In this month’s episode of the ArtCenter Virtual Car Classic, we will be celebrating ArtCenter’s legacy from the 1950’s. Featured alumni will include:

Ron Hill – Class of 1954
Ron had a 31-year design career at General Motors where he became a Chief Designer for Chevrolet, Pontiac and Buick and then served as ArtCenter’s Chair of Transportation Design for 15 years. During his time at GM, Ron is credited with designing the wonderful tailfins on the 1957 Eldorado Biarritz, overseeing the 1965 Corvair line, the 1972 and 1973 LeMans, GTO and Firebird programs, the 1973 and 1974 Monte Carlo, Camaro and Firebird designs and the Pontiac Fiero among many others.

Peter Brock – Class of 1956
Peter became the youngest designer ever hired by General Motors’ design department at the age of 19. He first made his mark designing the Corvette Stingray racer that then became the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray production car. He then went to work for Carroll Shelby designing racecars like the De Tomaso P70 and the infamous Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. Pete then started Brock Racing Enterprises, where he designed racecars for Hino, Datsun and Toyota.

Chuck Pelly – Class of 1960
While at ArtCenter, Chuck designed the Scarab sports car for Lance Reventlow, the Chaparral for Jim Hall and the Harrison Special for Troutman Barnes. After graduation he started his career as an industriadesigner, working with Henry Dreyfuss Associates among others. In 1972, he founded DesignworksUSA, where he stayed until 2000. While at Designworks he worked on projects for Chevrolet, Chrysler, Volvo, Magna and of course BMW, among others. 


Fred Simeone - Special Guest
Executive director of the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, Fred owns one of the world’s greatest collections of racing sports cars. Fred and Peter will talk about the 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, which Peter famously designed for Carroll Shelby to beat Ferrari in the 1965 FIA World Championship.  



Ahyoung Roh and Alice Yang - Student Spotlight
ArtCenter’s celebrated sponsored project program brings industry partners into the classroom as students explore blue sky approaches to specific design challenges. We’re proud to introduce you to two current students, Ahyoung Roh from Transportation Design and Alice Yang from Illustration who are working on two separate sponsored projects this term with Lincoln Motor Company and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).



Tune in to Zoom on Sunday, November 15 at 1 p.m. as we continue to bring you a yearlong program of Car Classic events.