The ArtCenter Car Classic was launched a bit over a decade ago to collect and exhibit the most intriguing automobiles seen in Los Angeles car culture and to celebrate the ArtCenter College of Design’s leadership in that creative adventure.
As succinctly described in the event brochure: “More than just another high-profile car show, this popular public event celebrates the very best in automotive design, showcasing the College’s strong ties to industry and honoring many of our noteworthy alumni.”
See photo galleries belowAfter 85 years of preparing many of the planet’s most creative minds to develop better products and to produce visual experiences to assure they are understood by end users, the 1930 vision of Edward A. “Tink” Adams is a resounding success. Gifted — and highly motivated — professionals in a broad range of creative disciplines mentor new generations to contribute and move into leadership roles for the accelerating demands of science wrapped in art — not unlike the hillside campus’s black bridge of architectural sculpture designed by Craig Ellwood Associates in 1976 and continually filled with the latest in design sciences.
As a recognition of the school’s “Designmatters” educational program, the United Nations Department of Public Information was inspired to award ArtCenter College of Design a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status for its international outreach.
To underscore that effort, the 2016 the ArtCenter Car Classic event was curated for an international focus on “Built By Hand” vehicles and included historic hot rods, fabulous coach-built classics and hand-crafted models and prototypes predicting the future of automotive form from legendary studios around the world, many led by the school’s celebrated design alumni.
ArtCenter’s renowned Automotive Design Department, now Transportation Design, was added to the curriculum in 1948 and graduates from as far back as the mid-‘50s were on the show field to enjoy the work of their colleagues — from several generations.
While the cars on the field are worth the price of the ticket, the opportunity to chat with the automotive world’s design leadership about a subject for which they share our enthusiasm would be hard to duplicate anywhere else.
Photos by Larry Crane