The Origins of Wedge Car Design

1 Guy Dirkin, Ph.D. and Geoffrey Hacker Ph.D. Second Edition Introducing The 1966 Cannara

3 Guy Dirkin Ph.D. and Geoffrey Hacker Ph.D. Undiscovered Classics The Origins of Wedge Car Design

4 The Origins of Wedge Car Design PUBLISHED BY: Undiscovered Classics 6306 Memorial Highway Tampa, Florida 33615-4538 UndiscoveredClassics.com PRODUCTION: Authorship, Layout, and Design: Guy Dirkin, Ph.D. & Geoffrey R. Hacker, Ph.D. PHOTO CREDITS: Guy Dirkin & Geoffrey Hacker —Personal Photography Additional Photos Sourced From Public Domain Sites Special Edition Prepared For Wedge Car Class at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2024 © 2024 by Undiscovered Classics; Second Edition Printed in the USA All rights reserved for all countries, including the right of translation. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording, xerography, computer scanning or any information or storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except where one wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

5 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................ i PREAMBLE ................................................................. iii PART I— A BRIEF REVIEW OF WEDGE CARS Introduction .................................................................. 1 Wedge Car Definitions ................................................. 7 Strother MacMinn ......................................................... 9 Giorgetto Giugiaro ........................................................ 11 Marcello Gandini .......................................................... 13 Additional Designers .................................................... 17 From Concept Cars to Production Cars ....................... 21 PART II— DIGGING DEEPER DIGGING DEEPER Introduction .................................................................. 27 Transitional Wedge Car Evolution ................................ 29 PART III— YOUNG DESIGNERS LEAD THE WAY Walt Woron’s Words Echo Today ................................ 33 ArtCenter College of Design ........................................ 35 The Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild ......................................... 37 Ken Ebert’s & David McIntosh’s Ocelot (1964) ........................ 41 Kerne Ericksen’s GT (1964) ..................................................... 47 Kiyoyuki “Ken” Ikuyama ........................................................... 51 Brian Geiszler .......................................................................... 53 PART IV— THE 1966 CANNARA: THE FIRST PURE WEDGE CAR Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild Scholarship............................. 57 Building the Cannara: 1964 and 1965 ..................................... 59 The ArtCenter Years ............................................................... 61 Traveling to California: 1966 and 1967 .................................... 63 Strother MacMinn Photos ........................................................ 65 The Cannara Interior ................................................................ 71 The Cannara Debut at Amelia in 2022 ..................................... 73 1966 Cannara and the 1969 Autobianchi Runabout ..................................................... 75 Technical Specifications .......................................................... 77 Conclusion ............................................................................... 79 Epilogue: Wedge Shaped Car Design Going Forward ............. 81 Appendix Shown on Next Page

6 Perisphere and Trylon: 1939 New York World’s Fair Futuristic Wedge Shapes Have Been Ever-Present Design Elements From the Beginning Cannara Photography and Artwork Dan Palatnik Renderings ...................................................... 85 Cannara Photos 2024 ........................................................... 87 Concours and Exhibitions Featuring Wedge Cars Detroit Concours d’Elegance of American 2021 ................... 89 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance 2022: Cannara Debut .. 91 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2024: Class ................. 93 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2024: Forum ............... 95 Books and Articles of Interest When Wedge Had The Edge ................................................ 97 Road & Track Magazine: February 1957 .............................. 99 Detroit Concours d’Elegance of America 2021 ..................... 101 Pebble Beach Concours Insider 2024: Masters of the Wedge ........................................................... 103 Pebble Beach Concours Handout 2024 ................................ 107 Biographies Ray Cannara ........................................................................ 109 Guy Dirkin ............................................................................ 111 Geoffrey Hacker ................................................................... 113 References Reference List ........................................................................ 115 Appendix

7 Acknowledgements Our Thanks To The Many People Who Contributed To This Book Ken Gross is an award-winning automotive journalist and has contributed to almost every car magazine you’ve ever enjoyed reading. Following a career in advertising and marketing, he was the Executive Director of the Petersen Automotive Museum and has served as Guest Curator for numerous other prestigious museums around the country. Ken has written fifteen automotive books and has been a Chief Class Judge for 25 years at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. He also serves on their Selection Committee. He’s judged numerous other Concours events across the country from Amelia Island to Rodeo Drive. Michael Lamm became a member of the Society of Automotive Historians over 50 years ago. Mike went on to express that: “In my experience, the great accomplishment of the SAH has been to legitimize automotive history—to make it a serious cultural and academic presence. People—and I’m talking now about everyone from scholars to tinkerers—have come to recognize the automobile and the auto industry as valuable expressions of modern history and human understanding. Automotive history, in my view, now enjoys the same cultural value as architectural history and the history of industrial design. Mike along with David Holls’s wrote A Century of Automotive Style (1996), remains perhaps the most comprehensive and detailed account of the history of American automobile design. Raffi Minasian is a freelance designer working with a wide variety of clients. He holds a BFA from University of California at Los Angeles in Product Design and a BS in Transportation Design from ArtCenter College. His experience includes aircraft interior design for The Boeing Corporation, toys for Mattel and McDonald’s, consumer products for Microsoft, Polaris, and Rainbird, and car designs for Toyota, Subaru, The Franklin Mint, and Moal Coachbuilders. Over the past twenty years Raffi has designed more than 300 different model cars, and hundreds of consumer products, toys, and home accessories. Stewart Reed is the Chairman Emeritus of the Transportation Design Department at ArtCenter, where he overseed the undergraduate and graduate programs for over twenty years. A 1969 graduate of ArtCenter, Reed has had a distinguished 35-year career in transportation design. Reed has designed and developed more than 30 concept vehicles throughout his career. In 1994, he established Stewart Reed Design and became consultant to the manufacturing industry in automotive and consumer products, with clients including Michelin, Icon Aircraft, Herman Miller, Nissan, Hyundai, Ford and Lockheed Martin. Recently, the Mullin Automotive Museum sought him out for coachwork design of a historically significant Bugatti. Dr. Paul Sable is a retried university professor at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. He an automotive historian, author, collector and overall car enthusiast. Paul has been a chief judge at nearly every major Concours in the United States. He collects hybrid cars of the 50’s such as Dual Ghia, Hudson Italia, Nash Healey and Facel Vega. He is a Ghia expert and is currently researching homemade cars of the 1950’s and early 60’s. He is part of the founding group of a relatively new Concours in Hershey Pennsylvania – The Elegance at Hershey. Paul is the Honorary Chief Judge at the prestigious Arizona Concours. i

