Say hello to Harley Earl

            Born November 22, 1893, in Hollywood, California, Earl was the son of J. W. Earl, a Michigan native who had earned his living as a lumberjack. In 1889, J.W. moved his family to the west coast and invested in a Los Angeles body shop where he made coaches, carriages, wagons, and racing sulkies. Business was good and with the introduction of the automobile J. W. founded the Earl Automobile Works.

            Harley was a brilliant student with a innovative mind. He enrolled in Stanford University and after graduation he joined his father’s business. By the mid 20s he ran his own branch of the Earl Auto Works making custom automobiles for the movie stars. His first job was a $28, 500 sleek profile auto body for none other than Fatty Arbuckle. Another of his customers was the movie cowboy Tom Mix.

            The "fabulous fifties," as some people called that decade, saw some of the most beautiful and some of the most outlandish cars ever made. The newest of Harley Earl’s creations was introduced – the 1950 Buick LeSabre. One observer lamented, "styling became tyrannical" and another said, "Chrome was god, and Harley Earl was its prophet." The LeSabre made such an impression on the public that within the decade Buick made it a permanent production line. Buick still makes thousands of LeSabres every year.

            R. L. Teague, a designer for Oldsmobile, wrote, “ . . . the employees always called the boss Mr. Earl. He demanded respect and he got it. All us young guys were afraid of him. He kind of scared everybody half to death but he was still a terrific guy." Teague remembered in his biography that Harley Earl firmly believed that if small tailfins were good, then a big ones had to be better and if a little chrome was good, then lots of chrome was better still.

            Earl was six feet, four inches tall. He was a poster-boy for male fashion – dressing in blue suits and colorful neckties. His fashion trademark was two-toned shoes. He had over a hundred pair. He was proud of the fact that he could fold himself into a long, low car, ride comfortable and be seen by people who admired his design and engineering handiwork. After all, lower, longer and wider was what America wanted and he, along with GMs backing would make sure that companies like Studebaker, Kaiser-Frazer, Hudson, Nash, Packard, Willys, and Crosley were never heard from again. Harley Earl made only one miscalculation – Americans grew weary of the excess.

            When the era faded the symbol of the new day was the Volkswagen Beetle. The Earl era had ended, but it had been a terrific run.

            Earl worked for GM for 32 years, and directly supervised the design of over 35 million automobiles. He stared with 39 employees in his first design office, but when he retired in 1957, eleven-hundred designers, engineers and concept artists worked for him. When he reflected on his career, he said, "My primary purpose has been to lengthen and lower the American automobile, at times in reality and always at least in appearance. Why? Because my sense of proportion tells me that oblongs are more attractive than squares, just as a ranch house is more attractive than a square, three-story flat-roofed house or a greyhound is more graceful than an English bulldog.”

            LaSalle, LeSabre, Corvette, Cadillac Eldorado – we all know this man’s work. It’s a shame America forgot his name.

            Harley Earl died in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 10, 1969, at age 75.