cumberford, Robert, 227
Cunningham, Briggs, 195, 201
Cunningham C2 roadster, 201
Curtice, Harlow “Red,” 3–4, 113, 120–21, 131–32, 174, 184, 206, 208, 210, 212–13, 219, 223, 225–26, 238, 246, 266, 268
Czechoslovakia, 141
Dagmars (bumper guards), 195, 216, 221–22, 251
Daimler-Benz, 136, 138
Daladier, Edouard, 141
Dana, Viola, 57
Dartmouth Eye Institute, 194
Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco), 45, 206
D-day, 161, 171
Dearborn
“battle of,” 167–68
hunger march of 1932, 99
Dearborn Independent, 98, 135
DeMille, Cecil B., 33, 35–38, 58–59, 70, 191, 207
Dempsey, Jack, 70
Depression, 89–104, 116, 118, 125–27, 163, 175, 205
DeSoto, 250
Detroit Board of Commerce, 92
Detroit Department of Public Welfare, 93
Detroit Free Press, 21–22, 54, 55, 63, 99, 200, 273–74, 277
Detroit Institute of Automobile Styling, 145
Detroit Institute of the Arts, 186
Detroit Journal, 19
Detroit News, 135
Detroit race riots
of 1943, 165
of 1967, 272–73
Detroit University School, 78
Dietrich, Marlene, 131
Dietrich, Ray, 107
“Dinosaur in Our Driveway, The” (Romney), 253
Dior, Christian, 210
Disney, Walt, 238
Disney Company, 35
Dodge, Horace, 23, 41–42, 78
Dodge, John, 22–23, 41–42, 78
Dodge Motors, 29, 41–42, 76, 250
Chrysler takeover of, 101
Doheny, E. L., Jr., 52–55
Don Lee Coach and Body Works, 55–61, 63, 65–66, 69, 73, 82
Donner, Frederic, 265–66
Double Speed (film), 58
Dreystadt, Nicholas, 118–20, 129, 164–67, 180, 205
Drucker, Peter F., 166–67
Duco auto paint, 49
Duesenberg-Auburn-Cord Company, 132
Duesenberg Company, 58, 77, 83, 91, 276
DuPont Laboratories, 49
Durant, Basil, 116
Durant, William C. “Billy,” 44–47, 85
Durant-Dort Carriage Company, 44–45
Duryea, Charles, 18, 258
Duryea, Frank, 18, 258
Duryea Motor, 18–19, 41
Earl, Abigail Taft, “Abbie” (mother), 15–17, 37–38, 70–71, 191, 252
Earl, Alexandra (granddaughter), 83, 213, 276
Earl, Arthur “Art” (brother), 15, 17, 27, 31, 53, 191
Earl, Carl (brother), 15, 17, 27, 53, 191
Earl, Connie (daughter-in-law), 114, 117, 202, 263, 275
Earl, Harley, 27, 210. See also Art and Colour Section; Styling Section; and specific auto models; and GM divisions
annual model change and, 146, 257–59
anonymous creativity and, 111–12
appearance of, 36, 116–17
Art and Colour created by, 72–74, 77–78, 82–84
birth of, 15
celebrity of, 36, 191, 204–205
competition and, 79–80, 128–31, 144–45, 147, 197–98, 220–21, 228
crash of 1929 and, 89–90, 115–16
Curtice and, 120–21
death of, 274–77
death of father and, 252
death of mother and, 37
death of son Billy and, 70–71, 89
debut of, at LA Auto Show, 51
DeMille and, 35–38, 58–59
Depression and, 100–104
design approach of, 37, 61–62, 109–12, 148–49
design schools and, 145–47
division chiefs and, 82–83, 127–29
early designs, as teen, 30–32
early designs, in LA, 38, 51–59
early work at GM, 71–74, 77
education of, 35–38
engineers and, 84–87, 124–27
Exner’s departure and, 250
family background of, 10–17
father and, 192–93
final years of, at GM, 205–6
finances and, 115–16, 185, 263
fins and, 7–8, 153–55, 177–83, 193–95, 198–99, 250, 258–59, 268–69, 277
first LaSalle design and, 61–69, 103–4
first Le Sabre (XP-8) design and, 184–86, 198–204
Frigidaire and, 185
Hershey and, 182–83, 276–77
hired by GM, 65–70
independent company of, 182–83, 185, 263
influence of, 8, 127–28, 226–27, 231, 276–77
interview of 1969, 273–74