8 In the late 1960’s and 1970’s a design movement took place, with car styling emphasizing predominant angular silhouettes, with whole body triangulation front to rear. These cars have been collectively referred to as “wedge cars”. Interest in wedge car design resurfaced in 2019 with the unveiling of the Tesla Cybertruck1. In covering the history of wedge car design, automotive journalists and historians tend to focus on the concept cars of the Italian design houses of Bertone, Pininfarina and Ital. Frequently, the Lamborghini Marzal is often cited as the first wedge car. The thesis presented here, is that other cars, built several years earlier than the 1967 Lamborghini Marzal, should be included in any thorough review of wedge car design. We present the 1966 Cannara, by Ray Cannara and propose that the Cannara is the first car with requisite pure wedge car design elements. The Cannara is the legitimate historical anchor of wedge car design. While he was at Art Center 1964-1968, Cannara was a student and mentee of famed auto design icon and teacher Strother MacMinn. 1967 Lamborghini Concept Car Mazal ii

9 MacMinn had prophesized a wedge car design movement in the 1960’s in his 1957 Road and Track article Driving the Wedge or, after 1960 What? While Ray Cannara choose to design and build his wedge car with independent inspiration, MacMinn was close by and personally photographed Ray’s car when completed. It is not the intention to catalog wedge cars in this review. A cataloging opportunity exists, but is beyond the scope of this work. In reviewing our work presented here, Paul Sable pointed out that wedge elements in automobile design appeared in very early cars. He noted the Stanley Steamer, the Seagrave Golden Arrow and other cars long before the 1960’s. History has now coalesced complete “wedge car” designs as a 1960’s – 1970’s movement. Our work focuses on that period, but acknowledges the presence of earlier cars with wedge elements in their design. 1967 Lamborghini Concept Car Mazal Preamble iii

10 iv

3 Part I: A Brief Review of Wedge Cars Introduction The 1960’s was a significant period of change in the United States and other Western nations, with new trends in music and art, reflecting ideas within a larger cultural shift. In the decade, design changes challenged convention and this was certainly the case in the automotive arena. Applying historical perspective, “wedge” cars coalesced in the late 1960’s and is viewed as movement in automotive design. Definitions of wedge cars range from simple to complex. Definitional common themes are a car characterized by a full body treatment, completely triangulating the front of the car to the rear. Additional features often include a low profile, pointed shape with heightened angularity, broad frontal area and conversely lower emphasis on curvature. Other cars, prior to this design movement, have had wedge elements and some elements of angularity. The wedge car movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s focused on the purity of wedge car design. Impressionism, the 19th century art movement, was characterized by certain techniques of brush strokes, light, visual angle and subject matter. Artists prior to the impressionist period had used all these elements, but history has defined the impressionist period. In automotive history, wedge elements have appeared since the early days of the automobile. The analogy with the Impressionist period in art, underscores that wedge design elements absolutely existed prior to the 1960’s, but wedge elements alone does not mandate inclusion in a review of the wedge car design movement. We are limiting the scope of this review to cars within the primary period of the wedge car movement: the 1960’s and 1970’s. Cars from the design houses of Bertone, Ghia, Ital and Pininfarina are typically cited by journalists and/or automotive historians as the source of historical markers for the origins of wedge cars. Many writers reference the 1967 Lamborghini Marzal (see previous page) as a design anchor for the wedge car movement. Our work here will challenge that thinking and argue that: • wedge car designs had earlier examples that fully represent the wedge car design evolution than the Mazal • these early examples must be included in any historical review • we believe it is helpful to try to identify one or more design anchors for the wedge car movement • candidates will be presented in our conclusion

4 What Do You See Below? What you see in the images below depends on who you are and what you do. To the average person, a ballerina is a ballerina. There’s only one image of a ballerina below and it is the image on the right. To a person who studies human movement, they are comfortable with dots on a page representing human movement and form. This means not everyone will see a wedge car as a wedge car. Designers may use a vector line definition whereas a car enthusiast knows a wedge car when they see it—just like they know a ballerina when they see her.

