1920 Cadillac Type 59C<\/strong><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1920-Cadillac-Type-59C-Courtesy-of-GM-Heritage-Collection-e1663008597469.jpg\")
<\/a>1920 Cadillac Type 59C. Courtesy of GM Heritage Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nEarl\u2019s reputation was built in Los Angeles, where he became renowned for creating custom bodywork for wealthy clients at his family\u2019s business, Earl Automobile Works, which was subsequently acquired by California Cadillac distributor Don Lee and rebranded as Don Lee Coach and Body Works. The business was routinely full of custom bodies commissioned by wealthy clients and brought to life by Earl. This Cadillac Type 59C is an example of this early work\u2014sent to Don Lee Coach and Body as a rolling chassis, it was subsequently fashioned into the stunning blue-and-black coachbuilt sedan that will delight Concours visitors in Detroit.<\/p>\n
1927 LaSalle Series 303<\/strong><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1927-LaSalle-Series-303-Courtesy-of-GM-Heritage-Collection-e1663008635334.jpg\")
<\/a>1927 LaSalle Series 303. Courtesy of GM Heritage Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nEarl\u2019s eye-catching design work in California caught the attention of Cadillac president Lawrence Fisher, who was tasked with launching LaSalle, a new brand by Cadillac that would bridge the price gap between GM\u2019s flagship luxury brand and Buick. The LaSalle was meant to appeal to younger buyers, and Fisher hired Earl as a consultant to give the LaSalle visual panache in line with the custom work he was doing in California. Using the Hispano-Suiza as his inspiration, Earl\u2019s design for the LaSalle was accepted. It was the first production car ever designed by a stylist. Shortly thereafter, General Motors hired him to lead its newly created design division, originally called the Art and Colour Section\u2014it would later become known as the General Motors Styling Section and continues today as GM Design.<\/p>\n
1938 Buick Y-Job Concept<\/strong><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1938-Buick-Y-Job-Concept-Courtesy-of-GM-Heritage-Collection.jpg\")
<\/a>1938 Buick Y-Job Concept. Courtesy of GM Heritage Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCelebrated today as the industry\u2019s first \u201cconcept car,\u201d the Y-Job is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece of design and engineering innovation that served as Earl\u2019s personal vehicle for over a decade. Earl wanted a boattail roadster that communicated his vision of the future of automotive design. As such, the Y-Job featured an exciting laundry list of features including retractable headlamps, a power top that stowed beneath a hinged metal decklid, power windows, and push-button exterior door handles. Measuring over 17 feet long yet only 58 inches tall at the top of the windshield, the Y-Job looked like nothing else of its era and established a design benchmark for General Motors. Upon its public debut in 1939, the press dubbed it the \u201cCar of the Future.\u201d In 2016, the Y-Job was the 14th vehicle enshrined in the National Historic Vehicle Register.<\/p>\n
1951 General Motors LeSabre Concept<\/strong><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1951-General-Motors-LeSabre-Concept-Courtesy-of-GM-Heritage-Collection.jpg\")
<\/a>1951 General Motors LeSabre Concept. Courtesy of GM Heritage Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWidely considered to be Earl\u2019s greatest work, the LeSabre concept is, a masterpiece that represented Earl\u2019s audacious vision of the future. Its styling was inspired by jet aircraft design\u2014in fact, it is named after the F-86 Sabre, the first supersonic fighter jet. Its prominent center oval grille rotates to reveal two close-set hidden headlamps behind it. Its sleek bodywork is composed of aluminum, magnesium, and fiberglass; is ornamented with front-bumper Dagmars; and finishes in a jet-style tail cone at the rear. Power comes from a 335 HP, 215 CID V-8 engine designed to run on both gasoline and ethanol stored in aircraft-style fuel bladders within the LeSabre\u2019s prominent tailfins. The engine is mated to GM\u2019s first rear-mounted Hydramatic transmission. Behind the wraparound windshield was an aircraft-inspired cockpit that featured heated seats, a water sensor that would automatically raise the power top at the onset of rain, and controls for a chassis-integrated jack system. LeSabre was GM\u2019s centerpiece of the show circuit. Once retired from those duties, like its Y-Job predecessor, it became Earl\u2019s personal vehicle.<\/p>\n
