October 30, 2018
Celebrating 70 Years of Iconic Design and Influence on Vehicles of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow at Car Classic 2018
Auto Industry Design Leaders Reminisce About Dream Come True College Experience
Nearly 2,500 car design fans from far and wide joined ArtCenter College of Design in a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Transportation Design program at this year’s Car Classic, Iconic Design: 70 Years of ArtCenter Influence, held in conjunction with the College’s Alumni Reunion. More than 600 enthusiastic alumni returned to campus for the inaugural weekend reunion to reengage with ArtCenter.
“You should know that we claim credit for all the work that you do here,” said Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek in his expression of gratitude for the College and presentation of a certificate of recognition to the Transportation Design department on achieving its 70th anniversary.
A car design hall-of-fame worthy lineup of alumni attended as judges, special guests and speakers.
“We used to play volleyball over there,” said Franz von Holzhausen, who heads design at Tesla, during an interview on the field describing his years on campus as “a dream come true” while the crowd admired the sleek, red next-generation Tesla Roadster among the 100 vehicles on display.
“ArtCenter for me is one of the greatest things I’ve ever experienced,” said Henrik Fisker, founder and CEO of Henrik Fisker Design and former designer for BMW and Fisker Coachbuild, in an interview on the field standing next to his EMotion all electric sports car. While in Denmark, the young enthusiast didn’t know how to break in to the field so he wrote a letter to Volvo’s top brass saying he wanted a job designing cars. The company wrote back and politely guided him to study at ArtCenter. He earned his degree at ArtCenter Europe where he studied in a chateau overlooking Lake Geneva.
“ArtCenter opens the door for you,” said Joann Jung, who graduated from the Transportation Design program in 2002 and is now senior interior manager at Lucid Motors.
During the reunion, Jung, who served as a judge at the popular event, visited with Ron Hill, former head of design at General Motors and former chair of ArtCenter’s Transportation Design department. “We have the same story, a common ground, we went through the same experience here,” she said of the intensity of the academic program.
At Car Classic, attendees had the pleasure to learn from Hill and other legendary panelists including Shiro Nakamura, former senior vice president of Nissan Motor Company; Peter Brock, who designed the Cobra Daytona Coupe and Corvette Stingray Racecar; Chuck Pelly, former head of BMW Designworks/USA and designer of the Scarab and Chaparral racecars; and Geza Loczi, retired director of design for Volvo and former designer at General Motors.
Discussing the current state of the industry, were distinguished designers Dave Marek, executive creative director at Acura; Jason Castriota, head of Advanced Design at Ford; Sangyup Lee, vice president of Styling for Hyundai; and T. Jon Mayer, senior director of Design at Volvo.
The panel of experts looking to the future and vehicles of tomorrow featured Derek Jenkins, who is leading the design for electric car start-up Lucid Motors; Sasha Selipanov, chief designer, Global Advanced Design at Genesis; and Page Beermann, design director at Faraday Future.
The College is grateful for support for Car Classic 2018 from event partners Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Honda, Hyundai and Rusnak. Car Classic 2018 media partners were Arroyo magazine, 88.5 FM Southern California Radio, KCRW Radio, 89.3 KPCC Radio, Pasadena Weekly, Petrolicious and Vintage Motorsport.
ArtCenter’s Car Classic 2018 Judges Choices
Post War Classics 1950s
Judges: Geza Loczi, Sue Callaway, Henrik Fisker and Frank Saucedo
Eric Parlee’s 1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner designed by Ron Hill
Paul Merrigan’s 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham designed by Ron Hill
Dieter and Patricia Balogh’s 1958 Continental Mark III Convertible designed by Dave Cummins
Post War Classics 1960 through 1964
Judges: Jason Castriota, Marek Djordjevic, John Krsteski, Shiro Nakamura and Jose Wyzsogrod
Jim Powers and Stu Suede’s 1961 Ford Thunderbird Coupe designed by Jim Powers
George Preston’s 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe designed by Peter Brock and Larry Shinoda
Mike Lanska’s 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe designed by Peter Brock and Larry Shinoda
Post War Classics 1965 +
Judges: Joann Jung, Chris Chapman, Jason Hill, Ron Hill and Geoff Wardle
Mike Fiscus’ 1965 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa Coupe designed by Ron Hill and Larry Shinoda
Mark Moshayedi’s 1965 Shelby De Tomaso P70 Can Am Racer designed by Peter Brock
Rosa Farrer’s 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350
Porsche Style
Judges: Fireball Tim Lawrence, Bradley Arnold, Jordan Meadows, Bryan Nesbitt and Franz von Holzhausen
Tim Gregorio’s 1989 Porsche 911 DLS
Hans Lapine’s 1966 Porsche 911
Mark Leonard’s 1959 Porsche 356A Coupe
Exotics
Judges: Sasha Selipanov, Alex Earle, Derek Jenkins, Dave Marek and Daniel Simon
Chuck Gayton’s 1976 Lamborghini Countach LP 400
Joe Tseng’s 1977 Maserati Khamsin CP
Pre-War and Motorcycles
Judges: Jonathan Ward, Dennis Campbell, Page Beermann, Jae Min and Rich Plavetich
Pre-War
Peter and Merle Mullin’s 1934 Voisin C27 Aerosport
Aaron and Valerie Weiss’ 1929 Auburn 8-120 Boattail Speedster
Motorcycles
Earle Motors’ 1994 Ducati Monster Tracker
Daily Drivers
Judges: Samuel Chuffart, Kimberly Marte, T. Jon Mayer and Richard Pietruska
Mark Davis’ 1991 Mazda Miata designed by Tom Matano and Mark Jordan
Larry Guzin’s 2000 Audi TT Neiman Marcus Edition designed by Freeman Thomas and J Mays
Satch Carlson’s 2008 BMW Z8 Roadster designed by Henrik Fisker
International Influence
Judges: Chuck Pelly, Sangyup Lee, Kemal Curic, Nubia Krikorian and Mark Moushegian
Brice Reid’s 1972 Volvo 1800ES designed by Jan Wilsgaard
Stewart Reed’s 1990 Toyota Sera designed by Stewart Reed
Homer Reyes’ 1974 BMW 3.0CS
Designer’s Choice Awards
Judges: Stewart Reed and ArtCenter Transportation Design Faculty
Paul Colony’s 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing
Bruce Meyer’s 1989 RUF CTR
David Lee’s 2003 Ferrari Enzo designed by Ken Okuyama
David Sydorick’s 2012 Alfa Romeo Disco Volante by Touring
Kevin Yi-Chen Chang’s 2004 Porsche Carrera GT designed by Grant Larson and Jason Hill
People’s Choice Award presented by Petrolicious
Tim Gregorio’s 1989 Porsche 911 DLS
About ArtCenter:
Founded in 1930 and located in Pasadena, California, ArtCenter College of Design is an international leader in art and design education. ArtCenter offers 11 undergraduate and seven graduate degrees in a wide variety of industrial design disciplines, as well as visual and applied arts. In addition to its top-ranked academic programs, the College also serves members of the Greater Los Angeles region through a highly regarded series of year-round educational programs for all ages and levels of experience. Renowned for both its ties to industry and social impact initiatives, ArtCenter is the first design school to receive the United Nations’ Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status. Throughout the College’s long and storied history, ArtCenter alumni have had a profound impact on popular culture, the way we live and important issues in our society.
Contact:
Teri Bond
Media Relations Director
ArtCenter College of Design
626 396-2385
teri.bond@artcenter.edu