5 1966 Cannara 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo 1970 Ferrari 512S Modulo 1965 NSU Autonova GT

6 Wedge Design: Key Points From Three Designers Jean-Paul Oyono and Michael Robinson: Designers • Front end is sharp / rear end is thick. • Typically, more front overhang than rear overhang. • Median lines—not character lines—define the wedge. • Median lines—must sharply rise from front to rear. • The front needs to be lower than the rear for a “wedge” to be a “wedge”. • In most cases, a wedge car is a mid-rear engine car. That is, a “pusher” and not a “puller” because of the shape of the vehicle. Matt Brown: Automotive Engineer and Writer • The best wedge cars often have a flat or near flat front edge with a mostly continuous surface between the hood and windshield. Additional Consensus • Strong Visual Wedge Car Identity: The car must easily “identify” as a wedge car. • The median line should be clearly viewed as ascending. • Both layman and designers agree that it’s a wedge car.

7 Wedge Car Definitions A simple, dictionary, definition of a wedge is a shape that is thick at one end and pointed at the other. Expanding the notion to automotive design, consensus starts to consolidate around cars that, are sharp at the front and thick at the rear. Moreover, the median vector line that defines the car design as a complete entity, needs to be lower at the front than the rear. Technically and biomorphically, from nose to tail of a vehicle, the “ascending median line” must be obvious to the human viewing the car. On the facing page are four cars that start to test the vector line definition of a wedge car. • First, the 1965 NSU Autonova GT has wedge elements and a case can be made that the car has meets the technical criteria of an ascending median vector line. • Second, the 1970 Ferrari 512S Modulo has strong wedge elements, but the domed center deters designers from concurring that the Modulo is a pure wedge car • Third, Gandini’s 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo is a car that meets design consensus as a wedge car, and for many the has served as an icon of the era wedge car design • The 1966 Cannara, both technically and visually, meets the technical definition of a wedge car, but also like the Carabo, is obvious to the lay public as a wedge-shaped car In writing our review, we believe that the cars that strongly embody a complete wedge car, versus a car with wedge elements, have to have aligned agreement between technical design criteria and the lay publics human eye. That means that to understand what a wedge car is—technical criteria alone would not suffice. A wedge car has to “look” and “feel” like a wedge car for the public to accept it as a wedge car.

8 Right: “Car of Tomorrow” Design by Strother MacMinn— 1966 Left: Strother MacMinn’s Seminal Article Predicting Wedge Design in the 60s Published in the February, 1957 edition of Road & Track Magazine Above: Strother MacMinn with Students Discussing Car Design circa 1970

9 Strother MacMinn Strother MacMinn predicted the rise of wedge car design in the February 1957 edition of Road & Track entitled Driving the Wedge or, after 1960, What? 5 MacMinn was the head of ArtCenter College of Design’s transportation department for many years. His students went on to become leading automotive designers around the world. Michael Lamm, writer and publisher of articles about cars, said, "If you are in a car today, Mac probably influenced its design." Chuck Jordan, VP of Design for GM 1986-1982, said about Mac... "No one influenced car design more than he did." In the Road & Track article, MacMinn (simply Mac, to his students, friends and colleagues) noted that an assumed value has been placed on wedge shapes and wedge themes since the origin of the motor car. He used the 1899 Vallee Racing Slipper as an early example of a wedge-shaped nose assisting the car to cut through the air more efficiently. MacMinn explains that wedge elements may be horizontal and vertical; in part, or approaching the whole cars overall shape. Seagraves’s Sunbeam, first to reach 200 mph on land, was a “blunt-nose horizontal wedge envelope body”. MacMinn’s Le Mans Coupe design employed what he termed an “oval bullet or rounded wedge” design. Peter Brock, a student of MacMinn, also used elements of the “oval bullet-rounded wedge” in his Cobra Daytona Coupé. In the 1957 Road & Track article, MacMinn predicted that entering the 1960’s wedge design will appear more frequently in cars manufactured for the general public. It was logical, and if not what, as his article prompts. In reality, the wedge car movement, that did begin in the 1960’s, did not influence the large auto manufacturers. However, the use of front or rear mounted mid-engine placement allowed mainly sports cars to explore wedge shape design that led to numerous examples that were embraced by the public for their sheer exotic excitement. Ray Cannara designed and built his own wedge car in 1966. Cannara worked with MacMinn while a student at ArtCenter. The Cannara is featured later in this book along with period photos taken of Ray Cannara’s car by Strother MacMinn. The Cannara has very pure wedge design elements satisfying Strother MacMinn’s design requirements as to what qualified as a pure wedge car. Strother MacMinn Ray Cannara and His Car: ArtCenter College of Design 1968

10 Right: 1969 Alfa Iguana Left: 1967 De Tomaso Mangusta Left: 1981 DMC DeLorean

11 Giorgetto Giugiaro In 1967 Giorgetto Giugiaro unveiled the De Tomaso Mangusta. Guigiaro had had early success in his career when he designed the Alfa Romeo 2000 Sprint when he was just 21 while working at Bertone. In 1966, Guigiaro had a one-year contract at Ghia. During his tenure he designed the Mangusta, which was a stunning stand-alone design, but the car also heralded Guigiaro’s “folded paper” look. The folded paper era deserves special mention in any wedge car history. The folded paper cars emphasized sharp edges and flat surfaces, much more geometric in orientation than in prior automotive design lines. In the next decade, production sports cars like the Lotus Esprit emerged and the Volkswagen Sirocco. It is also noteworthy that the 1981 DMC DeLorean was also penned by Guigiaro. Also, in 1968, Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Design designed the Bizzarrini Manta concept car. While not quite exhibiting stark wedge car elements, the Manta was clearly influential, with similarities showing in the much later Lamborghini Diablo and even the DMC DeLorean. Above and Right: 1968 Bizzarrini Manta

