For the past 75 years, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, has produced hundreds of graduates who have gone on to shape the automotive industry in a way no others have, and we mean it literally!
Some of the auto industry's best designers have been schooled at Art Center, and their names-Larry Shinoda, J Mays, Chip Foose, Peter Brock-are well known to anybody with an intense interest in cars and their design. To help celebrate the school's history and impact, Art Center decided a few years back to hold a car show on the facility grounds, opening their doors to the public-and more importantly, to gather some 100 or so rare and exotic examples of classic car designs. The show is unlike any other in that many exceedingly rare cars are all on view in one place, many of which are owned by those who wouldn't normally attend a regular "car show."
Some 2,500 designers, alumni, collectors, and car enthusiasts attended the event-small by some standards, but the quality of cars was truly world-class. At one point, TV's Jay Leno, in his McLaren F-1, rolled up with his own personal design hero, Gordon Murray (the F-1's designer). A new addition to Car Classic was the hilltop Oasis, filled with displays of sponsor vehicles, car club exhibits, and some of the Art Center alumni's original art and vehicles.
Awards at Art Center's Car Classic are unique in that they are based purely on design and overall aesthetic appeal. And reading the list of winners from this year's show, you understand the event's wide scope-everything from futuristic to Italian coachbuilts and hot rods to supercars are all there. Even some replicars made it out this year.
Art Center College of Design (www.artcenter.edu) offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide variety of art and design disciplines, as well as public programs offering design education to all ages and levels of experience. With the success of the last Car Classic, you can bet on another being held in 2006, so check their Web site for more info.