One could be forgiven if one didn’t know that Detroit was home to one of America’s greatest art museums. Yes: Detroit, Michigan. Where there is money, there are art collectors, and one of the most famous art collectors in Michigan’s storied history was Edsel Ford, who was, to understate an obvious fact, somewhat different from his famous father. Needless to say, many of the works in the museum were donated by Edsel; therefore, it is only appropriate that the DIA would host a temporary exhibit honoring the design of the American automobile. Michigan is proud of its automotive heritage, and the Big Three pitched in some of their most valuable examples of the car as art.
Just about a decade ago, many of the valuable works owned by the Detroit Institute of Arts were in peril of being sold as Detroit entered bankruptcy; however, finance people did finance things and philanthropists did philanthropic things and the collection was saved for the future of the city. I have visited the DIA almost yearly for the past 25 years; in doing so, art history and appreciation has become one of my favorite hobbies, and the DIA is home to paintings and sculptures that anyone would be proud of, including Diego Rivera’s gigantic mural, Detroit Industry, which Edsel Ford himself commissioned.
The Motor City exhibit at the DIA has been running for over a year now, so I’ve now visited twice and enjoyed it both times. Because I’m such a car geek and have visited the company collections of both General Motors and Chrysler (Ford doesn’t really have one), few of the cars in the exhibit are new to me, but they are automotive royalty nonetheless. This is GM’s standout Motorama car from 1951, the LeSabre: Harley Earl used it as a personal car for years. Obviously inspired by the aviation industry, the LeSabre’s headlights were mounted in that ovoid “air” intake.
The “jet exhaust” housed the taillight. The LeSabre was powered by an aluminum 215 cubic-inch V8 (not THAT one) that ran on either gasoline or methanol. The same engine powered the Buick XP-300, which usually lives at Flint’s Sloan Museum.
The LeSabre is still a beauty after 70 years.
Here’s another graphic example of Harley Earl’s fascination with airplanes.
There has been a lineup change over the last year. GM’s dramatic Firebird III was replaced by the Cadillac Cyclone, both show cars from the late 1950s.
As wild as the Cyclone is, the turbine-powered Firebird is from another planet.
Museum patrons could be excused for thinking that Harley Earl and William Mitchell were the only designers of note in Detroit, at least for the first half of the exhibit. In life and in art museums, however, Virgil Exner played the spoiler to the long narrative that was General Motors design. This 1957 300C, now owned by Stellantis (insert medical joke here), was a fine example of the Forward Look, a look that famously caught an aging Harley Earl off guard, leading to a revolt among the underlings in Warren, MI.
Bold Italianesque grilles aside (at least in the case of the 300), the most dramatic facets of the Forward Look cars were the fins and the thin C-pillars. Each Chrysler brand wore a unique interpretation of Exner’s vision, and many GM designers preferred the price-leading Plymouth hardtops. The 300 was the stock-car powerhouse of the bunch, however, and it’s hard to fault anything about its execution, especially in the context of the jet age.
Here is a car that is more influential on future designs than most, the 1959 Stingray Racer. This wasn’t really an official GM concept car at all; it was a project of Bill Mitchell and his desire to build a race car. It was unsuccessful in that regard, but it influenced (obviously) the 1963 Corvette, the 1963 Riviera, and the 1965 Corvair, to name just a few. Mitchell’s love of English design is well documented, and it’s hard not to see a little Jaguar D-Type in the proportions of this beautiful car.
I’ve seen this car numerous times, but I’ve surprisingly only begun to really appreciate it in the static setting of this art museum.
The ’63 Stingray even used a version of the hood vents found on the Stingray Racer.
My favorite car of the exhibit is GM’s 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado. The original Toronado has long been one of my favorite cars, and my appreciation for it has culminated in an existential crisis of my own making: I no longer know if I want to buy a first-generation Riviera (long a favorite) or a ’66 Toronado. First-world problems, I know, but I may not end up with either considering the current superheated collector car market.
The fuselage-shaped quarters of the Toronado are arguably its most dramatic stylistic elements. Those exaggerated wheel flares don’t hurt either, or the Cord 810-like wheel covers, or the dramatic angle of the sheetmetal below the bodyline.
How about the pop-up headlights, the way the grille wraps back into the engine compartment, the sharp edges of the bumper, the powerful front-drive proportions on a scale that almost seems ridiculous but isn’t? Sigh, swoon, write sonnets. What a beauty.