12 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo

13 Marcello Gandini At the Paris Motor Show in 1968 Marcello Gandini presented the Alfa Romeo Carabo. The design elements of the Carabo follow more closely an obvious wedge silhouette in combination with sufficient degrees of angularity that typify many wedge car designs. In a 2018 interview with Davide Cironi of Drive Experience, Marcello Gandini indicated that the Carabo was “a decisive cut” from the 1967 Lamborghini Marzal. In terms of Gandini’s work, the Alfa Romeo Carabo was his first pure wedge car. It is our opinion that the Alfa Romeo Carabo better represents early Italian wedge cars than the Lamborghini Marzal. The following year, Marcello Gandini presented the A112 Autobianchi Runabout concept at the 1969 Turin Motor Show shown below and on the next two pages. The Autobianchi Runabout was known to be a prototype design for the for the Fiat X19. Gandini was interviewed by Davide Cironi of Drive Experience in 2018 and was asked about the origins of the Lancia Stratos Rally Car: “…it was born on a prototype called the Runabout, which also influenced the X1/9, but above all the Stratos” 1969 Autobianchi Runabout

14 This Page: 1969 Autobianchi Runabout by Bertone (Gandini) In the December 6, 1969 Competition Press and Autoweek issue, they reported on the November ’69 Turin Auto Show. The author David Philips said of the show, “Of all the styling exercises, the most eye-catching is Bertones’s open 2-seater Runabout…” The show also featured the stunning comparative designs of Pininfarina’s 1969 Ferrari 512S and Italdesign’s (Giorgetto Giugiaro) 1969 Alfa Romeo Iguana concept. See below and right page, in order.

15 Above: 1969 Ferrari 512S by Pininfarina Right: 1969 Alfa Romeo Iguana

16 This Page: 1969 Holden Hurricane debuted at the 1969 Melbourne Auto Show

17 Additional Designers The Holden Hurricane concept had its debut at the 1969 Melbourne Auto Show. A scale model of the Hurricane was designed by Detroit designers in 1968. Don DaHarsh, Ed Taylor and Jack Hutson were members of Bern Ambor’s RD and D team at Holden. This team built the full-size Holden Hurricane in Australia shown on left page. Giorgetto Giugiaro from Italdesign was commissioned to rebody the Porsche 914. In 1970, the VW-Porsche Tapiro was unveiled and is shown below. Again, providing design lines that can be seen in cars a few years later, such as Lotus. 1970 VW-Porsche Tapiro

18 Marcello Gandini had a positive reception to his wedge designs and interests in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. He continued his wedge car experimentation with the radical 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero shown below. 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero

19 Pininfarina designer Paulo Martin launched the Ferrari Modulo 512 at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show. This Page: 1970 Ferrari Modulo 512

20 At the January 1971 Brussels Motor show Paulo Martin revealed the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale Cuneo. This open roadster, had uncluttered wedge car lines. Cuneo directly translates from Italian to English as wedge. 1971 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale Cuneo

21 From Concept Cars to Production Cars Some wedge shaped cars were concept cars and some made it into production. Mid-engine design made sense for wedge shaped body work and also had favorable weight bias for cars with sporting intent. We have mentioned Bertone as a key design house, but not yet singled out Bertone. As can be seen in the graphic to the left, Bertone was a force in wedge car designs and particularly on wedge cars that reached production. The image on the left of mid-engine cars by Bertone blends together wedge shapes previously seen in concept cars and those cars that made it into production. The Lamborghini Countach and Ferrari Dino 4 share wedge design elements. The 1972 Fiat X19, heavily influenced by the 1969 Autobiachi Runabout, was produced in relatively prolific numbers. Gandini transitioned his design efforts from concept cars to road cars. The Lancia Stratos HF Prototype made its debut at the 1971 Turin Motor Show. The road version of the Lancia Stratos went into production between 1973 and 1974. Four hundred and ninety-two cars were built. The Stratos won high acclaim as a World Rally Championship car in 1974-1976. Regarding the emergence of wedge designs and mid-engine layouts, it is no coincidence that the two themes emerged at approximately the same time. With the engine up front, it is nearly impossible to have the frontal body area low and sharp. The mid-engine placement (emerging in the early-60’s for show cars and by mid-60’s for production cars) allowed wedge design to happen, in full wedge form.

22 Lancia Stratos HF Prototype Lancia Stratos Production Car Lamborghini Countach Wireframe Lamborghini Countach While Marcello Gandini was a prolific and accomplished designer, one of his most famous (perhaps infamous designs) was the Lamborghini Countach which was first shown at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show and was produced from 1974-1990. The Countach was a favorite of car aficionados of all ages, with posters of the car running into the millions of copies.

23 Ital Designed 1972 Lotus Espirit 1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GTB 1981 Vector W2 2022 Tesla CyberTruck Wedge car designs were at their peak in the 1970’s, but the US designed and produced 1981 Vector W2, and many later mid-engine super cars, still maintain strong wedge styling cues. Further examples of production cars with strong wedge design elements are shown here.

