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Written by William Pelfrey.

General Motors established the industry’s first design team and has created more classic automotive designs than any other automaker. In 1926, General Motors became the first automaker to establish a full-time, in-house design staff, headed by Harley Earl, the father of modern automotive design. Since then, no automaker has had as many innovative, trend-setting, and lasting vehicle designs as GM.

Milestone GM Vehicles include:

• The 1910 MY Cadillac, the first mass-produced closed-body car

• The 1912 MY Cadillac, featuring the first self-starter

• The 1914 MY Cadillac, featuring the first V-8 engine

• The 1927 MY LaSalle, the first production car designed by a professional designer

• The 1930 MY Cadillac V-16, the first production car to feature a sixteen-cylinder engine

• The 1938 Buick Y Job, the industry’s first concept car

• The 1941 MY Cadillac “Sixty,” with streamlined notchback styling

• The 1947 Saab prototype, the first car to apply design and engineering concepts from jet aircraft design

• The 1953 MY Chevrolet Corvette, the industry’s first production sports car

• The 1955 MY Chevrolet Bel Air, which set the styling cues for the industry for nearly a decade

• The 1959 MY Chevrolet El Camino, combining the styling and comfort of a car with the utility of a pickup truck

• The 1960 MY Chevrolet Corvair, Chevrolet’s first air-cooled rear-engine car and the beginning of an entire new lineup of smaller cars for all domestic U.S. automakers

• The 1964 MY Pontiac GTO, the first muscle car

• The 1987 Sunraycer, winner of the world’s first solar-powered car race

• The 1996 MY EV1, the modern auto industry’s first commercially produced all-electric vehicle

• The 2000 Precept advanced technology concept car, the first vehicle to achieve the fuel efficiency equivalent of 80 miles per gallon of gasoline

• The 2002 AUTOnomy concept car, the first vehicle to combine fuel cell and “by-wire” technology

• The 2003 Cadillac Sixteen concept car, with styling cues from the 1930 MY Cadillac Sixteen and a 1000-horsepower engine

• The 2007 Chevrolet Volt concept car, incorporating forward-looking design with a rechargeable electric drive system

This list is but a sampling of the hundreds of GM designs that are considered classics by car-lovers around the world. While each aficianado's own list will be different, and while the debate over what constitutes a true classic can get very intense, the GM mark is sure to appear at least someplace on all such lists.

William Pelfrey

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