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The GM Executive Committee establishes the Art and Color Section. Studio operations are located in the GM Building on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit under the direction of Harley Earl, who began his career designing custom auto bodies for Hollywood actors and designed the 1927 La Salle.. It is the first department of its kind among major automotive manufacturers.
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Early attempts to create pleasing designs run into problems, so engineers are integrated into the creative staff. Many Art and Color team members go on to significant leadership positions at other automakers. First corporate international design studios at Opel, Vauxhall and Holden. The use of color in mass-produced vehicles is introduced across the GM line.
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The Cadillac V 16 Aero Coupe, which debuts at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, demonstrates the “all metal upper.” It is credited with influencing the steel industry to develop the wider rolling mills needed to roll sheet steel for an all-metal car.
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Art and Color Section is renamed “General Motors Styling Section” in 1937. Operations move to the top four floors of the GM Research Building on Milwaukee Avenue, just behind GM Headquarters. Earl organizes formal studios for each car division – Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, Truck and Coach, and several other studios for advanced design. The enclosed studio space for each brand is copied by every other automotive company.
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Art and Color dominates the new field of industrial design, creating products in the areas of streamlined trains with new diesel engines from GM’s Division; exhibit design [the Parade of Progress that travels throughout America spreading the GM story; home appliances with a wide variety of fans, radios, etc. for GM’s Delco Products Division; and buses for the commercial vehicle market.
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As the United States enters World War II, production of civilian automobiles is halted. The Styling Section becomes the Camouflage and War Service Section.
