While mindful of the struggles of many Americans, yet also keeping an eye on potential overseas sales, Walter Chrysler had a vision for a small, affordable car. Chief Engineer Ken Lee decided to pull in Theodore Pietsch II, a fledgling designer, to create Chrysler’s vision- the Star Car. Sadly, the Star Car never made it to market. Even so, Pietsch’s designs were so good that he was hired to create a whole line of cars and their amenities, launching his career as an automobile designer.

Automobile Appreciation in the Blood

Theodore Pietsch II was born in 1912 to well-known Baltimore architect Theodore Pietsch and his wife Gertrude. Although his father never learned to drive, his mother is rumored to have been the first woman in Baltimore to drive a car. Pietsch’s uncle was also a car enthusiast. Arthur Stanley Zell, president of the Zell Motor Car Company and of Stanley Zell, Inc., was Maryland’s first automobile distributor. 

It seems as though the love of automobiles and design ran deep in Pietsch’s DNA. Pietch was creating two-dimensional drawings for car catalogues in his teens, and later majored in design and mechanical drawing at the Maryland Institute, Baltimore. These drawings, coupled with his education, would land him his first role as an automobile designer.

It Began with Chrysler

After working for Walter Chrysler and Ken Lee for a few years, Pietsch decided it was time to move on to more challenging projects. Over the course of his career, Pietsch worked for almost every major US automaker, including Chrysler, Hudson Motors, Briggs Manufacturing Company, Ford, Studebaker, and American Motors. 

In 1952, the future was looking pretty fantastic during Pietsch’s second stint at Chrysler. Yet when Pietsch received a call from world-renowned designer Raymond Loewy to join him on his Studebaker project, he couldn’t say no. The potential for exciting new challenges was too great to turn down, so Pietsch joined Loewy in his firm and got to work. Studebaker was on the decline, however, and a few years later Pietsch found himself out of work in the automobile industry. 

A Changing Industry

Even though Pietsch was able to find auto design work again, the industry had changed so much that he found himself exceedingly unhappy and it began to affect his health. It was then that he decided to retire.

Regardless of how he ended his automotive career, his creations and designs were essential to the industry as a whole. Out of his limitless enthusiasm for automotive design and his creative genius, he was well-admired in the auto industry.

Leaving a Legacy

Thanks to his son, Theodore Pietsch III, Pietsch’s work has been catalogued and now resides at the Wolfsonian Institute. If you would like to peruse Pietsch’s sketches and other works, you can browse the catalogue.

Also, if you would like more information on Pietsch’s personal story, Theodore Pietsch III wrote his father’s biography, available for purchase on Amazon.

Best of all, if you would like to add a Theodore Pietsch II original work to your own personal collection, you can find two of his pieces here. 

Enhance Your Collection

If you are looking for the perfect mid-century modern piece to begin, or add to, your own art collection, visit our GALLERY. We have beautiful, original pieces by Raymond Loewy, Vincent Raney, and many others.

The post Theodore Pietsch: From Trimming Blueprints to Automobile Design appeared first on Form Function Art.

Using pencil and gouache, these stylists brought their visions to life. Every nuance and expression of the artist was captured, imagining automobiles into high-tech transportation devices or into sleek, modern sports cars. Despite the original intent of the automobile being simply to transport people, some people saw them as much more.

The Birth of the Concept Car

Although the first automobiles were an engineering marvel, they were not exactly eye-catching. Henry Ford was more concerned with having their success based on “engineering prowess,” not necessarily their visual appeal.

But after the devastating impact of the Great Depression, on both the economy and the outlook of Americans, one car designer decided to use his Hollywood roots to bring style and excitement to the world of automobiles.

Harley Earl began his career customizing cars for Hollywood stars in his father’s automobile shop. After joining General Motors in 1927, he began the first dedicated design department for an automaker.

Earl’s goal was to provide sleek, unified designs for automobiles. “Earl wanted smooth, flowing lines, with exterior parts ‘built-in’ to the design, blending with the whole,” noted historian Peter Grist.

Realizing the potential for poor designs and ideas to tarnish the great name of General Motors, Earl proposed the idea of the concept car. Instead of producing cars that might be too radical, only one would be produced as a concept car, saving the company money and potential bad publicity.

Although this idea was born before WWII, concept cars didn’t really take off until afterward. And when they did, they really made an impression.

Cars of the Future

After seeing the sleek, sporty cars of Europe, GIs returning from WWII had a major impact on the design of American automobiles. Americans were eager to see more exciting car designs from manufacturers. Some concept cars were updated versions of classics, and some were more cutting edge.

Beginning in 1948 with William B. Stout’s fiberglass “car of the future,” automobile designs became more futuristic. Raymond Loewy’s Studebaker Avanti concept had a unique, streamlined look.

In the 1950’s, concept cars were either “out of this world” or made for people who spent a lot of time in their cars. The Lincoln Futura (modified to be the Batmobile for the 1966 TV series Batman) and Ford Mystere are two of the most recognized concept cars of this time. Their fins and plastic domes gave the impression of driving a rocket down the street. Another well-known concept car is the Chevrolet Bel-Air, seemingly made for enjoying double-features at the drive-in. 

What Makes These So Timeless?

Even though many of these car design sketches were never realized at the production level, they still hold some magic in their pen strokes. These cars were designed with “naïve optimism”, when worries of foreign competition, oil shortages, and environmental regulations didn’t exist. Even more, these are “[works] of art that not only [contain] the height of skill and formal craftsmanship, but also [are combined] with cultural and historical significance,” says Christopher W. Mount. He also says, “the art of drawing by hand has all but disappeared in many of the design professions,” and “these drawings importantly signify a time when artistic skill and expression met beautifully and significantly with America’s most important and defining industry, the automotive industry.”

Add Automotive and Architectural Pieces to Your Collection

Interested in an original “concept car” design? Look no further than right HERE. If you are looking for the perfect mid-century modern piece to begin, or add to, your own art collection, visit our GALLERY. We have beautiful, original pieces by Raymond Loewy, Vincent Raney, and many others.

The post The Mid-Century Concept Car and the Lost Art of Formal Craftsmanship appeared first on Form Function Art.