After geeking out over the Toronado for long enough that museum security must have wondered what I was up to, the ’67 Mustang Fastback and ’70 Hemi ‘Cuda seemed like both a room of icons and a letdown, which is absurd. The ‘Cuda belongs to Stellantis, and I question its inclusion over their 1968 Dodge Charger, but that’s only one man’s opinion, and he’s too Toronado-smitten to be relied upon. Regarding the Mustang: Any design exhibit in Detroit that didn’t include a Mustang would be flawed, so I have no qualms about their using one of the most revered versions of that heralded breed.
These are a couple more modern cars on display that don’t quite overlap with my Venn diagram: The Chrysler/Lamborghini Portofino, which previewed the “cab-forward” ethos of the 1990s, and the 1983 Ford Probe IV concept car, which bragged of its low coefficient of drag right on its front bumper.
The 1998 Chrysler Chronos concept car obviously foretold the Chrysler 300 of 2005, but with an exaggerated hood and cabin that was the antithesis of Chrysler’s production cars of the 1990s. As a sign of the times, however, the Chronos was unveiled during “peak retro,” a time of Prowlers, PT Cruisers, Vipers, New Beetles, Mustangs, and two-seat T-Birds. Its haunched rear quarters and bold grille certainly harken back to an earlier time in Detroit.
The 2002 Ford GT concept car is on display, as well. Painted to mimic the 1967 Ford Mark IV LeMans winner (owned by The Henry Ford Museum), this car was a stunner when shown 20 years ago, and it still is. With a heavy retro resemblance to the original GT40, the concept and eventual production car were larger in every way. Currently, low mileage examples of the 2005 and 2006 GT are selling for around a half-million dollars.
The 2017 GT was equally unexpected upon its debut. Aside from a GT40 inspired nose, the modern GT was totally new, and I think the design has aged well; I like it more now than I did when it was introduced, and that (to me) is an indicator of good design.
I wasn’t so sure about the “flying buttresses” initially, but being that the GT was designed as a race car first, road car second, they make sense, and they were well executed into the design. This GT ends the design exhibit; trucks and SUVs are conspicuous by their absence, but whether or not the curators are commenting on the current state of design in the industry through their omission is open to conjecture.
Photo courtesy of dia.org
The DIA is not the first art museum to display automobiles as art: The Museum of Modern Art in New York famously displayed “8 Automobiles” in 1951, and still owns a range of beautiful classics today. Even the DIA had a retrospective of earlier design back in the 1980s, over a decade before I first visited.
Even without the automobile exhibit, I recommend visiting the DIA if you’re in the area. They own one of the only Bruegels in America, along with several paintings by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Rubens, Degas, Monet, Caravaggio, and countless others. In the center of a city of which many are afraid, there is a wonderful compilation of humanity’s love of beauty. Who’d have thought?
Never been there but would like to see it. I did make a trip to Chicago to see the design exhibit “The Art of the Motorcycle” at the Field Museum many years ago – a large exhibit whose focus was only design. Excellent.
In your LeSabre photos the Cadillac Cyclone’s rear appears twice. I did not know the car and thought it might be some kind of a Ford given the bullet bird like big round tail lights and the original T-Bird like shape of the header and windshield. Alas, the fins and skegs do confirm it is a GM. Very nice photos.
Thanks! Here’s a picture of the front end of the Cyclone; I realized I didn’t include one.
There really is something special about looking at a car in a museum. The lighting and backgrounds will show the car to maximum advantage. These must have been a treat to see in person.
I don’t think I have ever seen a color picture of the LeSabre, it is beautiful. Or maybe “striking” is a better word.
The choice between the Charger and an E body Barracuda would be a hard one. I have long thought that Barracuda to be a masterwork, with extremely clean lines and almost perfect proportions. It’s a shame the reality of the car could not keep up with its looks.
They did a nice job with the display; it was minimalistic and focused on the cars themselves. There were quite a few original artists sketches from the various manufacturers on the walls, along with some car-related art to accentuate the cars themselves.
I’d like to know if the Red Rendering behind the Toronado is a copy or the original. Nice pix and a great display.
Thanks Dave…I don’t think the rendering is the original “Flame Red Car,” but I’m not totally sure. Here’s a more straight-on image.
Aaron, great virtual tour and pictures of a truly impressive museum. I had the good fortune to go to the DIA fir the first time last December, and I also saw this excellent exhibit. Part of my own, personal enjoyment of it was observing the automotive enthusiasm of the other museum patrons, guards, and docents around this feature. It was such a cool, “Detroit” moment.
I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite car, but I lingered for a long time around the Toronado. The Chrysler Chronos show car was also astonishing in its beauty.
Thanks Joe,
I’m glad you were able to visit the DIA! Honestly, the Flint Institute of Arts is a nice, small art museum with some interesting displays, too (although you’ve probably been there, as well).
Great tour and interesting thoughts. I’m not too worried about the Old Masters but that’s my preference only, not a right or wrong.