A Weekend of Car Culture in Detroit<\/strong><\/h2>\nThese four automotive design icons can be seen at the Detroit Concours d\u2019Elegance from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on September 18, 2022, at the Detroit Institute of Arts. They will be joined by four additional cars in the Cars of Harley Earl class along with another 112 historically significant vehicles across 15 classes on the city streets and lawns surrounding the Institute.<\/p>\n
The Detroit Concours d\u2019Elegance is a fun-filled weekend celebration of car culture that kicks off with Cars and Community outside Comerica Park from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday, September 17, followed by the Motor City Party that evening at the College for Creative Studies – Taubman Center, where former General Motors Vice President of Global Design, Ed Welburn, will be the guest of honor.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Earl\u2019s reputation was built in Los Angeles, where he became renowned for creating custom bodywork for wealthy clients at his family\u2019s business, Earl Automobile Works, which was subsequently acquired by California Cadillac distributor Don Lee and rebranded as Don Lee Coach and Body Works. The business was routinely full of custom bodies commissioned by wealthy clients and brought to life by Earl. This Cadillac Type 59C is an example of this early work\u2014sent to Don Lee Coach and Body as a rolling chassis, it was subsequently fashioned into the stunning blue-and-black coachbuilt sedan that will delight Concours visitors in Detroit.<\/p>\n
1927 LaSalle Series 303<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/a>1927 LaSalle Series 303. Courtesy of GM Heritage Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nEarl\u2019s eye-catching design work in California caught the attention of Cadillac president Lawrence Fisher, who was tasked with launching LaSalle, a new brand by Cadillac that would bridge the price gap between GM\u2019s flagship luxury brand and Buick. The LaSalle was meant to appeal to younger buyers, and Fisher hired Earl as a consultant to give the LaSalle visual panache in line with the custom work he was doing in California. Using the Hispano-Suiza as his inspiration, Earl\u2019s design for the LaSalle was accepted. It was the first production car ever designed by a stylist. Shortly thereafter, General Motors hired him to lead its newly created design division, originally called the Art and Colour Section\u2014it would later become known as the General Motors Styling Section and continues today as GM Design.<\/p>\n
1938 Buick Y-Job Concept<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/a>1938 Buick Y-Job Concept. Courtesy of GM Heritage Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCelebrated today as the industry\u2019s first \u201cconcept car,\u201d the Y-Job is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece of design and engineering innovation that served as Earl\u2019s personal vehicle for over a decade. Earl wanted a boattail roadster that communicated his vision of the future of automotive design. As such, the Y-Job featured an exciting laundry list of features including retractable headlamps, a power top that stowed beneath a hinged metal decklid, power windows, and push-button exterior door handles. Measuring over 17 feet long yet only 58 inches tall at the top of the windshield, the Y-Job looked like nothing else of its era and established a design benchmark for General Motors. Upon its public debut in 1939, the press dubbed it the \u201cCar of the Future.\u201d In 2016, the Y-Job was the 14th vehicle enshrined in the National Historic Vehicle Register.<\/p>\n
1951 General Motors LeSabre Concept<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/a>1951 General Motors LeSabre Concept. Courtesy of GM Heritage Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWidely considered to be Earl\u2019s greatest work, the LeSabre concept is, a masterpiece that represented Earl\u2019s audacious vision of the future. Its styling was inspired by jet aircraft design\u2014in fact, it is named after the F-86 Sabre, the first supersonic fighter jet. Its prominent center oval grille rotates to reveal two close-set hidden headlamps behind it. Its sleek bodywork is composed of aluminum, magnesium, and fiberglass; is ornamented with front-bumper Dagmars; and finishes in a jet-style tail cone at the rear. Power comes from a 335 HP, 215 CID V-8 engine designed to run on both gasoline and ethanol stored in aircraft-style fuel bladders within the LeSabre\u2019s prominent tailfins. The engine is mated to GM\u2019s first rear-mounted Hydramatic transmission. Behind the wraparound windshield was an aircraft-inspired cockpit that featured heated seats, a water sensor that would automatically raise the power top at the onset of rain, and controls for a chassis-integrated jack system. LeSabre was GM\u2019s centerpiece of the show circuit. Once retired from those duties, like its Y-Job predecessor, it became Earl\u2019s personal vehicle.<\/p>\n
