Harley Earl - the design chief

The Tail Fin - click to enlarge
Photo: www.wikipedia.org

  Harley Earl was born in Hollywood, he was a coach maker by trade but he got a job at General Motors.  Mr. Earl had ideas, lots of ideas - he was an Industrial Engineer with a flair for design.  He knew how things worked, how people were drawn to style.
  His first concept car was the "Y-Job" for Buick in 1938 (photo below), he went on the put the "port holes" on Buick, the tail fin - which was copied many times, and Project Opal which become the Chevrolet Corvette.
  He had flair alright, lot's of it.  Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley_Earl

The Y-Job - click to enlarge
Photo: www.wikipedia.org