24 Shown below are two posters of American cars from the 1950s and 1960s. Both posters show the popular production designs which do not include wedge shaped automobiles. The wedge-shaped car design was utilized in sports cars, concept cars and show cars where limits to practicality were not a major design component. American Automobiles: 1950-1959 American Automobiles: 1960-1969

27 Part II: Digging Deeper Introduction So far, this brief review has covered many of the same cars that surface repeatedly when opening the archives of wedge car design. A status quo review, is destined to fall short in rigor, if the goal is to seek candidates that might be viewed as the first wedge car. In this section we will discuss the work of a range of designers. The names of Exner Jr., Brock, Giugiaro and Gandini were designers who were honored in their era and have stood the test of time in terms of historical contribution. At the other end of the spectrum young designers, with their career ahead of them, were also making contributions. These young designers either designed, or designed and then built, cars that are noteworthy in this review. Missed by virtually all automotive writers and historians are several key independent efforts by highly skilled, innovative and young designers. We will endeavor to show that these designs did not materialize by luck. We are discussing award winning young talent who went on to automotive design careers in major companies. 1955 Gilda by Ghia—Giovanni Savonuzzi

28 This Page: 1958 Simca Special by Virgil Exner Jr.

29 Transitional Wedge Car Evolution In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, several concept cars were beginning to experiment with design changes that are noteworthy in a historical review of wedge cars. In 1958, Virgil Exner Jr designed a sports car concept, the Simca Special (shown on left page), that from a side view had emergent wedge design lines. In May 2022, Exner Jr posted on the Deans Garage website a number of “wedge” influencing designs prior to 1960. As noted in the beginning of this book, wedge elements in design have been around since the beginning of the automobile. Virgil Exner Sr was known as The Father of the Fin”. Wedge silhouettes, prior to the historically labelled “Wedge Car Era” that began in the 1960s are not quite as pure; which can be seen in Exner Jr’s offerings. One thing for sure is that nothing will stop the continued debate. The following link is to Exner Jr’s May 2022 posting: http://www.deansgarage.com/2022/influential-designs-by-virgil-exner/ 1958 Simca Special by Virgil Exner Jr.—Paris, France Exhibition October, 1959

30 In 1959, Pete Brock’s Corvette concept car XP-87 debuted. Lines were flattening and the front-end treatment was aggressive. In 1965, Herb Adams designed the “Pontiac” Vivant. The Vivant shows the progression from Exner Jr’s and Brock’s designs a few years before. Perhaps, while a wedge silhouette is emergent, the cars curves have excluded the car from most reviews on wedge car design. Herb Adams’ 1965 Vivant Sports Car Corvette XP-87 Concept Car

33 We commented previously that any thorough historical review should look backwards to build the foundation for a comprehensive review. There is a certain comfort level to view design innovation from named design houses and the prototypes and concepts of major manufacturers. Walt Woron, the first editor of Motor Trend magazine, warned of dismissing independent efforts of creative individuals: Part III: Young Designers Lead The Way Walt Woron’s Words Echo Today Above & Below: Walt Woron Walt Woron, Motor Trend Magazine: November, 1951 “There’s something great taking place in the automotive world today, but too few people – to our way of thinking – realize it. It’s a transformation, being brought about by an active group of individuals whose very life is wrapped around its automobiles. … They’re expressing themselves in their own individual ways, and in the best manner they’re capable of. There’s a lot to learn from these imaginative designers and experiments – some good, some bad – but it all has a fresh, new approach…. This group, however, is pointing the way – to a truly American design. It has been freely admitted by top Detroit automotive designers that many innovations on production cars are the result of watching the developments of these enthusiasts who build their own custom cars, sports cars and hot rods. … Ordinarily, people are prone to accept things as they are – and to shy away from radical ideas …One way for us to give credit where it is due is to encourage these creative enthusiasts in the pursuit of their goal. This not only benefits them, individually and collectively, but in turn helps to provide us with a better endproduct. And this, without a doubt, is what it will do”. Walt Woron concluded that when you see an individual design or one-off car: “Take another look. Chances are you’ll be looking at the prototype of tomorrow’s car, or at least at “an experimental laboratory on wheels from which may be borrowed styling, design, or engineering features for Detroit’s newest creation”.

34 Why ArtCenter’s Auto Design Program is One of the Most Influential on the Planet... “ArtCenter houses what’s arguably the oldest and most influential transportation design program in the world. The school’s location in Pasadena is one reason almost every automaker has a design studio in Southern California, and you’d struggle to find a single manufacturer without a few alumni on staff. The split-window Corvette, the Boss 302 Mustang, the original Ford Taurus, the Audi TT, the BMW Z8, the modern Mini, the Lamborghini Murciélago, the Ferrari F430—all of these iconic cars were styled by ArtCenter talent.” “In 1930, advertising executive Edward “Tink” Adams was inspired to open what was then known as the ArtCenter School, located in downtown Los Angeles, which employed working professionals to teach advertising, illustration, photography, and industrial design. In 1948, he hired Strother MacMinn to lead the first classes in transportation design. MacMinn (often referred to as “Mac”) was the perfect choice to invent a new academic discipline. Besides being an inspirational educator with encyclopedic knowledge of automotive styling, MacMinn was a product of Southern California who had apprenticed at Walter M. Murphy before working for Earl at GM Styling. The transportation design department prospered under MacMinn’s Yoda-like tutelage, and its influence in the industry flourished after ArtCenter moved in the 1970s to a cubist glass-and-steel building sited dramatically on a hillside overlooking the Rose Bowl. In 1973, Toyota became the first automaker to set up a design studio in the region. (The founder was an ArtCenter grad, and MacMinn was a major player.) Nissan and Chrysler followed, and the race was on. These days it’s easier to name the manufacturers without satellite studios than to list all the ones that have them. Most of these studios focus on advanced design, creating concept cars displayed at auto shows and formulating the styling cues that a company will use for a decade or so to come. But the design outposts are also responsible for some cars that go directly into production. The original Mazda Miata was designed in Southern California—by an ArtCenter grad. So was the New Beetle. And studios continue to open here, with Tesla and possibly Genesis—the new high-line Hyundai brand—being the latest arrivals. Inevitably ArtCenter has changed with the times. When aspiring car designer Peter Brock visited the school in the mid-1950s to ask about applying, he was told that he had to submit samples of his work. So, he hurried back to his car, furiously sketched hot rods in a three-ring binder for several hours, and returned with an instant portfolio. “Will this do?” he asked. It did, and he later designed the Cobra Daytona Coupe, one of the most memorable shapes in motorsports history.”