A Weekend of Car Culture in Detroit<\/strong><\/h2>\nThese four automotive design icons can be seen at the Detroit Concours d\u2019Elegance from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on September 18, 2022, at the Detroit Institute of Arts. They will be joined by four additional cars in the Cars of Harley Earl class along with another 112 historically significant vehicles across 15 classes on the city streets and lawns surrounding the Institute.<\/p>\n
The Detroit Concours d\u2019Elegance is a fun-filled weekend celebration of car culture that kicks off with Cars and Community outside Comerica Park from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday, September 17, followed by the Motor City Party that evening at the College for Creative Studies – Taubman Center, where former General Motors Vice President of Global Design, Ed Welburn, will be the guest of honor.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Earl\u2019s eye-catching design work in California caught the attention of Cadillac president Lawrence Fisher, who was tasked with launching LaSalle, a new brand by Cadillac that would bridge the price gap between GM\u2019s flagship luxury brand and Buick. The LaSalle was meant to appeal to younger buyers, and Fisher hired Earl as a consultant to give the LaSalle visual panache in line with the custom work he was doing in California. Using the Hispano-Suiza as his inspiration, Earl\u2019s design for the LaSalle was accepted. It was the first production car ever designed by a stylist. Shortly thereafter, General Motors hired him to lead its newly created design division, originally called the Art and Colour Section\u2014it would later become known as the General Motors Styling Section and continues today as GM Design.<\/p>\n
1938 Buick Y-Job Concept<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/a>1938 Buick Y-Job Concept. Courtesy of GM Heritage Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCelebrated today as the industry\u2019s first \u201cconcept car,\u201d the Y-Job is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece of design and engineering innovation that served as Earl\u2019s personal vehicle for over a decade. Earl wanted a boattail roadster that communicated his vision of the future of automotive design. As such, the Y-Job featured an exciting laundry list of features including retractable headlamps, a power top that stowed beneath a hinged metal decklid, power windows, and push-button exterior door handles. Measuring over 17 feet long yet only 58 inches tall at the top of the windshield, the Y-Job looked like nothing else of its era and established a design benchmark for General Motors. Upon its public debut in 1939, the press dubbed it the \u201cCar of the Future.\u201d In 2016, the Y-Job was the 14th vehicle enshrined in the National Historic Vehicle Register.<\/p>\n
1951 General Motors LeSabre Concept<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/a>1951 General Motors LeSabre Concept. Courtesy of GM Heritage Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWidely considered to be Earl\u2019s greatest work, the LeSabre concept is, a masterpiece that represented Earl\u2019s audacious vision of the future. Its styling was inspired by jet aircraft design\u2014in fact, it is named after the F-86 Sabre, the first supersonic fighter jet. Its prominent center oval grille rotates to reveal two close-set hidden headlamps behind it. Its sleek bodywork is composed of aluminum, magnesium, and fiberglass; is ornamented with front-bumper Dagmars; and finishes in a jet-style tail cone at the rear. Power comes from a 335 HP, 215 CID V-8 engine designed to run on both gasoline and ethanol stored in aircraft-style fuel bladders within the LeSabre\u2019s prominent tailfins. The engine is mated to GM\u2019s first rear-mounted Hydramatic transmission. Behind the wraparound windshield was an aircraft-inspired cockpit that featured heated seats, a water sensor that would automatically raise the power top at the onset of rain, and controls for a chassis-integrated jack system. LeSabre was GM\u2019s centerpiece of the show circuit. Once retired from those duties, like its Y-Job predecessor, it became Earl\u2019s personal vehicle.<\/p>\n
A Weekend of Car Culture in Detroit<\/strong><\/h2>\nThese four automotive design icons can be seen at the Detroit Concours d\u2019Elegance from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on September 18, 2022, at the Detroit Institute of Arts. They will be joined by four additional cars in the Cars of Harley Earl class along with another 112 historically significant vehicles across 15 classes on the city streets and lawns surrounding the Institute.<\/p>\n
