"The “Da Vinci of Detroit”
Recently, General Motors resurrected an automotive icon from the past to help introduce the newly restyled Buicks for 2003. Today, Harley Earl is known only as a character in GM’s television commercials, yet his legacy as GM’s premiere design engineer is still very much alive. It is his vision that defines the lexicon of what “is” a Classic Car today.
Harley Earl was born on November 22, 1893 in Los Angles California, one of the first cities designed for the automobile. His father, J.W. Earl, was from Michigan and had worked there as a lumberjack. In 1889 the senior Earl moved his family to the west coast and became a coach maker, building carriages, wagons, and racing sulkies. With the advent of the automobile he founded Earl Automobile Works in 1908 and began making customized parts and accessories for cars.
To be homologated as an SCCA B-Production racer, rules stipulate that at least 100 "streetable" versions are produced. Shelby easily meets the minimum requirement building, on average, 2,000 units per year between 1965 and 1970. Shelby American soon is occupying two hangars at Los Angeles International Airport.
by Bob Hunnicutt