35 ArtCenter College of Design All three of the cars presented in this section were built by students at The ArtCenter College of Design in California which for decades has produced leaders in global automotive design. We did not focus on cars associated with ArtCenter students/faculty. It just turned out that way. Preston Lerner wrote a well-researched article for the Los Angeles Magazine part of which is shown on the left page. There are many sources that can confirm the importance of the ArtCenter. The ArtCenter was originally located in downtown Los Angeles. ArtCenter moved to Pasadena California in 1976. Left: Road & Track Cover in February 1954 Showing Entrance to ArtCenter School With One-Off Howard “Dutch” Darrin Designed Dyna Panhard

36 Above: Ron Will Holding His Trophy 1961 Left: John Jacobus’s Book on The Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild Below: Ron Will’s Award Winning Model

37 The Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild John Jacobus’ book, The Fisher Body Craftsman Guild: An Illustrated History had the following synopsis: “The Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild was a national auto design competition sponsored by the Fisher Body Division of General Motors. This competition was for teenagers to compete for college scholarships by designing and building scale model "dream" cars. Held from the 1930s through the 1960s, it helped identify and nurture a whole generation of designers and design executives. Virgil M. Exner, Jr., Charles M. Jordan, Robert W. Henderson, Robert A. Cadaret, Richard Arbib, Elia 'Russ' Russinoff, Galen Wickersham, Ronald C. Hill, Edward F. Taylor, George R. Chartier, Charles W. Pelly, Gary Graham, Charles A. Gibilterra, E. Arthur Russell, William A. Moore, Terry R. Henline, Paul Tatseos, Allen T. Weideman, Stewart Reed, Kenneth J. Dowd, Stuart Shuster, John M. Mellberg, Harry E. Schoepf, and Ronald J. Will, are among those designers and design executives who participated in the Guild”. Fisher Body Promotional Materials Shown Above: Credit Kerne Erickson

38 Fisher Body Guild 2004 Reunion—Guild Members and Their Cars Reunite

39 Fisher Body was an automobile coach builder, founded by two brothers, Fredrick and Charles Fisher, in 1908. In 1919, General Motors bought sixty percent of the Fisher Body corporation. “Body by Fisher” was on door sill plates of GM vehicles through the 1990’s. The Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild competition was not entirely philanthropic. The Guild recognized that youth are a valuable asset in unencumbered creativity and innovation. Creative young people could share new design concepts and design elements in the Guilds model competition, which were reviewed carefully by established designers. The competition was also a means of talent identification. Following a college education, young designers who had been tagged for their early potential could be tracked and recruited into industry. While young post graduates working for GM, Chrysler and Ford may have much to learn about working in a corporate organization, their youth was embraced as part of diversity in product development teams. Youth in team diversity is a key success factor in twenty first century organizations that require innovation to survive and remain competitive. The photos on this page are Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild model entries in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. We chose these example as they have wedge themed design elements conceived by young designers. There was no obligation in the design requirements of practical aspect of engine placement. However, for the purposes of historical precursors in wedge car design they are notable. Roger Oetting (left) and Virgil Exner Jr. (right) Inspect 1947 Guild Winners 1959 Guild Trophy

40 “Elegant Performance” —By Ken Eberts

41 Ken Eberts and David McIntosh’s 1964 Ocelot Ken Eberts met Dave McIntosh while they were both students at Art Center. They collaborated on building a car together from scratch. Actually, two cars, one for each of them. Eberts, penned the car in 1964. Eberts is best known today for being one of the premier automotive artists in the world. In 2003, Eberts was named Ford Motor Company's official Centennial Artist, following Norman Rockwell who had been Ford's 50th Anniversary artist in 1953. After graduating ArtCenter, Dave McIntosh’s career at General Motors Design spanned nearly forty years, from 1964 to 2003. Many important transitions took place during that time frame that would forever alter the way cars are designed, and David saw them all. A notable example of one of Dave’s designs was the Buick Regatta. David currently is the Administrator for the League of Retired Designers. Ken Eberts co-designed and built a car in 1963-64. Eberts had a passion for automotive art as a young child before attending ArtCenter College of Design. Following his college graduation, he worked at the Ford Motor Company, on the design team of the Mercury Cougar, the Ford LTD, Lincoln Continental and other vehicles. In 1966, Eberts moved to Lockheed Aircraft where he was involved with the L-1011 aircraft. “California Pit Stop”—By Ken Eberts Ken Eberts—Above