The Detroit Concours d\u2019Elegance is a fun-filled weekend celebration of car culture that kicks off with Cars and Community outside Comerica Park from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday, September 17, followed by the Motor City Party that evening at the College for Creative Studies – Taubman Center, where former General Motors Vice President of Global Design, Ed Welburn, will be the guest of honor.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Celebrated today as the industry\u2019s first \u201cconcept car,\u201d the Y-Job is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece of design and engineering innovation that served as Earl\u2019s personal vehicle for over a decade. Earl wanted a boattail roadster that communicated his vision of the future of automotive design. As such, the Y-Job featured an exciting laundry list of features including retractable headlamps, a power top that stowed beneath a hinged metal decklid, power windows, and push-button exterior door handles. Measuring over 17 feet long yet only 58 inches tall at the top of the windshield, the Y-Job looked like nothing else of its era and established a design benchmark for General Motors. Upon its public debut in 1939, the press dubbed it the \u201cCar of the Future.\u201d In 2016, the Y-Job was the 14th vehicle enshrined in the National Historic Vehicle Register.<\/p>\n
1951 General Motors LeSabre Concept<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/a>1951 General Motors LeSabre Concept. Courtesy of GM Heritage Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWidely considered to be Earl\u2019s greatest work, the LeSabre concept is, a masterpiece that represented Earl\u2019s audacious vision of the future. Its styling was inspired by jet aircraft design\u2014in fact, it is named after the F-86 Sabre, the first supersonic fighter jet. Its prominent center oval grille rotates to reveal two close-set hidden headlamps behind it. Its sleek bodywork is composed of aluminum, magnesium, and fiberglass; is ornamented with front-bumper Dagmars; and finishes in a jet-style tail cone at the rear. Power comes from a 335 HP, 215 CID V-8 engine designed to run on both gasoline and ethanol stored in aircraft-style fuel bladders within the LeSabre\u2019s prominent tailfins. The engine is mated to GM\u2019s first rear-mounted Hydramatic transmission. Behind the wraparound windshield was an aircraft-inspired cockpit that featured heated seats, a water sensor that would automatically raise the power top at the onset of rain, and controls for a chassis-integrated jack system. LeSabre was GM\u2019s centerpiece of the show circuit. Once retired from those duties, like its Y-Job predecessor, it became Earl\u2019s personal vehicle.<\/p>\n
A Weekend of Car Culture in Detroit<\/strong><\/h2>\nThese four automotive design icons can be seen at the Detroit Concours d\u2019Elegance from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on September 18, 2022, at the Detroit Institute of Arts. They will be joined by four additional cars in the Cars of Harley Earl class along with another 112 historically significant vehicles across 15 classes on the city streets and lawns surrounding the Institute.<\/p>\n
The Detroit Concours d\u2019Elegance is a fun-filled weekend celebration of car culture that kicks off with Cars and Community outside Comerica Park from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday, September 17, followed by the Motor City Party that evening at the College for Creative Studies – Taubman Center, where former General Motors Vice President of Global Design, Ed Welburn, will be the guest of honor.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Widely considered to be Earl\u2019s greatest work, the LeSabre concept is, a masterpiece that represented Earl\u2019s audacious vision of the future. Its styling was inspired by jet aircraft design\u2014in fact, it is named after the F-86 Sabre, the first supersonic fighter jet. Its prominent center oval grille rotates to reveal two close-set hidden headlamps behind it. Its sleek bodywork is composed of aluminum, magnesium, and fiberglass; is ornamented with front-bumper Dagmars; and finishes in a jet-style tail cone at the rear. Power comes from a 335 HP, 215 CID V-8 engine designed to run on both gasoline and ethanol stored in aircraft-style fuel bladders within the LeSabre\u2019s prominent tailfins. The engine is mated to GM\u2019s first rear-mounted Hydramatic transmission. Behind the wraparound windshield was an aircraft-inspired cockpit that featured heated seats, a water sensor that would automatically raise the power top at the onset of rain, and controls for a chassis-integrated jack system. LeSabre was GM\u2019s centerpiece of the show circuit. Once retired from those duties, like its Y-Job predecessor, it became Earl\u2019s personal vehicle.<\/p>\n