But the Toronado, the Bill Mitchell/Motorama cars and the 1955-57 Chryslers (long a favourite) are something else. But how do you choose between the Le Sabre and the Firebird III? I’m not surprised you were there for a long time.
I’ve long wanted to see the Edsel Ford/Diego Rivera mural – perhaps we should ask Paul to commission a feature on just this from you?
I’ll be back to this post I’m sure – thank you!
Thanks Roger! The Rivera mural takes up an entire room and is an interesting mixture of Detroit industry and Mexican mythology.
I’ll attach a link here to a great video about American art; there’s a five minute discussion on the murals. The link starts at the right spot; the presenter is a guy named Waldemar Janusczak, and I love his art history videos.
I love his stuff too, and ended up watching this one (which, dammit, I didn’t have time to do!) He’s got a wry style that’s very likeable (if a tiny bit exhausting).
For CCers, it’s got lots of references. He drives a Ford A, there’s a mighty Dusenberg SJ, an ex-Studebaker factory welder-cum-artist, a magnifcent chronicler of America’s last days of steam. Well worth a viewing.
Thank you for your great write-up and all the great shots! That LeSabre is so captivating. Just as beautiful a work of art of today as when it was first released and that makes it a classic on my mind. Baffling how many supreme design cars they manage to stuff into the DIA. I’m in Minneapolis but haven’t ever made it to the DIA. Your article whet my appetite enough to get my butt in gear and take a extended weekend trip to visit this summer. Some readers might have already noticed from your first image another great CC connection. That would be Artist Ed Ruscha and his 1966 project documenting every building along the entire Sunset Strip (CC part one and two below). Ed’s images also captured a great cross-section of interesting cars pre LA smog and crystal clear. His book Twentysix stations was released just three years prior in 1963. So even though his Sunset Strip images did not directly influence the well known Standard station paintings, they document the artistic process.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/vintage-snapshots-and-photography/vintage-photos-a-drive-down-sunset-strip-in-1966-part-1-google-streetview-preview/
and
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage-photos/vintage-photos-a-drive-down-the-sunset-strip-1966-part-2-more-exotics-this-time/
You’re welcome! I love how the museum staged the Corvette near Ruscha’s work.
Thanks for the tour. I’d love to see its non-automotive art collection too.
The Chronos is a riff on Exner’s Ghia cars of the mid 50s, from the grille to the distinctive rear haunches and roof line.
You’re welcome! Just for fun, here’s a picture of the now-defunct Chrysler Museum’s Ghia Special.
Great photos and write up. We haven’t been to Detroit since the mid-‘90’s when my wife and I went to see David Copperfield at the Fisher Theatre. I’ve never been to the DIA, but I’d love to see the cars, and my wife would certainly enjoy the art. For me, seeing the LeSabre alone would be worth the drive from Toronto.
Your pictures are excellent but whoever was in charge of the lighting and stage design did a truly magnificent job to showcase the cars at their best with minimal distractions and those that are there fit in perfectly to augment, rather than distract from the cars themselves. Far better than the usual parquet floor or just polished concrete.
Thank you.
Thanks, dman and Jim. Dman, the exhibit is open until June 5th if you wanted to make the drive.
Growing up in Dearborn in the 50s, my Saturdays were often spent riding the Warren Avenue bus to the DIA. My education was enhanced just by standing in awe of the Diego murals, running up and down the medieval castle staircase, and musing over the Egyptian mummies.
Don’t forget the History Museum across Woodward Avenue which always had an automotive themed display along with a recreation of the streets of Detroit in the late 19th century.
I recall a special day that I saw Indy 500 and Formula winner Bill Vukovich getting a VIP tour of the museum. There were others in the group, but the race was fresh in my mind and I recognized him from the newspapers, He and others in the group signed a museum map. Later I realized that Troy Ruttman had also signed!
Great times!
It’s been over five years since I’ve visited the Detroit Historical Museum. They have a huge car collection in not-so-great storage (a big old warehouse). Most of the cars are in those inflatable car cocoons; they just don’t have nearly enough floor space to display even a fraction of them at the museum.
Great photos of the Le Sabre. For years pictures of the rear of the car were seldom seen. Odd as it may sound, many styling cues were incorporated into production models. The gull wing front bumper guards/over riders were seen on the mid 50’s Cadillacs, my ’57 had a similar set up. The wrap around windshield was a ’50’s staple as well. The forward canted tail fins, gave their profile to my ’57 also. That jet pod exhaust sure reminds me of my ’71 Riviera’s boat tail! The general look of the car with the cut down doors, and dropped belt line was used for the Cadillac El Dorado of 1953. I guess it really was a car of the future.