last visit to LA family and, 191–93
marriage and family life and, 114–15, 162–63, 190–91, 263–64
marries Sue Carpenter, 53
meets Fisher brothers, 59, 61–63
Motorama shows and, 206–13, 252–53
moves to Hollywood, 27
moves to Palm Beach, 264, 267
Nazi Germany and, 139–42
office security and, 122–23
Paris Auto Show and, 64–65, 130–31
personality of, 108–10, 117, 139–40, 142, 276–77
personalized cars for friends and, 238–39
post–WW II era, 173–75‘
PR and, 112, 204–5, 241, 245
promoted to vice president, 143
racing and, 30–31
responsibilities of, 124
retirement of, 228, 263–68, 273–74
Sloan and, 64, 74, 113–14, 264
small cars and, 256–57
social life and, 59, 114–15, 240–41
son Billy and, 60
son James and, 89
sports cars and, 201–2, 208, 212–20
staff and, 105–13, 122–24, 146, 148–51, 240–41
staff insurrection vs., 246–51, 262–67
staff rules and, 228–31
staff, women designers added to, 241–46, 265
Tech Center and, 7, 186–90, 233, 235–40
train design and, 185–86
trickle-down styling and, 146–47
WW II and, 153–55, 158–63, 172–73
Y-job and, 131–34
young designers and, 227–32
Earl, Henry (half-brother), 53, 69–70, 191–92
<
br /> Earl, Jacob William “J.W.” (father), 10–11, 15–17, 20, 23–24, 27–31, 35, 37–38, 53–55, 69–70, 90, 116, 190–92, 252
Earl, James (son), 89, 109, 114–16, 162–63, 190–91, 202, 263
Earl, Janelle (half sister), 70, 191–92
Earl, Jerry (son), 114, 162–63, 190–91, 263
Earl, Jessica “Jessie” (sister, later Sampson), 27, 31, 53, 70, 89, 191–92
Earl, Nellie Mae Black (stepmother), 38, 53, 69–70, 191–93, 252
Earl, Sue Carpenter (wife), 66, 69–70, 89, 162, 185, 202, 204, 263–64
birth of son James, 89
birth of son Jerry and, 114
death of, 275
death of Harley and, 274–75
death of son Billy and, 70–71, 89
marries Harley, 53, 59–60
retirement and, 263–64, 267, 273–74
social life and, 114–16
travels of, 190–93
WW II and, 162–63
Earl, William “Billy” (brother), 38, 53, 60, 70
Earl, William “Billy” (son), 60, 66, 191
death of, 70–71, 89
Earl Automobile Works (formerly Earl Carriage Works), 15–16, 24, 27–30, 35, 38, 51–55, 90, 191
renamed Don Lee Coach and Body Works, 55
Ebony, 195–96
Edsel Show, The (TV special), 260–61
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 1, 5–6, 202–3
Electro-Motive division, 185, 206
Emergency Banking Act (1931), 96
Engineering Policy Group, 124
engines, 29, 44
six-cylinder, 80
V-8, 92, 129, 147, 195, 213, 216–17, 222–23
V-16, 101–2
Essex autos, 91
Ewing autos, 45
EX-122. See Chevrolet Corvette
Excuse My Dust (film), 58
Exner, Virgil, 106–7, 227, 250, 266
Fairbanks, Douglas, 56
Fairbanks, Douglas, Jr., 238
Farnum, Dustin, 33
FBI, 168
Federal-Aid Highway Act (1956), 6
Federal Reserve, 96
fenders, 126–27, 129, 132, 176–77, 180–82, 250
fiberglass bodies, 208, 211–15
fins, 7, 154–55, 193–94, 198–99, 206, 211, 222, 229, 247–52, 258–59, 261, 277
disappearance of, 265–71
invention of, 176–77, 180–82, 184–85, 193–95
First Bank of Detroit, 97
First Detroit Banking Group, 94–95
First National Bank of Detroit, 95–97
Fisher, Alfred, 46
Fisher, Charles, 46
Fisher, Edward, 46
Fisher, Frederick, 46, 59–60, 63–65
Fisher, Lawrence P. “Larry,” 46, 50, 60–68, 72, 89, 115, 121, 129, 224
Fisher, William, 46, 72
Fisher Body, 45–46, 59–61, 72–73, 84–88
Fisher brothers, 78, 85, 87, 115, 127–28, 205, 274
Fisher Building, 186
Flynn, Errol, 131
Fins Page 28