42 “The 1964 Ocelot” —By Ken Eberts

43 After his stint at Lockheed, Erberts made the move to full time work as an artist. Subsequently, Eberts has been recognized as an automotive fine artist and for founding the Automotive Fine Arts Society. His work has been a regular feature at both the Pebble Beach and Amelia Island Concours. From a design perspective, the Ocelot has design lines that are similar to the transitional cars of Exner Jr, Brock and Adams, in the pathway to pure wedge car design. There is a clear direction in a shape that the designer could imagine cutting through, or piercing, frontal air resistance. The reality of actual aerodynamic benefit was untested, but the artistry had the “arrow tip” in subtle form. In building the car, a Corvette chassis was used for the mechanical underpinnings. Given the students budget, this was a relatively high-tech solution at the time. Such a chassis and suspension, combined with a body short in height, invariably restricts the designer to a ride height that is a little high. Never the less, the design was exciting and noteworthy as a stepping stone in the wedge car story. In 2020, Ken Eberts manage to buy back his car after it was found by Geoff Hacker. Ken is currently restoring the car in California. Upper Photo: Ebert’s Original Rendering of the Ocelot Lower Photo: Ebert Next To The Buck From Which The Molds Were Taken

45 Left Page: Original Art by Ken Eberts of his Ocelot This Page: Eberts and McIntosh’s Ocelot embraced similar lines in the front as the 1962 Mustang 1 Concept Car. The Mustang concept was a foundation design exercise for the Ford GT 40.

46 “Talbot Lago” —By Kerne Erickson

47 Kerne Erickson’s 1964 GT Kerne Erickson was another ArtCenter graduate that designed and built his own car. Erickson was originally from Wichita, Kansas and attended ArtCenter College of Design between 1965 and 1969 on a $5000 scholarship from the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild. Kerne took five years to complete the Erickson GT, which he started when he was 14 years old in 1960. He built a custom square tube chassis with Corvette front suspension. Power was from a 283 cu.in. small block Chevrolet. The roof line of the car is 39 inches from the ground, this influenced his choice of the flip-up roof and doors that made ingress and egress easier. Kern fabricated the bumpers from raw material steel. On graduating from ArtCenter, Kerne Erickson began independent commercial illustration and design. Over the course of his career, he has produced paintings ranging from retro themed work to a 120 ft. mural for California Adventure/Disneyland. Kerne’s work can be viewed at https://www.kericksonart.com/ Kerne Erickson at Work Kerne Erickson

49 Both Pages: The 1964 Erickson GT

50 Left: Erickson GT Right: The 1969 Holden Hurricane Concept, was the same height as the Erikson GT. It had similar problems for ingress and egress, which were also solved by a raised center canopy. Below: As noted, the Erickson GT superseded Marcello Gandini’s Lamborghini Marzal by three to four years. The Marzel is often viewed by writers as the first wedge car design. This review of wedge car design postulates that the Marzal is not the first wedge car design. The Erikson GT and the Marzal have some wedge elements, but are also not pure wedge in their silhouette. The TVR 280i first released in 1980 (below). These cars are grouped as the “TVR Wedge Cars”. Certainly, the Erickson GT has similar lines from over twenty-five years before. 1967 Lamborghini Marzal 1980 TVR 280i

51 Kiyoyuki “Ken” Okuyama Clearly, there are many ArtCenter alumni that have made significant impact on all levels of automotive design. Kiyoyuki “Ken” Okuyama graduated from ArtCenter in 1986. Like many of his fellow alumni, Okuyama worked in several key capacities in the automotive industry. He spent time at GM and Porsche. At Porsche he worked on the 911 design evolution during his tenure, and also the Porsche Boxster. Okuyama spent four years (2000-2004) as the Chair of Transportation at ArtCenter. Following consulting work with Pininfarina on the Enzo Ferrari, he became Ferrari’s Creative Director in 2004. During his time at Pininfarina, he worked on several additional Ferrari designs, the fourth generation Camaro and other projects. In 2006 Okuyama set up his own design studio and continues to stun the design world with his work. There are several reasons to highlight Ken Okuyama’s work and career. First, his path from ArtCenter graduate was stellar, but as noted not unique. His time teaching at ArtCenter also has past precedents. For the purpose of this article on wedge car design, Ken Okuyama unveiled a stunning wedge car design in 2016 at the Pebble Beach Concours in Monterey California. 2016 Okuyama Kode 0

52 1966 Cannara

53 Brian Geiszler In 2017, Brian Geiszler sketched the CERV 5 as a design exercise at General Motors. Geiszler is a lead interior designer and performance car designer at General Motors. He also graduated ArtCenter College of Design in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in transportation design. The Central Engineering Research Vehicle (CERV) has produced concepts at General Motors since 1959. The CERV 5 was designed with a front engine layout in mind. It was not lost on the authors that if one had to modernize the 1966 Cannara, also a front engine car, that the CERV 5 would be a logical thematic extension. We are not implying a connection between the two cars, just the thematic similarities across very different eras. 2017 General Motors CERV 5 Design

54 2022 Tesla CyberTruck 2016 Lo-Res Wedge Design, in Automotive Design, Continues… We noted in our preamble that the 2019 Tesla Cybertruck (see left) has rekindled interest in wedge car design. Franz von Holzhausen, Chief Designer for Tesla, Inc., is also a graduate of ArtCenter College of Design having obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Transportation design in 1992. America born Franz von Holzhausen started his career at Volkswagen where he worked on the new Beetle. He moved to General Motors in 2000 where he was involved with the Pontiac Solstice. In 2005 he became Chief of Design at Mazda, before moving to Tesla in 2008. The Tesla Cyber Truck is a bold use of folded paper design cues resurrected from the wedge car movement of the 1960’s. Wedge design, is still futuristic in the view of both current designers, the lay public and certainly represents the exciting product images of the Tesla corporation. The minimalistic design is both eye catching and is an assist in the ease of manufacture. In 2016, United Nude (women’s footwear company) founder Rem D. Koolhaas conceptualized and then commissioned the building of the Lo-Res Car (see left). The project simplified the form of the Lamborghini Countach to its most basic elements The car surfaced in time to perhaps influence a new generation of designers at Telsa, and evolve the provocative Cyber Truck.

