Harley Earl (Design Heroes Series) [Hardcover]

Stephen Bayley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Design Heroes Series | Publication Date: December 1991

Book about important car designer

Product Details

• Hardcover: 159 pages
• Publisher: Taplinger Publishing Company; 1st Edition. edition (December 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800838025
• ISBN-13: 978-0800838027
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,056,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tom Wolfe said of Mr. Bayley, "I don't know of anybody with more interesting observations about style, taste and contemporary design."

Stephen Bayley is one of the world's best known and outspoken commentators on modern culture, art and design. He contributes regularly to The Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Spectator, The Los Angeles Times, High Life, New Statesman, The Independent, and GQ. Cars are on of his many passions, and he has written extensively on automobiles and automobile design for 25 years for both car companies and numerous publications including Car Magazine. He was awarded PPA Columnist of the Year for his car column in (British) GQ.

As a design consultant his clients include: Ford, Absolut Vodka, Volkswagen, Audi, Foster Associates, BMW, the V&A Museum, among others. Former Chief Executive of the Design Museum, the world's leading museum devoted to contemporary design, he appears frequently on radio and television, and lectures at museums and universities all over the world. His numerous books include Design: Intelligence Made Visible with co-author Terence Conran, published by Conran Octopus.

Mr. Bayley has been a judge at many national and international design competitions, including Campaign Press Awards, RIBA Architectural Awards, The Building Awards, Louis Vuitton Concours d'Elegance at Hurlingham, Cartier Style et Luxe at Goodwood, and the BBC Good Food Awards.

In 1989 he was made a Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et Des Lettres, France's top artistic honour, by the French Minister of Culture.

He lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hardly Heroic, September 2, 2010

By 

Richard Brookes "Rumpled Writer" (San Francisco Bay area) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Harley Earl (Design Heroes Series) (Hardcover)

Please, if you have any regard for the American automotive styling of the 1930s, 40s and 50s don't buy this book. While making often snide asides about American culture, art, industry and society in general, Stephen Bayley proceeds to denigrate Harley Earl and his contribution to American car design. Bayley takes great delight in belittling Earl's designs and ridiculing their importance in both industry and art. Bayley proceeds to take personal shots at Earl, Alfred Sloan and Lawrence Fisher, the three prime movers of General Motors in the first half of the last century. In addition to Bayley's acid prose, the book contains a number of poor black & white photos of Earl's styling achievements. Not one good color photo in the bunch. To say I was disappointed in the book is an understatement for certain. I expected a book that would chronicle Earl's work and its significance in the American scene of the era. I did not expect a cynical Brit author proceeding to communicate to the reader how Harley Earl probably did not actually deserve to have a book written about him. For me, the auto styling of the era is deserving of more than casual interest. Some of Earl's designs, such as the 1957 Chevrolet, are considered classic and the cars are much in demand today, over a half-century later. Despite what you might think of Earl's designs, they surely made their mark, influencing auto design and industrial design in general for many years. I regret buying this book. I regret that the book was ever written as it reflects only the author's opinions which are decidedly derisive of America and its contributions to automotive styling and industrial design. (And the book lacks an index, not that I will be using it as a reference.) "Design Heroes" is the title of the series to which this book belongs. What a misnomer. Tsk.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Harley Earl And The Dream Machine(1983)-128pages version, October 19, 2010

By 

Jose Lopez "Jose Lopez" (Miami,Florida USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harley Earl (Design Heroes Series) (Hardcover)

I have the 1983 Hardcover/128pages,Harley Earl And The Dream Machine by Stephen Bayley is sadly the only book so far that I am aware of on The Man. A Legend, The way the British Author Treats America,American Tastes and uses artsyfartsy comparisons and words that make no sense,for example he compares at one time the way GM worked with Karl Marx?(Huh?) at another time he says GM's "Darwinist" in it's approach to vehicle lines? Again another Huh? The only thing that offsets the disdain the Snob Author has for American Tastes are the Cars in the Colorful Art by Phillip Castle(A couple pages) and some color photos the remainder being black and white,and some jabs in there sometimes subtle sometimes not,it is interesting it touches on Harley Earl And Associates(Later Ford And Earl) contribution(short chapter)concerning Ban Deodorant,Airplane Interiors and A Plumbers showroom(Not Pictued),it is a very brief chapter.
The only reason I purchased the Book was because Of Harley Earl despite not having even been born, I wonder what the author's take on Bill Mitchell is? and I wonder why did he bother to do the book with such bias? Hopefully someone will do Mr.Earl Justice.