57 Part IV: THE 1966 CANNARA: THE FIRST PURE WEDGE CAR Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild Scholarship In 1962, Ray Cannara was fifteen years old living in St Petersburg, Florida. He was awarded a university scholarship by the Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild National model car design competition. The scholarship was for $4000, equivalent to $35,000 in current value (2021). Cannara, still in his mid-teens, turned his attention to building his own car. The difficulty of transitioning from designing a model car to a full size, working and running automobile is significant. The Cannara was a front, mid-engine design powered by a Chevrolet V8. Because of the wedge silhouette and sloping front, the engine was placed so the carburetor was under the center-line of the windshield. Evening Independent: August 1st, 1962 Ray Cannara’s Winning 1962 Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild Model

59 Building The Cannara: 1964 and 1965 Ray graduated from high school in the summer of 1964. He had already completed the design and started building his car the same year. He continued building the car to a point in which he could drive it to the ArtCenter in California in the summer of 1966. These two pages show the car under construction in 1964 thru early 1966. Left Page: Ray taught himself the skills needed to design and build the car himself. This Page: Ray’s work continued in 1965 and early 1966 to the point where the car was legally titled and registered and ready to drive to California.

60 George Prentice, another ArtCenter student, took these photos at The ArtCenter in 1966 –67 as Ray Cannara continued his work on his car. George shared the following about the photos: “There is something exciting about being seated in the engine compartment with a loud engine and a very aggressive driver behind the wheel. Conversely, we are seated in the passenger compartment with the engine between us. There is no firewall yet. “

61 The ArtCenter Years With his Fisher Body scholarship, Ray Cannara entered ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles, California in the fall of 1964. Cannara found his experience at ArtCenter both logical in terms of training and rewarding in terms of recognition. Given his interest in design, naturally Ray’s car body was penned by Ray himself. The initial version of the car was finished enough to drive him and his mother to college at ArtCenter for his junior year in 1966 . You can review photos preparing the car for travel and in the process of being finished at the ArtCenter from 1966 through 1968 in the following pages. Ray worked with Strother MacMinn at ArtCenter, known to most as “Mac”. As Preston Lerner pointed out in his article on ArtCenter, MacMinn was regarded as one of the most influential mentors in automotive design, with many students going on to stamp their own designs in automotive history. It probably did not hurt Ray’s career that he designed and build his own running and working car. In discussing the wedge shaped design of the Cannara, we asked Ray Cannara in 2016 if he had any cars that he had looked to for inspiration in developing the design of his car. While no designer works in total isolation from the work of others, Ray indicated that the wedge design was largely a product of his own creativity. Considering that Ray Cannara was in his mid-teens at the time he sketched the car and set about construction, the likelihood that he was working within his own creative boundaries was pretty high. An older designer probably would have had more reference points to borrow and blend into their designs. Strother MacMinn Working With Students 1966

62 Above: Ray Cannara and his mother are packed and ready to begin their 1966 trip from their home in St. Petersburg, Florida to the ArtCenter in Los Angeles, California. Ray would make this trip again with his mother in 1967. The photo above was his junior year (1966) at the ArtCenter.

63 Traveling To California: 1966 and 1967 In the summer of 1966-67 (Junior year) and 1967-68 (Senior year), Ray Cannara and His Mother drove the Cannara cross-country from their home in St. Petersburg, Florida to the ArtCenter in Los Angeles, California. These were his Junior and Senior years at the ArtCenter. Above: In 1967 the journey was repeated and the car in this photo is in finished paint. His mother joined him a second time. Each round trip was 2500+ miles.

64 Ray Cannara and His Car: ArtCenter College of Design

65 Strother MacMinn Photos With a fresh paint job at hand, Ray Cannara’s mentor at the ArtCenter, Strother MacMinn, took a series of photos of the car. The following photos were taken by Strother MacMinn in Los Angeles in 1967-68 of the 1966 Cannara. First impressions of Ray Cannara’s design tend to be dominated by the overall wedge shape. On closer inspection, there are compound curves and complexities in both the exterior and interior of the car. The center waistline of the car is structural, with the front and rear body sections resting on rear top of a visual steel line. The stance of the car is a little high. Working on a teenage budget, the rolling chassis is a modified 1958 Chevrolet Impala station wagon. The design of the car, however, is displayed adequately on this platform. We asked designer Raffi Minasian for his comments on the design of the Cannara. These comments appear below. Raffi Minasian Thoughts on the Design of the Cannara... “Although the overall effect of the Cannara is driven by linear themes, the details are very thoughtfully managed to pull the eye into subtle curved elements. The gentle undulations of the belt line as it arches over the wheel openings soften the wheels and help manage the bobbed tail. The rear corners of the car are not cut short or visually abrupt - they terminate in harmony with the wheels and curved undercut behind the rear tires. Linear wedge design can be a bit shocking because automotive architecture is generally fluid and curvaceous. We tend to see this more in fighter jet design - angular overall but with softened details. It takes a careful eye to work softness into an angular form so that the sharp theme is still dominant but does not agitate the eye”.

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